We will next take French beans, or, as they are properly called, _haricots verts_. I think these deserve to be served in a course by themselves, even more than peas. If they are served with a joint they must simply be made hot in a tin, then drained and allowed to dry, and handed round just as they are. French beans go best with a haunch of venison or roast mutton. If, however, you serve the beans as a course by themselves, you must, after making them hot and draining off the liquid, add a couple of tablespoonfuls of good white sauce, that is _béchamel sauce_, or if you have none, add to a tin of beans about enough fresh butter to fill a dessertspoon; add also about a saltspoonful of finely chopped fresh parsley, a little pepper and salt, and about a teaspoonful or rather more of lemon-juice, as well as a little powdered sugar. The beans should be tossed lightly together until the butter is dissolved, and then served. Last, but not least, come _macédoines_. _Macédoines_ in tins are simply mixed preserved vegetables, the chief ingredients being green peas, chopped carrot, and turnip. _Macédoines_ are one of the most useful kind of tinned goods to have in the house, as you can always make a pretty dish at a few moments’ notice. A spoonful of _macédoines_ will turn some clear soup into a bright-looking spring soup. A tin of _macédoines_ made hot and placed in the centre of a dish of mutton cutlets always has a bright and appetising appearance. _Macédoines_ can also be added to the remains of some cold potatoes, and used to make a German salad; while, with a few hard-boiled eggs and a small pot of _caviare_, we can make with their assistance that excellent supper dish known as a Russian salad. (_To be continued._) [Illustration] THE BROOK AND ITS BANKS. BY THE REV. J. G. WOOD, M.A., Author of “The Handy Natural History.” CHAPTER V. The bank-vole—A long-tailed field mouse—Its varied diet—Insect-eating—Robbing a moth-hunter—Treacles and their visitors—The voles as climbers—The water-shrew—Signification of its name—Habits of the water-shrew—Its activity and grace in the water—Teeth of the shrews—Structure of its ears—Mode of swimming—The flattened body—Colour of the water-shrew—Its food—The shrew and the rat—An unfounded accusation—Burrow of the water-shrew—Superstitions regarding the shrews—The shrew ash—Land-shrews—The shrew-mouse—Distinctive structures—Mortality among shrews—Killing shrews with shovels—The pigmy shrew—Our smallest mammal. As might be expected from its name, the BANK-VOLE (_Arvícola glaréolus_) is to be sought upon the banks of our brook. As its tail is nearly as long as that of the common mouse, it is often called the “long-tailed field mouse,” and it may easily be distinguished from a true mouse which does inhabit the country by the shortness of its ears, the bluntness of its snout, and the white colour of its paws.