SAID a sow to her piggies so white, "Oh! the chilly winds whistle around, There is ice on the old miller's dam, And there's snow on the hard frozen ground; But a warm, sheltered stackyard have we, Where all day you may play hide-and-seek: So away, little piggies, my white little piggies, For a gambol and scramble and squeak. "You have all had your breakfasts, I know; For your trough was full, up to the top, Of the sweetest potatoes and milk; And you've not left a bit or a drop; But, though an old sow, I'll not grunt: So begone round the barn for a freak, And I'll watch you, dear piggies, fat, curly-tailed piggies, As you hurry and scurry and squeak." [Illustration] So at once, 'mid the fresh-sprinkled straw, The young pettitoes scampered away; And they rooted and burrowed and hid, Then all quiet a minute they lay: Soon their pink-pointed, noses peeped out; Then their bodies, so plump and so sleek. Oh the glad little piggies, the mad little piggies-- How they snuffle and scuffle and squeak! GEORGE BENNETT. [Illustration] A SONG OF NOSES. [Illustration: D]UNCAN has a nose, Points my finger at it: Has a nose the hare, He will let you pat it. [Illustration] Has a nose the bull, Soon he will be lowing. [Illustration] Has a nose the fox, He is very knowing. [Illustration] Peacock has a nose, Very proud he's feeling. [Illustration] Has a nose the hog, Soon he will be squealing. Tell me which of all these noses Duncan now the best supposes. [Illustration] ABOUT SOME INDIANS. LAST summer a party of Indians,--men, women, and children,--in nine little birch canoes, came paddling down the Mississippi River, and landed at our village in Illinois. They were of the Chickasaw tribe from Minnesota, who are half-civilized, and speak our language imperfectly. Indians, you must know, do not live in good warm houses as we do. They live in wigwams, as they call their houses, which are merely a few poles stuck in the ground, and covered with skins or blankets. They do not provide regular meals, but live from hand to mouth by hunting and fishing. Sometimes they have to go without food a long time. The men are too lazy to work. They like better to strut about with their faces painted all the colors of the rainbow. The Indians who came to our village were very good specimens of their race. Of course, their visit made quite a sensation, especially among our young folks. As soon as they landed, the squaws (women) threw their blankets over their shoulders, swung their pappooses (babies) on their backs, and, with their little boys and girls, came up into town.