old, they were still cupperty-buts to her, and would never be anything else, she said. There was nothing she liked better than to watch the lovely golden things and nod to them as they nodded to her; but this morning her little 5 face looked anxious and troubled, and she gazed at the flowers with an intent and inquiring look, as if she had expected them to reply to her unspoken thoughts. What these thoughts were I am going to tell you.

Half an hour before, she had called to her mother, who 10 was just going out, and begged her to come and look at the cupperty-buts.

"They are brighter than ever, Mamma! Do just come and look at them! golden, golden, golden! There must be fifteen thousand million dollars' worth of gold just on the 15 lawn, I should think.”

And her mother, pausing to look out, said very sadly, 'Ah, my darling, if I only had this day a little of that gold, what a happy woman I should be!"

And then the good mother went out, and there little 20 Jessy stood, gazing at the flowers and repeating the words to herself over and over again, "If I only had a little of that gold!"

She knew that her mother was very, very poor and had to go out to work every day to earn food and clothes for 25 herself and her little daughter; and the child's tender heart ached to think of the sadness in the dear mother's look

and tone. Suddenly Jessy started and the sunshine flashed into her face.

"Why!" she exclaimed, "why should n't I get some of the gold from the cupperty-buts? I believe I could get some perfectly well. When Mamma wants to get the juice 5 out of anything—meat or fruit or anything of that sort― she just boils it. And so, if I should boil the cuppertybuts, would n't all the gold come out? Of course it would! Oh, joy! how pleased Mamma will be!"

Jessy's actions always followed her thoughts with great 10 rapidity. In five minutes she was out on the lawn with a huge basket beside her, pulling away at the buttercups with might and main. Oh! how small they were! and how long it took even to cover the bottom of the basket! But Jessy worked with a will, and at the end of an hour she 15 had picked enough to make at least a thousand dollars, as she calculated. That would do for one day, she thought; and now for the grand experiment! Before going out she had with much labor filled the great kettle with water, so now the water was boiling, and she had only to put the 20 buttercups in and put the cover on. When this was done she sat as patiently as she could, trying to pay attention to her knitting and not to look at the clock oftener than every two minutes.

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They must boil for an hour," she said, "and by that 25 time all the gold will have come out."

Well, the hour did pass, somehow or other, though it was a very long one, and at eleven o'clock Jessy, with a mighty effort, lifted the kettle from the stove and carried

it to the open door, that the fresh air might cool the boil5 ing water. At first, when she lifted the cover, such a cloud of steam came out that she could see nothing; but in a moment the wind blew the steam aside and then she saw

— oh, poor little Jessy!— she saw a mass of weeds floating about in a quantity of dirty, greenish water, and that was 10 all. Not the smallest trace of gold, even in the buttercups themselves, was to be seen. Poor little Jessy! she tried hard not to cry, but it was a bitter disappointment; the tears came rolling down her cheeks faster and faster, till at length she sat down by the kettle, and, burying her face 15 in her apron, sobbed as if her heart would break.

Presently, through her sobs, she heard a kind voice saying: "What is the matter, little one? Why do you cry so bitterly?" She looked up and saw an old gentleman with white hair and a bright, cheery face standing 20 by her.

At first Jessy could say nothing but "Oh! the cuppertybuts! Oh! the cupperty-buts!" but of course the old gentleman did n't know what she meant by that, so, as he

urged her to tell him about her trouble, she dried her eyes 25 and told him the melancholy little story-how her mother

was very poor and said she wished she had some gold,

and how she herself had tried to get the gold out of the buttercups by boiling them. "I was so sure I could get it out," she said," and I thought Mamma would be so pleased! And now

Here she was very near breaking down again, but the 5 gentleman patted her head and said cheerfully: "Wait a bit, little woman. Don't give up the ship yet. You know that gold is heavy, very heavy indeed, and if there were any it would be at the very bottom of the kettle, all covered with the weeds, so that you could not see it. I should not 10 be at all surprised if you found some, after all. Run into the house and bring me a spoon with a long handle and we will fish in the kettle and see what we can find."

Jessy's face brightened and she ran into the house. If any one had been standing near just at that moment I think 15 it is possible that he might have seen the old gentleman's hand go into his pocket and out again very quickly and might have heard a little splash in the kettle; but nobody was near, so of course I cannot say anything about it. At any rate, when Jessy came out with the spoon he was 20 standing with both hands in his pockets, looking in the opposite direction. He took the great iron spoon and fished about in the kettle for some time. At last there was a little clinking noise, and the old gentleman lifted the spoon. Oh, wonder and delight! In it lay three great, broad, shining 25 pieces of gold! Jessy could hardly believe her eyes. She

stared and stared, and when the old gentleman put the gold into her hand she still stood as if in a happy dream, gazing at it. Suddenly she started and remembered that she had not thanked her kindly helper. She looked up 5 and began, "Thank you, sir"; but the old gentleman

was gone.

Well, the next question was, how could Jessy possibly wait till twelve o'clock for her mother to come home? Knitting was out of the question. She could do nothing 10 but dance and look out of the window, and look out of the window and dance, holding the precious coins tight in her hand. At last a well-known footstep was heard outside the door and Mrs. Gray came in, looking very tired and worn. She smiled, however, when she saw Jessy, and said, 15 "Well, my darling, I am glad to see you looking so bright. How has the morning gone with my little housekeeper?"

"Oh, mother!" cried Jessy, hopping about on one foot, "it has gone very well! oh, very, very, very well! Oh, my mother dear, what do you think I have got in my hand? 20 What do you think? oh, what do you think?" and she

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went dancing round and round till poor Mrs. Gray was quite dizzy with watching her. At last she stopped and holding out her hand opened it and showed her mother what was in it. Mrs. Gray was really frightened.

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Jessy, my child!" she cried, "where did you get all that money?"