town, and that often they could not obtain the quantity they needed, because so many were required for the shoes. of the army, most of which were made in that district. 6. The young Von Berg, who already saw himself threatened with starvation, remembered that he knew perfectly the art of making shoe-nails. He offered to supply the shoemakers of the village with as large a quantity of nails as they required, if they would only establish a workshop, and to this they cheerfully consented. He began to work with enthusiasm, and soon found himself in easy circumstances. 7. "It is always good," he used often to say to himself, "to learn something, if it be only to make a shoe-nail. There are positions in life where head-learning cannot be called into play, and where want may threaten even those who have been wealthy. It is well to provide for such exigencies by having some useful trade at our finger ends." The water! the water! That ever-bubbling spring I loved and looked on when a child, In deepest wondering, And asked it whence it came and went, III. The water! the water! The merry wanton brook That sang so sweet at noon, And from the little fairy faces That gleam in heaven's remotest places. IV. The water! the water! The dear and blessed thing, On its banks blossoming. The water! the water! That roll'd so bright and free, And bade me mark how beautiful And how it glanced to heaven its wave, MOTHERWELL. EXERCISE. 1. The brook singeth through the still night. 2. It flows on freely. 3. It loves to give happiness to all around it. 4. The merry playful brook curved to please me. 5. Fairy faces shine in heaven's most distant places. 6. The water fed the tiny flowers blooming on its banks. 7. Wandering on, it sought its final resting-place. A WONDERFUL PARROT. 99 M XL.-A WONDERFUL PARROT. R. JESSE, an English writer upon natural history, tells of an extraordinary parrot, which was owned by a lady in Hampton Court. He made inquiry about it of the owner's sister, and received from her the following account, which he gives in her own words: 2. "As you wished me," she says, "to write down whatever I could collect about my sister's wonderful parrot, I proceed to do so, only promising that I will tell you nothing but what I can vouch for having myself heard. 3. "Her laugh is quite extraordinary, and it is impossible to help joining in it one's self, more especially when in the midst of it she cries out 'Don't make me laugh so! I shall die! I shall die!' 4. "Her crying and sobbing are curious; and if you say 'Poor Poll, what is the matter?' she says, 'So bad, so bad; got such a cold!' Then after crying some time she will gradually cease, and, making a noise like drawing a long breath, say, 'Better now,' and begin to laugh. 5. "The first time I ever heard her speak was one day when I was talking with the maid at the bottom of the stairs. I heard what I then supposed to be a child call out the maid's name, 'Payne!' and then saying 'I'm not well; I'm not well.' I asked 'What is the matter with that child?' She replied, 'It is only the parrot; she always does so when I leave her alone, to make me come back.' And so it proved, for on her going into the room the parrot stopped, and then began laughing quite in a jeering way. 6. "It is singular enough that, whenever she is affronted in any way she begins to cry, and when pleased, to laugh. If any one happens to cough or sneeze, she says, 'What a bad cold!' 7. "One day, when the children were playing with her, the maid came into the room, and on their repeating to her several things which the parrot had said, Poll looked up, and said quite plainly, 'No, I didn't.' 162733 8. "Sometimes, when she is inclined to be mischievous, the maid threatens to beat her, and she often says, 'No, you won't.' 9. "She calls the cat very plainly, saying 'Puss, Puss!' and then answers 'Mew.' But the most amusing part is, that whenever I want to make her call it, and to that purpose say 'Puss, Puss!' myself, she always answers ‘Mew,' till I begin mewing, and then she begins calling 'Puss' as quick as possible. 10. "She imitates every kind of noise, and barks so naturally that I have known her to set all the dogs on the parade at Hampton Court barking, and I dare say, if the truth was known, wondering what was barking at them. And the consternation I have seen her cause in a party of hens by her crowing and clucking, has been the most ludicrous thing possible. 11. "She sings just like a child, and I have more than once thought it was a human being. It is most ridiculous to hear her make what one would call a false note, and then say 'Oh, la!' and burst out laughing herself, beginning again in quite another key. 12. "She is very fond of singing 'Buy a broom!' which she says quite plainly. But in the same spirit as in calling the cat, if we say with a view to make her repeat it, 'Buy a broom!' she always says 'Buy a brush!' and then laughs as a child might do when mischievous. 13. "She often performs a kind of exercise which I do not know how to describe, except by saying that it is like the lance exercise. She puts her claw behind her, first one side and then on the other, then in front, and round over her head, and whilst doing so, keeps saying 'Come on, come on!' and when finished, says 'Bravo! beautiful!' and draws herself up. 14. "Before I was as well acquainted with her as I am now, she would stare in my face for some time, and then sayHow d'ye do, ma'am?' This she invariably does to strangers. THE SUMMER SQUALL. 101 15. One day I went into the room where she was, and said, to try her, 'Poll, where is Payne gone?' and to my astonishment, and almost dismay, she said 'Down stairs.' 16. "I cannot at this moment recollect anything more that I can vouch for myself, and do not choose to trust to what I am told; but from what I have myself seen and heard, she has almost made me a believer in transmigra tion." 66 XLI. THE SUMMER SQUALL. G I. OODNESS gracious! what's the matter? Run and shut the chamber windows! While the chimneys moan and mutter; II. What a clamor! what a clatter! The swift, slant rain begins to patter; Run to the nearest trees for shelter; The old hen calls her skulking chickens; |