BEFORE.

Before I was a little girl I was a little bird,

I could not laugh, I could not dance, I could not speak a word;

But all about the woods I went and up into the sky—

And isn't it a pity I've forgotten how to fly?

I often came to visit you. I used to sit and sing

Upon our purple lilac bush that smells so sweet in Spring;

But when you thanked me for my song of course you never knew

I soon should be a little girl and come to live with you.

R. F.

"Arbitration is to be adopted first in disputes between members of the League, then meditation by the Council."—Liverpool Paper.