A STORY FOR LITTLE CHILDREN.

One pleasant Saturday afternoon some little girls and boys went to take a walk in a wood;; each one had a little basket to contain the flowers, berries, or any curious or pretty things that they might find in the course of their walk.

Charles was the name of the oldest boy, and he was thirteen years old; he said that he knew the way all about the wood, and that if they all followed him, they none of them would lose their way.

The children all said they would, and they all meant to; but Harry and his little sister Lucy, who were the youngest children of the party, for Harry was only seven, and Lucy five, were so much pleased with the flowers and all they saw, that they forgot themselves;. and ran into a little path where they saw a little squirrel sitting on a stump eating an acorn.. The squirrel scampered off, when he saw them, and they after him,, till they lost sight of Charless

and the other children, and the squirrel too.

We had better go back, said Harry, to the place where Charles and all the rest of the children are; but when he wanted to return, he was not sure of the way; for in running af ter the squirrel, they had not observed two or three little paths just like the one they were in, which they had passed by; and when they wanted to go back, they did not know which was the right, and they happened to take the wrong one; as they were a little scared, they ran for some time very fast, and did not see that it was a different path from that by which they came.'

Presently Harry stopped, and said, Lucy, we have lost our way; this is the wrong path; here is a little brook, and there was none in the path that we came in.'

Lucy began to cry; she was a very little girl, and was foolish enough to cry. Before Lucy cried, Harry was frightened himself, and felt a little foolish too; but when he saw his little sister so unhappy, he remembered what his father had often said to him about taking care of Lucy, and being a courageous boy, seeing Lucy's terror cured him of his own, so he said

to her, Don't cry, Lucy, I dare say somebody will come along and show us the way, and Charles will soon come after us, for he knows all the paths in the wood. And, Lucy, don't you remember the little hymn that mother taught us, and that we say so often to her

He guards us with a parent's care
When we are all alone?

And you know, Lucy, that mother told us: who it was that took care of us all the time; and I know that nothing will hurt us; so Lucy, don't cry any more; you see that I am not afraid.' And then Harry tried to think what was the best thing to do. We had better; Lucy,' he said, sit down on this stone a little while, and see if no one comes along, for if we go on, we may get farther away from the right path.' Lucy sat down by Harry, and wiped her eyes, and felt comforted.

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'I love to think now,' said Harry, ' of what mother has told us of God's always seeing us; and you know, Lucy, he takes care of all these birds and squirrels in the woods; and you know what our teacher in the Sunday school read to us about the little sparrows, and that God loves us more than he loves the sparrows.."

Presently they heard a noise in the bushes, and they looked where it came from, and saw a cow coming along. They were not such silly children as to be afraid of a cow, so they sat still and looked at her.

In a minute Harry clapped his hands, and exclaimed, 'I know that cow; she is Mr Brown's, who lives close by our house; I know her by that white spot like a star in her forehead, and that other one on her back. I observed her the other day as she was standing in his yard; she is going home to be milked, and we will follow close after her, and we shall get out of the woods.'

They both jumped up, and ran after the cow as fast as their little feet could go. When she stopped for a mouthful of grass, they stopped to pick berries and flowers, and they went along singing as merrily as the birds. Very soon they got out of the wood; and saw Charles coming with their father to find them. Charles had, as soon as he missed them, carried the other children home, and told Harry and Lucy's father that he could not find them.

Harry, as soon as he saw his father, ran up to him, and told him how he found the way home. "Was it not a good cow, father,

said Lucy, to show us the way out of the woods?' 'I am very glad,' said her father, 'that Harry knew whose cow it was, for if he had not observed how Mr Brown's cow was marked, you would not have followed her. This is the use of attention and observation. If he had observed the path by which you entered the woods as accurately, you would not have lost your way.' 'Look at my flowers and berries,' said Lucy, 'but father I should have been dreadfully frightened if it had not been for Harry.'

'Father,' said Harry, 'I was a little afraid at first, till I saw Lucy was frightened, and then I tried to comfort her, and then I thought of our hymn, and I felt happy to think that God saw us.' After a little hesitation he added, 'but do you think, father, that God made the cow come that way to show us the right path home?'

'No, my dear,' said his father, 'the cow came the same path probably that she always does; but as soon as you remembered that God always watches over you, then you felt composed and happy, and you were able to use your faculties to take care of yourself; so you were able to observe the cow; but if you had not thought of God, and had not used your reason,