"I wish you were not so often in disgrace, little Bab."
"So do I; but I don't think I shall be next year. Father and mother are coming home then from the Mauritius, and I shall be an own little girl again."
Mr. Beresford kissed Bab affectionately when she said that, but Bab did not know why he kissed her.
A HELPING HAND.
F
rank's road to school leads over ways
Where yet no trains approach,
And past the Yellow Dragon Inn,
Where stops the Dirleton coach:
Here the old horses, Duke and Ned,
Are daily watered, changed, and fed.
Frank knows them well, and one hot day,
As whistling home he sped,
He saw the patched old feeding-bag
That hung at Neddy's head
Fell too far down—Ned vainly tried
To reach the yellow corn inside.
No one was near—Ned tossed his head,
And strove, but still in vain,
Hungry as any horse might be,
To seize the tempting grain;
Frank checked his headlong homeward course,
And then approached the wearied horse.
With quick light hands he raised the bag,
And made the strappings tight;
Ned hid his nose among the corn,
And softly neighed delight.
For Frank it was sufficient prize
To read his thanks in Ned's bright eyes.
Robert Richardson.
