Children's Column.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Issue 27, 26 November 1898, Page 4

Children's Column.

< A^CHILD'S MISTAKE. Said \a;dear little girl, aiid I heard Kef myself, As she %ached for a book oil the very tdti shelV ' ' " How J' W liVe like the birds and the Sowers? With nothing t<Kdo Htlrttugh the beautiful hours ; \~ '" ' Or else like the raWtfcait i&s only td shine, Or dance with the%adowk that hide in the vine I \ *, But no ! I iiiust stu<%)rdm N mof ning till mght I A,-, \ Ldng sums I must add, tWearte ddpies to write ; X- \ To school I must go, and"—X, JWch a time 1 — "V \ It's just like 1 a terrible rriountainVj (bmb 1 Dear! .Dear 1" said tke child, wit\-a]£iti-ful frown - ,> And heart-piercing cry, to hei 1 grammar sat down. Then flashed a fail' sunbeam full into he* face, As if chalkai jing frowns in so lovely a, place. u Why, darling," it laughdd. all a-quiver with glee, " If you want to see work you must travel with me ; I never am idle the swift tolling day, But I go td my task in the spirit of* play : And wherever I'm ordered there straightway I fly. Cheer up, little maid," said the voice from the sky. . There was heard a quick flurry of wings overhead Prom an array of birds ; and as southward they sped. Came, clear as A bugle, the leader-bird's song: " You are wrong, little lady ! I'm sorry you're wrong 1 And I can't stop to tell yoii !" he sang as h8 flew, " But no one is happy with nothing to do 1" And the flowers I A rose peeping in at the pane, Breathed gently this message : " In sunlight and rain, We children of earth, dear to all who behold, Wear meekly our splendours of crimson or gold, And, born in the purple, We royally spend Our fragrance in blessing untii our lives end. We seem to be idle, I grant, but you know J There's never a flower that has not to grow ; And growing, dear child, means aspiring, you Bee, As I, when I whisper so softly to thee." She picked up the book ; it had dropped from her hand. "At least," said our pet, "I can this understand, God gives all His creatures some duty each day, And mine is, perhaps, just to trust and obey. I'll not think of the mountain before me to climb, But cheerfully mount it one step at a time."