They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts.--SIR
PHILIP SIDNEY.

"I'VE finished my book, and now what CAN I do till this tiresome
rain is over?" exclaimed Carrie, as she lay back on the couch with a
yawn of weariness.

"Take another and a better book; the house is full of them, and this
is a rare chance for a feast on the best," answered Alice, looking
over the pile of volumes in her lap, as she sat on the floor before
one of the tall book-cases that lined the room.

"Not being a book-worm like you, I can't read forever, and you
needn't sniff at 'Wanda,' for it's perfectly thrilling!" cried
Carrie, regretfully turning the crumpled leaves of the Seaside
Library copy of that interminable and impossible tale.

"We should read to improve our minds, and that rubbish is only a
waste of time," began Alice, in a warning tone, as she looked up
from "Romola," over which she had been poring with the delight one
feels in meeting an old friend.

"I don't WISH to improve my mind, thank you: I read for amusement in
vacation time, and don't want to see any moral works till next
autumn. I get enough of them in school. This isn't 'rubbish'! It's
full of fine descriptions of scenery--"