And swiftly climbing the light-house stair,
  He called to his children, young and fair;
  But, worn with their toilsome watch, they slept,
  While slowly o’er their foreheads crept,
  The golden light of the morning sun,
  Like a victor’s crown, when his palm is won.

  “God bless you, children!” the keeper cried;
  “God bless thee, father!” the boy replied. 
  “I dreamed that there stood beside my bed
  A beautiful angel, who smiled and said,
  ’Blessed are they whose love can make
  Joy of labor, for mercy’s sake!’”

[Illustration]

* * * * *

Directions for Reading.—­Mark the inflection of the following lines.

    The tide comes up, and the tide goes down.

    The fair little sister wept, dismayed,
    But the brother said, “I am not afraid.”

Name the emphatic words in the lines just quoted.  State whether the emphasis falls upon words that are inflected.

* * * * *

Language Lesson.—­Why is the sea called cruel and its roar hungry? Give two examples of a similar use of words.

* * * * *

LESSON LIII.

oc’cu pant, one who is in possession of a thing.

ac quired’, gained.

mi’cro scope, a glass so formed as to make small
    objects appear large.

slug’gish, slow; stupid.

in spect’ing, looking at with attention.

com posed’, made up.

se’ries, a number of things in order.

stub’bed, short and thick.

dis turbed’, interfered with.

* * * * *

THE CATERPILLAR AND BUTTERFLY.

Last summer, when the trees were covered with green leaves, and when the little stream was sparkling and dancing in the sun, there appeared in the garden, a large caterpillar of many colors, and about as pretty as a caterpillar could be.

All day long it was nibbling the green leaves, and leaf after leaf disappeared before it with wonderful rapidity.  It seemed to live only for eating.

As autumn came on, it quite lost its appetite; so much so, that even the tenderest and most juicy leaves could not tempt it to eat any more.  It grew dull and stiff, and lost all interest in life.

Feeling that some change was about to happen, it crawled into a little hole in the old garden wall.  It wrapped itself up in a cobweb, and fell into a long sleep, during which it became changed from a caterpillar into a dried-up, dead-looking grub or chrysalis.

It remained in this state through all the long winter, till the snow and frost had gone, and the cold March winds were over.