"BALLAD OF THE LOST HARE."

NOW all you Pansies who have grown too old to enjoy sweet cunning things written on purpose for five and six and seven-year-old Blossoms, may skip this article.

The gray-headed fathers and mothers, and the dear sweet grandmothers who never grow old, will enjoy it as much as the darlings themselves; but I am aware that there is an age somewhere between ten and sixteen when almost everything that the babies can enjoy is "too young!" All those are requested not to listen, while I tell about the "Ballad Of The Lost Hare." A big book, with a bright cover, and with a great many colored pictures large and bright, and with the cunningest little story running all through the book, about a poor little, dear little, naughty little hare.

Yes, I am going to copy just a bit of the introduction for you. Listen:

Far from wild, far from wood,
In a field rich and good;
Near to hill and winding glade,
Lived the naughtiest Hare, ever was made.
Father scolded, mother whipped,
But every day away he slipped.
Brothers three, and sisters two,
Cried and cried, as off he flew.
Sore-sore-sore was the sobbing,
Wild-wild-wild was his race;
Only the woods to echo his footsteps,
Only the winds his hiding place.

After the introduction, come the stories of his adventures; and the pictures of them. Oh! but you would be so sorry for him if you could see the cow, and the goat, and the pony that scared him nearly out of his small wits!

And then the conclusion! Ah me, the sad ending of it all!

Do you suppose he wishes his home to see,
His sisters two, and his brothers three?
Would he like to lie down in his own little bed?
And does he recall what his father said?

OFF HE FLEW.

There! I mustn't tell you any more, or the whole story will be out. Buy it, my darlings, and read it for yourselves; it is in nice clear print. Or, if you haven't quite managed that business of reading yet, let me whisper a word in your ear: those wise old brothers and sisters of yours, who have known how to read these five years, and are ciphering in fractions, and writing essays on "Spring," will be willing to read the story, just to please you, you know, not for their own amusement, at all; oh no! Try them.

Now who do you think wrote it for you?

Who but Margaret Sidney herself! the author of "Five Little Peppers," which you liked so much; and the author of "Kensington Junior," and you know how many more nice things. Of course you will want the book.

The price? Oh yes, surely, I had almost forgotten. Why, it has a special price on purpose for the wee P. S. Blossoms. Only sixty cents. Think of it!

A mother, whose five children have read Wide Awake in her company from its first number to its latest, writes: "I like the magazine because it is full of Impulses. Another thing—when I lay it down I feel as if I had been walking on breezy hill-tops."

SIX ILLUSTRATED SERIALS:

Every boy who sailed in fancy the late exciting races of the Puritan and the Genesta, and all lovers of sea stories, will enjoy these two stories of Newport and Ocean Yachting, by Charles Remington Talbot.

Mrs. Harriet Prescott Spofford, in this delicious White Mountain Romance, writes her first young folks' magazine serial.

Margaret Sidney writes these two amusing Adventure Serials for Little Folks. Thirty-six illustrations each.

VI. A Six Months' Story (title to be announced), by Charles Egbert Craddock, author of Down the Ravine.

ROYAL GIRLS AND ROYAL COURTS.

By Mrs. John Sherwood. This series, brilliant and instructive, will begin in the Christmas number and run through the year.

A CYCLE OF CHILDREN.

By Elbridge S. Brooks. Illustrations by Howard Pyle. Twelve historical stories celebrating twelve popular holidays.

STORIES OF AMERICAN WARS.

Thrilling incidents in our various American warfares. Each story will have a dramatic picture. The first six are:

IN PERIL.

A romantic dozen of adventures, but all strictly true. Each story will be illustrated. The first six are:

YOUTH IN TWELVE CENTURIES.

A beautiful art feature. Twenty-four superb studies of race-types and national costumes, by F. Childe Hassam, with text by M. E. B.

FIRE-PLACE STORIES.

This article will be a notable feature of the Christmas number. The rich illustrations include glimpses of Holland, Assyria, Persia, Moorish Spain and New England, with two paintings in clay modelled expressly for Wide Awake, and reproduced in three tones.

SOME SPECIAL ARTICLES:

TWELVE BALLADS.

These are by twelve of the foremost women poets of America. Each ballad will fill five to seven pictorial pages. The first six are:

The Deacon's Little Maid. A ballad of early New England. By Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney. Illustrations by Miss L. B. Humphrey.

The Story of the Chevalier. A ballad of the wars of Maria Theresa. By Mrs. Harriet Prescott Spofford. Illustrations by E. H. Garrett.

The Minute Man. A ballad of the "Shot heard round the World." By Margaret Sidney. Illustrations by Hy. Sandham.

The Hemlock Tree. A ballad of a Maine settlement. By Lucy Larcom. Illustrations by Edmund H. Garrett.

The Children's Cherry Feast. A ballad of the Hussite War. By Nora Perry. Illustrations by George Foster Barnes.

Little Alix. A ballad of the Children's Crusade. By Susan Coolidge. Illustrations by F. H. Lungren.

Many other enjoyments are in readiness; among them a Thanksgiving poem by Helen Jackson (H. H.), the last poem we can ever give our readers from her pen; "A Daughter of the Sea-Folks," a romantic story of Ancient Holland, by Susan Coolidge; "An Entertainment of Mysteries," By Anna Katherine Greene, author of the celebrated "detective novels;" foreign MSS. and drawings by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Pennell; "Stoned by a Mountain," by Rose G. Kingsley; a frontier-life story by Mrs. Custer, author of Boots and Saddles; a long humorous poem by Christina Rossetti; Arctic Articles by Lieut. Frederick Schwatka; "A Tiny Tale of Travel," a prose story by Celia Thaxter; a "Trotty" story, by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps; beautiful stories by Grace Denio Litchfield, Mary E. Wilkins and Katherine B. Foote; a lively boys' story by John Preston True; "Pamela's Fortune," by Mrs. Lucy C. Lillie; "'Little Captain' of Buckskin Camp," by F. L. Stealey—in short, the magazine will brim over with good things.

THE C. Y. F. R. U. READINGS

meet the growing demand for the helpful in literature, history, science, art and practical doing. The Course for 1885-86 includes

I. Pleasant Authors for Young Folks. (American Series.) By Amanda B. Harris. II. My Garden Pets. By Mary Treat, author of Home Studies in Nature. III. Souvenirs of My Time. (Foreign Series.) By Mrs. Jessie Benton Fremont. IV. Some Italian Authors and Their Work. By George E. Vincent (son of Chancellor Vincent). V. Ways to Do Things. By various authors. VI. Strange Teas, Weddings, Dinners and Fetes. By their Guests and Givers. VII. Search-Questions in English Literature. By Oscar Fay Adams.

⁂ A good commission is paid for securing new subscribers, in cash or premiums. Send for Premium List.

WIDE AWAKE is only $3.00 a year.
D. LOTHROP & CO., Publishers, Franklin and Hawley Sts., Boston, Mass., U. S. A.

prospectus——BABYLAND——for 1886.

The Magazine for the Babies, this coming year, in addition to its bright pictures, and gay little jingles, and sweet stories, will have some especial delights for both Mamma and Baby:

THE MAGIC PEAR

will provide Twelve Entertainments of dainty jugglery and funny sleight-of-hand for the nursery pencils. This novelty is by the artist-humorist, M. J. Sweeney ("Boz").

ALL AROUND THE CLOCK

will give Baby Twelve tiny Lessons in Counting, each with wee verses for little lips to say, and pictures for bright eyes to see, to help the little mind to remember.

LITTLE CRIB-CURTAINS

will give Mamma Twelve Sleepy-time Stories to tell when the Babies go to cribs and cradle. In short, Babyland the whole year will be the happiest, sweetest sort of a home kindergarten.

Beautiful and novel New Cover. Only Fifty Cents a year.

prospectus—OUR LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN—for 1886.

This magazine, for youngest readers, has earned golden gratitude from teachers and parents this past year. While its short stories and beautiful pictures have made it welcome everywhere as a general Magazine for Little Folks, its series of instructive articles have rendered it of unrivalled value to educators. For 1886 several specialties have been prepared in accordance with the suggestions of teachers who wish to start their "little primaries" in the lines on which older brothers and sisters are being taught. As a beginning in American History, there will be twelve charming chapters about

THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS.

This story of the Great Discoverer, while historically correct and valuable, will be perfectly adapted to young minds and fitted to take hold upon a child's attention and memory; many pictures.

LITTLE TALKS ABOUT INSECT LIFE

will interest the children in one branch of Natural History; with anecdotes and pictures.

OUR COLORADO PETS

will describe wild creatures little known to children in general. These twelve stories all are true, and are full of life and adventure; each will be illustrated.

"ME AND MY DOLLS"

is a "cunning little serial story," written for American children by the popular English author, Miss L. T. Meade. It will have Twelve Full-page Pictures by Margaret Johnson.

From time to time fresh "Stories about Favorite Authors" will be given, so that teachers and friends may have material for little literature lessons suited to young children.

Seventy-five Full-page Pictures. Only $1.00 a year.

prospectus—THE PANSY—for 1886.

For both week-day and Sunday reading, The Pansy, edited by "Pansy" herself, holds the first place in the hearts of the children, and in the approval of earnest-minded parents. Among the more interesting features for 1886 will be Pansy's serial story,

REACHING OUT,

being a further account of "Little Fishers: and their Nets." The Golden Text Stories, under the title, "Six O'clock in the Evening," will be told by a dear old Grandma, who knows many interesting things about what happened to herself when she was a little girl. Margaret Sidney will furnish a charming story,

ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON,

to run through the year. Rev. C. M. Livingston will tell stories of discoveries, inventions, books, people, places. Faye Huntington will be a regular contributor during the year. Pansy will take the readers with her wherever she goes, in papers under the title of

WHERE I WENT, AND WHAT I SAW.

There will be, in each number, a selection from our best standard poets suitable for recitation in school or circle. From time to time colloquies for Mission Bands, or for general school exercises, will appear. There will be new and interesting books for the members of the Pansy Society, and, as before, a generous space will be devoted to answers to correspondents in the P. S. Corner.

Fully Illustrated. Only $1.00 a year.

Address all orders to
D. LOTHROP & CO., Publishers, Franklin and Hawley Streets, Boston, Mass.