13. A Pleasant Incident.

1. SITTING in a station the other day, I had a little sermon preached in the way I like; and I'll report it for your benefit, because it taught one of the lessons which we all should learn, and taught it in such a natural, simple way that no one could forget it.

2. It was a bleak, snowy day; the train was late; the ladies' room dark and smoky, and the dozen women, old and young, who sat waiting impatiently, all looked cross, low-spirited, or stupid. I felt all three, and thought, as I looked around, that my fellow-beings were a very unamiable, uninteresting set.

3. Just then a forlorn old woman, shaking with palsy, came in with a basket of wares for sale, and went about mutely offering them to the sitters. Nobody bought anything, and the poor old soul stood blinking at the door a minute, as if reluctant to go out into the bitter storm again.

4. She turned presently, and poked about the room, as if trying to find something; and then a pale lady in black, who lay as if asleep on a sofà, opened her eyes, saw the old woman, and instantly asked, in a kind tone, "Have you lost anything, ma'am?"

5. "No, dear. I'm looking for the heatin' place, to have a warm 'fore I goes out again. My eyes is poor, and I don't seem to find the furnace nowheres."

6. "Here it is," and the lady led her to the steam radiator, placed a chair, and showed her how to warm her feet.

7. "Well, now, isn't that nice!" said the old woman, spreading her ragged mittens to dry. "Thanky, dear; this is proper comfortable, isn't it? I'm most froze to-day, bein' lame and wimbly; and not selling much makes me kind of down-hearted."

8. The lady smiled, went to the counter, bought a cup of tea and some sort of food, carried it herself to the old woman, and said, as respectfully and kindly as if the poor woman had been dressed in silk and fur, "Won't you have a cup of hot tea ? It's very comforting such a day as this."

9. "Sakes alive! do they give tea to this dépôt?" cried the old lady, in a tone of innocent surprise that made a smile go round the room, touching the gloomiest face like a streak of sunshine. "Well, now, this is just lovely," added the old lady, sipping away with a relish. "This does warm the cockles of my heart!"

10. While she refreshed herself, telling her story meanwhile, the lady looked over the poor little wares in the basket, bought soap and pins, shoe-strings and tape, and cheered the old soul by paying well for them.

11. As I watched her doing this, I thought what a sweet face she had, though I'd considered her rather plain before. I felt dreadfully ashamed of

myself that I had grimly shaken my head when the basket was offered to me; and as I saw the look of interest, sympathy, and kindliness come into the dismal faces all around me, I did wish that I had been the magician to call it out.

12. It was only a kind word and a friendly act, but somehow it brightened that dingy room wonderfully. It changed the faces of a dozen women, and I think it touched a dozen hearts, for I saw many eyes follow the plain, pale lady with sudden respect; and when the old woman got up to go, several persons beckoned to her and bought something, as if they wanted to repair their first negligence.

13. Old beggar-women are not romantic; neither are cups of tea, boot-laces, and colored soap. There were no gentlemen present to be impressed with the lady's kind act, so it wasn't done for effect, and no possible reward could be received for it except the ungrammatical thanks of a ragged old woman.

14. But that simple little charity was as good as a sermon to those who saw it, and I think each traveler went on her way better for that halfhour in the dreary station. I can testify that one of them did, and nothing but the emptiness of her purse prevented her from "comforting the cockles of the heart" of every forlorn old woman she met for a week after.

LOUISA M. ALCOTT.

Analysis. What is meant by "station"? Give the meaning of "palsy." Of "mutely." What is a "radiator"? What is meant by "lame and wimbly"? By "cockles of the heart"? What is a "magician"? Give the meaning of "testify."

Language Lesson.-Write out in full the words in which the apostrophe is found; such as don't, isn't, 'fore, heatin', etc, What is the use of the apostrophe in these words? What is the use of the hyphen in the words ladies'-room, low-spirited, etc, Write correctly all incorrect sentences in the selection.

14.-The Brook that Would not Stop.

CHILD.

1. LITTLE brook, why hurry away so fast,
And whither do you go,

While flowers and ferns adorn your path?
For much I wish to know.

THE BROOK.

2. "Adown the hillside and through the fields,
Where spring the flowrets gay,

I am moved by a purpose deep and strong,
That shall gladden all my way.

I'm bound for the meadows, I'm bound for
the plains,

To the river I hasten away;

And blessings I bring in my onward course,
For I've something worth doing each day.

3. "The farmer will thank me in time of droughts That such verdure marks my way;

When the grass is parched and the small streams dry,

Then the cattle love hither to stray.

So I hurry on over stumps and stones,
And nothing can make me stay:

Then take home these flowers, and ever seek
To find something worth doing each day.

CHILD.

4. "But the winter will come and bind you fast In his icy fetters strong;

Ah! then, little brook, your voice will be hushed, And I shall not hear your song."

THE BROOK.

5. "Oh! no, fair child, this will not be;
Come and see, some wintry day,
How, 'neath the icy crust above,
My fast-flowing waters play.
And should great difficulties press,
Remember me then, I pray,

And bravely overcoming all,

Find something worth doing each day."

MARY P. HALE.

DEFINITIONS.

Ver'dure, greenness.

Drought (drout), dryness.

Fet'ters, chains; shackles.
Flow'rets, little flowers.