"Do it," said Amy, bravely and confidently. He took her into the reading-room of the hotel, and in a few minutes she produced a likeness of Mr. Ritson, which made him cry out, "Bravo, bravo, little girl! You have done it! Forgive my suspicions. Here is a guinea for what you have done. Come here to-morrow at this time, and I will see what I can do to help you." Amy, wild with joy, took the money home to her father. The prosperity of the family was now assured. Mr. Ritson proved to be a true friend. He showed Amy's sketches to a great many persons, and praised them so highly, that she soon began to have orders. She continued to improve, and in time became quite a successful artist. She had as much work as she could do, and earned more in a month than her father could earn in a year. He soon got well, and lived to take great comfort in the fame of his dear little girl. ALFRED SELWYN. * * * * * JOHNNY AND THE TOAD. JOHNNY. I want to go to school, And he won't let me pass; I think that a toad Ought to keep on the grass. I don't want to cry; But I'm afraid I'm going to: Oh, dear me! What am I to do? TOAD. [Illustration] Here's a dreadful thing!-- A boy in the way, I don't know what to do: I don't know what to say. I can't see the reason Such monsters should be loose: I'm trembling all over; But that is of no use. JOHNNY. I must go to school, The bell is going to stop: That terrible old toad,-- If he only would hop! TOAD. I must cross the path, I can hear my children croak; I hope that dreadful boy Will not give me a poke. A hop and a start, a flutter and a rush, Johnny is at school, and the toad in his bush. H.A.F. * * * * * THE HEN WHO HELPED HERSELF. In a city not far from Boston, there once lived a stout little fellow named Willie Wilkins. He was six years old, had red cheeks and blue eyes, and such curly hair that it was always in a tumble, no matter how much it was brushed. One summer his mamma took him into the country to spend a few weeks at a farm-house. The farmer's wife, Mrs. Hill, was very glad to have him come, for she had no girls or boys of her own, to make the house pleasant. She liked to see Willie running about, and hear his shrill voice calling after the great house-dog Bruno. One morning Willie had been as busy as ever at his play: he had been in the orchard, hunting for ripe apples; he had been in the barn, looking for hen's eggs in the sweet hay; he had been down to the brook, sailing his boat; and he had played market-man, with Bruno harnessed for a horse. [Illustration]