“Shall I take back my gift?” she asked.

“Oh, no, no, no!” he cried.  He was rested now, and he did not feel so much discouraged.

“If you still wish to go on working, take this ring,” said the fairy.  “My sister sends it to you.  Wear it, and it will greatly assist the charm.”

He took the ring, and the fairy was gone.  The ring was set with a beautiful blue stone, which reflected everything bright that came near it; and he thought he saw inside the ring the one word—­“Hope.”

Many more years passed.  The young man’s mother died, and he went far, far from home.  In the strange land to which he went people thought his pictures were wonderful; and he had become a great and famous painter.

One day he went to see a large collection of pictures in a great city.  He saw many of his own pictures, and some of them had been painted before he left his forest home.  All the people and the painters praised them; but there was one that they liked better than the others.  It was a picture of a little child, holding in its hands several water lilies.

Toward evening the people departed one by one, till he was left alone with his masterpieces.  He was sitting in a chair thinking of leaving the place, when he suddenly fell asleep.  And he dreamed that he was again standing near the little lake in his native land, watching the rays of the setting sun as they melted away from its surface.  The beautiful lily was in his hand, and while he looked at it the leaves became withered, and fell at his feet.  Then he felt a light touch on his hand.  He looked up, and there on the chair beside him stood the little fairy.

“O wonderful fairy!” he cried, “how can I thank you for your magic gift?  I can give you nothing but my thanks.  But at least tell me your name, so that I may cut it on a ring and always wear it.”

“My name,” replied the fairy, “is Perseverance.”

Jean Ingelow.

* * * * *

[Illustration:]

Name the different objects you see in the picture.  What did the artist desire to tell?  What is the central object?  Where is the scene of the picture placed?  What time of the day and of the year does it show?

Describe the boy.  How old is he?  What impresses you most about him?

Suppose your teacher took the class to this lake for a day’s outing. 
Write a composition on how the day was spent.

* * * * *

74

A BUILDER’S LESSON.

Memorize: 

       “How shall I a habit break?”
       As you did that habit make. 
       As you gathered, you must lose;
       As you yielded, now refuse. 
       Thread by thread the strands we twist
       Till they bind us, neck and wrist;
       Thread by thread the patient hand
       Must untwine, ere free we stand. 
       As we builded, stone by stone,
       We must toil, unhelped, alone,
       Till the wall is overthrown.