The scene was the bank of a crystal brook Where a saucy young robin had paused to look, As the morning sun had gilded the waves Which sparkled and sang thro' the autumn days. He glanced at the leaves, that had copied his breast, The leaves that in springtime had shielded his nest; Then turning his head with a bird like grace, He searched in the stream for his mirrored face. Not his mottled coat of rusty brown He saw in the brook-bed sloping down, But a touch of gray with an amber dab-- The reflected form of a brooklet crab. He gazed in surprise at the specter-like thing, Then chirping aloud and raising each wing, In terror he turned from the ghost-haunted place And met on the bank the real crab face to face. Young Robins, like "others," are inclined to be "gay," And our hero's misfortune occurred in this way: He considered a moment; his foe seemed quite weak, And he ventured a peck with his slim, shiny beak. A flutter, a scream--up the bank Robin came; He found two could play at the same little game, And the waves as they fled, with a smile and a gleam, Carried crab and brown feathers adown with the stream. THE DOVE. NOAH'S MESSENGER. GRANVILLE OSBORNE. Among the beautiful incidents of scripture none has become more familiar to old and young alike than that which relates how Noah "sent forth a dove from him to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground." We can imagine the timid messenger sent forth by Noah's hand from the open window of the ark. Over the vast surface of the waters it flew, in obedience to natural instincts, seeking a place of rest, but, as the narrative relates, "the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth." With what an unerring flight the dove had returned to the only safe refuge, and how gently did Noah "put forth his hand" and "draw her in unto him," after the weary quest was over and the tired wings had only brought back a message of defeated hopes. After seven days had gone by Noah sent forth the dove again with longing expectancy that the flood might be receding. With swift flight the dove disappeared from view, and, high in air, sought amid the waste of waters, with its marvelous powers of sight, for any sign which told of safety and rest. At length it reached a refuge, the spot it sought, where the valleys once more began to show themselves above the depths. And in the evening, as Noah watched and waited at the open window of the ark, he saw afar off the glint of snowy wings against the golden sky, and "lo, the dove returned, bearing in her mouth an olive leaf plucked off, so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth." The olive branch was a token that even the trees in the valleys were uncovered, and has been the type in all after ages of peace and rest. The Hebrew word "yonah" is