The little skiff floats down alone, Behind the hills soon sinks the sun. And when the moon was overhead, To land the lovers floated dead, He this side and she that side! II. THE FISHER-MAIDEN. (FROM THE GERMAN OF HEINE.) Thou handsome fisher-maiden, Push thy canoe to land; Come and sit down beside me-- We'll talk, love, hand in hand. Thy head lay on my bosom, Be not afraid of me, For careless thou confidest Each day in the wild sea. My heart is like the ocean, Has storm, and ebb, and flow; And many pearls so handsome Rest in its deeps below. III. MY CHILD WHEN WE WERE CHILDREN. (FROM THE GERMAN OF HEINE.) My child when we were children, Two children small and gay, We crept into the hen-house And hid us under the hay. We crowed, as do the cockerels, When people passed the road, "_Kikeriki!_" and they fancied It was the cock that crowed. The chests which lay in the court-yard, We papered them so fair, Making a house right famous, And dwelt together there. The old cat of our neighbor, Came oft to make a call; We made her bows and courtesies, And compliments and all. We asked with friendly question, How her health was getting on: To many an ancient pussy The same we since have done. In sensible discoursing We sat like aged men, And told how in our young days All things had better been. That Truth, Love and Religion From the earth are vanished quite-- And now so dear is coffee, And money is so tight! But gone are childish gambols, And all things fleeting prove-- Money, the world, our young days, Religion, Truth and Love. PAID FOR BY THE PAGE. BY EDWARD S. GOULD. The labourer is worthy of his hire. A man who produces an available "article" for a newspaper or a periodical, is as properly entitled to a pecuniary recompense, as a doctor, or a lawyer, or a clergy-man, for professional services; or, as a merchant or a mechanic for his transferable property. This is a simple proposition, which nobody disputes. The rate of such compensation must be a matter of agreement. As between author and publisher, custom seems to have fixed on what an arithmetician would call "square measure," as the basis of the bargain; and the question of adjustment is simplified down to "how much by the column, or the page?" This system has its advantages in a business point of view; because, when the price, or rate, is agreed on, nothing remains but to count the pages. Whether the publisher or the writer is benefited by this plan of computation, in a literary point of view, may, however, be doubted.