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hope to command their obedience.The queen gull said: I met an eagle yesterday, which had made its escape from a big city of men. And the eagle told me he had seen a monstrous polar bear skin thrown over the back of a carriage that rolled along the street. That skin must have been yours, oh king, and if you wish I will sent an hundred of my gulls to the city to bring it back to you.Let them go said the king, gruffly. And the hundred gulls were soon flying rapidly southward. For three days they flew straight as an arrow, until they came to scattered houses, to villages, and to cities. Then their search began. The gulls were brave, and cunning, and wise. Upon the fourth day they reached the great metropolis, and hovered over the streets until a carriage rolled along with a great white bear robe thrown over the back seat. Then the birds swooped downthe whole hundred of themand seizing the skin in their beaks flew quickly away. They were late. The kings great battle was upon the seventh day, and they must fly swiftly to reach the Polar regions by that time. Meanwhile the birdbear was preparing for his fight. He sharpened his claws in the small crevasses of the ice. He caught a seal and tested his big yellow teeth by crunching its bones between them. And the queen gull set her band to pluming the king bears feathers until they lay smoothly upon his body. But every day they cast anxious glances into the southern sky, watching for the hundred gulls to bring back

covered with feathers instead of hair they began to laugh, and one said: Our mighty king has become a bird Who ever before heard of a feathered polar bearThen the king gave way to wrath. He advanced upon them with deep growls and stately tread and with one blow of his monstrous paw stretched the mocker lifeless at his feet. The other ran away to his fellows and carried the news of the kings strange appearance. The result was a meeting of all the polar bears upon a broad field of ice, where they talked gravely of the remarkable change that had come upon their monarch. He is, in reality, no longer a bear, said one; nor can he justly be called a bird. But he is half bird and half bear, and so unfitted to remain our king.Then who shall take his place asked another. He who can fight the birdbear and overcome him, answered an aged member of the group. Only the strongest is fit to rule our race.There was silence for a time, but at length a great bear moved to the front and said: I will fight him; IWoofthe strongest of our race And I will be King of the Polar Bears.The others nodded assent, and dispatched a messenger to the king to say he must fight the great Woof and master him or resign his sovereignty. For a bear with feathers, added the messenger, is no bear at all, and the king we obey must resemble the rest of us.I wear feathers because it pleases me, growled the king. Am I not a great magician But I will fight, nevertheless, and if Woof masters me he shall be king in my stead.Then he visited his friends, the gulls, who were even then feasting upon the dead bear, and told them of the coming battle. I shall conquer, he said, proudly. Yet my people are in the right, for only a hairy one like themselves can

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wise and respected master, and with one accord they bowed their shaggy heads in homage to the mighty King of the Polar Bears. This story teaches us that true dignity and courage depend not upon outward appearance, but come rather from within; also that brag and bluster are poor weapons to carry into battle. THE MANDARIN AND THE BUTTERFLY A mandarin once lived in Kiangho who was so exceedingly cross and disagreeable that everyone hated him. He snarled and stormed at every person he met and was never known to laugh or be merry under any circumstances. Especially he hated boys and s; for the boys jeered at him, which aroused his wrath, and the s made fun of him, which hurt his pride. When he had become so unpopular that no one would speak to him, the emperor heard about it and commanded him to emigrate to America. This suited the mandarin very well; but before he left China he stole the Great Book of Magic that belonged to the wise magician Haotsai. Then, gathering up his little store of money, he took ship for America. He settled in a city of the middle west and of course started a laundry, since that seems to be the natural vocation of every Chinaman, be he coolie or mandarin. He made no acquaintances with the other Chinamen of the town, who, when they met him and saw the red button in his hat, knew him for a real mandarin and bowed low before him. He put up a red and white sign and people brought their laundry to him and got paper checks, with Chinese characters upon them, in exchange, this being the only sort of character the mandarin had left. One day as the ugly one was ironing in his shop in the basement of 263 1/2 Main street, he looked up and saw a crowd of ish faces pressed against the dow. Most Chinamen make friends with ren; this one hated them and tried to drive them away. But as soon as he returned to his work they were back at the dow again, mischievously smiling down upon him. The naughty mandarin uttered horrid words in the

can kill you, or leave you on the wall to starve to death.I expect that, replied the butterfly, with a sigh. But my race is shortlived, anyway; it doesnt matter whether death comes sooner or later.Yet you like to live, do you not asked the mandarin. Yet; life is pleasant and the world is beautiful. I do not seek death.Then, said the mandarin, I will give you lifea long and pleasant lifeif you will promise to obey me for a time and carry out my instructions.How can a butterfly serve a man asked the creature, in surprise. Usually they cannot, was the reply. But I have a book of magic which teaches me strange things. Do you promiseOh, yes; I promise, answered the butterfly; for even as your slave I will get some enjoyment out of life, while should you kill methat is the end of everythingTruly, said the mandarin, butterflies have no souls, and therefore cannot live again.But I have enjoyed three lives already, returned the butterfly, with some pride. I have been a caterpillar and a chrysalis before I became a butterfly. You were never anything but a Chinaman, although I admit your life is longer than mine.I will extend your life for many days, if you will obey me, declared the Chinaman. I can easily do so by means of my magic.Of course I will obey you, said the butterfly, carelessly. Then, listen You know ren, do you notboys and sYes, I know them. They chase me, and try to catch me, as you have done, replied the butterfly. And they mock me, and jeer at me through

= return to me and dip you legs afresh in the contents of this cup. So shall all my enemies, the ren, become miserable se, while no one will think of accusing me of the sorcery.Very well; since such is your command, I obey, said the butterfly. Then it dipped its front legs, which were the shortest of the six, into the contents of the tin cup, and flew out of the door and away over the houses to the edge of the town. There it alighted in a flower garden and soon forgot all about its mission to turn ren into se. In going from flower to flower it soon brushed the magic compound from its legs, so that when the sun began to set and the butterfly finally remembered its master, the mandarin, it could not have injured a had it tried. But it did not intend to try. That horrid old Chinaman, it thought, hates ren and wishes to destroy them. But I rather like ren myself and shall not harm them. Of course I must return to my master, for he is a magician, and would seek me out and kill me; but I can deceive him about this matter easily enough.When the butterfly flew in at the door of the mandarins laundry he asked, eagerly: Well, did you meet a I did, replied the butterfly, calmly. It was a pretty, goldenhaired but now tis a grunting pigGood Good Good cried the mandarin, dancing joyfully about the room. You shall have molasses for your supper, and tomorrow you must change two ren into pigs.The butterfly did not reply, but ate the molasses in silence. Having no soul it had no conscience, and having no conscience it was able to lie to the mandarin with great readiness and a certain amount of enjoyment. Next morning, by the mandarins command, the butterfly dipped its legs in the mixture and flew away in search of

Manchu language and made fierce gestures; but this did no good at all. The ren stayed as long as they pleased, and they came again the very next day as soon as school was over, and likewise the next day, and the next. For they saw their presence at the dow bothered the Chinaman and were delighted accordingly. The follog day being Sunday the ren did not appear, but as the mandarin, being a heathen, worked in his little shop a big butterfly flew in at the open door and fluttered about the room. The mandarin closed the door and chased the butterfly until he caught it, when he pinned it against the wall by sticking two pins through its beautiful gs. This did not hurt the butterfly, there being no feeling in its gs; but it made him a safe prisoner. This butterfly was of large size and its gs were exquisitely marked by gorgeous colors laid out in regular designs like the stained glass dows of a cathedral. The mandarin now opened his wooden chest and drew forth the Great Book of Magic he had stolen from Haotsai. Turning the pages slowly he came to a passage describing How to understand the language of butterflies. This he read carefully and then mixed a magic formula in a tin cup and drank it down with a wry face. Immediately thereafter he spoke to the butterfly in its own language, saying: Why did you enter this roomI smelled beeswax, answered the butterfly; therefore I thought I might find honey here.But you are my prisoner, said the mandarin. If I please I

= the kings own skin. The seventh day came, and all the Polar bears in that region gathered around the kings cavern. Among them was Woof, strong and confident of his success. The birdbears feathers will fly fast enough when I get my claws upon him he boasted; and the others laughed and encouraged him. The king was disappointed at not having recovered his skin, but he resolved to fight bravely without it. He advanced from the opening of his cavern with a proud and kingly bearing, and when he faced his enemy he gave so terrible a growl that Woofs heart stopped beating for a moment, and he began to realize that a fight with the wise and mighty king of his race was no laughing matter. After exchanging one or two heavy blows with his foe Woofs courage returned, and he determined to dishearten his adversary by bluster. Come nearer, birdbear he cried. Come nearer, that I may pluck your plumageThe defiance filled the king with rage. He ruffled his feathers as a bird does, till he appeared to be twice his actual size, and then he strode forward and struck Woof so powerful a blow that his skull crackled like an eggshell and he fell prone upon the ground. While the assembled bears stood looking with fear and wonder at their fallen champion the sky became darkened. An hundred gulls flew down from above and dripped upon the kings body a skin covered with pure white hair that glittered in the sun like silver. And behold the bears saw before them the wellknown form of their

we can spare.This idea pleased the gulls. One after another they plucked with their beaks the softest feathers from under their gs, and, flying down, dropped then gently upon the body of the King of the Polar Bears. Then they called to him in a chorus: Courage, friend Our feathers are as soft and beautiful as your own shaggy hair. They will guard you from the cold ds and warm you while you sleep. Have courage, then, and liveAnd the King of the Polar Bears had courage to bear his pain and lived and was strong again. The feathers grew as they had grown upon the bodies of the birds and covered him as his own hair had done. Mostly they were pure white in color, but some from the gray gulls gave his majesty a slight mottled appearance. The rest of that summer and all through the six months of night the king left his icy cavern only to fish or catch seals for food. He felt no shame at his feathery covering, but it was still strange to him, and he avoided meeting any of his brother bears. During this period of retirement he thought much of the men who had harmed him, and remembered the way they had made the great bang And he decided it was best to keep away from such fierce creatures. Thus he added to his store of wisdom. When the moon fell away from the sky and the sun came to make the icebergs glitter with the gorgeous tintings of the rainbow, two of the polar bears arrived at the kings cavern to ask his advice about the hunting season. But when they saw his great body