with him in his arms, and tied up his leg, and kept him in his house for two days. He then sent the dog out of his house to find his old home; for as it was not his own dog, he had no right to keep him; but each day the dog came back for this kind man to dress his leg; and this he did till it was quite well. In a few weeks the 5 dog came back once more, and with him came another dog who was lame.

The dog who had been lame, and was now well, first gave the man a look, and then he gave the lame dog a look, as much as to say: "You made my leg well, now, pray, do the same for this poor 10 dog who is come with me."

23. The Lark.

It is a fine day; let us walk out. It is not too hot, but I can feel the warm sun. Hark! I hear a bird; I can hear it sing, but I cannot see it. It is up the sky. It is a lark. It is a long way off. It does not look as big as a bee, and yet we can hear it sing. 15 I wish I had a lark. Why, what can you want a lark for? I will put it in a cage, and then I can hear it sing all the day. No, my dear Ann, he cannot live in a cage, he will soon die. He cannot fly into a cage, and when he sings, he likes best to fly high up in the air. If you were put into a small room, and could but just move 20 a yard or two, you would not be gay as you are now; you would pine and fret to get out, and to walk and run. You would soon be ill, and grow pale and sad. And if you take a poor lark, and shut him up in a cage, he will pine and fret.

Well then, I will walk out to hear the lark sing. I do not 25 now wish to have a lark in a cage.

24. Dialogue.

We have two ears. With our ears we hear. We see with our eyes. We smell with the nose. We feel with our hands and feet. We taste with our tongue. And we walk with our feet. Those who cannot see, are blind. Those who cannot hear, are deaf. We call 30 one who cannot speak, a mute.

25. Leap-Frog.

When you play at leap-frog, you must mind how you jump, and not try too high a leap; many boys have had very bad falls, from the hope to be first. A little boy might be hurt very much. should he fall on the ground. There was once a bad boy who rose 5 up just as his friend was on his back, which threw him down, and cut his head very much; he was told he should not play any more, which would have been the case, had not he told his aunt he would do so no more; and she was so kind as to beg for him.

26. The blind Man.

There is a poor blind man at the door. He is quite blind. 10 He does not see the sky, nor the ground, nor the trees, nor men. He does not see us, though we are so near him. A boy leads him from door to door.

15

Oh, it is a sad thing to be blind!

We will give the blind man some bread and cheese.

I wish the poor blind man had a warm house to live in, and 20 kind friends to take care of him, and to teach him to work. Then he would not beg from door to door.

27. Puss and her Kittens.

Oh! Puss has got some little kittens. Do come down and see them. What dear things! Cook has put down a basin of milk. Puss is so hungry, she has put her foot into the basin, in her haste. 25 The little kittens try to drink too, but they cannot. They are too little. What do they eat?

They cannot eat yet. They have no teeth. will soon learn to drink milk with the old cat.

They suck. They

Is mamma going to keep all the kittens? What a number of

30 cats we shall then have!

No, I think we are to have one for our own cat. old one is mamma's. And we are to have one kitten. rest will be given away.

For the

And the

Who is to have them?

35

Well, nurse is to have one. She is to have the one (that) she likes best, for her cat is dead, and she wants one to keep her company. The kitten will play fine games with nurse's ball of cotton when she knits, will it not?

Yes, that it will. Then uncle is to have one, for he says the rats come and play about in his counting-house. So that makes three. Then the other is to go to cook's sister. She lives at a mill, and cook says there are plenty of rats and mice there, and that she is sure it will lead a very happy life. So I think they are all 5 well off. But I hope they will not go yet, for they all look so pretty together. And I want to see them very often before they go. I like them so much.

They are not to go till they can eat as well as the old cat; Mamma said so. And that will be six weeks at least. So we shall 10 have them with us for a long time yet.

28. Night.

The sun is set, let us go now. It is not fit for you to be out now (that) the sun is set.

Why do you say the sun is set?

You cannot see him in the sky. Can you?

No, I cannot see him now. I did see him as we sat by the

old oak. Now, he is not in the sky.

The sun is yet in the sky, but you cannot see him, so we say he is set.

15

Why may I not be out, now (that) the sun is set? It is hot. 20 Do not let us go in yet.

A boy may not ask why, but do as he is bid. you to go in now, and go to bed. If you do not go may be ill.

It is fit for

in now, you

Let us go in, if you say so, and let me go to bed, for if I do 25 not go to bed now, I cannot get up at six. Can I?

You cannot, so let us go.

One day I may sit up, may I not?

Yes, you may when you are a big boy. But now, you are not a big boy.

29. Game at Ball.

Now, Ned, we will have a good game at ball. Stand you there, and I will stand here.

30

Ah! you fear the ball will hit you: you shut your eyes. How can you see to catch, if you shut your eyes? Look out for the ball, and use your hands and eyes to save your head. That is the way. 35 Now you catch well. One, two, three, four, five, six. Oh! you have let it fall. Try once more. Now make it bound. This ball is soft, but when we can catch this well, we will buy a hard ball, and a bat and trap; we can then play trap-ball. I do not wish to play at ball now let us leave off. Well now, shall we run a race? When I 40

say, off, we must start and he who gets first to that post, wins the race. Now for it. One, two, three, off. You have won the race.

I won the game at ball, and you have won the race. Now, let us try who can hop the best. We will hop from this 5 stone to that tree; first with the left leg up, and next with the right leg up. Well, we both got to the tree at the same time. I am quite hot, and my legs ache. Let us go home.

The clock strikes.
Is the cloth laid?

30. Dialogue.

It is time to go in and dine.

Where are the knives, forks and plates?
Sit down. Do not take the broth yet, it is

10 Are your hands clean?
too hot, wait till it is cool.

15

Will you have some lamb and some peas?

Do not smack your lips, or make a noise, when you eat.
Take some bread, break it, do not bite it.

I do not put the knife into my mouth, for fear I should hurt my lips. Knives are sharp, they are to cut with, and not to put into one's mouth, or to play with. Jane must shake the cloth out of doors.

The birds will pick up the crumbs.

31. The Pet-Lamb.

I knew a girl who had a pet-lamb. Poor lamb, its dam was 20 dead, and so it had no milk to suck, and it was cold and ill; but this good girl got some wool, and put the lamb in it, and laid it by the fire, and gave it some warm milk out of a tea-pot; and it drank the milk and got well, and grew a fine lamb, and was so tame and so fond of the girl, that it would lick her hand when 25 she came to feed it.

30

32. The dusk Hour.

The sun is set, but it is not quite dark yet; it is dusk. I see a bird; how fast it flies past me! That is not a bird; it is a bat. Bats do not fly in the day-time; they hide in holes in a wall, or a tree, till it is dusk, and then they fly out, and find their food. Owls fly out at the dusk hour, and so do moths.

I do not hear the hum of the bees, nor the buzz of the flies now; my bird does not sing; he sits in his cage, and hides his head under his wing.

Look up at the sky, and tell me what you see. I see a star, 35 and I see the moon, just a part of it; it looks like a bow. Now I see two stars; oh! more than two; four, five, six, more than I can count.

Pray, put me to bed now.

33. The Storm.

Harry: How dark it seems, Mamma! Look at that thick black cloud! Do you not think that it will rain soon?

Mamma: It will, I dare say; I felt a few drops while we were taking the long walk, we must make haste to get home. Harry: Did you see that light, Mamma? And hark now! what 5 noise is that?

Mamma: That was a clap of thunder. We shall have a storm. Harry: Do you think that we shall be caught in the rain, Mamma? I should not like to get wet.

Mamma: Nor I, Harry, but we are not far from the house, 10 and if we go across the field, I hope we shall reach it before the storm comes on badly. But let us make haste!

34. The Kite.

As I have been a good boy for a long time, may I have a kite? Yes, we will go to the toy-shop, and buy a kite. Here is a toy-shop; let us go in. I like this kite best. Well then, I will 15 buy it for you. Now let us go and fly it. We will fly it on the lawn if the wind is not too high. Now run with it. (that) you do not tear it. Hold it up; now let it go; it will not rise. The tail is too long. Cut a bit of the tail off.

Take care

How well

it flies now! the wind is not too high. How high the kite is in 20 the air! Now it is time to go home; we must pull it down. Oh dear! I fear it will fall into that tree. It has got into the tree. What can I do? I will ask that man to get it down for me. He is a kind man; he says he will get it down from the tree for me. Here it is all safe, I hope. How glad I am to have my kite! 25 The tree has torn a hole in it, I see, but I can mend it when I get home.

Now I will draw a

draw on it. My slate What a long nose he cow, and a milk-maid 30

has, and but one arm. with her pail. Here is a pig, and a hen, and a duck. Why, the pig has but two legs, and the duck has four. Well, I can rub

out two of the duck's legs, and give them to the pig. Here I will have a man with a whip in his hand; he is come to put the pig into the sty. Why, the man is not as tall as the pig. I must rub 35 them all out, for they are not well done, and draw a tree; then I will have a man with an axe in his hand, to cut down the tree. Next I will draw a mill with the sails, and a cart full of sacks