SUSIE'S DANCING-LESSON.
HEN Susie is fretful and peevish,—which, I am glad to say, is not often,—there is nobody who can put her in good humor so quickly as her grown-up sister Ann. She knows just how to deal with the little girl.
Thus Ann will say, "What is the matter, Susie? Are you hungry? No. Are you sleepy? Not a bit of it. Do you want me to tell you a story? No. Are you tired? No. I have it: you want a good dose of exercise. That is the very thing you need. Come here now, and I'll give you a dancing-lesson."
She takes Susie's hands, and whirls her out on the floor before she has time to say a word. Then Ann begins to sing,—
"Here we go up, up, up,
And here we go down, down, down-y;
Here we go this way and that,
And here we go round, round, round-y,"
dancing all the time, and whisking Susie about the room in such a lively way, that the child has to laugh in spite of herself. Susie soon gets in great glee, and always wants to have another dance.
"What!" says Ann. "Haven't you had dancing enough? Well, then, how would you like a fancy dance? Mind your steps now. Do as you see me do. Keep time with the music.
"Up and down, fast and slow,
Hop and skip, and away we go;
Round and round, and jump Jim Crow:
Oh, won't we dance the polka!"
So the little girl is danced about until she has to stop to take breath; and by that time she is so full of fun, that there is no room for a frown on her pretty face.
JANE OLIVER.
