himself; they used to play together very merrily, and loved each other as brothers and sisters ought to do.

Soon a messenger returned from Bella and Jessie, and Tom clapped his hands and laughed with delight when he saw a paper full of eggs, and thought how he would divide them with his brother and sister. He placed his eggs on the window-seat for the sun to shine upon them, but they did not hatch that day or the next.

Every morning he looked in vain, till, just as his patience was getting tired out, after many days of watching, he saw, one Sunday morning, a tiny black caterpillar, and all day long black caterpillars kept coming out more and more; so Tom began to think what he must do to feed them, as the gardener was not in the garden on Sunday. Papa came in to say that it was time for Tom and Edith to get ready for the morning service, and while they were being dressed, he would bring them a lettuce-leaf, as the mulberrytree was not yet out. The children gave a last look at their caterpillars before they set off. When they returned more had appeared, and by the end of the day Tom was able to give Edith eighteen worms for herself, and to his little brother Alfred twelve, though he was too young to attend to them himself; but it amused him to watch them whilst Tom kindly took care of them for him.

One morning, some weeks after this, mamma went to look at the silkworms, and I can scarcely tell you how shocked she was to find them nearly starved to death. Her children had forgotten to feed them. The mulberry-tree was now in leaf, so she went to

it, and soon gathered a basketful for the poor little

worms.

As mamma was watching them eat, the thought came into her mind that it would be better to give them all away to a little boy whom she knew would be glad to have them, and would take care of them, than thus treat them so cruelly; but the children begged so hard to keep them, that mamma at last consented that they should stay.

I am sorry to say they were often left too long without food, and I fear would have died had not kind papa many times brought in a handful of leaves; but soon they no longer wanted anything to eat; the now large greenish-white caterpillars turned away from a nice fresh leaf, so mamma knew it was because they wished to spin; that is, make a beautiful yellow silk ball, to live in; so she twisted some bits of paper into small bags, placed a caterpillar in each, and pinned it up against the wall. It was very amusing to watch the thread come out of its mouth, and the busy little feet twirl and twirl, till, in a very short time, not more than two days, you could only see a silk ball. The insect was now quite hid, but it worked on till its house was completed, and then changed into a chrysalis.

The date had been written upon the paper bag, in order that it might not be left more than ten days, lest the insect should eat its way out, and spoil the silk.

One day some young friends came to see the children; they did not know anything about silkworms, and looked quite puzzled at the cocoons, which is the name

of the silk balls; so mamma whispered to Tom, and he gave them a few, which made their visitors look very happy. They asked a great many questions about these wonderful insects, that can make silk enough for thousands of silk dresses, and millions of yards of ribbon, to be used all over the world. Mamma told them that one worm will spin a thread long enough to reach six English miles-that China is the best country for silk, but there is a great deal in France, Spain, and Italy. She had seen in the south of France large mountains covered nearly to the top with mulberrytrees. There, the silkworms are left to feed on the trees, and in process of time they hang their cocoons from the leaves and branches.

Several of the children's cocoons had now been hanging fourteen days, so Tom asked mamma how he must wind off the silk; she told him that he could not manage very well to do it without a silk-winder, and perhaps Bella and Jessie would lend them theirs; so a message was sent, and soon came the winder. The winding off their first silk was a grand excitement. Tom looked so important; Edith stood gazing; and little Alfred peered about, stretching his head up to see what was going on, crying out, "Edie, let me look; is it my ball ?"

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'First, we must have some warm water; now we must take care; that rough outside silk must be pulled off till a single thread is found. Do not break that very fine thread, it is glued on round and round, so pop the cocoon into the warm water; that will melt the gum, and with the clever winder it will soon be all wound."

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Tom worked away till the thinnest of all coverings was left; he touched it, and out dropped a chrysalis. Mamma, mamma," cried out two of the children, "where is the silkworm? We saw it put into the paper bag."

Tom looked very wise and said, "It is there, you

see."

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No, no," says Edie, "that's only a bit of stick, not our fine caterpillar."

Mamma smiled and said, "It is, indeed, a wonderful change, but wait a while, and you will see something more surprising still; we have taken the warm covering from this poor chrysalis, we will get some bran and bury it."

"Oh! but is it really alive ?"
"Yes, it lives; look, it moves.

Alfie, Alfie, you are too rough; do not pinch it, you'll kill it."

Day after day Tom worked away very busily; but Bella and Jessie had silkworms too: they wanted their winder, and it was sent back. A kind friend of mamma's, who was paying her a visit, said, "When I go home to-morrow, I will buy a winder, and send it to you." The lady kept her word, and the children worked away again with much pleasure till all the silk was wound.

There was much talk among the children about what they would have made; papa, of course, must have a silk handkerchief to tie round his throat; then Edith wondered whether mamma could have a silk dress; as for Tom, he thought they had such a large quantity of silk, that he even went so far as to promise a friend of his a silk pocket handkerchief,

These insects had now undergone three changes in their short lives, for it was only one summer; but, as I said before, the most wonderful change was yet to

come.

After a week or ten days a soft white moth came out of its case, in the tray of bran. Little Edith was the first to see it; she called out, "Oh, what a pretty butterfly! may I have it ?"

"No, dear, leave it alone, and see what will next happen to it." So Edith called her brothers, and they watched it fluttering about, as if trying to use its newly-found wings; soon another pushed its way out of the bran, then another, and still another. But it was time for lessons; Tom, Edith, and Alfred must go; after lessons they had to go out; then came dinner, then a drive in the afternoon; after that, tea, and play, and bedtime: and so the children did not see their moths again till the next morning; when, what was their astonishment to find upon a sheet of white paper, which had been placed there during their absence, a number of tiny yellow eggs, not larger than a pin's head; this caused another surprise. At last, all the moths came out, all the eggs were hatched and carefully put away, in the store-room this time, in order that they might be locked up.

And now I have come to the end of my history of the silkworm. I want you, my dear young readers, to learn a lesson from these curious little insects. See how they work, and work on, are never idle, but increasing in their endeavours to do the will of their Maker. We are all sent into this world for some purpose; let us each strive to find out what is the