58

WALKS AROUND LONDON.

Before mother went out to her charing on the following morning, she did what she could to make him comfortable, and when the old man said, 'Good-bye, Marthy; don't'ee be no later than you can help,' the woman's eyes filled with tears. She bade Sally take care of her Gran'fer and get whatever he wanted, and then she started to her work, but the tears were still in her eyes as she went down the creaking stairs.

'You don't mind my goin' out a bit,

Gran'fer?' asked Sally at eleven o'clock, when Zeph had given his usual signal to show that he was ready. "I'm goin' to try and find where Jesus lives.'

'Ay, go! That's Gran'fer's good little lass; and tell him as I've been lookin' for him for a many weary years,' was the old man's

answer.

Another minute saw Sally and Zeph on their way to the corner-house.

WALKS AROUND LONDON.
BY UNCLE JONATHAN.,
II. RICHMOND.

HE walk from Kew to Richmond is not a very long one, and if we go alongside the river, may be made very pleasant and interesting indeed. For there is so much to attract the attention, so many of Dame Nature's wonderful wild-flowers to pick, if we want to give pleasure to those at home by taking a bunch; so many bright and swift-winged insects to watch. When we reach Richmond Bridge, which is over one hundred years old, having been built in the years between 1774 and 1777, at a cost of £26,000, we are able to get some very pleasing views, especially looking up the river to Richmond Hill and Twickenham Meadows. Our poets have again and again sung the praises of this part of the river's

course:

'Where Thames along the daisied meads His wave in lucid mazes leadsSilent, slow, serenely flowing, Wealth on either side bestowing.' The old village has grown into a populous town, and many picturesque mansions have given place to the statelier houses. We will not spend our time in examining the town, but will pay a short visit to the old church. Excepting the old square tower of flint and stone, there is little of the original building left. The tower contains a peal of eight bells. Amongst the many tablets and monuments in and around the church, we notice the brass tablet to the memory of

James Thomson, placed in the church wall by the Earl of Buchan, who was 'unwilling that so good a man and sweet a poet should be without a memorial.' The church is full of memorials to many other great men and women actors, authors, poets, the great and the unknown, the rich and poor, rest amid this much-loved scenery, awaiting the great day when their lives will be weighed in the balances.

But let us stroll to the Green, and see the remains of the old palace to which the sovereigns of England, when they were wearied of city life, used to come to find pleasure and recreation. So far back as the time of the first Edward a palace stood here, and Edward II. also lived here. The old palace was the scene of Edward III.'s death. Here also Anne, the queen of Richard II., died. She was the queen who taught English ladies the use of the side-saddle in riding. Until about 1500 the palace and village had been known by the name of 'Sheen,' which in the Saxon tongue meant 'resplendent.' Its fine situation and beautiful view of the river for some distance may have occasioned the name. But when Henry VII. rebuilt the old palace he ordered the name to be changed to Richmond, after his own title, which, you will remember, was Earl of Richmond before he was made king at the battle of Bosworth Field. He and his son Henry VIII. spent much time here, and Richmond obtained a name far-famed for its gaiety. Festivity followed festivity, and at these

THE SQUIRRELS HOME.

59

large and stately building. It is the Wesleyan Theological Institution,-a training college for our Missionary students who are preparing to go forth to the dark countries of the world to teach the heathen of the Lord Jesus.

times, from the castle walls and windows, and from the shady walks around the spacious green, many were the spectators of the exciting tournament, when the mail-clad knights met to try their prowess in contest before their king. In the dark, gloomy days of Queen Mary's reign, the good Princess Elizabeth was shut up within the palace for a short time as a prisoner. When she became queen she made this one of her favourite places of residence. The only remaining part of this famous old palace is the entrance gateway to the Wardrobe Court (now known as Old Palace Yard), and just inside the gate a rough red brick and stone building, having turrets and battlements. Above the gateway are the arms of Henrying along a small herd of deer. They are VII. All else has long ago either crumbled away or been pulled down.

Richmond Hill, since Thomson described it more than a century and a half ago, in his poem, 'Summer,' has been one of the most famous spots in England. The view from the hill is as pretty as when the poet described it; and though some of the places and objects seen by him are now concealed behind tall trees, or have been removed in the course of time, yet new villages dot the landscape, and other objects are here helping to form one of the loveliest pictures in all England.

Standing near the summit of the hill is a

From a gate on the hill we enter the park, which is, excepting Windsor, the largest round London. We can well imagine ourselves in the midst of a forest when we have entered, for the woods appear so very thick, and some of the trees are very old; and whilst we are enjoying the quiet of the woods, watching the dear little bunnies at the foot of that tree, sportively popping in and out of their warrens, there comes troop

accustomed to the sight of people in their park, so that we need have no fear, for they will take but little notice of us. Altogether there are in the park sixteen hundred fallow and fifty red deer. When George II. was king, he kept a flock of three thousand wild turkeys in the park. There are two lakes, or Pen Ponds, here, and occasionally a flock of fifty or sixty herons will assemble, but they never stay long. We may roam about the two thousand and fifteen acres of forest-land which the park contains, finding something at every turn to entertain; but now we must leave what has long been considered one of the fairest and prettiest spots in England.

THE SQUIRRELS' HOME.

IT is the month of April, and the two pretty squirrels you see in the Picture are taking a loving farewell of their winter home.

It is a warm, sheltered nest, strongly built in the fork of a tree, and perhaps the squirrels are thinking regretfully of the fine games they might have had swinging from the boughs or chasing each other up and down the trunk. The cage, as the home is generally called, is well hidden from sight by the branches on which it rests, and which also shield it from the wind. Their mother brought them comfortably home last autumn, when they were quite babies, and here they have spent all the winter,

Now the

It

snugly sheltered and cared for.
spring has come, they have ventured out-
side the cage, and, shaking off their sleepi-
ness, have begun some fine games of hide-
and-seek. But this morning father has told
them it is time to leave their old home, he
has finished building the summer cage.
is hung on the very end of a slender bough,
which bends beneath its weight, and the
new home rocks like a cradle in the wind.
The cage is made of twigs, leaves, and moss,
and is almost round in shape; it is so well
and carefully built that it can bear the
weight of three or four little ones besides
father and mother.

The baby squirrels are born in the middle

60 LEILA'S FEARS, AND HOW SHE CONQUERED THEM.

of summer, and live with their parents till the following spring, when they think themselves old enough to build a home of their own.

If boys are cruel enough to throw stones at the nest, the mother takes her babies one by one in her mouth and runs away to hide them; but if she is alone she is not at all afraid, and will sit quite still till a stone really strikes the nest, when she rushes away to the top of the tree, and looks down on her enemies in safety.

But, alas! sad to tell, the poor little squirrel is often caught and killed, and taken home to be stuffed and put under a glass case. Tom glues the little thing on a branch,

and tries to seat it in a natural position; then when his friends come to see him, he shows them his squirrel in triumph, and asks them to admire its curly tail and bright eyes, which are now only glass.

I am sure if the poor creature had its choice, it would rather have lived in the woods till it died a natural death, than have the honour of sitting in state under a glass case in Master Tom's room for any number of years. So if you have a brother who tries to catch squirrels and preserve them, do your best to persuade him to leave them the liberty and life which God has given them. VIOLET.

LEILA'S FEARS, AND HOW SHE CONQUERED THEM. (Concluded from page 46.)

ABOUT the middle of the night something awoke Leila, and she lay listening with wide-open eyes. She could faintly hear now and then a kind of hoarse cough, mingled with a fretful, weary cry; surely she had heard it before. And as it came again it filled the child with a vague terror.

'Agnes!' she touched her sister gently, 'Agnes! Aggie!'

'Yes,' said Agnes, sleepily. What now, Leila?' for she was accustomed to be aroused by Leila's touch and the frightened. whisper, 'What's that?' which usually followed.

'Wake up, Aggie, and tell me what that noise is;' and then the cough sounded louder than before, followed by a cry. Agnes sprang up in bed, wide-awake.

'O! Leila, it's croup; it's baby. Do go and see!'

It is so dark,' hesitated Leila, half-crying. 'You are afraid. Perhaps I can go.' But when Agnes attempted to stand, she fell back on the bed with a cry of pain. 'My foot! I think it is worse, I cannot move. You must go, Leila.'

Leila got out of bed, slowly put on her dressing-gown and slippers, and crept to the door. Nurse's room was not very near, for the passages were long, but the door was ajar, and the gleam of light she saw gave her courage to run swiftly towards it and softly enter the room. A fire had been lighted, and nurse sat before it with baby on her knee. There was a kettle boiling on the fire, and the bath by nurse's side.

Miss Leila! when did you come?'
'Just this minute. I heard baby, and
Agnes sent me here. Is she very ill, nurse?
Don't you want the doctor?'

LEILA'S FEARS, AND HOW SHE CONQUERED THEM.

'If I did I could not get him,' replied nurse; 'he lives miles away, and I have no one to send. But I know what to do as well as he does, I think. Give me that shawl, and the little bottle off the end of the mantlepiece.'

As nurse took the bottle she exclaimed in dismay, 'What shall I do? This is the stuff I got for Miss Aggie's foot. It is just like baby's bottle, and I must have taken the wrong one in my hurry. Miss Leila, could you fetch it for me? She must have it.'