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THE HOUR-GLASS.

THIS little boy and girl are helping the village clerk to decorate the old church for Christmas. Do you see the hour-glass fixed on to the pulpit by the side of the cushion? That is to tell the clergyman how the time goes, so that he may not preach too long a sermon. Formerly, before clocks and watches were invented, people used to measure time by the sand running through an hour-glass; when it had half run out, half an hour had gone, and when it had all run out an hour had gone; and then they turned it up, to run through again. We should not like to have to take all that trouble now-a-days to find out the time, should we? It is much easier to look at the clock and learn exactly what the hour is, than to study the sand of the hour-glass, or the shadow on the sun-dial, as our forefathers were obliged to do.

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THE FORGE.

WHAT a fine sight a blacksmith's forge is! No wonder children are always attracted by it, and

"Love to see the flaming forge
And hear the bellows roar,

And watch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff on a threshing-floor."

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Iron becomes so soft when it is heated, that you can join two pieces of it together as easily as you can two pieces of hot sealing-wax. The blacksmith, however, does not make his iron quite so soft as this, but he makes it red-hot, and then puts it on his anvil and hammers it into the shape he wants with his great hammer. He is making a horse-shoe now, which he will soon nail on to the horse's hoof; for horses do not have their shoes buttoned on, like little children, but they have them nailed on; and this does not hurt them, for their feet are not soft like ours, but hard and horny, and are called hoofs.

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THE BROWN BEAR.

THE brown bear is a very unsociable and solemn individual. He does not like being dragged about by a chain and made to dance at fairs to amuse little children, but he likes to wander about alone in the deep forests, where daylight can scarcely be seen through the thick trees. When the winter comes on, he finds out some snug cave, and curls himself up in it, and goes to sleep until the spring. He does not eat anything all that time; indeed, he cannot get out to get any food, for the snow comes and blocks up the mouth of his cave, and he is completely shut in. But he does not care for that, for he is fast asleep, and the snow keeps him nice and warm, and his breath melts a hole in the snow just sufficient to let a little air in for him to breathe. When the spring comes, he wakes up and goes in search of food. I should think he must be very hungry after having fasted all the winter.

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