A sunflower tall, by the garden wall, Scornfully nodded his head To a brilliant poppy, whose cheeks below Were all aflame with a crimson glow. “I am the child of the sun,” he smiled; “His color is mine, you see, While you are drinking his warm rays in, You never once try his tints to win.” But the poppy gay, still blushing away (And laughing a little too), Quietly answered, “The sun has told Me to be red and you to be gold. “The morning’s hush and the poppy’s blush Are dear to the heart of day As the noontide hour, with its triumphs won, And the flower that rivals the glowing sun. “Heaven is large, and its chiefest charge Is that life shall be broad and free, And it bids the children of sun and storm Ne’er to a single type conform.” The sunflower wise looked down in surprise At the bold little flower below, But he learned a lesson there and then That needs to be learned by many men. [Illustration] WONDERS OF THE ALPHABET. BY HENRY ECKFORD. SIXTH PAPER. You must have noticed the difference in your own handwriting, when you are using a pen that does not suit you, and when you have one to which you are accustomed. Similarly, when you are writing on a slate—a sharp slate-pencil makes a clear, thin mark, a blunt pencil makes a broad mark with uneven edges. When the pencil is worn down on one side, if you turn it over, it makes another sort of a mark. The writing done with a quill differs from that made with a steel pen. And the differences between the writings of certain nations of the Old World—which at one time puzzled people very much—were often caused by their use of different writing materials, such as: paper and pencils; paper and brushes; bricks and metal pens; wax and metal nails; wood and knife-blades. [Illustration: REED AND PEN-CASE OF ANCIENT EGYPT.]