"Now, my dear children," said he, "I am going to amuse you. Look here!"

He picked up some dry sticks. He blew at the ends of the sticks, and at once they became sprays of beautiful cherry, plum, and peach blossoms.

He pa.s.sed a branch of each of the flowers to the girls.

Then he took a stone and threw it into the air. The stone turned into a dove!

Another stone became an eagle, another a nightingale, or any bird a boy chose to name.

"Now," said the old man, "I will show you some animals that I am sure will make you laugh."

The children clapped their hands.

He recited some verses, and a company of monkeys came leaping upon the rock. The monkeys jumped about, grinning at the same time and performing funny tricks.

The children clapped their hands again.

Then the old man bowed to them and said, "Children, I can play no more games to-day. It is time for you to go back to the village. Farewell!"

The old man turned to go. He went up the mountain in the direction of a cave. The children tried to follow him, but in spite of his age he was more nimble than they. They ran far enough, however, to see him enter the cave.

When they reached the entrance, the old man had disappeared.

The cave was surrounded by fragrant flowers; but into its depths the children did not dare to go.

Suddenly one of the girls pointed upwards, crying, "There is the old grandfather!"

The others looked up, and there, standing on a cloud over the top of the mountain, was the old man.

"Let us go home now," said one of the boys.

On the way, they met two men of the village, whom their parents had sent to search for them.

When the children had told their story, one of the men exclaimed, "Ah, happy children! The kind old man is surely Sennin, the wonderful Hermit of the Mountain!"

FOREIGN CHILDREN

Little Indian, Sioux or Crow, Little frosty Eskimo, Little Turk or j.a.panee, O! Don't you wish that you were me?

You have seen the scarlet trees And the lions over seas; You have eaten ostrich eggs, And turned the turtles off their legs.

Such a life is very fine, But it's not so nice as mine; You must often, as you trod, Have wearied NOT to be abroad.

You have curious things to eat, I am fed on proper meat; You must dwell beyond the foam, But I am safe and live at home.

Little Turk or j.a.panee, O! Don't you wish that you were me?

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

GREAT AND LITTLE BEAR

Callisto was a beautiful woman whom the G.o.d Jupiter admired.

The G.o.ddess Juno was very angry because Jupiter was kind to Callisto.

She decided to be revenged.

"I will take away her beauty, so that no one shall admire her," said Juno.

Night and day she thought and planned, until she found a way to punish Callisto.

One morning as the fair and gentle Callisto was gathering wild flowers in a field, she was suddenly changed into a bear. Then she was driven into a forest near by.

"You shall live in this forest forever! A cave under the rocks shall be your home!" exclaimed Juno.

Although she had the form of a bear, Callisto was still a woman at heart. She feared all the animals that she met.

The hunting dogs frightened her, and she would hide in terror from the hunters.

One day a young man was hunting in the forest. Callisto recognized him at once as her son Arcas.

She rushed toward her son to embrace him, but thinking the bear was going to attack him, Arcas lifted his hunting spear.

As he was about to strike the bear, Jupiter appeared. The G.o.d s.n.a.t.c.hed away the spear just in time to save Callisto's life.

Jupiter took both Callisto and Arcas, and placed them in the sky.

Callis...o...b..came the Great Bear, and Arcas the Little Bear.

They have remained in the sky ever since. On pleasant nights you can see them in the sky, as they move around the North Star.

THE BOY AND THE SHEEP

"Lazy sheep, pray tell me why In the pleasant field you lie, Eating gra.s.s and daisies white, From the morning till the night: Everything can something do, But what kind of use are you?"

"Nay, my little master, nay, Do not serve me so, I pray!

Don't you see the wool that grows On my back to make you clothes?

Cold, ah, very cold you'd be, If you had not wool from me!