HOW ‘SNOB’ SAVED
HIS MASTER.

~» \. UR favourite dog Snob, being a great
KYa pet, is allowed to follow us all over
HN the house, and sometimes even into
our dressing-rooms. I must tell you
that we live-in India, where there
are many dangerous snakes and scor-
pions, which sometimes (in the hot
weather) get into your house through
some hole or crevice, so that you are
compelled to be always on your guard
that they do not hide in your clothes.
= It is almost necessary to examine
each article of clothing before putting it on. One
day, Snob’s master had gone into_ his dressing-room
to put on his boots before going out, and he was
followed into the room by the dog. He sat down,
and placing the boots he was about to put on near
him, he took one of them up, and was in the act of
putting it on, when Snob seized hold of it in his mouth
and dragging it away would not allow his master to
come near it. He thought this very strange, and
tried to get it from him, but the more he tried the
more Snob barked, and stood between him and the
boot. At last his master began to wonder if there
really was anything in the boot, and approaching as
near as the’ dog would let him he examined it well,
and after a short time he thought he saw some-
thing move inside, when out came a small snake,
which had no doubt been coiled up fast asleep all the
time. He killed it immediately, and upon looking
closely he found it to be one of a very poisonous
nature, and he had every reason to believe that had
the creature bitten him he would have had but a
short time to live.

When I heard the story I was much disposed
to give Snob a gold medal for saving his master’s
life; only I don’t know what he would do with it.

/ AUNTIE EMILy.

   
  

 

 

THE JACKDAW.
N the merry month of May
& I was stolen, I was taken,
I was taken far away—
Far away ! and thus forsaken,
My poor parents called and sought me,
Sought and called me, all in vain ;
Praised the grubs and worms they brought me,
Called and sought me yet again :
Weary, weary was the nest;
All that night they had no rest. |

Not for silver or gold,
But for a few odd pence,
I was bartered, sold,
After a short suspense ;
Sold to a boy of heart, called Fréd,
Who treated me as well as he could,
As well as he knew, with cake and bread,
Pudding and meat, roast, boiled, and raw,
And all such things as he thought good;
But he knew not how to feed a daw,
As well as its dam in the wood.

' steadily that he became the head scholay.

Fred likes beef and bread,
But Jack has other needs:
‘Give me,’ says he, ‘an uncooked spread,
Earwigs, spiders, or centipedes.’
Quick is Fred at his tarts,
He eats, he drinks, and departs ;
‘That’s not the way,’ says Jack, ‘ with me.
If you love me, O let there be
Always a platter before my bill.
Let it be always dinner or tea,
Luncheon or breakfast, what you will—
Not too much ata time, you see;
Little and often and all day long,
That will make a Jackdaw strong.
And give me, I pray, for I must be clean,
A basin of water each morn ;
A Jackdaw unbathed is not fit to be seen,
And his comrades all hold him in scorn.
He is but a fowl, and he has a black face,
But his feathers are glossy and sweet;
Then learn from your Jackdaw that dirt is
disgrace,
And wash well your body and feet.’
G. 8. O.

 

 

   

SIR ISAAC NEWTON.

®) N an old manor-house situated in a
little valley upon the western side of
the river Witham, in Lincolnshire,
the family of Newton had dwelt for
many generations; and here, upon
the 25th December (O. S.), 1642,
the little weakly infant was born who
was destined to grow up so great
and learned a man. As a young
: child he was sent to a day-school,

ee but at twelve years of age he at-
tended a grammar-school in the town of Grantham,
boarding at the house of an apothecary who lived
near.

Sir Isaac reports himself as a very careless and
inattentive boy at his studies, until an accident
happened which roused him to apply himself with all
his might, so that he should rise above the lad who
had caused it, and from that time he persevered so
He did
not join in the play of the other boys—perhaps the

pain he had to suffer from the kick he had received -

hindered his sports, or it may be that his taste did
not incline him to amusement; however, he got
little hammers. and saws, and other tools, and con-
structed a water-clock, a windmill, and a carriage,
which was put in motion by the person who sat in it.

A windmill was being erected near Grantham, in
which young Newton took the greatest interest, and
from observing its mechanism he made a working
model of it, which he placed on the top of tke house
where he lodged; and it was set in motion by the
wind, to the great admiration of the passers-by.

But a fresh idea struck the ingenious mind of
Isaac—why should he not drive it by animal power?
Accordingly he shut up a wretched little mouse
within it, which he called the miller, and which, by
acting on a kind of tread-wheel, set the mill in
motion. Some say the mouse was kept going by

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at