"Come to the barn, the three of yees, till ye see the big rat the barn-cat is after catching," said Michael to the children the next morning; and off they started, in such a hurry that poor little Posy tripped over a stone and scraped the skin off her chubby little hands.

"Be a brave girl and don't cry," said Tom encouragingly, looking at Posy's face, that was distorted from the effort she made to keep from crying.

"No," said Posy, swallowing very hard and winking back the tears; "I don't cry at trifles, do I, Tom? Some girls would cry, wouldn't they, Tom? The tears might come into my eyes just a little bit, you