ing some work to send home, she gave Mira two needles, and told her to thread them, and have one always ready to give her when she should want it.

"I would rather sew, than thread needles," said Mira; "give me something to sew, but I won't thread needles."

"What do I hear!" cried Mrs. Masterton, in a state of the greatest agitation and affright. "Surely I could not have heard you rightly! It is not possible you could have used such a word to me! should be terrified beyond measure to hear a child say No, to a parent."

Mira hung her head and looked ashamed.

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"Do you know, Mira, that after God Almighty, you must love and obey me. God loves obedient children. I trust, therefore, that I shall never again hear you use such a word. I am sure you would not wish to frighten me."

Mira threw her arms around her mother's neck, and sobbed aloud: the widow mingled her tears with those of her orphan child.

Mira's refusal to thread the needle was the first, and the last No, she ever used to her mother.

Thus, children give very little trouble when their tempers are not spoiled by mismanagement, and their little humours checked in the bud.

Mira grew up as happy as she was good, and an old lady that her mother worked for, taking a liking to her on account of her dutiful conduct, left h two thousand pounds; so that Mira and her beloved

mother are now in very comfortable circumstances, and are beloved and respected by all their friends.

WILLY GOES TO THE FARMER'S.

"NEXT month, Willy," said Agnes, "you will leave us for the farm-house; let us therefore be busy while you are here, and seek to acquire as much knowledge as you can. And after you have left us, let me advise you, dearest brother, to occupy all your idle hours in acquiring useful knowledge. I do not mean that you are to have your eyes constantly fixed poring over a book; no such thing; there are other ways of gaining information besides that of reading. Farmer Hodgson appears to be a very sensible man; attend strictly to his instructions; examine every thing with your own eyes, and make it a constant rule, on all occasions, to do your best." Willy promised faithfully to do so, and was as good as his word.

Willy profited so well by his study of Arthur Young, that farmer Hodgson was both pleased and surprised to find that he understood so much of farming, and frequently said, that his apprentice knew more of the theory of farming than he himself did.

Willy soon became a favourite with the farmer, and things went on quietly and prosperously with him for some time, until another apprentice becoming jealous of the superior favour shown to Willy, resolved to ruin him in the good opinion of the farmer.

This same farmer had two fine strong horses which he ploughed with, and when they were not wanted for field work, he and Willy frequently rode them into town to dispose of the produce of the farm. The horse which Willy was in the habit of riding got ill, refused its food, and became so thin, that its very bones might be seen through the skin. The other apprentice, whose name was Nathan, insinuated to the farmer that Willy had injured the horse in some of his rides, or had played some trick to him. The farmer, in consequence of the lad's insinuations, asked Willy if any accident had happened to the horse when he rode him, whether he had ever fallen with him? And upon Willy's assuring him that he never had, the farmer said, "You have such an air of truth about you, that perhaps I ought to believe you;" saying so, he left the

room.

In a few minutes after, Willy was accosted by the other apprentice. "I have just left the stable," said he; "the poor horse is getting weaker and weaker hourly, and the farmer is in a great rage about it. You had better therefore confess at once that he fell with you."

"If I were to do so, it would be saying what is not true."

Here the farmer entered, and with a countenance in which vexation and anger were both strongly marked, said, "Again I ask you, Willy, what you have done to injure my horse? I can pardon an accident, and forgive an injury; but falsehood and obstinacy I cannot overlook. Own your fault at once; say you repent, and all shall be forgotten and forgiven."

"Indeed sir," said Willy, "I know nothing whatever of the horse's illness, if I did I should be but too happy to tell you."

The horse-doctor at that moment entered, saying, the horse was better, that he had discovered the cause of his malady. Some one had rubbed his teeth with butter, which prevented the animal from eating, but he had now washed the grease from his teeth, and he would soon be well. "But what is the matter with your hand?" asked the horse-doctor, addressing Nathan, the apprentice, seeing his hand tied up. The lad refused to show his hand, saying, it was only the scratch of a thorn." The farmer, however, insisted on his showing it to the doctor, in

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order that he might recommend a cure; and upon its exposure, the culprit stood revealed. The mark of the horse's teeth was distinctly seen; and with so strong an evidence against him, he could no longer deny that he was the guilty person. Thus, truth like the sun, bursts through the thickest clouds.

After this discovery, Nathan the apprentice was sent back to his friends, the good farmer would not keep a bad boy in his house; and the upright and honest Willy became a greater favourite than ever.

AGNES BECOMES SCHOOL MISTRESS.

AGNES having one less to teach after Willy went to be a farmer, and Jane and Hannah being both big girls, and able to help her in the work of the house, in order to occupy her idle hours, she determined to turn them to account, by keeping a school for young girls. She therefore, with the money she had saved of her father's earnings, fitted up an additional room for her school, and furnished it with a large table,