10 OUR FRIENDS, THE BIRDS. 
Who knows? ‘Though nature teems with mysteries, 
She never grants us one enlightening word; 
The hoariest sage among us and most wise, 
Can only wonder with admiring eyes 
At the fine wisdom of a little bird. 
Surely, these feathered folk, who live so near 
To nature, understand her deepest lore, 
And, breathing in a purer atmosphere, 
Know what the wind says to the leaves, and hear 
What the soft ripples whisper to the shore. 
Roaming the realms of ether they may know 
Truths never touched by our imaginings; 
And when they look at us so far below, 
Poor dusty creatures creeping to and fro, 
Pity our want of wisdom and of wings. 
Miss Sweet, Laura’s teacher, was much gratified at 
the way the children learned and recited this poem, 
and it gave her a new idea. She was always anxious 
to interest her pupils, and there were no monotonous 
recitations in her room, because she always had some- 
thing practical and pleasant to incite thought and a 
desire for knowledge. She began by asking Laura to 
write on “The Value of Birds,” as the next topic for 
the general language exercises. Laura took great 
pains with her work, and as her fellow-pupils were 
greatly interested in it, I give it as she wrote it, hop- 
ing it may be an inspiration to other boys and 
girls:— 
