FATHER，and mother，and brothers，and sisters， were gone to the play; only little Anna and her godfather were left at home．

"We'll have a play too，" he said；"and it may be－gin immediately．"

"But we have no theatre，"cried little Anna，"and we have no one to act for us： my old doll cannot， for sh is a fright，and my new one cannot，forshe must not rumple her new clothes．"

"Onecan always get actors ifonemakes useofwhat one has，" observed Godfather．

"Now we build the theatre．Here we will put up a book， there another， and there a third， in a sloping row．Now three on the other side；so，now we have the side-scenes．The old box that lies yonder may be the back- ground；andwe'll turn the bottom outwards．The stage represents a room， as every one may see． Now we want theactors Letusseewhatwe can find in the play－box． First the personages，and then we will get the play ready：oneaftertheother，that willbecapital！Here'sapipe－ head， and yonder an odd glove； theywill do verywell forfather and daughter．"

"But those are only two characters，"said little An－na．"Here's my brother's old waistcoat—could not that play in our piece， too？"

"It's big enough， certainly，" replied Godfather．

"It shall be the lover． There' s nothing in the pockets，and that's very interesting， for that's half of an unfortu－nate attachment． And here we have the nut- crackersboots， with spurs to them． Row，dow， dow！ howthey can stamp and strut！ Theyshall representthe unwelcome woo－er， whom the lady does not like． What kind of play willyou have now？ Shall itbea tragedy， or a domestic dra－ma？"

"A domestic drama， please，"saidlittle Anna；"for the others are so fond of that．Do you know one？

"Iknowahundred，"saidGodfather．"Thosethatare most in favourarefrom the French， but they are not good forlittlegirls． In themeantime， wemay take oneofthe prettiest， for inside they're all very much alike． Now Ishake the pen！ Cock－a－lorum！So now，here's the play， brin－bran－span new！ Now listen to the play－bill．"

And Godfather took a newspaper， and readas ifhe were reading from it：

THE PIPE- HEAD AND THE GOOD HEAD

A Family Drama in one Act

CHARACTERS

MR． PIPE－HEAD， a father．

MR．WAISTCOAT，a lover．

MISS GLOVE， a daughter．

MR．DE BOOTS， a suitor.

"And now we'regoing to begin． The curtain rises：we have no curtain， so it hasrisen already． All the charac－ters are there， and so we havethem at hand． NowI speakas Papa Pipe－head！ he' s angry today． One can see thathe's a coloured meerschaum．

"'Snip－snap－snurre， bassellurre！ I'm master in my own house！ I'm thefatherof my daughter！ Will you hear what Ihave to say？Mr． deBoots is a person in whom one may see one'sface；his upper partisof morocco，and he has spurs into the bargain．Snip－snap－snurre！ He shallhave my daughter！"

"Now listen to what theWaistcoat says，littleAnna，" saidGodfather．"NowtheWaistcoat's speaking．The Waistcoat has a lie－down collar， and is very modest； buthe knows hisown value， and has quite a right to saywhathe says：

"'I haven't a spot onme！ Goodness of material oughtto be appreciated． Iam of real silk， and have strings tome．

"'—On the wedding day，but no longer; you don't keepyourcolour in the wash．'This is Mr．Pipe-head who is speaking．'Mr．de Boots is water-tight，ofstrong leather， and yet very delicate； he can creak， and clankwith his spurs，andhasan Italian physiognomy—'"

"Butthey ought to speak in verse，"said Anna，"for I've heard that's the most charming way ofall．"

"Theycandothat too，"repliedGodfather；"and as the public demands， so one talks． Just look at little MissGlove， how she's pointing her fingers！

Rather live and wait，

A glove withouta mate！

Ah！

IfIfromhimmustpart，

I'm sure'twill break my heart！

'Bah！'

That last word was spoken by Mr． Pipe-head； andnowit'sMr． Waistcoat's turn：

OGlove，my own dear，

Thoughitcostthee a tear，

Thou must be mine，

For Holger the Dane has sworn it！

"Mr．de Boots， hearing this， kicks up， jingles hisspurs， and knocks down three of the side－scenes．"

"That'sexceedinglycharming！" cried little Anna．

"Silence！silence！said Godfather．"Silentappro-bation will show that youarethe educated public in the stalls．NowMiss Glove sings her great song withstartling effects：

I cannot talk， heigho！

And thereforeI willcrow！

Kikkeriki， in theloftyhall！

Now comes the exciting part， little Anna．This is themost important in all the play． Mr． Waistcoat undoeshimself， and addresses his speech to you， that you may applaud；but leave italone，—that's consideredmore genteel．

"'Iam driven to extremities！Take care of yourself！ Now comes the plot！You arethePipe-head，andIam the good head—snap！ There you go！

"Do you notice this， littleAnna？" asked Godfather．"That's amost charming scene and comedy． Mr． Waist－coat seized the old Pipe－head，and put him in his pocket；there he lies， and the Waistcoat says：

"'You are in my pocket；youcan't come out tillyou promise to unite me toyour daughter Glove on the left：Ihold out my right hand．'"

"That's awfully pretty，"said little Anna．

"And now the old Pipe－head replies：

My head's in a hum，

So confused I've become；

Where'smy humour？Gone，Ifear，

AndIfeelmyhollowstick'snot here．

Ah！ never， my dear，

Did Ifeel so queer．

Oh！ take out my head

From your pocket， Ipray；

And my daughterand you

May be married today．

"Isthe play over already？" asked little Anna．

"By nomeans，" replied Godfather．"It's only allover with Mr． de Boots． Now the lovers kneel down， andone of themsings：

Father！

andtheother，

Take back your head again，

And bless your son and daughter．

Andtheyreceivehisblessing，and celebrate their

wedding， and all the pieces of furniture sing in chorus，

Clink！ clanks！

A thousand thands；

And now the play is over！

"And now we'll applaud，" said Godfather．"We'll

call them all out， and the pieces of furnituretoo， for theyareof mahogany. "

"And is our play just as good as those which the oth-ers have in the real theatre？"

"Our play is much better，" saidGodfather，"It is shorter，ithasbeen givenfree， and ithas passed sway the hour before tea－time．"

在小宝宝的房间里

爸爸、妈妈和兄弟姊妹们都看戏去了。只有小小的安娜和干爸爸在家。

“我们也来看看戏吧！”他说，“而且马上就开始。”

“但是我们没有舞台呀，”小安娜说，“而且还没有人来演呢！我的老木偶不能演，因为他太讨厌了。我的新木偶又不能把她的漂亮�............