"Are ye out of your mind, my nurse, my nurse?” Said Lady Clare, "that ye speak so wild?" "As God's above," said Alice the nurse,

"I speak the truth; you are my child!"

"The old Earl's daughter died at my breast;
I speak the truth, as I live by bread!
I buried her like my own sweet child,
And put my child in her stead."

"Falsely, falsely have ye done,

O mother," she said; if this be true,
To keep the best man under the sun
So many years from his due."

"Nay now, my child," said Alice the nurse,
"But keep the secret for your life,
And all you have will be Lord Ronald's
When you are man and wife.”

"If I'm a beggar born," she said,
"I will speak out, for I dare not lie.
Pull off, pull off the brooch of gold,
And fling the diamond necklace by."

Nay now, my child," said Alice the nurse,
But keep the secret all ye can."

She said, "Not so; but I will know

"

If there be any faith in man."

Nay now, what faith?" said Alice the nurse, "The man will cleave unto his right."

"And he shall have it," the lady replied, "Tho' I should die to-night."

"Yet give one kiss to your mother dear!
Alas, my child, I sinned for thee."
'O, mother, mother, mother," she said,
"So strange it seems to me.

66

"Yet here's a kiss for my mother dear, My mother dear, if this be so,

And lay your hand upon my head,

And bless me, mother, ere I go."

She clad herself in a russet gown,
She was no longer Lady Clare ;
She went by dale, and she went by down,
With a single rose in her hair.

The lily-white doe Lord Ronald had bought
Leapt up from where she lay,

Dropt her head in the maiden's hand,
And follow'd her all the way.

Down stept Lord Ronald from his tower:

'O Lady Clare, you shame your worth! Why come you drest like a village maid, That are the flower of the earth?"

"If I come drest like a village maid,
I am but as my fortunes are:
I am a beggar born," she said,
"And not the Lady Clare."

"Play me no tricks," said Lord Ronald,

'For I am yours in word and in deed; Play me no tricks." Said Lord Ronald, "Your riddle is hard to read."

Oh and proudly stood she up!

Her heart within her did not fail; She look'd into Lord Ronald's eyes, And told him all her nurse's tale.

He laughed a laugh of merry scorn;

He turn'd and kiss'd her where she stood :

"If you are not the heiress born,

"If you are not the heiress born,
And I," said he, "the lawful heir,
We two will wed to-morrow morn,
And you shall still be Lady Clare."

WHEN THE MISTS HAVE CLEARED AWAY.

When the mists have rolled in splendor

From the beauty of the hills,

And the sunshine warm and tender,
Falls in splendor on the rills,
We may read love's shining letter
In the rainbow of the spray;
We shall know each other better,
When the mists have cleared away,
We shall know as we are known,
Never more to walk alone,

In the dawning of the morning,
When the mists have cleared away.

If we err in human blindness,
And forget that we are dust,
If we miss the law of kindness
When we struggle to be just,
Snowy wings of peace shall cover
All the pain that shrouds our way,
When the weary watch is over,
And the mists have cleared away.
We shall know as we are known,
Never more to walk alone,

In the dawning of the morning,
When the mists have cleared away.

When the mists have risen above us,
As our father knows his own,
Face to face with those that love us,

We shall know as we are known.

ANONYMOUS.

Lo! beyond the orient meadows
Floats the golden fringe of day;
Heart to heart we bide the shadows,
Till the mists have cleared away.
We shall know as we are known,
Never more to walk alone,
When the day of light is dawning,
And the mists have cleared away.

THE MOTHERLESS TURKEYS.

MARIAN DOUGLAS.

The White Turkey was dead! The White Turkey was dead!

How the news through the barn-yard went flying!

Of a mother bereft, four small turkeys were left,
And their case for assistance was crying.

E'en the Peacock respectfully folded his tail

As a suitable symbol of sorrow,

And his plainer wife said, "Now the old bird is dead,
Who will tend her poor chicks on the morrow?

"And when evening around them comes dreary and chill

Who above them will watchfully hover?"

"Two each night I will tuck 'neath my wings," said the Duck, "Though I've eight of my own I must cover."

"I have so much to do! For the bugs and the worms
In the garden 'tis tiresome pickin' ;

I have nothing to spare-for my own I must care,"
Said the Hen with one chicken.

"How I wish," said the Goose, "I could be of some use,
For my heart is with love over-brimming;

The next morning that's fine they shall go with my nine
Little yellow-backed goslings out swimming!"

"I will do what I can," the old Dorking put in,
"And for help they may call upon me too,

Though I have ten of my own that are only half grown,
And a great deal of trouble to see too

But those poor little things, they are all heads and wings, And their bones through the feathers are stickin'!” "Very hard it may be; but, oh, don't come to me!" Said the Hen with one chicken.

"Half my care, I suppose, there is nobody knows,

I'm the most overburdened of mothers!

They must learn, little elves, how to scratch for themselves, And not seek to depend upon others.”

She went by with a cluck, and the Goose to the Duck
Exclaimed in surprise, "Well I never!"

Said the Duck, "I declare, those who have the least care
You will find are complaining forever!

And when all things appear to look threatening and drear,
And when troubles your pathway are thick in,
For aid in your woe, oh, beware how you go
To a hen with one chicken!"

WHITE HANDS.

WYN RIEL.

"Such dear little hands," he whispered,

Holding her hands in his own;

"Unfit as wind-swept rose leaves,

To battle life's storms, alone."

<6 Such white little hands," he murmured,
And kissed them, bending down ;
"Hands which should sparkle with jewels,

And never grow hard and brown."