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id she would not accompany him.

Poor Mischief lay down in despair, and, after his hard morning's work,
took a long nap, only waking in time for his dinner. The next day he was
put into a warm box, carried to the station, and after a three days'
journey arrived in Milwaukee, happy, well, and delighted with his new
master, apparently quite forgetting his little mistress whom he left in
her New Hampshire home.

WILLIE AND HIS DOG DIVER

BY H. N. POWERS

Willie was a very little child and lived near a mill. One day he saw a
big cruel boy come along and throw a little puppy into the mill-pond,
and then run away. Willie cried out: "O Papa, Papa, do come here!"

"What is the matter?" said his papa.

"Oh, Papa! I want the little doggie! Please get him for me. He will be
drowned!"

His papa took a long pole and put it under the puppy's neck and pulled
it out of the water and gave it to Willie. He was very happy with his
dog, which, by next year, grew to be a big, strong, shaggy fellow, and
was named Diver. He used to go with Willie everywhere the boy went, and
he loved Willie very much. Everybody said: "What a beautiful dog!" and
Willie was proud of him.

One day when the nuts were ripe, Willie took his basket and went to pick
hazelnuts. One big bush full of nuts hung over a deep place in the
mill-pond, and, as Willie reached for the top branch, he slipped and
fell in the water out of sight. But when he came up, Diver jumped in,
took him by his collar, and brought him safe to land. So if it was good
for Willie to save the dog's life when he was a little puppy, it was
good for the dog to save Willie's life when _he_ was a little boy.

And that was Diver's way of thanking Willie for saving his life. It was
a very good way, too! And Willie and Diver were always the best of
friends.

GORDON'S TOY CASTLE ON THE HILL

BY EVERETT WILSON

Last Christmas little Gordon Bruce had a fine, large Christmas tree and
lots of toys, just as a great many other nice boys and girls had. The
tree was up in his playroom, a great, big, sunny room that used to be
called the "nursery" when he was a baby.

A few days after Christmas, Gordon's mother said: "Now, Gordon, I think
we will have to take down your Christmas tree, for it is getting all
dried up, and the little pine needles are dropping all over the floor,
and the maid has to sweep them up every day."

Gordon was sorry to have the tree taken down, for it looked so bright
and Christmas-y, and he knew it would be a whole year before he would
have another Christmas tree, so he asked his mother if she wouldn't wait
just one day more. I think that is the way almost all the girls and boys
feel. And his mother said she would wait until to-morrow.

It was a rainy day, and as none of his little friends were with him, he
began to play with all his toys one after the other; there were many of
them, and some of the little ones were still hanging on the tree.

Gordon's father came from Scotland, and he had read to Gordon many
stories of the old days in Scotland, when the great generals and the
noble lords lived in strong castles set high up on the mountains, so
that the soldiers could not get near them. Now among Gordon's Christmas
presents was a tiny castle just like the ones he had seen in the books
his father read the stories from; and with this castle came a lot of
soldiers.

So this day Gordon got out his castle and soldiers and began to play
with them. First he got a chair and put a big, thick rug over it to make
it look like a steep hill; then he set the castle on top of the hill and
stood the soldiers on the ground at the bottom of the hill--all in a
row. He was making believe that the soldiers were trying to get up to
the castle. Then he dropped some beautiful colored glass marbles, that
his Uncle George had given him, down on the floor of the castle. The
marbles rolled out of the front door of the castle and down the rug to
the bottom of the hill, and bang! they would bump right against the tall
soldiers and tumble them down. One after another Gordon would roll the
marbles down until by and by every one of the soldiers would be knocked
over, and as they were only wooden soldiers, of course they couldn't get
up by themselves. Then Gordon would stand them all up in a row again and
roll the marbles down the hill until not a single soldier was standing.
It was lots of fun for Gordon, for you know it really didn't hurt the
soldiers a bit, for they were only made of wood and their uniforms were
just red and blue paint.

The next day Gordon's mother took down the tree, and packed up the
beautiful things that were on it, and put them away until next
Christmas.

 [Illustration: GORDON'S MAKE-BELIEVE CASTLE ON THE HILL.]

HANS THE INNOCENT

WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY M. I. WOOD

Once upon a time there was a woman called Mrs. Stockchen and she had a
son named Hans. They lived together in a little cottage and they had a
hen and a cow.

One morning Mrs. Stockchen said to her son: "Hans, my dear, will you
take Cowslip, the cow, to pasture, and remember not to be late for
supper." "Very well," said Hans, and he took up his stick and started
for the field.

The sun was very hot when he got there, and seeing a row of five shady
trees, he lay down underneath them and fell asleep in two seconds. He
snored with his mouth open. Cowslip had been watching him and when she
saw his eyes close, she said, "Now! here's my chance!" and, jumping over
the fence, she ran away.

Hans stopped snoring and awoke at supper-time. He looked for Cowslip,
but she had disappeared; he ran about calling for her, but she did not
come; and at last he went home to his mother with a very sad face and
said: "Oh, mother, Cowslip ran away while I was asleep. I have looked
for her and cannot find her anywhere."

"You lazy, careless, naughty, careless, naughty, lazy Boy!" cried Mrs.
Stockchen. "You have left my poor cow wandering all alone. She will lose
her way in the dark. Just you go and find her this instant. You will get
no supper till you bring her back, or my name is not Matilda Maria!"

Mrs. Stockchen had grown quite scarlet with rage and she shook the
soup-ladle at her son to make him go faster. It was getting quite dark
by the time Hans reached the field again and nowhere did he see any
trace of the cow. He did not know in what direction she had gone, so he
walked round and round the field, feeling very miserable.

Just as 10 o'clock was striking, Cowslip stepped out from behind a tree,
and kneeling at Hans's feet, said in a choking voice, "I am really very
sorry, Hans." "Well," said Hans, "I am sorry too, but let us get home
now." So they set out, tired and rather cross.

But when they came within sight of the light in their own cottage
window, they met two soldiers who stopped them, and asked what they were
doing out so late. "We're just going home," said Hans. "Why," said the
soldiers "you ought to have been there two hours ago."

"Well, I couldn't help it," said Hans, "this cow ran awa

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