I'll tell it loud as I can sing, To every one in town. Swallow and sparrow, lark and thrush, It is a wicked shame. 5. O, did you hear the concert sweet XXXVIII.-THE CARELESS BOY. gen'er-al-ly quâr'tẹr sóme'bod-y bridge o-be'di-ent spread'ing nearly fig'ure ĕr'rand but'ter-fly re-měm'ber schŏl'arş for-gět' rec-ol-lěct' ad-mit'ted löï'ter 1. THERE was once a little boy named Henry. He was generally obedient and goodnatured, but was fond of play, and was very slow in doing errands or in going to school. 2. If his mother sent him to a shop to buy some eggs, or any thing else, she could not tell when he would come back. 3. He would loiter and delay, and sometimes set his basket down by the roadside. while he went to catch a butterfly. One day a stray pig knocked it over and broke the eggs, and Henry went home with a sad story of what had happened. 4. He was very apt to be late at school. He would be sent from home early, and walk along fast enough till he came, perhaps, to a hay-field, and then he would stop to look at the men spreading hay, and forget all about school. 5. Sometimes, when he was going over the bridge, he would stand still and look into the water, which would show him his own figure and face, just like a looking glass. 6. One morning, after looking a quarter of an hour, he remembered that it was schooltime, and ran as fast as he could. But when he had nearly got to school, he recollected that he had left his book on the bridge, and back he ran to get it; but when he reached the bridge, he found that somebody had picked it up and carried it off. 7. Not knowing what to do without a book, and afraid of being punished for losing it, he then went to school, and found the door closed, because no scholars were admitted so late. 8. Henry went home and told his mother what he had done, and she was very sorry, for she did not know how to afford to purchase new books for him. 9. The next day, when he went to school, he had to give an account of himself. He was reproved for his laziness, and lost his place in the class. 10. He soon became one of the greatest dunces in the school, and was a trouble to the teacher, and to his father and mother. 1. Mary. I wish you would lend me your thimble, Sarah, for I can never find mine when I want it. 2. Sarah. And why can you not find it, Mary? 3. Mary. I am sure I cannot tell; but if you do not choose to lend me yours, I can borrow of somebody else. 4. Sarah. I am willing to lend it to you, but I should like to have you tell me why you always come to me to borrow, when you have lost any thing. 5. Mary. Because you never lose your things, and always know where to find them. 6. Sarah. And how, think you, do I always know where to find my things? 7. Mary. How can I tell? If I knew, I might sometimes contrive to find my own. 8. Sarah. I will tell you the secret, if you will hear it. I have a place for every thing; and, after I have done using a thing, I always put it in its proper place, and never leave it to be thrown about and lost. 9. Mary. I never can find time to put my things away; and who wants, as soon as she has used a thing, to have to run and put it away, as if one's life depended upon it? 10. Sarah. Your life does not depend upon it, Mary, but your convenience does; and let me ask, how much more time will it take to put a thing in its proper place, than to hunt after it when lost, or borrow of your friends? 11. Mary. Well, I will never borrow of you again, you may depend upon it. 12. Sarah. Why, you are not affronted, I hope. 13. Mary. No; but I am ashamed, and am determined before night to have a place for every thing, and to keep every thing in its place. 14. Sarah. If you do so, you will not only be much happier, but you will be able to accomplish more in life. You will form habits of order which will be of great value to you. |