“THE TWO FUNNY LITTLE TROTS.”

happy little creatures was one of my greatest
pleasures, and a day without a glimpse of them
would have seemed blank and dull.

There came a time, however, when for
many days I did not see my little friends.
The weather was bad just then, and mamma
said she was sure they had got colds, that
would be all that was wrong with them; but
somehow I felt uneasy. I asked our doctor,
when he called, if there was much _ illness
about, and he, fancying I was nervous on my
own account, replied, “Oh, no! with the excep-
tion of two or three cases of croup, he had no
serious ailments among his patients; it was a
very healthy season.”

I got frightened at the idea of croup, and
cross-questioned him, to discover if my trots
were among the sufferers; but he shook his
head. All his little patients were mere infants ;
he did not even know the trots by sight.

Then mamma suggested another very rea-

sonable explanation of their disappearance.
“They have probably left St. Austin’s,” she