never approach. He was always boasting that he could teach Bennie Clapp a thing or two on skates; but nobody had ever seen him do or attempt to do anything which Bennie could not accomplish much better. So, nobody took any notice of his boasts and threats, and this indifference only irritated him the more against Bennie.

One day, at afternoon recess, Bennie discovered, lying on the ground near the river-bank, a good, strong strap, with holes and a buckle-just such an one, indeed, as he had been wanting for a long time to fasten round his skates when he had to carry them in his hand. He picked it up, and ran about among the boys trying to find its owner. Nobody claimed it, or knew to whom it belonged, so Bennie concluded to keep it until inquiries were made for it. He put his skates together; buckled the strap round them; thought how nice it would be to carry them that way, and then, at the sound of the bell, went back to his lessons.

"Where's my skate-strap? Has anybody got my skatestrap?" shouted Tom Bent after school was out, fumbling among the books in his desk.

At first there was no answer; for many of the boys, including Bennie, had already gone out into the yard, and the others were too busy about their own affairs to observe Tom. He scowled, picked up his books, and, snatching his cap from the hook, rushed out among the scholars gathered around the stone steps.

"Oh! it's you, is it, Clapp, who've stolen my strap? cried Tom, seizing poor Bennie by the collar, and lifting him with a shake several inches from the ground. might have known who it was, if I had only thought a minute."

"I

Bennie's face flushed, for he deeply resented the imputation of having taken something that did not belong to him. When he got breath enough to speak, he said:

"I didn't steal your strap at all, Tom Bent. I picked it up in the yard at recess. Nobody knew whose it was, so I

kept it till I should find the owner. I didn't think it was any harm to put if round my skates; but I'm very glad to give it back, Tom, now I know whom it belongs to."

And Bennie, winding the unfortunate piece of leather into a coil, handed it to Tom, who stood over him like the brute and tyrant that he was.

"I'll be revenged on you, that's all!" cried Tom, as he walked off down the road.

"I'll skate home now, I guess," said Bennie, beginning to fit his runners to his boots.

"All right,” added Charlie Dean; “I'll go as far as I can with you."

The little river that passed the school-house flowed through land that Bennie's father owned; and often, when the ice was good, the boy would skate home from school, which it took him much less time to do than to walk over the broken road.

Tom Bent lived a trifle beyond Bennie; but they rarely went home together, for Bennie seldom spoke to Tom when the latter did not molest him in some way.

As Tom walked along, nursing his anger against poor Bennie, and vowing to be revenged on him, he heard the low, whirring sound of skates on ice. He turned round and saw, some distance behind him, a little figure rapidly approaching backward. He knew very well who the lad was, but he took no notice of him.

Just in front of him, round a slight bend in the river, Tom could see a great, black breathing hole, about which the ice was very thin for several yards.

If the skater continued the course he was then taking, he must inevitably fall into the water. There was plenty of time to warn him, if Tom chose. The water was horribly cold. It made Tom shiver to look at it. The skater was nearing the curve faster and faster. One moment, and he would disappear beneath the ice.

All that was wicked in Tom Bent's nature rose up in his

brain, and whispered :

"Let him go.

It'll give him a good scare, and serve him right for taking the strap. Now is the time for revenge!"

The skater was almost on the black, thin ice. All that was good in Tom Bent's nature filled his heart with a flood of kindness toward the little fellow, who had never done him any harm, and whom he had tormented so often.

"Look out!" cried Torn, eagerly.

Too late! A shriek, a splash, a crackling that split the ice into hundreds of odd pieces, and the merry skater disappeared in the cold, black depths. Forever? No; Tom Bent's stalwart figure is already struggling with ice, water, everything. Now he has his strong arms clasped tightly about Bennie's senseless form. A minute more-two minutes—he is safely on the bank, panting, shivering, but with Bennie still in his arms.

To this day, he can scarcely tell you how he managed to carry Bennie home without help, almost exhausted as he was himself. But he did so, and the half-drowned boy was brought back to consciousness, and Tom was warmed and clothed and fed, and made to know what kindness

meant.

The two boys became fast friends after that, and, through Bennie's gentle influence, Tom ceased to be a brutal tyrant and mean bully-became, after many struggles and much striving, one of the kindest and best boys in the academy. And Bennie is fond of telling all the new boys who come to the school how Tom revenged himself on him by saving his life.-American.

The Months and Remarkable Days.

BY THE REV. W. L. ROBERTS, HOLMFIRTH.

H

V. MAY.

E month of May is generally considered the sweetest and merriest month of the whole year; it is a flowery month-the gardens, the fields, and the hedges being generally in full bloom. There is, perhaps, a greater abundance of flowers in May than in any other month; because the flowers of May often give way for the fruits of the following months; while the beautiful sunshine, continuing long into the evening, enables us to enjoy the sight of the flowers longer than we should at some other periods of the year. The poets have done much to celebrate the beauties of the month of May. ton calls it

The flowery May, who from her green lap throws
The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose

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Woods and groves are of thy dressing
Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing.

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Mil

On account of the general beauty and sweetness of this month, the first day (May day) is in many places a day of amusement and festivity. May-day games used to be more common than they are now. In days long gone by, the may-pole used to be erected in most villages. A tall pole was reared on the village green where there was one, it was very beautifully decorated with flowers, in garlands and bunches; children, and in many cases grown-up people, used to form processions and dance round the May-pole. Various other amusements were practised in connection with it, and the day was no doubt generally finished up

with much drunkenness and other wickedness. In consequence of the immoralities that sprang from these games they were suppressed. There are relics of them still in many places. Even the May-pole is not entirely done away with; and in some places the postmen or letter-carriers, in some the cart drivers and the like, and in some places even the chimney sweeps, decorate themselves with ribbons for the day.

The most remarkable relic of olden times in connection with May, that I know of, is the Flora Day, which is kept up at Helston, in Cornwall, on the 8th of May. No one seems to be able to explain its origin; but, at present, during the greater part of the day, dancing parties pass through the streets into and out of people's houses and shops; they are gaily dressed and the scene is more remarkable for its merriness than for its beneficial tendencies.

There are two periods in this month that are generally noticed.

1. Whitsuntide. This is an old religious festival, the time of holding of which is affected by Easter. You will recol. lect that Easter Sunday commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead; and by a reference to Acts i. 3., it will be seen that Christ spent forty days upon earth, and then ascended from the Mount of Olives into heaven. Counting on from Easter, (including Easter Sunday) forty days, it brings you this year to the 9th of May which is called Ascension Day, or Holy Thursday. The readers of the 66 Hive" will also remember that after the ascension of Christ, the disciples waited at Jerusalem for the promised outpouring of the Holy Ghost. This took place at the Feast of Pentecost, as recorded in the Second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. The word Pentecost means the fifti eth, and between the old Jewish Passover feast and the feast of Pentecost, there were fifty days, or about seven weeks. Christ was crucified at the time of the Passover, and from Easter to Whitsuntide is seven weeks. Whit