LITTLE Ruth Cleveland, when she was the baby of the White House, had no very exalted idea of her father’s great office. [Illustration] Saturday, the weather being balmy and springlike, one of the policemen who guard the private portion of the White House grounds took his little daughter with him to enjoy the pleasant surroundings. The little girl was not quite six years old. While the policeman was pointing out the beauty of the grounds to his little daughter, Ruth and Esther Cleveland, under the escort of their respective nurses, left the mansion for a run. Ruth ran ahead of her nurse, and on discovering a girl of her own age surveyed her from head to foot. After looking the little girl over Ruth straightened herself up and said: “My papa is President; who is your papa?” The policeman’s daughter replied: “My papa is a policeman.” Ruth glanced up at the burly form ornamented with bright brass buttons, and hanging her head in an abashed manner, said, “I wish my papa was a policeman.” How often we think that the things we have not are better than the things we have! ------------------------------------ WHERE ARE THE BIRDS? ------------------ HAVE you heard, children, that the bluebirds are nearly gone from our country? Other families of singing birds are going fast, and by and by it may be that we shall have only the sparrows and other birds that have no beautiful colors or sweet songs. All this is true, and many good people are feeling very sad about it. Where are the birds? Alas! They have been killed—thousands, yes, millions of them—for the feathers that you see in the shops and that ladies and little girls wear on their hats! [Illustration] ------------------------------------ [Illustration] NEVER GIVE UP. ------------------ “I WILL get it right,” said Harry to himself, stopping just long enough to toss the hair out of his eyes. “There’s a way to do it, and I’m not going to give up, see if I do.” “O, come on, Harry,” called Will; “what’s the use of hanging on so?” “What’s the use? Why, when I begin I don’t like to give up beat, and, what’s more, I don’t mean to.” And Harry didn’t give up, and by and by the figures all came straight. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ● Transcriber’s Notes: ○ Typographical errors were silently corrected. ○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book. ○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Little Colored Boy and Other Stories, by Methodist Book Concern