enough to fatigue one; and when I began to multiply the strokes of one day by those of months and years, really it is no wonder if I felt discouraged at the pros pect; so, after a great deal of reasoning and hesitation, thinks I to myself, I will stop."

12. The dial could scarcely keep its countenance during this harangue, but, resuming its gravity, thus replied: "Dear Mr. Pendulum, I am really astonished that such a useful, industrious person as yourself should have been overcome by this sudden suggestion. It is true you have done a great deal of work in your time; so have we all, and are likely to do, which, although it may fatigue us to think of, the question is, whether it will fatigue us to do. Will you now give about half a dozen strokes, to illustrate my argument?"

13. The pendulum complied, and ticked six times in its usual pace. "Now," resumed the dial, "may I be allowed to inquire if that exertion was at all fatiguing or disagreeable to you?"

14. "Not in the least," replied the pendulum; "it is not of six strokes that I complain, nor of sixty, but of millions."

15. "Very good," replied the dial; "but recollect that, though you may think of a million strokes in an instant, you are required to execute but one, and that, however often you may hereafter have to swing, a moment will always be given you to swing in."

16. "Then, I hope," resumed the dial-plate, "we shall all immediately return to our duty, for the maids will lie in bed if we stand idling thus."

17. Upon this the weights, who had never been accused of light conduct, used all their influence in urging him to proceed; when, as with one consent, the wheels began to turn, the hands began to move, and the pendulum began to swing; while a red beam of the

rising sun that streamed through a hole in the kitchen, shining full upon the dial-plate, it brightened up as if nothing had been the matter.

18. When the farmer came down to breakfast that morning, upon looking at the clock, he declared that his watch had gained half an hour in the night.

JANE TAYLOR.

LXXXIII.-EIDER-DOWN.

1. The soft and valuable article called eider-down is procured from the nests of a bird called the eider-duck. In Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Scotland, and other northern countries, these birds associate in vast flocks, their favorite localities usually being on small islands near the shore, to which they resort year after year. Here they construct nests so close to each other that, in some places, it is difficult for a man to walk among them without crushing their eggs.

2. The duck pulls the down from her breast to line the nest and cover her eggs. The inhabitants watch them, and visit the nests frequently to remove the down, which is as often replaced, until the duck has entirely removed all the warm covering from her breast. Her mate, the drake, also contributes his, which is taken away in the same manner.

3. About half a pound is procured from each nest. It combines with a peculiar lightness, softness and fineness, so great a degree of elasticity, that a quantity of it which might be compressed and hidden between two hands, will serve to stuff a small coverlet.

4. "The eider-duck," says a traveler in Iceland, "holds the very first rank among the useful birds of this cold region. Its chief breeding places are small, flat islands

on various parts of the coast, where it is safe from the attacks of its greatest enemy, the arctic fox.

5. "These breeding places are private property, and have, some of them, descended from generation to generation in the same family, and have proved a rare source of wealth."

6. There are very strict laws for the protection of these birds in Iceland, and any persons found guilty of killing the birds or stealing the down are severely punished. Proprietors of certain small islands frequented by them reside alone among their feathered tenants, and allow no visitors to land without special permission.

7. All noise, shouting, or loud speaking is prohibited, as the birds will quickly forsake a locality in which they are disturbed. Materials, like hay or straw, supplied for the construction of nests will sometimes induce them to leave one island for another.

8. The female lays five or six greenish eggs in a nest lined with her beautiful down, which the collectors remove, lifting the duck from her nest. She soon after commences to lay again, though this time only three or four eggs.

9. These and the down are also removed, and she has her labor to perform the third time, assisted in lining her nest by the down of the drake, her own having been exhausted. Two or three eggs are now allowed to remain in the nest, the rest having been preserved for winter use.

10. A small island on the north of Iceland (one of the chief resorts of the eider duck) is occasionally visited by travelers. It is represented as affording a most wonderful sight in the breeding season of these birds. Says one: "The ducks and their nests were everywhere – some even piled in heaps, one upon another.

11. "The solitary farm-house, occupied by the good

woman who owned the island, was also thronged with ducks. The base of the wall that surrounded it, and that of the building itself, was fringed with ducks sitting upon their nests. The window seats were occupied by ducks; on the turf slopes of the roofs were ducks, and a duck was sitting in the scraper at the door.

12. "A grassy bank near by had been cut into squares of about eight or ten inches, and a hollow made in each. These were all filled with ducks, as were the outbuildings, mounds rocks and crevices. Many of them were so tame as to allow themselves to be handled on their nests.

13. "The woman who had charge of them said that there was scarcely a duck on the island that would not allow her to take the eggs without fear or flight." These birds are about twice the size of the common ducks. The drake is nearly white, or much lighter colored than the duck. The down is used largely for making coverlets, the warmth and lightness of which are unequaled. Manual of Commerce.

LXXXIV. FARMER JOHN.

1. Home from his journey Farmer John
Arrived this morning safe and sound.
His black coat off and his old clothes on,
"Now I'm myself," says Farmer John;
And he thinks, "I'll look around."
Up leaps the dog; "Get down you pup!
Are you so glad you would eat me up?"
The old cow lows at the gate to greet him;
The horses prick up their ears to meet him;
"Well, well, old Bay!

Ha, ha, old Gray!

Do you not get good food when I'm away?"

2. "You haven't a rib!" says Farmer John;
"The cattle are looking round and sleek:
The colt is going to be a roan,

And a beauty, too; how he has grown!
We'll wean the calf next week."

Says Farmer John, "When I've been off,
To call you again about the trough,

And watch you, and pet you, while you drink,
Is a greater comfort than you can think!"
And he pats old Bay,

And he slaps old Gray;

"Ah, this is the comfort of going away!"

3. "For after all," says Farmer John,

"The best of a journey is getting home!
I've seen great sights,- but would I give
This spot, and the peaceful life I live,
For all their Paris and Rome?
These hills for the city's stifled air,
And big hotels, all bustle and glare,

Lands all houses, and roads all stones,

That deafen your ears and batter your bones?
Would you, old Bay?

Would you, old Gray?

That's what one gets by going away!"

4. "I've found out this," says Farmer John,-
"That happiness is not bought and sold,
And clutched in a life of waste and hurry,
In nights of pleasure and days of worry;
And wealth isn't all in gold,

Mortgage and stocks and ten per cent.,
But in simple ways, and sweet content,