1. It is autumn now; next comes winter, when the cold frosty air will pinch us, and force us to wrap ourselves up in warm clothes. The rain will be frozen into snow, and will come down like white feathers, and cover the ground.

2. The long sharp icicles will hang from the eaves of the houses, and the ponds of water will be frozen into a hard sheet. Then we shall be able to walk out only in the middle of the day, because it will be too cold in the mornings and evenings.

3. But we need not care much, as long as we have a good warm fire to sit by, where we can read, talk or play. By that time, I hope you will be able to read little stories to your mother. People will always be happy, whether it is winter or summer, if they are good.

4. There is a place called Iceland, where they have no day-light for several months in the year, and the weather is much colder than it is here, even in our coldest winters.

5. But the people in Iceland are very happy, and love their country very much; I dare say they would not leave it to come here in our finest and warmest weather They dress themselves in the

skins of wild beasts, and they slide along the ice on sledges drawn by rein-deer.

6. They take great pains to teach their children. to read, for if they could not read, they would be very dull indeed. They are a very good people, and, like all good people, they are very happy. MRS. HUGHS.

Here is a picture of a peacock. It is a beautiful bird. It spreads its gaudy tail, and inoves about with a pompous step, as if vain of its beauty.

Yet the peacock is nearly a useless bird; and his voice is as harsh as the filing of a saw. He does much mischief in gardens, digging up seeds, and nipping the buds of flowers.

Peacocks were first brought from India, and they are now found in most countries. They live till they are twenty years old. The beautiful feathers of the tail do not appear till the third year.