"Oh, you little rogue! Come here and let me pull your ears!" They all
got back to their home in time for a late tea, which mother had kept
warm for them. Walter was kissed and then cuffed; but the cuffs were so
tender, that they made him laugh even more than the kisses.

ALFRED STETSON.

* * * * *




"FLUTTER, FLUTTER!"


Flutter, flutter, with never a stop,
All the leaves have begun to drop;
While the wind, with a skip and a hop,
Goes about gathering in his crop.

Flutter, flutter, on bustling-wings,
All the plump little feathered things:
Thrush and bobolink, finch and jay,
Follow the sun on his holiday.

Flutter, flutter, the snowflakes all
Jostle each other in their fall.
Crowd and push into last year's nest,
And hide the seeds from robin-redbreast.