“The minister took his looking-glass under his arm, and came out of his house.  ‘Now, Toby,’ said he, ‘take me home with you.’

“‘But I am afraid she will eat you, sir,’ said Toby doubtfully.  ’You are not as thin as I am.’

“‘I am not in the least afraid,’ replied the minister cheerfully.

“So Toby took heart a little, and hastened home with the minister.

“Link, link, bobolink! cried the crazy loon as they went in the door.

“The minister walked straight up to the Ogress, who was standing beside the soup-kettle, and held the looking-glass before her.

“When she saw her face in all its hideous ugliness, the shock was so great, for she had always thought herself very handsome, that she gave one shriek and fell down quite dead.”

* * * * *

Letitia gave a sigh of relief, and uncle Jack yawned.  “Well, Letitia, that’s all,” said he, “only Toby married the real widow, Mrs. Clover-leaf, the next day, and she made the soup to perfection, and he had nothing to do all the rest of his life, but to sit in the doorway beside the crazy loon, and knit stockings for his grandchildren.”

“Thank you, uncle Jack,” said Letitia gravely.  Then she got her square of patchwork off the table and sat down and finished sewing it over and over.

THE PATCHWORK SCHOOL.

Once upon a time there was a city which possessed a very celebrated institution for the reformation of unruly children.  It was, strictly speaking, a Reform School, but of a very peculiar kind.

It had been established years before by a benevolent lady, who had a great deal of money, and wished to do good with it.  After thinking a long time, she had hit upon this plan of founding a school for the improvement of children who tried their parents and all their friends by their ill behavior.  More especially was it designed for ungrateful and discontented children; indeed it was mainly composed of this last class.

There was a special set of police in the city, whose whole duty was to keep a sharp lookout for ill-natured fretting children, who complained of their parents’ treatment, and thought other boys and girls were much better off than they, and to march them away to the school.  These police all wore white top boots, tall peaked hats, and carried sticks with blue ribbon bows on them, and were very readily distinguished.  Many a little boy on his way to school has dodged round a corner to avoid one, because he had just been telling his mother that another little boy’s mother gave him twice as much pie for dinner as he had.  He wouldn’t breathe easy till he had left the white top boots out of sight; and he would tremble all day at every knock on the door.