This custom of binding the baby up so straight and tight is a very old one. The Bible tells us, you know, that the mother of Jesus "wrapped him in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in a manger." So the people of Syria keep on using swaddling-clothes, thinking, that, if they do not, the baby will grow crooked. [Illustration] They are used in Russia also, and in other countries of northern Europe. Poor babies! We pity them. EM. JUNIUS. POLLIWOGS. THE cat-tails all along the brook Are growing tall and green; And in the meadow-pool, once more, The polliwogs are seen; Among the duck-weed, in and out, As quick as thought they dart about; Their constant hurry, to and fro, It tires me to see: I wish they knew it did no good To so uneasy be! I mean to ask them if they will Be, just for one half-minute, still! "Be patient, little polliwogs, And by and by you'll turn to frogs." But what's the use to counsel them? My words are thrown away; And not a second in one place A polliwog will stay. They still keep darting all about The floating duck-weed, in and out. Well, if they will so restless be, I will not let it trouble me, But leave these little polliwogs To wriggle till they turn to frogs! MARIAN DOUGLAS. [Illustration] [Illustration: DRAWING-LESSON BY HARRISON WEIR. VOL. XXI.--NO. 5.] FANNY AND LOUISE. FANNY was a little pony, and Louise was a little girl. Fanny had a long black mane and tail, and Louise had long brown curls. Louise wore a gypsy-hat with blue ribbons, and Fanny wore a saddle and bridle with blue girths and reins. Louise was a gentle little girl, and Fanny was a very headstrong pony; consequently Fanny had it all her own way. When she was trotting along the road, with Louise on her back, if she chanced to spy a nice prickly thistle away up on a bank, up she would scramble, as fast as she could go, the sand and gravel rolling down under her hoofs; and, no matter how hard Louise pulled on the reins, there she would stay until she had eaten the thistle down to the very roots. Then she would back down the bank, and trot on. Fanny was fond of other good things besides thistles. She would spy an apple on a tree, no matter how thick the leaves were; and, without waiting to ask Louise's permission, she would run under the tree, stretch her head up among the branches, and even raise herself up on her hind-legs, like a dog, to reach the apple. Louise would clasp Fanny around the neck, and bury her face in her mane: but she often got scratched by the little twigs; and many a long hair has she left waving from the apple-boughs after such an adventure.