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UNCAN and Maggie Morton had been feeding their chickens and rabbits and doves, and

coaxing the peacocks to eat from their hands, and dawdling by the pond, regardless of a frosty December morning, to watch the muscovy ducks enjoying their dip, when they espied their papa coming out of the house, and ran across the lawn to meet him. Hosts of pets had these little Mortons; never were there such children for live creatures. In-doors they had canaries, and bullfinches, and a goldfinch, and a linnet, and dogs, and cats, and a dormouse, and some white mice, and some goldfish; out-of-doors they had more dogs, a pony, a hedgehog, a toad, a tortoise, poultry of all sorts, and nobody knows what besides. And everything was tame,—that was the delight of it. To bring home some fresh creature, bird or animal, and tame it, and make it do wonderful

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things, and eat out of their hands,-that was the ambition and triumph of Duncan and Maggie Morton. And Freddy and the lesser Mortons-known as the nursery childrenbid fair to add to the family menagerie, and do just the same, as fast as they got old enough. Mamma had given them a little play-room on purpose for all their pets. 'For,' said she, 'their father was just the same when he was a boy; and he thinks it teaches them to be patient, and kind, and gentle, and observing, to have all these live creatures to take care of.' And in this respect I think very much as Mr. and Mrs. Morton did, for very amiable, intelligent children were Duncan and Maggie; not the sort of children you meet with every day, though they had their faults like the rest of us. Only it is not in every house that room can be spared for a family menagerie !

But on this particular morning Duncan's and Maggie's thoughts were running quite as much on another subject as on their numerous protégés; for an aunt whom they had never seen had lately returned from America, and was coming to stay with them. And it was holidays. Miss Bernard, their governess, had gone home till the beginning of February; and these children did not quite know whether to be glad or sorry that a stranger was coming to be with them all that time; neither could they quite settle with themselves what sort of an aunt this 'American' one was going to turn out. That she was the youngest of all their aunts, they knew; but whether that were an advantage or not, they had not decided. So now they ran to meet their father, thinking that while they looked about the