However, I found to my relief, that no secret sign had gone out against myself or the house; the difficulty was the long daily walk to Chinatown. With their small feet and uncomfortable shoes, they are all bad walkers, and each in turn had tired of the effort, and handed the place over to a friend. This explanation, kindly given me by Mr. Kee Mane, who kept the Chinese stores, lifted a weight from my mind, and I resigned myself to continuing my lessons in fresh Chinese names. (_To be continued._) [Illustration: A WINTER NIGHT.] A CAROL OF FOOTPRINTS. BY NORA HOPPER. 'Twixt snow and snow in their poor apparel The singers come with their lightsome carol, On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day. The singers come in a huddled crowd Singing "Gloria" low and "Gloria" loud, On Christmas Day in the morning. Under the tread of so many feet Snow turns mud in the lamplit street, On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day. Yet you may see while the dawn endure Shining footsteps from door to door, On Christmas Day in the morning. Shining prints of a little child, Feet in the mud set, undefiled, On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day. A little while do the footprints stay Till the clear dawn deepens to rosy day, To Christmas Day in the morning. And those who have looked on the footprints bright, They know, in the dusk 'twixt day and night, (On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day,) That Christ has passed with the passing feet Of folk that praised Him in carols sweet On Christmas Day in the morning. [Illustration] LESSONS FROM NATURE. BY JEAN A. OWEN, Author of "Forest, Field and Fell," etc. PART III. THE PERSEVERING SPIDER. [Illustration] Can any pleasant moral lesson be learned from the spider? I fancy some of our readers asking--the spider, whom many regard as the most treacherous, cruel, and unrelenting of those creatures who lie in wait for prey? By the song "Will you walk into my parlour? said the spider to the fly," in the nursery, several generations of children have been early prejudiced against this useful and most intelligent insect.