THIS month's subjects proved popular with the League members, and unusually successful in the quality of the contributions they inspired, in every departmentdrawing, verse, prose, and photography. Look at the heading on this page, for instance, a real midwinter picture, if ever there was one, and the young artist is already an "Honor Member" at the age of fourteen! And then those opening verses just opposite-here is a poem of genuine distinction,-a truly remarkable one for a poet of seventeen-and their music is almost flawless.

Nor must we overlook the charming little lyric on page 372. From the first, indeed, our League competitions have called forth many poetic contributions of amazing merit. Not a few of our young poets have endeared themselves to us by frequent, achievements, of a charm and perfection so extraordinary that it was a sad day for us all when the fateful birthday dawned

and their names and verses disappeared from these pages. But, to the glory of the League let it be recorded that they promptly appeared elsewhere, and to-day are well known to the readers of leading magazines for grown-ups as contributors of poetry to those periodicals.

All this is just as true, too, of our young artists as of the poetic guild. Several prominent illustrators in the magazine and book world began as youthful members of the ST. NICHOLAS League, and have repeatedly acknowledged their indebtedness to the League competitions in stimulating and developing their artistic talent. This month, moreover, shows a prize exhibit to the credit of the prose-writers; and the work of the League as a whole is summed up in the appeal at the close of one of the stories: "Now don't you think that all the contributors to the ST. NICHOLAS League are 'busy workers'?" We do, indeed.

PROSE. Gold badge, Agnes Nolan (age 15), New York.

Jersey.

THE BUILDER

BY MARJORIE DODGE (AGE 17) (Gold Badge. Silver Badge won September, 1914)

I BUILT to music; what I wrought seemed beautiful and fair and strong.

A pleasure-house I planned in thought, and cheered my labors with a song.

A palace for my heart it was, and all things lovely it should hold;

I could not dream that life should pass save gaily, in my house of gold.

But evening came, and darkness fell; the sunset faded, music died.

Would that my heart had builded well! In vain my eyes sought far and wide.

The palace with its gleaming walls, its blossoming gardens, rich and gay,

Its gilded roof, its sculptured halls, had vanished with the twilight gray.

Then through the night I built again, in silence, on the mountain-crest;

Through all the darkness and the rain I labored still,

nor sought for rest.

I toiled as one who in a dream may toil, nor think to understand;

I waited for the dawn's first gleam to show me what my grief had planned.

Day came; the slow-revolving hours of night were done; day came at last.

On marble walls and lofty towers the bright sun shone. I stood aghast.

Too wondrous, this, for heart or mind! Beneath dark Sorrow's great control,

Through Suffering's night, though I was blind, Grief built a temple for my soul!

BUSY WORKERS

BY L. MINERVA TURNBULL (AGE 15)
(Silver Badge)

"THE world is just a big workshop, and it 's hard to pick out any one busy worker. Do tell me something to send to ST. NICHOLAS this month, Mary."

"TROUBLE AHEAD." BY ESTHER R. HARRINGTON, AGE 15. (HONOR MEMBER.)

"Write about me," was the only reply. "I'm sure I'm working hard enough on this geometry problem." All the people in the world work at something. There

are bookkeepers, teachers, stenographers, machinists, miners, lumbermen, and hundreds of other busy workers; but my effort to choose just one was useless.

Next I thought of all the busy insects. Human beings are supposed to be able to learn lessons in work from the ant, and certainly no one could be more industrious than those little insects who toil to build a new house after the old one has been ruined by some careless perHowever, even that faithful little worker did not appeal to me when I thought of all the busy animals, and of the people in the great world workshop.

son.

building dams, always busy preparing for the winter! Certainly no one could wish for a busier worker-and yet I did

And what do you think I finally decided? Why, that I myself, and all the other contributors to the League, are the very busiest people of all! First, I must think of something that applies to the subject given in ST. NICHOLAS, and that is no easy task Then come the writing and re-writing until every expression seems to fit as well as I can make it, and every word is spelled correctly. After that is the final copying and the indorsement by one of my parents. Last of all, the contribution must be put into an envelop and sent off on its journey. Besides, my regular school work must not be neglected, and so all this must be done during spare time.

Now don't you think that all the contributors to the ST. NICHOLAS League are busy workers?

A BUSY LITTLE WORKER

BY ISABELLE DAVIS (AGE 13) (Silver Badge)

IT was only an old battered penny, but it had done more work than any other coin in the mint.

It had first been sent to a bank in New York, where it was wrapped in a pack with nine other pennies, all shiny and new.

One day a man came into the bank who wished to have a dollar bill changed for pennies. Accordingly, ten packs of pennies were handed out to him. Among them was our little penny

As the man came out of the bank, a little beggar girl stretched out her hand for alms. The man hastily pulled out a pack of pennies and threw one into the hand of the girl.

The child clutched the money, and, running down the

The lady then gave it to her little girl, who ran out to buy candy. The candy merchant gave it to a man, who gave it to a grocer.

So it went on. It helped to buy bread for the poor and handsome clothes and furniture for the rich.

It had been held in little hands blue with cold, and it had reposed with many other coins in handsome bags and warm pockets.

And now it had been returned to the mint after being out only one short year. As it lay on a large table with many other pennies, a lady came up to sort them. "My! this is the worst of the lot," she said, holding up the little penny. Yes, it was old and battered, but it was satisfied that it had done its work.

THE BUILDERS

BY MARY S. BENSON (AGE 11)
(Silver Badge)

As I looked up in the apple-tree,
Two little birds were there;
Two pretty robin-redbreasts wee,
Building a home in the air.

As I looked up in the apple-tree,
Two little birds flew round,

With mosses and leaves,-a sight to see,

And twigs from off the ground.

As I looked up in the apple-tree,
There was now a little nest,
Built by the two pretty robins wee,

Where they and their babes might rest.

A BUSY WORKER BY PAGE WILLIAMS (AGE 14) Early Morning of February 14,

in Cupid's Shop.

"I DO wish they would stop coming in," mourned Cupid, with a sigh. "I've got so many now that a few will be left for to-morrow. Let 's see,

(GOLD BADGE.

here are Marjory's. I guess I'll have to make her one. She has so few. Marjory is a pretty child, but, oh, so cross and disagreeable! Just look at the difference between Marjory's pile and Dotty's pile." He gazed at them with ill-concealed satisfaction. "I am glad Dotty has so many. She deserves them." He worked in silence for a few minutes. "There! I 've finished sorting them now."

He gathered up his valentines, walked to the door, and hopped on a big snowflake.

"Here 's Marjory's house, Cupid. Have you got anything for her?" asked Snowflake.

"Yes, one or two," answered Cupid.

"You'd better put on your invisible cap, then, because Marjory is liable to be cross," advised Snowflake.

"Oh, I will."

Snowflake rang the bell, and they scurried out into the fastgathering snow.

"B-r-r-h-h! It 's cold," said "And I have so many places to

She'll give you

Cupid, with a shiver. visit, too-I 'm afraid I'll freeze." "We'll go to Dotty's house next. some hot chocolate," said Snowflake. And she did. A few minutes later Cupid rang the bell of the big house, and Dotty flew to the door with a glad cry. "Do come in," she exclaimed hospitably.

"I could n't think of it," said Snowflake. "Why, I'd melt!"

THE BUILDERS OF THE SKY

BY MAY E. WISHART (AGE 16)

(Gold Badge. Silver Badge won December, 1914)

I OFTEN Wonder when I see

The piles of clouds across the sky,
What giant builders work up there,

And build those stately mansions high.

February

"A HEADING FOR FEBRUARY."

suns that roll majestically round their mighty orbits, each and everything has its own allotted task.

Work! work! work! it is the key-note of the universe. Surely none of us wishes to be behindhand with his portion. And if our work seems to us small and of no account in the great scheme of things, let us remember that all things are of value in the eyes of the Great Workman.

Sometimes they are of white-pure white, Perhaps of marble smooth and cold; With chimneys, windows, doors, and all Deep-edged with glistening gold.

Still other times stand castles tall,

Of granite hard and strong and gray; They make me think of knights and war, And gay courts of another day.

But when a storm is coming on,

Then rise black caverns in the west, The haunts of monsters, witches dire, Of goblins, dragons, and the rest.

I often wonder when I see

The piles of clouds across the sky, What giant builders work up there, And build those stately mansions high.

BUSY WORKERS

BY ANNA SCHEIN (AGE 13) (Silver Badge)

BENDING over his manuscript, the bright-eyed poet labors to put his inspired thought into fitting words; before his easel the artist toils; while, chisel in hand, the sculptor, bit by bit, chips from the rough stone the lovely image that is in his mind; and the scholar, in the dusty library, spends in hard labor the best years of his life, seeking for a fit offering to lay before the altar of knowledge.

The busy housewife bustles about her daily tasksmere drudgery they seem to most of us, but in her eyes they stand transfigured in the light of love.

The business man and his helpers, the mechanic and laborer at their work, the factory girl at her machine, the teacher in his school-room-are not all these busy workers?

Every creature in the universe, from the tiny ant to the great elephant, from the grain of dust to the giant

A BUSY WORKER

(A True Story)

BY NORMA R. GULLETTE (AGE 13)
(Silver Badge)

FOR some time I had wanted a bird's-eye-
maple dresser for my bedroom, so this last
summer I decided to save my money for
that purpose. My father has a large gar-
den, and also a raspberry patch. For four
summers I have sold the berries and vege-
tables. This summer I worked very hard
all through the garden and berry season,
which, in the case of the berries, begins
about the first of August, and the garden
vegetables mature somewhat earlier. This
summer I made thirty dollars; and, in ad-
dition to this sum, I had saved nine dollars
that I had earned in various ways before
the garden and berry season.

On one memorable Saturday, I thought I had worked hard, as I had picked two gallons of berries, which meant two dollars for me; but that was comparatively small in comparison with the following Monday, for, all day out in the wind, I picked three gallons of berries. Many days-in fact, nearly every day in the month of August-I worked in the garden or berry patch, hastening to fill my orders. Finally, on the twenty-ninth of August, I had thirty-nine dollars; so I went to Butte to purchase my dresser. The first furniture store I went into I saw the dresser that just suited me. It was a beauty! The low princess style, with a long oval mir

"THE RESULT OF UNEXPECTED GUESTS." BY VENETTE M. WILLARD, AGE 16.

ror, and such a beautiful grade of bird's-eye maple. My dreams of an ideal dresser had at last come true. Finding no other I liked, I returned to the store and purchased the one I had first seen. I paid forty dollars for it. I had only thirty-nine dol. lars, so the next day I sold two gallons of berries, making my forty, and an extra dollar also. The dresser was really my own. And won by a summer spent in "busy working" of a most profitable kind-to me!

League members are reminded that the silver badge must be won before the gold badge can be awarded.