After that they will go out and ride down hill until dark. MRS. C. M. LIVINGSTON. THE SAND MAN. EACH night a man goes round our town, And into eyes of blue and brown, He sprinkles, with a careful hand, The finest, softest grains of sand. Then as sweet blossoms close at night, O’er shining eyes fall curtains white; For all these precious grains of sand Are gathered up in Slumber Land. ’Tis there the peaceful river gleams Where children sail in happy dreams; The Sand Man takes them in his boat, So off my little pet must float. MYRA GOODWIN PLANTZ. [Illustration: TEDDY AND MARGARET CLIMBED INTO THE STRANGE WAGON.] “IF I ONLY HADN’T!” NOBODY could have started out with better intentions than did Teddy Brockway that bright spring morning. It is true it was only March, but Teddy lived so far South that the month of March meant spring; he was dressed in a neat spring suit, had his little sister Margaret by the hand, and Sally Amelia, her dollie, under his special care, and was started for a trip all by themselves to old Auntie Blaikslee’s, almost a half-mile away! “Aren’t you afraid to let those two babies go off alone?” Grandmamma asked, looking up from her knitting with a somewhat troubled face. Mrs. Brockway smiled as she answered: “O, no! what could harm them? Teddy knows every foot of the way as well as I do, and every neighbor along the road; and everybody knows him. Besides, he is seven years old, and I must begin to trust him.” However, she went to the door and called after them: “Remember, Teddy, I trust Margaret to you. It isn’t every little boy of your age who can be depended upon to take care of his sister. And, Teddy, remember you are not to ride with any strange person who may ask you.” “Course not!” said Teddy, with dignity; “not unless he is Uncle Ben or Deacon West. I can ride with Deacon West—can’t we, muvver?” “O, yes!” said Mrs. Brockway, smiling. “He is not much more likely to meet Deacon West on this road than he is to meet the man in the moon,” she said laughingly to grandma, “but he has to provide for all the possibilities.”