One day Æolus had a visitor. A great sailor and traveler named Ulysses came to the cave. He had been on a long journey, and was glad to rest for a time with good King Æolus.

Eolus was kind to Ulysses and his sailors. When they started out once more on their journey, he put in their boat food and gifts.

It was

One of these gifts was very strange. a great sack as large as an ox, tied with a cord of shining silver.

When Æolus put this in the boat, he whispered to Ulysses: "I have bound up all the wild winds in this sack so that no storm can trouble you on your voyage. If you need a wind at any time, you can carefully open the bag and let out the one you want. Then close it quickly and bind it fast with the silver cord."

So Ulysses and his men set out for home. Æolus sent after them a gentle wind to fill their sails. But one day when Ulysses was

asleep, the sailors began to talk about that

strange bag.

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"It must be full of treasure," they said.

Why should n't we have some of it?"

They decided to open the bag. So they loosed the silver cord.

In a moment all the wild winds had burst forth, and lashed the waves into foam.

Ulysses waked up very quickly. But neither he nor the sailors could do anything with the winds. No one could get them back into that bag save their father, Eolus.

The boat was blown so far away that it was long years before Ulysses and his men got back to their own home.

But when the great sailor did reach home, he liked to tell the story of the bag of winds given him by King Eolus.

Every one liked to hear of the great trouble which the foolish sailors brought on themselves and Ulysses by opening the bag.

On the other side of this round world of ours

is the country of Japan.

We sometimes call it the land of flowers. This is not because Japan has more flowers than we have, but because the Japanese love so well the few they have.

Nearly every month in the year they have a flower festival or picnic.

Everybody, old and young, has a holiday in May when the cherry trees are in bloom.

The cherry blossoms in Japan are not small and white like ours. They are very large and of a lovely pink color.

When the Cherry Festival comes the little children awaken early in the morning. They roll up the mats on which they sleep and put them away, with the little blocks of wood which they use for pillows.

Soon the whole family, grandfather and grandmother, father, mother, and all the children, are ready to start on their picnic. They go to a large park where hundreds of cherry trees are in bloom. They take their lunch and stay all day.

In one large city of Japan is a park with a river running through it. Old and young sail up and down the river to see the pink walls of cherry blossoms that line both banks.

In how many countries do you think old and young would take a holiday once a year just to enjoy the blossoming of the cherry trees?

DAFFY DOWNDILLY

Daffydowndilly came up in the cold,

Through the brown mold,

Although the March breezes blew keen on her face, Although the white snow lay on many a place. Daffydowndilly had heard underground

The sweet rushing sound

Of the streams as they broke from their white winter chains,

Of the whistling spring winds and the pattering

rains.

"Now then," thought Daffy, deep down in her

heart,

"It's time I should start."

So she pushed her soft leaves through the hard frozen ground,

Quite up to the surface, and then she looked round.

There was snow all about her, gray clouds overhead; The trees all looked dead.