The book is on the table, for Cissy has been reading it to-day. She takes it up, and begins at once to read:—

WHAT THE MOON SAW.
SECOND EVENING.

“Yesterday,” said the moon to me, “I looked down upon a small court-yard surrounded on all sides by houses. In the court-yard sat a clucking hen with eleven chickens; and a pretty little girl was running and jumping round them. The hen was frightened, and screamed, and spread out her wings over the little brood. Then the girl’s father came out and scolded her; and I glided away and thought no more of the matter.

“But this evening, only a few minutes ago, I looked down into the same court-yard. Everything was quite quiet. But presently the little girl came forth again, crept quietly to the hen-house, pushed back the bolts, and slipped into the apartment of the hen and chickens. They cried out loudly, and came fluttering down from their perches, and ran about in dismay, and the little girl ran after them. I saw it quite plainly, for I looked through a hole in the hen-house wall. I was angry with the wilful child, and felt glad when her father came out and scolded her more violently than yesterday, holding her roughly by the arm. She held down her head, and her blue eyes were full of large tears. ‘What are you about here?’ he asked. She wept, and said, ‘I wanted to kiss the hen and beg her pardon for frightening her yesterday; but I was afraid to tell you.’

“And the father kissed the innocent child’s forehead, and I kissed her on the mouth and eyes.”

Here ended the story of “What the Moon saw,” and as Cissy leaves off reading, mamma says:—

“Why, my darling Cissy, this story does not teach that it is ever better not to ask forgiveness. The little girl was only silly for thinking that the hen could understand her, and so it happened that she only frightened the poor creature instead of doing any good. If the hen could have understood her, as little girls understand each other, it would have been very glad, I daresay, to let her kiss it. Besides, you see in the story, that directly the father knew his little girl had meant to ask pardon of the hen, he kissed her on the forehead, for he saw how good she really was.”

A HAPPY PARTY.

In the quiet summer evening,

The children gather round,

While granny reads aloud to them