Kitabı oku: «The Nursery, March 1873, Vol. XIII.», sayfa 3

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The kind lady did still more: she hired a hall in which John could show off his dogs; and then she sold five hundred tickets for a grand entertainment. It was so successful, that John was called upon to repeat it many times.

Oh! was he not a proud and happy little boy when he found himself so rich that he could put a twenty-pound note in the hands of his aunt as a token that he was grateful for all her care of him?

It was more money than the poor woman had had at any one time in her whole life before; and she kissed her little nephew, and called him the best boy in the world.

John and his dogs grew to be so famous, that he had to go to other cities to show them; and soon he earned money enough to keep him till he could learn to be a watchmaker.

As he was a diligent, faithful workman, he at last became the owner of a nice house, and then took his aunt and some of her children to live with him.

Uncle Charles.

THE SLIDERS

Come Clara and Jane, Frank and Tom, come along;
We'll watch the boys sliding, and listen their song:
You'll hear it ring out like the notes of a horn,
In the clear, frosty air of this cold winter's morn.

THE SONG

Oh! how pleasant it is when the snow's on the ground,
And the icicles hang on the eaves all around,
O'er the white winter-carpet our way to pursue,
With our schoolmates and friends ever hearty and true!

When we come to the place of the jolly long slide,
With a run and a jump o'er the ice we will glide:
Look out for the engine! keep off of the rail!
Don't you hear the steam-whistle? make way for the mail!

We laugh at cold weather; we laugh at mishaps;
We will slide till we're warm from our shoes to our caps;
And the quick bounding blood as it mantles and glows
Shall paint all our cheeks like the fresh, ruddy rose.

So we'll keep the pot boiling; now up the long slide,
And then down on the other that runs by its side,—
There's nothing like tiring, there's nothing like rest,—
Till the broad yellow sun is far down in the west.

George Bennett.

ELLEN'S CURE FOR SADNESS

Our little Ellen is never in a good temper when she comes down late to breakfast, and finds the things cleared away. First she complains that her bowl of bread and milk is too hot; and then, when Aunt Alice pours in some water to cool it, Ellen says, "It is now too cold."

I think the fault is in herself. She is five years old,—quite old enough to know that she ought to get up when the first bell rings, and come down to breakfast. She knows she is in fault. She has missed papa's kiss, for he had to leave home early on business; and this adds to her grief.

But, after she had eaten her bread and milk on the day I am speaking of, she asked Aunt Alice what she should do to cure herself of her "sadness." "I think that the best plan, in such cases, is to try to do some good to somebody," said Aunt Alice. "The best way to cheer yourself is to cheer another."

This made Ellen thoughtful; and she stood at the window, looking out on the street, long after Aunt Alice had left the room. It was a cold, cloudy day, and there were flakes of snow in the air. Ellen stood watching a poor woman at the corner, who was trying to sell shoe-strings; but nobody stopped to buy of her.

"That poor woman looks sad and discouraged," said Ellen to herself: "she must be almost as sad as I am. How can I comfort her? Why, by buying some of her shoestrings, of course."

Ellen had some money of her own put away in a box. She ran and got it, then, putting on her bonnet, went out and bought a whole bunch of shoestrings. Then, with her aunt's consent, she asked the poor woman to come in and get some luncheon.

The poor woman gladly accepted the invitation; and Ellen soon had her seated by a nice fire in the kitchen, chatting and laughing with the maids as merrily as if she had no care in the world.

"Have I made you happy?" asked Ellen. "That you have, you darling," said the poor woman, with a tear in her eye. "And so you have made me happy," replied Ellen. Yes, she had found that Aunt Alice was in the right. "The best way to cheer yourself is to cheer another."