I put my head out of the window and peeped into the garden. "A few moments found me creeping down the back stairs. The slightest creaking frightened me. I stopped on every stair to listen. Nancy was busy somewhere else, and John had gone to bed. At last I fairly felt my way to the garden door. It was fastened. It seemed to take me a long while to unlock it, so fearful was I of making a noise. At last I opened it, went out, and latched it after me. "It was good to get out in the cool night air. I ran down the walk. The patting of my feet made no noise on the moist earth. I stopped a moment and looked all round, then turned in the direction of the pear tree. Presently I was beneath its branches. I cast my eyes to the heavens, and saw a bright star looking down upon me through the leaves. Thou, God, seest me,' escaped from my lips. The star seemed like the eye of God spying me out under the pear tree. "It was some time before I dared to move, so vivid was the impression made upon my mind by the awful truth in those four words-Thou, God, seest me.' I knew he saw me. I felt that he saw me. "I hastened from the pear tree. Nothing on earth would, at that moment, have tempted me to touch the pear. With very different feelings did I creep back to the bed again. I lay down beside my brother, feeling thankful that I had resisted the temptation." Children, learn these four small words. Impress them upon your hearts. Think of them when you lie down, when you get up, and when you go by the way: when alone, or when with your companions, both at home and abroad, remember" Thou, God, seest me." "TWAS autumn, and the leaves were dry, As through the graveyard's lone retreat, I walked with slow and cautious feet Three little graves, ranged side by side, O'er two the tall grass, bending, sighed, 1 Pron. lis'sn. 2 fas'snd. As, lingering there, I mused a while Her form was bowed, but not with years; A prattling boy, some four years old, "Mamma, now you must love me more, For little sister's dead; And t'other sister died before, "Mamma, what made sweet sister die?— She loved me when we played; You told me, if I would not cry, ""Tis here, my child, that sister lies, "Mamma, why can't we take her up, And put her in my bed? I'll feed her from my little cup And then she won't be dead. "For sister 'll be afraid to lie "No, sister is not cold, my child, For God, who saw her die, As he looked down from heaven, and smiled, Called her above the sky. "And then her spirit quickly fled "Mamma, won't she be hungry there, "Papa must go and carry some; And he must bring sweet sister home- "No, my dear child, that cannot be; LXVI.-TEA, COFFEE, SUGAR, AND CHOCOLATE. TEA is the dried leaves of an evergreen shrub which grows in China, Japan, and Siam. The flower is like that of the wild rose, and its root is like that of the pear tree. It was introduced into Europe by the Dutch in the early part of the seventeenth century.1 The various kinds of teas such as Bohea, Souchong, Hyson, Pekoe do not come from the same plant. Bohea, or black tea, has a flower with six petals, or leaves; and that which produces Hyson, or green tea, has nine. The plants, or shrubs, are in their highest perfection when about three years old. The leaves, when plucked from the plant, are put into wide, shallow baskets, and placed in the air, or sunshine, during some hours. They are then put on a flat cast-iron pan, over a stove heated with 1 The seventeenth century is the period from 1600 to 1701. 1 Pron. twŎz. 2 hwis'sling. 3 ling'ger-ing. 4 kâw'shas. 5 rus'sld. |