PART I.

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS.

Some selections referred to in the Course of Study are not contained in this volume. The following, not named in Course of Study, may be used instead:

In place of "North Wind and the Pine Trees," use "North Wind and the Snow Princess"; for "The Unhappy Pine Tree," use "Coming and Going"; for "Acorn and Chestnut," use "Water Lilies"; for "The Little Brown Seed," use "Only a Flower"; for "The Pea Blossom," use "Apple Blossoms"; for "Three Golden Apples," use "Diamonds and Toads"; for "The Snow Shower," use "The Brook's Song"; for "Poor Boys, and How They Became Famous," use "Whittington and His Cat." Teachers will readily make other substitutions without further suggestion. Other selections, introduced to be used at the discretion of the teacher, including poems, historic and biographic sketches, myths, etc., have been placed in the volume because of their moral or literary worth.

7

"WE

Apple Blossoms.*

E are much handsomer than you are," said the little apple blossoms to the tiny pears on a tree near by. "Just see what pink and white wings we have. Your wings are never so pretty as ours. They are only white; still we wonder that you throw them down there on the grass even if there was no pink in them."

"Don't be silly," answered the tiny pears. "You will throw away your wings very soon and the little green apples that will be left won't look so very different from us."

"Throw away our wings! Never!" cried the apple blossoms, their pretty pink cheeks growing redder and redder.

"Very well. We won't quarrel over it," said the tiny pears. "But we think you are very silly."

"And we think you are very silly!" answered the apple blossoms.

The days went by. The little pink blossoms on the apple tree began to fade. Their pretty pink cheeks lost their color.

"What has happened to our beautiful wings,"

* From Stories of Garden and Field, by permission of Educational Publishing Co.

moaned the tiny apples. "O dear! O dear!" "It is time to shake off those faded apple blossoms," said the spring wind. Blow! Blow! and down came a pretty shower of white petals upon the grass below. For a minute the tiny apples looked at each other half afraid.

"Never mind," said they at last, "those wings were growing as pale and white as the pear blossoms. We do not want them. Let's grow now as fast as ever we can and change into beautiful red apples." The tiny pears on the next tree hid their eyes and laughed to themselves. They laughed till the whole tree shook with their laughter.

"We told you so," they cried. But the tiny apples were so busy growing that they did not even hear what the little pears said to them.