the bank, by placing worms upon it I soon had them leaping out and
sliding down like so many boys coasting in the winter. That they
afterward did it for amusement I know, as I often watched them
unobserved when there was nothing to attract but the fun of sliding.
This kind of amusement is not uncommon with many other animals,
particularly seals, which delight in making "slides" on the icy
shores.





[ILLUSTATION]

THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH

BY MRS. CLARA DOTY BATES.


Old Granny Cricket's rocking-chair,
Creakety-creak, creakety-creak!--
Back and forth, and here and there,
Squeakety-squeak, squeakety-squeak!--
On the hearth-stone, every night,
Rocks and rocks in the cheery light.
Little old woman, dressed in black,
With spindling arms and a crooked back,
She sits with a cap on her wise old head,
And her eyes are fixed on the embers red;
She does not sing, she does not speak,