56 
THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET 
buff, and such dainty screams of mirth, and such run¬ 
ning, and such exclamations when one was caught, or an¬ 
other escaped, were never heal’d in Mrs. Green’s attic 
before. 
‘•How can so few children make so much noise?" 
thought Mrs. Green. 
“Ding, dong! ding, dong!” called Daisy, and girls 
went in and boys came out. 
The boys played football, and there was such a run¬ 
ning, and jumping, and pounding, and yelling, as defies 
description. 
“I should think there were fifty of them,” thought 
Mrs. Green, clapping her hands over her ears, as an 
empty butter firkin went clattering over the floor, doing 
duty as football. 
Then the study door below was opened and Mr. Green 
appeared on the threshold. 
/“Emily,” he called, “who is making such an out¬ 
rageous racket up there ? A fellow can't write with the 
house coming down about his ears! ” 
" I am going up to put a stop to it,” replied Mrs. 
Green, running up the attic stairs: but the “ ding, 
dong.” had sounded, the tumult subsided, and as Mi’s. 
Green reached the playroom, Daisy sat quietly on a 
packing box. with a large Saratoga trunk before her, 
evidently doing duty as a desk; no one else was in sight. 
“Where are all those children':” demanded Mrs. 
Green. 
“What children, mamma?” asked Daisy, innocently. 
“Why, those children who have been playing up here 
with you. and making such a terrible noise,” said Mrs. 
Green, staring about the empty room in utter bewilder¬ 
ment. 
“ There haven’t been any children here but my im¬ 
aginary ones,” replied Daisy. 
But her mother continued to stare incredulously 
about the room, and even looked suspiciously at the 
chimney, as if possible for any one to have hidden in it. 
“ Did you play church and keep school with all those 
different voices yourself?” she asked. 
“ Why, yes, mamma: of course, when 1 was a whole 
school, I couldn’t talk like Daisy Green all the time.” 
“But how could you make so much noise?” asked 
her mother, still bewildered. 
“ Oh ! that’s easy enough,” said Daisy. “ Shall I 
show you how?” and she jumped from her perch with 
a genuine boyish yell, and ran for the butter firkin, 
otherwise football. 
“ No ! no ! ” exclaimed her mother, putting her hands 
over her ear’s, with a look of comic terror, “ I came up 
on purpose to stop the noise, for it disturbs your papa 
very much. You had better come down now, and we 
will go out for a walk, and then papa can have a quiet 
time.” 
But as they left the attic. Mrs. Green could not rid 
herself of the feeling that there must be several children 
hidden away there whom she ought to send home 
before going out herself! —Gohlcn Rule. 
A HAPPY THOUGHT. 
NE bright afternoon Willie and 
Charlie West were sauntering 
home together from school, 
where they had been studying 
for many horn-s. The sweet 
fresh air they breathed gave 
them new life and spirit, and 
they felt ready for any kind of 
fun that might come in their way, when they chanced 
to find a pair of coarse old shoes hidden in the bushes 
on the roadside, just at the edge of the woods. This, 
they thought was just the opportunity to play a joke, 
as the owner had evidently left them there for safe 
keeping, and to prevent their wearing out while he 
wandered in the woods. “ Suppose we take the shoes 
and hide behind the stone wall, then we’ll wait and hear 
what he will say when he finds they are gone,” said 
Charlie. “Ah, no!” exclaimed Willie, “that would 
be a cruel trick to play.” Charlie readily yielded, 
for he was too kind hearted to willingly harm any one, 
and did not think, when he first spoke, of the distress 
he might cause. “ I have a happy thought,” said 
Willie, “tell me what you think of the plan. We each 
have a dune you know, that papa gave us only last 
week, so let us put one in each slice. What do say ? ” 
“Agreed,” cried Charlie, clapping his chubby hands 
with delight, and the coins were carefully deposited in 
each shoe. The boys then hid themselves behind the 
stone wall, and watched through a crevice, to see who 
the owner might be when he should return for his shoes, 
and how their plan was to eml. Imagine their sur¬ 
prise, when they saw a poor old man walking feebly 
along, carrying on his back a bundle of sticks which 
seemed heavy for him to bear. He came directly to the 
place where the shoes were, and when the silver met 
his eyes, he dropped upon his knees, and seemed to utter 
a prayer of thanks. Then he rose, slipped his tired feet 
into the shoes, and returned homeward, not dreaming 
that the kind givers were so near. “ I can scarcely 
help crying,” said Willie. “Don’t be a baby,” replied 
Charlie, “but jump for joy, and be glad that our joke 
has turned out so well.” “You needn’t talk,” said 
Willie, laughing, “for I see tears shining in your own 
eyes. I wish we knew where his home is.” So off they 
started, and overtook the old man, who was resting by 
the roadside, and carefully looking at his silver 
coins, and wondering who could have bestowed that 
generous gift. He was interrupted by Charlie’s voice, 
saying, “Are you tired? Can’t we help you carry yoru’ 
wood?” “We will gladly do it if you will let us” 
chimed in Willie. “Thank you, dear children. I am 
indeed very tired, and will be grateful for your help. 
May blessings be on the little hands so ready to do a 
good turn for others. They trudged along, gaily chat¬ 
ting to the old man, each by turn carrying the bundle 
of wood, and reached the poor little cottage in which 
he lived just as the sun was sinking behind the hills,, 
shedding a golden light over everything, and as the 
