Hath made and loveth all."

[Illustration]




"MAY I POP SOME CORN?"


"May I pop some corn?" asked Eddie.

"Yes," answered his mother; and laying down her work, she went to the
closet and got for him several small ears--some red and some
white--the kernels of which where not half so large as those of common
corn.

Eddie took a white bowl and sat down on the carpet by his mother with
the tiny ears in his apron. He worked away for some time, shelling
first one ear and then another, till every little kernel was in the
bowl, and nothing but cobs left. These he thought would help to build
a "log-house," so he put them in his play-box, with those he had
treasured before, and took his bowl to the kitchen.

Kate, the cook, was a coloured woman, and she loved children. When he
said to her, "Mother told me I might pop some corn," she cheerfully
placed the iron pan on the stove, and when it was hot enough, told him
he might put in the corn. Pretty soon it went Pop! pop! pop! till the
pan was filled with snow-white kernels. Eddie always wondered how they
could turn inside out and suddenly grow so large. He did not