day she would keep as near to Grim as she could; and, when he was chained to his kennel, she would stay by, and show her affection in many ways.

At last the bull-dog was sent off to a neighboring town; and then the poor goose lost her appetite, and seemed to pine so, that her owner, Mrs. Gilbert, who was a humane woman, and took a great interest in dumb animals, sent for Grim to come back.

It would have pleased you to see the meeting. The instant the goose heard Grim's familiar bark, she started up, and ran with outstretched wings to greet him. She came as near to embracing him as a goose could. Grim seemed well pleased with her delight, and barked his acknowledgments in a tone that could not be mistaken.

The goose soon regained her appetite, and was not again parted from her dear Grim. The best of this story is, that it is true. So you see that even geese are not so stupid but that they show gratitude to those who befriend them.

Indeed, geese seem to be constant in their affections. They know, also, how to show anger. I remember once seeing a boy tease some geese in order to make them angry. They ran after him in a rage, seized hold of his clothes, and nipped him smartly to punish him for the insult.

Once, in Scotland, a young goose became so fond of its master, that it followed him everywhere, no matter how great the distance, and even through the crowd and tumult of a city.

WHAT WILLY DID.

LEARN TO THINK.

Walter Dane was in a hurry to go off to play at ball with some of his schoolfellows; and so he did not give much thought to the lesson which he had to learn.

It was a lesson in grammar. Walter's mother took the book, and said, "I fear my little boy finds it hard to put his thoughts on his lesson to-day."

"Try me, mother," said Walter. "I will do my best."

"Then, I will put you a question which is not in the book," said mamma. "Which is the heavier,—a pound of feathers, or a pound of lead?"

"A pound of lead, to be sure!" cried Walter confidently.

"There! you spoke then without thinking," said Mrs. Dane. "A little thought would have made it clear to you that a pound is a pound, and that a pound of feathers must weigh just as much as a pound of lead."

"When I spoke, I was thinking that Tom Burton was out in the yard waiting for me," said Walter.

"Well, take your thoughts off from Tom Burton, and put them on the question I am now about to ask you. What is a noun?"

"A noun is a word used as the name of any object."

"Very well. A noun, then, is a name-word."

"But why is not every word a name-word just the same?" asked Walter.

"Different sorts of words have different uses," said Mrs. Dane. "If I say, 'Walter, come here,' by the word Walter, I name an object or person; and it is therefore a name-word, or noun. Noun means name. By the word come, I tell Walter what to do; and therefore come is a different sort of word from a name-word. Come is a verb. By the word here, I tell Walter where he must come; and so here is a different sort of word from both Walter and come. Here is an adverb."

"But, if I say 'Come,' do I not name something?" asked Walter.

"You certainly do not. What thing do you name? Come is not an object or thing; come is not a person. You cannot say, 'Give me a come,' or 'Let me see a come.'"

"But dog is a name-word, and tree is a name-word," cried Walter. "I can say, 'Give me a dog,' 'Let me see a tree;' can I not?"

"You certainly can, my son," said Mrs. Dane.

"And sister, father, mother, sky, cloud, sun, moon, bread, butter, horse, cow, book, picture, water, land, doll, cart, ball, bat, are all name-words, or nouns; are they not, mother?"

"Yes: I think you begin to see now what a noun is. And let me say one thing more, and then you may run to see Tom Burton."

"What is it, mother?" inquired Walter.

"When your uncle gave you a box of mixed shells last winter, what did you do with them?"

"I sorted them carefully, putting those of the same kind together, so that I might learn their names, the places where they are found, and the habits of the little animals that live in them."

"And just so we ought to treat words. We must first sort them, so as to learn what their use is in speech, and how and where they ought to be used. Grammar teaches us to sort words. Now run and play."