derous club in the ground, knelt down near it, and knowing that the boy was destined to become a priest, vowed that he would wait for him on that same spot until he should return a bishop.

Many years passed away before the once little boy came to be raised to the dignity of a bishop.

One day the bishop, passing through a dense, gloomy forest, smelt a sweet odour of apples. He asked some of his servants to find the tree, and to bring him some of the fruit. The servants soon returned from their search and informed the bishop that they had discovered the tree, which was full of apples, but that they could not get any of them, and that an old man was kneeling beside it.

The bishop went to the spot, and what was his surprise, when, in the old, grey-haired man, with ́a beard reaching to the ground, he recognised the desperate robber Madey!

The robber, full of repentance and sorrow for the past, entreated the bishop to hear his confession and grant him absolution. His request was readily granted. The bishop's attendants saw with surprise that during the confession the apples on the tree, one after another, changed into snow-white doves, flew up, and disappeared in the skies. Soon there was only one apple left; it was the soul of Madey's father whom he had murdered;

that terrible sin he could only bring himself to acknowledge at the last. As soon, however, as he had confessed it, the remaining apple also changed into a beautiful white dove and flew away to heaven.

The bishop prayed long and earnestly over the repentant sinner. When he had pronounced his absolution the body of Madey crumbled into dust.

♦

THE LONG-DESIRED CHILD.

(FROM THE BOHEMIAN.)

IN a hut at the farther end of a village, close to the forest, there once lived a man with his wife. Although they were very poor-the man was a daily labourer and the woman spun for sale-yet they were continually wishing for children, and saying, "Would we had a child."

"Be thankful that heaven has not granted you one," said the neighbours: "you yourselves have not enough to eat."

But the man and the woman said,

"When we eat and are satisfied there would be always something left for our child. Would we had one."

One morning, as the man was digging out stumps of trees in the forest, he came across a small root which looked exactly like a little child-it had a head, body,

arms, and legs, he had only to smooth its forehead a little with his axe to make it round, and to cut off the roots from its little arms and legs to give them shape, and then the child was perfect, and wanted only voice to scream. The man took this root home, and said to

his wife,

"Here you have what you wished for an Otesanek.* If you like, you can bring him up.'

The woman put the child into swaddling clothes, then took it up, nursed it in her arms and sang to it:

"Bye, bye, my little Otesanek! When you awake, my little boy, I will boil you some food. Bye, bye!" Suddenly the child began to kick about, raised up its head and cried,

"Mother, I want something to eat!"

The woman was overjoyed. She put the child quickly in bed and hastened to prepare its food. When the food was ready Otesanek ate it all up, and then screamed. again,

"Mother, I want something to eat."

"Wait a moment, my dear child, wait a moment," said the woman, "and I will bring you something to eat." She then ran to a neighbour's and brought in a basin of milk. Otesanek drank the milk, and then screamed

* A hewn-out child.

again that he wanted something more to eat. The woman was greatly surprised at this, and said,

"What, my child, have you not yet had enough?"

She then went out and borrowed in the village a loaf of bread, put it on the table, and again left the room to boil some water and make soup. As soon as she was gone, Otesanek, seeing the bread on the table, scrambled out of the swaddling clothes, jumped upon a bench, and in an instant swallowed up the bread, and then screamed again,

"Mother, I want something to eat!"

The woman came in to cut the bread for the soup,she looked about for it everywhere, but it was gone! In a corner stood Otesanek looking like a small barrel and staring at her.

"Heaven have mercy upon us!" cried the woman; Otesanek, surely you have not eaten the loaf of bread?"

"Yes, mother," answered Otesanek; "I have eaten it, and now will eat you too."

He opened his mouth, and before the woman could recover from her astonishment, swallowed her up.

In a short time the man returned home. As soon as he had entered in, Otesanek screamed,

The man was greatly alarmed at the sight of a child