If we happen to know any friends who are going to the South of France for the winter, they could easily dry some sprays of the plants I have mentioned, and bring them to us in due time. If we have not this possibility, then in some florist’s greenhouse we may probably meet with oleander and palm, and we may grow our own carob-trees by sowing the seeds in pots, and, sheltered indoors from frosts, they will germinate and in time produce leaves large enough for the album. The carob is not mentioned by name in the Bible, but it is a Palestine tree, and yields the long, brown pods which were the “husks that the swine did eat” in the parable of the Prodigal Son; they are also believed to have been the “locusts” which, combined with “wild honey,” sustained John the Baptist in the wilderness, hence they are often called St. John’s bread. If we desire to buy the pods, they may be obtained at most corn-dealers under the name of “locusts.” Another interesting fact about the carob is this, that the brown hard seeds used to be the weights jewellers employed for weighing gold, silver, and precious stones; hence the term “carat” with which we are familiar. The long curved pods are eaten, when fresh, by the poorer inhabitants of Palestine; they are sweet and nourishing. The oleander is not mentioned in the Bible, but it grows so abundantly on the shores of the Lake of Galilee that it has some claim to be admitted into our collection. We may grow our own date plants if we will; the seeds germinate very freely at any season if kept warm and in moist soil. The leaf does not divide into leaflets and become a true palm leaf until the plant is five or six years old. If we desire a small palm leaf that will at once fit into our book, any florist will be able to supply a spray of _Cocos veitchii_, a small and delicate species just fitted for the purpose. These hints will enable anyone to form a Bible plant album, and many a pleasant and profitable hour may be spent in reading about each tree, and the passages in Scripture where they are mentioned are invested with a deeper interest from our knowledge of many facts which otherwise would have passed unnoticed. E. B. NOCTURNE. FOR PIANOFORTE. MATTHEW HALE. [Music] SHEILA’S COUSIN EFFIE. A STORY FOR GIRLS. BY EVELYN EVERETT-GREEN, Author of “Greyfriars,” “Half-a-dozen Sisters,” etc. CHAPTER XIII. MATERNAL DISPLEASURE. “Where is Sheila, Effie?” “Gone for a ride along the New Road with Lady Dumaresq and her brother,” answered Effie with a slight toss of the head. Mrs. Cossart looked annoyed. “She had no business to go without my permission.” “Much Sheila cares for that!” snorted Effie; but then with perhaps a better impulse she added, “Well, you were out, you know. And Lady Dumaresq sent up to ask her, and they had ordered a horse for her. I suppose she couldn’t very well have refused. She seems to belong more to them than to us.”