game. I have got four points and Betty has three. Oh! do let us sit up a little longer."

"No, it's half-past seven," said their aunt, "and that's bed-time. You can keep all the cards just as they are on the table, and begin to play again to-morrow after school. Now run upstairs."

"I think you might let us play just five minutes," said Betty.

"Please, please, Aunt Ellen," said Dorothy.

The two girls had begun to tease, and as of course teasing is the worst way to get anything, their aunt sent them upstairs at once.

They pouted; tossed back their heads and said that she was mean, and then they stamped up the stairs as if they had been camels. But presently they both burst out laughing.

"What is it?" called their aunt.

"Oh, Aunt Ellen," they called back over the stairs, "we just looked in the glass and our faces looked so ugly and queer and silly that we could n't help laughing. And now we're not angry any more. Do come and kiss us good-night."

Read the poem of "The Pig and the Hen," by Alice Cary. (See page 7 of this book.)

Read: "Nellie was Carl's Sister," from Ethics, by Julia M. Dewey.

Read: "Sir Philip Sidney," from James Baldwin's Fifty Famous Stories (American Book Co.).

There was once a great and powerful prince. He had hundreds of soldiers in his army, and with their help 1 Adapted by Mrs. Charles A. Lane, in The First Book of Religion.

he had conquered vast strips of country, over which he ruled. He was wise as well as brave, but, though all men feared his iron will and respected his strong purpose, no one loved him. As he grew older, he became lonely and unhappy, and this made him sterner and colder, and more severe than ever. The lines about his mouth were hard and grim, there was a deep frown on his forehead, and his lips rarely smiled.

Now it happened that in one of the cities over which he had come to rule was a beautiful princess whom he wished to have for his wife. He had watched her for many months as she went about among the people, and he knew that she was as good and kind as she was beautiful. But, because he always wore his armor and his heavy helmet when he rode through his dominions, she had never seen his face.

The day came when he made up his mind that he would ask the lovely princess to come and live in his palace. He put on his royal robes and his golden coronet; but, when he looked at his reflection in the glass, he could see nothing but what would cause fear and dislike. His face looked hard and cruel and stern. He tried to smile, but it seemed an unnatural effort and he quickly gave it up. Then a happy notion came to him. Sending for the court magician, he said to him: "Make for me a mask of the thinnest wax so that it will follow every line of my features, but paint it with your magic paints so that it will look kind and pleasant instead of fierce and stern. Fasten it upon my face so that I shall never have to take it off. Make it as handsome and attractive as your skill can suggest, and I will pay for it any price you choose to ask."

"This I can do," said the court magician, "on one condition only. You must keep your own face in the same lines that I shall paint, or the mask will be ruined. One angry frown, one cruel smile will crack the mask

and ruin it forever; nor can I replace it. Will you agree to this?"

The prince had a strong will, and never in his life had he wanted anything so much as he now wanted the princess for his wife. "Yes," he said, "I agree. Tell me how I may keep the mask from cracking."

"You must train yourself to think kindly thoughts," said the magician, "and, to do this, you must do kindly deeds. You must try to make your kingdom happy rather than great. Whenever you are angry, keep absolutely still until the feeling has gone away. Try to think of ways to make your subjects happier and better. Build schools instead of forts, and hospitals instead of battleships. Be gracious and courteous to all men."

So the wonderful mask was made, and when the prince put it on, no one would have guessed that it was not his true face. The lovely princess, indeed, could find no fault with it, and she came willingly to be his bride in his splendid palace. The months went on, and, though at first the magic mask was often in danger of being destroyed, the prince had been as good as his word, and no one had ever discovered that it was false. His subjects, it is true, wondered at his new gentleness and thoughtfulness, but they said: "It is the princess who has made him like herself."

The prince, however, was not quite happy. When the princess smiled her approval of his forbearance and goodness, he used to wish that he had never deceived her with the magic mask. At last he could bear it no longer, and, summoning the magician, he bade him remove the false face.

"If I do, your Royal Highness," protested the magician, "I can never make another. You must wear your own face as long as you live."

"Better so," cried the prince, "than to deceive one whose love and trust I value so greatly. Better even

that she should always despise me than that I should go on doing what is unworthy for her sake."

Then the magician took off the mask, and the prince in fear and anguish of heart sought his reflection in the glass. As he looked, his eyes brightened and his lips curved into a radiant smile, for the ugly lines were gone, the frown had disappeared, and his face was moulded in the exact likeness of the mask he had worn so long. And, when he came into the presence of his wife, she saw only the familiar features of the prince she loved.

Questions: Do we make our own faces? How? Are happy people better-looking than discontented ones? How did the prince grow to be kind and pleasant? If you take away a toy from a baby, he is likely to cry: will he be ashamed, when he is older, to cry for everything he wants? Will he train himself not to cry? Do you think you could teach yourself to write if there was no one to show you? How could you do it? What else can we teach ourselves?

JANUARY: OUR FAMILY

Begin the month by speaking of home ties. Who are our best friends? What do they do for us? How can we show our love? Suggest ways of helpfulness at home, as by doing errands quickly; caring for baby, setting the table, getting dressed without help.

The main part of the month can be given to the story of Joseph and his brethren. The story of Joseph brings out the strong bond of family feeling. The events can be told day by day as a continuous story beginning with Genesis, Chap. xxxvii, omitting verse 2. The points to accent in the story are (a) Family

and pastoral life in the Far East; (b) Joseph's boasting and his brothers' dislike of it. Does any one like boasting? (c) The taunt, "Behold this dreamer cometh," by which the brothers increased their anger; (d) Reuben's desire to save Joseph; (e) The love of Jacob for Joseph; (f) Joseph's success in Egypt, due to his attractive nature, his loyalty in doing his master's business, and his wise judgment; (g) How Joseph won affection even in prison; (h) Joseph's wise advice to Pharaoh; (i) Joseph's apparent harshness, but real kindness to his brothers; (j) The repentance of the brothers; (k) The strong emotion shown by Joseph for them even after years of separation; (1) The truthfulness of the brothers when they returned to Joseph; (m) Joseph's special love of Benjamin; (n) Judah's plea to save Benjamin; (o) Joseph's noble attitude in telling who he was: "So now it was not you that sent me hither but God"; (p) The meeting of Jacob and Joseph; (q) The fulness of the forgiveness shown by Joseph.

THE STORY OF JOSEPH

Part I. Joseph and his Brothers. Genesis, Chap. xxxvii.

Joseph was the son of Jacob, and he had many older brothers and a little brother named Benjamin. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he used to feed the flocks with his brethren. Now Jacob loved Joseph more than all his children and he made him a coat of many colors. And his brothers saw that their father loved Joseph most and they hated him. And Joseph dreamed a dream and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him yet the more. Read Chap. xxxvii.