picked up in Regent Street-literally picked up. She had fallen down giddy and fainting, and was brought here in a cab by a policeman. The puzzle and mystery it has been to us you can imagine."

"I never can be thankful enough-I never can be thankful enough," was the only reply made to this. "I had begun to despair of ever hearing of her again. I never can be thankful enough, never."

Then he turned suddenly to the doctor, and asked him when he might go and see her.

turned aside, and pretended to look out of the window.

Then he asked, "How did she come here?" "That I can tell you-but not a word before that-for she refuses to say anything. She was

"She is sleeping now, and you might take a look at her if you will be careful not to wake her. Joy does not often do harm, still, it is more prudent just yet to avoid any great excitement."

The two men walked softly into the room, and

up to the bed wherein Rose lay. Very earnestly were the dark eyes of the stranger bent upon the child's face, while again moisture gathered in them ; but as he looked she quietly opened hers, and returned the gaze.

"Uncle Archie! Oh, Uncle Archie !" she cried, and the next instant had flung herself into his arms. "My Rosie! my darling! my child! Oh, how could you, how could you, leave me?"

For a few minutes Rosie gave herself up to this perfect happiness, and did not attempt to deprive herself of it; then recollections came, and she sank back from his arms on to her pillows.

"Ah!" she cried, "you are not Uncle Archie." "My own pet, what do you mean?"

"I know all I saw all-Aileen's father, who should have been mine, and you kissing her, and saying, ' You are my niece.””

She shuddered and hid her face at the memory. It was some little time before Uncle Archie understood her meaning, but when he did so he looked at her with the tenderest reproach.

"My own little Rose," he said, "as if that could make any difference! Don't you know that it is you I love, and that I love you better than any one else? I did not love you because you were my niece, but I loved my niece because she was you.”

A new light-the light of a possible great joybegan to dawn in Rose's heart.

"Don't you know that I want you more than ever now, my darling? Only, only think, Rosie, if you had been my niece, I must have lost you. You must have gone to live with your father, you must have been his child, and his comfort, and his joy, not mine-you could never, never more have belonged to me. However much we might have loved each other, you would have belonged to him, not to me; but now you are more than ever my own."

In the ineffable happiness of this idea Rose lay quite still and contented for some time, just holding his hand in both hers, and pressing it, and smiling at him now and then. When she spoke at last, she said a little timidly, "Uncle Archie, you know I have no name-I am not Miss Burke. You won't mind that, will you? My parents may have been servants, you know, quite poor people—are you sure you won't mind?"

There was a tremor in her voice from its very carnestness, and he laughed a little as he kissed her and answered her.

"I should not mind it in the least, darling, if it were the case. You are my own little Rosie, and as long as you are a good girl I care for nothing else."

Here his own little Rose pressed his hand fervently, and smiled through the tears in her eyes.

"But I have not got it not to mind; my brother, Aileen's father, knows all about you. Your father was a Colonel Lyons; your mother died years ago. He was bringing you home himself, and was lost with all the others when the ship went down. But there is nothing in your father or your family for you to be ashamed of, my Rosie ; and the best of it all is that, as it happens, you have no uncles or aunts, or even cousins to claim you, you have only a few very distant relatives; and I will be your Uncle Archie to the end of time. You had one aunt, your father's sister, Miss Milicent Lyons, to whom he was taking you, but she is dead. You are mine entirely.” "God is very good," said Rose softly.

Yes, my darling, God is very good."

When Rose grew stronger, of course there was a great deal to be said between her uncle and herself, and then very gently, but very gravely too, he pointed out to her how wrong it had been of her to run away, and all the dreadful misery she might have brought. She, who had never forgotten her re pentance and prayer in the cabin of the ship was quite able to see by the light that had come to her then, and has never left her since, how naughty she had been, and how she ought to have waited patiently for whatever it was God's will for her to bear; and she saw that her conduct towards Uncle Archie in running away from him had really been ungrate ful, though her heart was full of the most intense gratitude and love for him all the time. She confessed her faults humbly, and prayed him to forgive her; nor did she forget to ask forgiveness from her Heavenly Father as well.

And so, with her dear Uncle Archie by her bedside, Rose recovered rapidly. He took lodgings in London, and as soon as she was well enough she was removed there, and then Uncle Donough, as Rose soon learned to call him, brought Aileen over to them, and a very happy party they were. But Rose behaved very differently to Aileen in the future from what she had done in the past. She did not grow humble and meek, and cease to be jealous, all at once-people never can get rid, in a day, of faults which they have permitted to become the habit of years; but now that she had recognised these feelings as faults, she set herself to work steadily and cheerfully to conquer them, and was as successful as people always are who do this, if they know that they cannot succeed unless they ask God to help them.

And so Aileen lived with her father, and Rose with Mr. Burke, and they were all of them as happy as they could be. In fact, I may conclude in the words familiar to us all, in which the stories of our childhood used to end, "they lived happy ever after."

OXES may be ornamented in various ways. They may be painted or covered with suitable materials to use for holding work, gloves, handkerchiefs, &c. Old cigar-boxes can be easily converted into pretty receptacles for keeping scraps, odds and ends of ribbon, lace, and such like.

They may be stained dark oak colour with ordinary stain-directions for its application are given with the bottle-and afterwards painted with some fanciful design; or a black or grey ground may be preferred. We shall not here give instructions for painting in oil, as most of our readers probably have a box of water-colours, and oil paints are not so pleasant to use.

For painting, red sable brushes, the colours, a bottle of Chinese white, and some size are required. The wood must be perfectly smooth; if there are any irregularities on the surface they must be rubbed down with fine glass-paper. It is then covered with a layer of thin size, and set aside to dry. Another coating of the same is next washed over it and also dried. The object of thus preparing the wood is to stop the absorption of the colours that would otherwise follow their application.

The design chosen for the ornamentation may be drawn at once on the wood with a pencil, if it is light coloured; or if the worker does not feel competent thus to sketch direct on the box, the design may be transferred in the following manner. First make the sketch perfect on drawing-paper; lay some tracing-paper on it and go over each outline with a sharply-cut pencil. The tracing-paper must be fixed, or held firmly with the left hand that it shall not move in the slightest degree, or the drawing will be incorrect. Place the tracing in the right position on the lid of the box, and carefully slip some black transfer-paper underneath without allowing the tracing to be shifted in the least. Go over the whole tracing again lightly with an ivory point made purposely, or with a hard pencil. When the papers are removed, the outlines are seen distinctly on the box.

For black, or very dark grounds, red transferpaper would be used, as the black lines would not be visible.

The box is now ready for painting. This is done with what are termed body colours-that is, colours mixed with Chinese white; a small quantity

is added to every tint. Sometimes the painting is done in a different manner. The design is filled in with a layer of Chinese white, and after it is dry is painted in the ordinary way, namely without the addition of white to the colours. The first may be found the easier plan, but after a trial or two the artist will most likely be able to manage either equally well. If a black ground is desired the box is painted over evenly with lamp-black, mixed with a few drops of gum arabic. It is dried and afterwards varnished.

White wood articles of many kinds may be procured-fans, easels, frames, paper-knives, serviette rings, pin-cushions, plates, are amongst the number. The design should not be too elaborate, the simplest being often the most effective. Flowers composed of only a few petals, such as the wild rose, are charming for such work. Lay a spray carelessly across the cover; it need by no means be invariably arranged in the centre. A corner spray will constantly display truer artistic taste than a formally placed centre ornament. Let a butterfly lightly settle on one of the blossoms, while another hovers near, and the decoration is complete.

On a black ground, poppies, corn-flowers, and wheat show well. On grey, pansies or forget-menots; on brown, yellow blooms, such as daffodils, cowslips, and yellow jasmine. Swallows are often used advantageously for decorative purposes.

Sometimes the boxes are fitted with divisions to serve as tea-caddies, but to be really useful they should be lined in the same way as those bought at shops. Box pin-cushions are again fashionable for the toilet-table. They are covered with glazed lining, over that figured muslin is laid, trimmed with lace. All shapes are used, square, round, and horse-shoe. A more elaborate style is to cover the lid with satin, bearing an embroidered spray of flowers, and to put on a full box plaited ruche of the same, to fall down over the sides; inside pockets can be added. The lid is padded to hold the pins. On coloured sateen, white sateen flowers are appliqué; coarse flourishing thread is used for the stitches and outlines. Coloured jean is another appropriate material, and may also be embroidered. White jean may be etched with pen and ink. Marking ink is used, as Indian ink, although it works well, will not bear washing. Mats should be made to correspond with these box pin-cushions.

Round wooden boxes can be made exceedingly pretty by first painting and varnishing them, then lining and finishing them off with a piece of satin

or velvet that forms a bag, which is drawn up with ribbon strings, or cord; the satin is doubled back at the top to leave a heading.

There is another method of embellishing white wooden boxes that some may fancy. The silhouettes now given in some of the magazines and papers are quite in vogue for decorations. They can be cut out and pasted on the lid, but unless very neatly done will not be successful. Sharp scissors should be used, and in pasting care is required not to tear or injure the delicate fine work in which consists their beauty. Or they may be

traced off according to our former directions for tracing, and the design filled in with black. After they are dry, a coat of varnish is laid over the whole. Silhouette landscapes, wedding processions, groups of children at play, hunting scenes, could all be employed. The design must, however, accord with the space to be filled; if too small it will appear insignificant, while on the contrary, if too large, no margin of white wood will be retained, and, in consequence, the effect will be disappointing. Like an engraving in this respect the white ground throws up the picture itself.

was

a

EKOE Chinese merchant; he traded in all sorts of commodities, silk, crape, nankeen fans, carved ivory, and beautiful pieces of porcelain. And his shop was thronged with customers from morning till night,for that which was written up in large gilt letters on a huge board which every one could see was perfectly true, namely"POU-HOU."

which means, "There is no cheating here." Several who looked at the sign laughed contemptuously, and said

"Poo-ooh, we do not believe it."

But, nevertheless, it was quite true, whether they believed it or not. Pekoe was an honest merchant, and did not cheat at all. He was also very rich, and nobody could tell how much money he had, but people nodded so fast when they spoke of it, that one expected to see their pigtails fall off; and as for eyebrows, they rose almost to the crowns of their heads with astonishment.

Pekoe had three daughters whose feet were smaller than any that had ever been seen in China. Orange-Flower, the eldest girl, had very small feet; Heart of Roses, the second, had even smaller; whilst Pearl of the Sea, the youngest, had the smallest of all. Pearl of the Sea was her father's favourite, and anything she asked him to do he would do for her willingly, as she knew well.

BEAST.

There was a square garden to Pekoe's house, and all kinds of Chinese flowers grew in it, and made it look very gay. There were plenty of China asters and Japanese lilies, also a fountain and a small kiosk with bells hanging round that tinkled pleasantly in the wind; above all, there was a pool with gold fish in it and a bridge and two doves, and a willow-tree just as one sees in the willow-pattern plate. The three daughters of Pekoe thought it the most beautiful spot in the world, partly because they were very happy in it, and partly because they had never travelled from home, and knew nothing about other places.

So it was that they were quite content with their garden, and when Pekoe had it lighted up with lanterns, and engaged a band of musicians to play upon the Pien-king with its sixteen notes of stone, and the drums and the bamboo flutes, and the bells, they felt as if it were no other than enchanted land.

Pearl of the Sea and her sisters were very happy, they had everything that they could wish for, and their long vests were of the richest stuff and embroidery; and as for their shoes, it is impossible to tell how fine they were. The girls had all long black hair rolled up and fastened with gold pins, and jewelled butterflies; they had as many bracelets and bangles and rings and jewellery as they could desire; their fans might have furnished a shop; whilst the gorgeous parasols their attendants held over them were the handsomest that could be procured.

II.

ONE day, after Pekoe had been drinking tea with his daughters, he said

"My children, to-morrow I go a long journey to buy some merchandise; I shall see many fine things, and whatever you ask for I will bring."

PEKOE

HAD BEEN

DRINKING TEA WITH

HIS DAUGHTERS" (p.

332).

said Pearl

of the Sea. "Nonsense," said Pekoe; "I must bring

you a pre

sent. But your sisters may choose first."

"I want a tortoiseshell cabinet inlaid with silver to put my jewels in," said Orange-flower.

"And I will have a porcelain vase painted in the most beautiful manner possible," said Heart of Roses.

"Yes, my children, you shall have them,"

answered Pekoe; "and you, Pearl of the Sea?"

"Nothing," she replied.

"That will not do; I must bring you something."

Then Pearl laughed.

"Well," said she, " if you are anywhere near the Great Wall you may bring me a bit of it, and then I shall have something that no one else in the city has."

Pekoe nodded his head.

"You shall have it, and a present besides." "No, only a bit of the Great Wall. I don't care for anything else."

III.

PEKOE started early the next morning, and did not see his daughters, as they were still fast asleep. When they awoke their first thought was of their father's journey, and of the presents he was to bring them.

"And why do you want a bit of the Great Wall, Pearl?" asked Orange-Flower.

"I don't want it."

66 Why did you ask for it ?"

"Oh, because I had to ask for something, and it suddenly came into my mind."

"I wonder why it did?"

"I don't know, but I've been dreaming of it all night, and it seemed as if I heard hammers going and a voice singing

"Who chips the Wall

Shall have a fall."

"for

"That's nonsense," said Heart of Roses, father would not climb up to the top, he would just chip a bit where he could reach. I am quite sure he would."

"Yes," added Orange-Flower.

But Pearl of the Sea did not say anything, for the voice seemed still humming in her ear

"Who chips the Wall

Shall have a fall."

And she did not like it. If it would only be quiet for a moment. But no, it went on, and it sounded everywhere; it bubbled up from her cup of tea, and it was singing in the spray of the fountain; the doves were cooing it, the bells were ringing it, and it almost deafened her. At last she said-

"I wish I hadn't asked for a bit of the Wall."