After we went up to our room, I wrote this story, and read it to Neddy. How his eyes sparkled with delight! "It's just as true as I live, every word of it," he said as I finished. [Illustration] "But, mamma, you forgot little Rose Ellsworth's town. She made a real hill, and covered it with grass, and dotted it all over with violets; and Daisy lent her a cow from her 'Noah's Ark;' and we made it stand up under a tree, and, if it had only whisked its tail, it would have looked almost alive. "I think, mamma," he continued, "that Rose is the nicest little girl here. I've painted her picture in my album." So I was not surprised, while looking over Neddy's pictures, to see that he had wasted a great deal of paint in trying to display Rose's pink cheeks and lovely golden hair: He had painted her cheeks redder than the reddest cherries you ever saw. S. B. T. [Illustration] SURF-BATHING AT CONEY ISLAND. Coney Island, about eight miles from the city of New York, is four and a half miles long and about half a mile in width. It is quite a resort in summer for those who want to breathe the briny air of the ocean. Charles and Laura had long been promised a visit to this famous bathing-place, and one warm day in June their father drove them down to the island; for there is a bridge connecting it with the main land. As they drove along the beach, they saw the bathers in the water, and Charles was very desirous of having a dip in the salt sea himself; but he had no bathing-dress, and so he had to give it up. It is very pleasant on a fine day in summer to stand on the beach, and watch the waves as they come foaming up. The children were much entertained at seeing a Newfoundland dog rush into the water after a stick which his master would throw far out. They will long remember their pleasant visit to Coney Island; but the next time they go, they mean to take their bathing-dresses and have a swim. F. H. W. [Illustration] A FUNNY FACT. Taddy Pole and Polly Wogg Lived together in a bog: Here you see the very pool Where they went to swimming-school. [Illustration] By and by (it's true, but strange) O'er them came a wondrous change: Here you have them on a log, Each a most decided frog. M. A. C. AN EXCITING SCENE. Early last spring, Mistress Jenny Wren took possession of the little box nailed to a tree immediately in front of Mr. Philip's house. She had not really moved in, when who should peep in but Mr. English-Sparrow. He was abroad house hunting, and never mistrusted that any one had got this house before him. He was thinking how well it would suit himself and mate, when _whir-r-r-r_! _whir-r-r-r_! up came Mrs. Jenny; and before he could offer a word of excuse, she began with, "Fie, fie! I took you for a gentleman! What business have you here?"