Sits that now contented frog,
And never, never, wants to go to sea!
THE PLAYTHINGS.
An old German woman came to stay at the mill, and she used to tell Patty and Susan about the children in Germany.
She said, “I knew a little girl called Lina, and a boy named Carl; and on Christmas Eve their mother had a fine Christmas-tree, with gold and silver balls, and sugar cherries, and all kinds of pretty things hanging on its branches. It was lighted up with a hundred tiny wax tapers, so that there was quite a blaze in the room; and on the table beside it were many presents for all the people in the house, and a great number of playthings for Carl and Lina.
“They were just the toys they wished for most. Carl had a donkey on wheels, and a whip, and Lina a doll, with a box of clothes, and also a set of tea things.
“They were very happy children, and never quarreled, but lent each other their toys. It was very pleasant to see them playing together, for they were so kind and obliging.
“Their mother had taught them a little verse, which she told them to say over every day; it was—
‘Be to others kind and true,