FOR ETHEL.
"Good-by! little Ethel, good-by!" says the Light;
For what does my sleepy one need but the night?—
The soft quiet night, like a great downy wing,
To shelter the wee ones, too tired to sing.
Good-by till the dawning:
Some bright star will keep
Its watch o'er your pillow
When you are asleep!
"Good-by, little Ethel," so many things say,—
The wind, that has played in the grasses all day,
The pretty red squirrels you never can catch,
And the kitten, that tries all your playthings to snatch.
When bird, bee, and blossom
Their bright eyes must close,
Is Ethel awake?
Go to sleep like a rose.
Charlotte M. Packard.
BABY'S EXPLOIT.
In the first place baby had her bath. Such a time! Mamma talked as fast and as funny as could be; and the baby crowed and kicked as if she understood every word.
Presently came the clean clothes,—a nice, dainty pile, fresh from yesterday's ironing. Baby Lila was seven months old that very May morning; but not a sign had she given yet of trying to creep: so the long white dresses still went on, though mamma said every day, "I must make some short dresses for this child. She's too old to wear these dragging things any longer."