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Preview Aunt Fannys StoryBook by Frances Elizabeth Barrow

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Aunt Fanny's Story-Book for Little Boys and Girls, by Frances Elizabeth Barrow This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Aunt Fanny's Story-Book for Little Boys and Girls Author: Frances Elizabeth Barrow Release Date: May 6, 2009 [EBook #28703] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUNT FANNY'S STORY-BOOK *** Produced by David Edwards, Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive.) This is little Annie Browne. This is little Annie Browne. AUNT FANNY'S STORY-BOOK. NEW-YORK: D. APPLETON & COMPANY, BROADWAY. AUNT FANNY'S STORY BOOK, FOR LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS. NEW-YORK: D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 200 BROADWAY. 1853. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by D. APPLETON & COMPANY, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New-York. CONTENTS. To the Little Girls and Boys, The Christmas Party, The Spider, The Mischievous Boys, The Brothers, Annie Browne, The Three Bears, About Minding Quickly, The Twins, The Little Boy that was afraid of the Water, The May Queen, PAGE 5 7 21 26 34 48 55 62 71 80 87 The Apple Dumpling, The Dentist, The Wig, The Boys' School, TO THE LITTLE GIRLS AND BOYS. Once on a time, there lived a little bit of a lady who had a great many nephews and nieces. She was very little indeed, so all the children loved her, and said she was the best little auntie in the world, and exactly the right size to play with them and tell them stories. Sometimes she told them interesting stories about George Washington, and other great and good men; sometimes funny stories, about Frizzlefits and Monsieur Pop, and sometimes she would make them nearly die laughing with stories about the Dutchman, Hansansvanansvananderdansvaniedeneidendiesandeusan. At last, one day, one of her nieces said to her, "Dear Auntie, do write some stories, and put them in a book for us to read, and keep, as long as we live." The little Aunt thought this was a very good plan, and here are the stories, dear little children, for all of you. If you like them, just let me know, and you shall have some more next year from Aunt Fanny. THE CHRISTMAS PARTY. Mr. and Mrs. Percy had seven grandchildren, all very pretty and very good. These children did not all have the same father and mother, that is, Mr. and Mrs. Percy's eldest son had three children, whose names were Mary, and Carry, and Thomas; and one of their daughters was married, and had three children; their names were Willy, and Bella, and Fanny; and their youngest son was married and had one child. Her name was Sarah. She was the youngest of the children, and they all loved her very much, and her Grandma made a great pet of her. The children and their parents had been invited to eat a Christmas dinner with their Grandma, and they had been promised a little dance in the evening. Even little Sarah was to go, and stay to the Ball, as she called it. They were glad; for they liked to go to their dear Grandma's very much. At last Christmas came. It was a bright, frosty day; the icicles that hung from the iron railing sparkled as the sun shone upon them, and the little boys in the streets made sliding ponds of the gutters, and did not mind a bit when they came down on their backs, but jumped up and tried it again; and a great many people were hurrying along with large turkeys to cook for their Christmas dinner, and every body looked very happy indeed. After these children, about whom I am telling you, came back from church, they were dressed very nicely, and although they lived in three different houses, they all got to their Grandma's very nearly at the same time. The first thing they did was to run up to their Grandma, and wish her a merry Christmas, and kiss her, and say that they hoped she felt quite well. Then they did the same to their Grandpa and Aunties, for they had two dear, kind aunts who lived with their Grandparents. Then they all hugged and kissed each other, and jumped about so much, that some kissed noses and some kissed chins, and little Sarah was almost crazy with delight, for she had never been to so large a party before. "Grandma," said Willy, "I hung up my stocking last night, and what do you thing I got in it?" His Grandma guessed that he got a birch rod. "No," said Willy, laughing, "I got a doughnut in the shape of a monkey with a long tail. I eat the monkey for my breakfast, and it was very good indeed." The children all laughed at this, and Bella, Willy's sister, who was the oldest of all the children, said she thought Willy had a monkey look about him. So he went by the name of the monkey-eater for the rest of the day. Soon the bell rang for dinner, and they all went down stairs; for the children and grown people were to dine together. It was now quite dark, and the gas chandelier that hung over the table was lighted, the curtains were drawn close, the fire burnt brightly, and the table-cloth was so white and fine that it looked like satin. The happy party sat down at a large round table, and the children's eyes looked so bright and their cheeks so rosy, that 98 105 111 118 [Pg 5] [Pg 6] [Pg 7] [Pg 8] [Pg 9] [Pg 10] it was the pleasantest sight in the world to see. Little Sarah could not help having a great many little laughs all to herself. She could not keep them in. She was only four years old, so you may suppose she could not look very grave and stiff on such a delightful occasion. When Willy saw his little cousin Sarah trying to hide her sparkling eyes, and her funny little laugh behind her mother's arm, he felt just as if somebody was tickling him. So he pinched his lips together very tight indeed, and cast his eyes up to the ceiling, and tried to look as grave as a judge. But it would not do; he burst out into such a fit of laughing, that every body else laughed too, and it was a long time before they could get their faces straight enough to eat their dinner. Would you like to know what they had for dinner? Well, I will tell you. After their Grandpa had asked a blessing, they had some very nice soup. The children did not care for soup. Then they had a fish stuffed with all sorts of things, and stewed, and the grown people said the fish was very nice; but the little ones did not care for that either. Then they had some roast beef and a boiled turkey with oysters. The children all took turkey; Willy asked for a drum-stick, and his cousin Mary said he wanted it to beat the monkey he eat in the morning. Bella chose a merry-thought; little Sarah liked a hug-me-fast; Carry took a wishing-bone; Thomas said he would have the other drum-stick to help beat the monkey, and Fanny thanked her Grandma for a wing, so that she could fly away when the beating of the monkey took place. But this was not half the good things, for they afterwards had some delicious game, such as partridges, and woodcocks, and some fried oysters. All this pleased the grown people most. The children saved their appetites for the dessert. Well, after this the cloth was taken off, and under that was another table-cloth just as white and fine as the first. Then came something that was quite astonishing. What do you think it was? It was a great plum-pudding all on fire! it blazed away terribly, and Willy thought they had better send for the fire-engines to put it out; but it was blown out very easily, and the children each had a very small piece, because it was too rich to eat much of, and their parents did not wish them to get sick. After that there came ice-cream, and jellies, and sweetmeats, that were perfectly delicious; and then the other white cloth was taken off, and under that was a beautiful red one. Then the servants put on the table what the children liked best of all, and that was a dish of fine mottoes, and oranges and grapes and other nice fine fruits. The children sent the mottoes to each other, and had a great deal of sport. Some one sent Willy this: "Oh William, William, 'tis quite plain to see That all your life, you will a monkey be." He thought his cousin Mary had sent it, because he saw that she was trying very hard to look grave—so he sent this to her: "Dear Mary, you are too severe, You are too bad, I do declare; Your motto has upset me quite, I shan't get over it to-night." Mary laughed when she read it, and said she had been just as cruel to Thomas, for she had sent him this— "The rose is red, the violet blue, The grass is green and so are you." They had a good laugh at Thomas, but as he laughed as hard as any one, it did no harm. Little Sarah had a great many mottoes. Her Mamma read them to her, and it pleased her very much. She said it was a very nice play, but she was tired with sitting such a long time at table, so her Mother let her slip down from her chair. Very soon all the rest got up, and went up stairs in the parlor. But what was that in the middle of the room? It seemed to be a large table covered all over with a cloth. What could it be? Willy said, "Grandma, that table looks as if something was on it;" and little Sarah said, "Grandma, I guess Santa Claus has been here." "Yes, dear children," said their Grandma, "Santa Claus has been here, and this time he looked very much like your Grandpa. He will be up soon, and then we will see what is on the table." Oh how the children did wish to peep! They could not look at any thing else; they danced and jumped round the table, and were in a great hurry for their Grandpa. In a few minutes he came into the room, and all the children ran up to him and said, "Dear Grandpa, do let us see what you have got on the table." He smiled, and went to the table and took the cloth off. The children were so astonished that they could not say a single word; the table was covered with beautiful things, and under it was something that looked like a little red-brick house. "Well," said their kind Grandpa, "my dear children, you did not think you were going to be treated to such a fine show as this; you may go up to the table, and see if you can find out who they are for." The children gathered round the table, and Willy took from the top a fine brig with all her sails set, and colors flying. His eyes sparkled when he saw written on a slip of paper which lay on the deck, these words; "For my dear Willy." The children clapped their hands, and nothing was heard, but "How beautiful!" "What a fine ship!" "It is a brig of war," said Willy: "only look at the little brass guns on [Pg 11] [Pg 12] [Pg 13] [Pg 14] [Pg 15] [Pg 16] her deck! thank you, dear Grandpa; it will shoot all the enemies of America! What is the name of my ship?" "Her name is painted on her stern," said his Grandpa. Willy looked and saw that she was called the "Louisa." He blushed, and looked very funny, and the other children laughed, for Willy knew a very pretty little girl, whose name was Louisa, and he liked her very much; and that was what made them laugh when they heard the name. After they had all admired the brig, they went back to the table, and there were two beautiful books, full of engravings or pictures, one for Bella and one for Mary; and next to these was a large wax doll for Carry and another for Fanny. Carry's doll was dressed in blue satin, with a white satin hat and a lace veil, and Fanny's doll was dressed in pink satin with a black velvet hat and feathers—their eyes opened and shut, and they had beautiful faces. How delighted the little girls were! They hugged their dolls to their little breasts, and then ran to hug and kiss their Grandpa. Carry said, "My dolly's name shall be Rose;" and Fanny said, "My dolly's name shall be Christmas, because I got her on Christmas day." Well I must hurry and tell you the rest, for I am afraid my story is getting too long. Thomas found for him a splendid menagerie, and all the animals made noises like real animals. There were roaring lions, and yelling tigers, and laughing hyenas, and braying asses, and chattering monkeys, and growling bears, and many other wild beasts. Oh how pleased Thomas was, and all the children! Little Sarah did nothing but jump up and down and say, "So many things! So many things! I never saw so many things!" But who was to have the little house under the table, I wonder? There was a little piece of paper sticking out of the chimney, and Sarah pulled it out and carried it to her Grandpa. He took her up in his arms and read it to her. What was written on it was, "A baby-house for my little darling Sarah." "Why, I guess this must be for you," said he. "Yes, it is for me," said the little girl; "my name is Sarah, and it must be for me." Her Grandpa put her down, and led her to the table. He drew the little house out, and opened it. The whole front of the house opened, and there, inside, were two rooms; one was a parlor, and one a bed-room. The children all cried out, "What a fine baby-house! Look at the centre-table, and the red velvet chairs; and only see the elegant curtains! Oh dear! how beautiful it is!" Little Sarah did not say a word. She stood before the baby-house with her hands stretched out, and jumped up and down, her eyes shining like diamonds. She was too much pleased to speak. She looked so funny jumping up and down all the time, that she made Willy laugh again, and then every body laughed. At last she said, "There is a young lady sitting in the chair with a red sash on. I think she wants to come out." "Well, you may take her out," said her Grandpa. So Sarah took the young lady out, and then took up the chairs and sofa, one by one, and smoothed the velvet, and looked at the little clock on the mantelpiece, and opened the little drawers of the bureau; and then putting them down, she began to jump again. There was never such a happy party before. The children hardly wished to dance, they were so busy looking at their presents. But after a little while they had a very nice dance. One of their aunts played for them; she played so well, and kept such nice time, that it was quite a pleasure to hear her. It was now quite late, and little Sarah had fallen fast asleep on the sofa, with the young lady out of the baby-house clasped tight to her little bosom. So they wrapped her up, doll and all, in a great shawl, and the rest put on their nice warm coats and cloaks; and after a great deal of hugging and kissing, they got into the carriages with their parents, and went home happy and delighted. Thus ended this joyful Christmas day. THE SPIDER. Little Harry was afraid of spiders. He would scream and run to get into his Mother's lap, if he saw the least spider in the world. The reason he was so afraid was, that his nurse, when he was a very little fellow, had told him very often, that if he did not go to sleep, she would catch a spider and put it on him. Now this was very wicked indeed in the nurse, and when his Mother found out that she had been telling Harry this, she was very angry, and sent her directly out of the house. Harry's Mother had tried very hard to cure him of his foolish fears about spiders; but he did not get over them, and they often made him miserable. One day Harry went with his Mother to visit a friend. This lady had a little daughter about two years old, a very pretty and good-humored child. She was sitting on the carpet when Harry came in, playing with a little woolly dog and making [Pg 17] [Pg 18] [Pg 19] [Pg 20] [Pg 21] [Pg 22] it bark. She knew Harry, for he had been there before with his Mother. So she held the dog out to him and said, "Tum here, Henny." She could not speak plain, and what she said sounded very funny. Harry sat down on the carpet by her, and took the dog, and made it say, "bow wow wow!" Little Mary laughed and clapped her hands, and said, "Do it aden, Henny." So Harry pressed the spring again, and made the dog say, "bow wow wow," when just as he was going to give it back to little Mary, she stooped down, and cried, "Look, look, Henny, what a pretty little 'pider, only see the little 'pider." Harry threw down the dog, and began to scream with all his might. He ran to his Mother and hid his face on her shoulder, and cried, "Take it away! Oh take it away!" All this time little Mary had been looking at him with surprise. She did not cry, for she was not afraid of the poor spider. It was of the kind that children call a 'daddy long-legs,' and Mary thought it was very funny to see it straddling over the carpet, trying to get away as fast as it could. "Oh Harry! for shame," said his Mother; "why, which is the biggest—the spider or you? Only see—little Mary is laughing at you." Henry raised his head from his Mother's shoulder, and looked at Mary. He stopped crying, and began to feel ashamed. He saw the spider crawling over little Mary's frock, and she sat quite still, and let it go just where it wanted to go. His Mother said to him, "Go, Harry, and count the long legs of the spider, and see if you can find his mouth—it cannot hurt you." But Harry trembled, and said he did not want to go near it, he would not touch it for any thing. His Mother was not angry with him, for she knew he had tried to overcome his fears, and he could not help them; she knew it was the fault of the wicked nurse, who had made him suffer all this pain. So she took his hand and wiped the tears from his cheeks, and went home with him. As Harry grew older, he was not so much afraid of spiders, but he never could bear to see one near him; even when he was a great boy of fourteen or fifteen years, he would get away from a spider as fast as he could. He knew it was foolish, and tried to overcome his fears, but he never got entirely over them. Parents cannot be too watchful or careful about their nurses, for sometimes a thoughtless or wicked nurse, will do worse things to a child than Harry's nurse did to him. If parents would forbid nurses when they are first employed from saying or doing the least thing to frighten their children, many a poor little victim would be saved a great deal of present and future misery. THE MISCHIEVOUS BOYS. "Horace, come up stairs with, me into Uncle James's room," said Edward one day to his brother. Horace took hold of Edward's hand, and they ran up stairs together. When they got into their Uncle's room, they shut the door. There was nobody in the room but the two little boys; so Edward thought it was a fine chance to do some mischief. He began to open all the drawers, and look at the things that were in them; he took out a bottle that was full of cologne water, and calling Horace to him, he poured it all out, some of it on his brother's hair and some on his own. Their hair was all wet with the cologne, and it ran down their faces. After he had done this, he saw a pair of scissors in the same drawer. "Sit down, Horace," said he, "and I will cut your hair for you: it wants cutting very much." Horace was a little fellow; he was only three years old; but Edward was six years old, and knew better than to be doing all this mischief. Horace sat down and Edward cut his hair all over. He cut bunches out in different parts, close to his head, and made it look frightful, but he said, "Dear me! how nice you look! now you cut my hair." So Horace cut Edward's hair, and almost cut off his ears, and hardly left any hair on his head. After that, this naughty boy Edward took his Uncle's best coat out of the drawer and put it on. The tails of the coat dragged on the ground, and it made Horace laugh very much to see his brother marching round, with the tails of the coat dragging on the ground. When he was tired of wearing the coat, he took it off. He did not put it back in the drawer, but threw it on the floor, where all the hair was, that he and his brother had cut. Presently he ran to the wash-stand. He lifted the pitcher. It was full of water, and very heavy, and he spilled some of the water on the carpet. Then he poured out the water into the slop-jar, which stood by the side of the wash-stand, and in [Pg 23] [Pg 24] [Pg 25] [Pg 26] [Pg 27] [Pg 28] doing it, he spilled the water all round the outside of the slop-jar and wet the carpet. Did you ever hear of such a naughty boy before? But this is not half as bad as what I am now going to tell you. Little Horace had done just as he saw his brother do—for little boys will always follow the example of their older brothers. If any little boy reads this, that has a brother younger than himself, I hope he will remember this, and try to set his little brother a good example. Well, as I was telling you, Horace opened the drawer of the wash-stand, and took out a box of tooth-powder, and then he got a glove out of another drawer, and then he wet the glove and dipped it in the tooth-powder. Some of the powder stuck to the glove, and with this he began to rub the brass tops of the tongs and poker. "Only see, Edward," cried he, "how nice this cleans the brass! I am rubbing it, just as I saw Jenny do, and I am making it look so clean and bright! don't it make it bright, Edward?" "Oh yes! very bright," said Edward, "but only look here, what I have found! a beautiful razor! oh my! how sharp it is! Uncle James shaves with it every morning. I'll tell you a first-rate play, Horace. I will be a barber, and you shall come to me to be shaved. You know I will only make believe; I won't really shave you." "Oh that will be fine," said Horace, throwing down the tooth-powder, "that will be fine! Put some soap on my face, brother." "Yes," said Edward, "I will make a great lot of soap-suds, and put it all over your face. Oh! won't it be nice? won't it be a grand play?" So saying, he got out the shaving-brush, and dipped it into the water that was in the slop-jar, and rubbed it on the soap, till he had made a great lather. He called it soap-suds, and then he put it all over Horace's face with the brush, and made him look like a fright. Then this naughty boy took the sharp and shining razor, and began to shave the soap off his face. At first he only took the soap off, but the next time he took off a piece of the skin from Horace's face. The little boy said, "Oh, Edward! you hurt me. I don't want to be shaved any more! It isn't a good play at all!" "Don't be a coward," said Edward; "it always hurts to be shaved; come, let me do it once more." Horace was not afraid of a little pain, and he did not like to be called a coward. He believed what his brother told him. So he held up his face, and Edward began again to scrape off the lather; but this time Horace moved just as he put the razor on his face, and it took the skin all off of his cheek. It began to bleed terribly, and smarted so much, that Horace screamed, and ran out of the room, and down stairs into the kitchen where his Mother was. She was very much frightened when she saw the little boy with his face covered with blood and lather, and cried, "What is the matter with you, my child? What have you been doing?" "Oh, Mamma!" said he, crying bitterly, "Edward has been shaving me, and I am all cut to pieces—Oh! how it hurts me —will it kill me, Mamma?" His Mother got some water quickly and washed his face. She saw that he was very much cut. She was very sorry indeed, and tied up his face, and did every thing she could think of, to relieve the pain. But it hurt him very much all that day and the next. When Edward came down stairs, he was afraid to come where his Mother was, because he knew he had been a very naughty boy, and he was sure she would punish him. So he went and hid himself under the bed. His Mother called, "Edward! Edward!" but he was afraid to come. So she had to hunt for him, and found him all curled up as small as possible under the bed. "Come out instantly," said his Mother. Edward crept out and began to cry, and beg his Mother not to punish him, but his Mother said: "Edward, you knew you were doing wrong when you got your uncle's razors to play with, and if I do not punish you, you will always be doing mischief, and grow up to be a very bad man." So his Mother took a birch-rod out of the closet, and gave Edward a very severe whipping; so severe that he remembered it for a long time, and although after a great while he forgot, and sometimes was tempted to do wrong, he never wanted to play barber again, or make believe shave any body with a razor. THE BROTHERS. [Pg 29] [Pg 30] [Pg 31] [Pg 32] [Pg 33] [Pg 34] One day Henry came bounding home from school, his face beaming with joy. He was head of his class, and he held fast in his hand a fine silver medal, which had been awarded to him for good behavior. "Oh!" said he to himself as he ran along, "how happy this will make my dear Mother. I know she will kiss me; perhaps she will kiss me five or six times, and call me her dear, dear boy. Oh! how I love my Mother." He ran up the steps of the house where he lived as he said this, and pulled the bell very hard, for he was in a great hurry. His Father opened the door. "Hush! Henry," said he, "come in very softly, your Mother is very sick." "My Mother! Dear Father, what is the matter with her? May I go in to her if I will step very softly?" "No," said his Father, "you must not see her now; you must be very still indeed. I see, my dear boy, that you have been rewarded for good conduct in school; I am glad that I have so good a son. And now, Henry, I know you love your Mother so much, that you will promise me to be very still, and wait patiently until she is able to see you." As he said this, he drew Henry close to him, and smoothed down his long curling hair, and kissed his cheek. Henry threw his arms around his Father's neck, and promised him, and then putting away his medal, he went softly on tiptoe up to his play-room, and shutting the door, began to work on a sloop that he was rigging. He did not get on very fast, for he could not help thinking of his dear Mother, and wishing he could see her. She had hemmed all the sails of the sloop for him, and he was going to name it the "Eliza," after her. The next morning, Susan, the old nurse, knocked very early at the door of the room where Henry slept. "Master Henry," said she, "what do you think happened last night?" "What did?" said Henry, sitting up in the bed; "is my Mother better?" "Yes, she is better," replied Susan, "but do guess what has come. Something that you have wished for very often. Something you can play with, and take care of, and love more than you love your dog Hector." "Is it alive?" said Henry. "Yes," replied Susan, "it is alive, and in your mother's room." "Can it be a brother, a real live brother?" cried Henry, jumping out of bed, and running up to Susan. "Yes, it is a brother, a real live brother," said Susan, laughing. "I've got a brother, I've got a brother, a real brother!" shouted Henry, running up and down the room, clapping his hands, jumping over the chairs, and making a terrible noise, for in his joy he hardly knew what he was about. "Oh hush, Master Henry!" said Susan. "What a crazy little fellow! Your Mother is still very ill. Now dress yourself quickly and quietly, and you shall see your little brother." Henry trembled with joy, and in his haste he put his feet into the arms of his jacket, and his arms into the legs of his trousers; but after a while he managed to get them on right, and though he washed his face and hands in a minute, and brushed his hair with the back of the brush, yet he did not look so bad as you might suppose. He went very softly into his Mother's room. It was darkened, and he could not see very well. He went up to the side of the bed. His Mother smiled and said, "Come here, my son." Her face was pale, but it had a very happy look, for in her arms, sweetly sleeping, was the little brother that Henry had longed for. He had a sister, who was nearly his own age, but he had always wished for a brother, and the brother had come at last. "Dear Mother, may I help you take care of my little brother?" said Henry; "you know I am strong enough to hold him. I would not let him fall for the world." "Yes, dear boy," replied his Mother, "when he is a little older, I shall have a great deal of comfort in trusting this dear little brother with you. It is more necessary now than ever, my son, that you should try always to be good, and to set a good example before your brother. He will be sure to do just as you do. If you are a good boy, you will be a good man; and how happy you will be, when you are grown up, to think that your good example will have made your brother a good boy, and a good man too. Now kiss me, and go get your breakfast." Henry kissed his Mother, and told her of his good conduct in school, at which she was very glad, and then stooping down, he kissed the soft cheek of the little sleeping baby, and went gently out of the room. In a few weeks, his Mother got quite well, and Charles (that was the baby's name) began to laugh and play with his brother. Henry was never so happy as when he was with Charles. He always put him to sleep at night. The dear little fellow would clasp his little hand tight round one of Henry's fingers, and fall to sleep in his bed, while his brother sang to him. One day when Charles was about four years old, he said, "Dear brother, will you ride me on your back?" Henry was very busy just then; he was making a bow and arrow. He looked down, and saw a sweet little face, and two bright blue eyes, looking at him, and saying as plainly as eyes could say, "Do, dear brother." So he said, "Yes, Charley, I will, if [Pg 35] [Pg 36] [Pg 37] [Pg 38] [Pg 39] [Pg 40] you will help me to put away my things." Charles ran about, and helped Henry put his play-room in nice order, and then climbing on his back, and holding fast to a ribbon, for a bridle, which Henry held between his teeth, he gave him a little tap on the shoulder, and crying "Get up, old fellow," away they went around the room, Henry galloping so hard, that Charles bounced about almost as much as if he was on a real pony. "Let us go in the parlors, they are a great deal larger," said Charles; "do, dear brother." "I am afraid it would not be right," replied Henry; "we may break something. Mother has said that we had better never play there." "But we will be so careful," said the little boy; "we can play circus so nice. I want to go in the parlor." Henry's Father and Mother had gone out riding, so he could not ask leave to play in the parlors. He was almost sure it was wrong to go there, but he wanted to gratify his brother; so promising himself to be very careful, he trotted down stairs into the parlor, with Charles on his back. At first he went slowly round the two rooms, but Charles began to whip his horse and cry, "Get up, old boy, you are getting lazy. You shall be a race-horse—you shall be Boston. Now go faster, faster; go round the room like lightning." So round he went, fast and faster, shaking his head, and taking great jumps, and kicking his legs up behind, with Charley holding on, laughing and screaming with delight, till alas! sad to tell, his elbow brushed against a beautiful and costly vase, which stood upon a little table, knocked it off, and broke it into a hundred pieces. Henry stopped short, and let Charles slide down from his back. He looked at the broken vase, and then at his brother, and Charles looked at Henry, and then at the pieces on the floor. "It is all broken," said he. "It can't be mended at all, can it, brother?" "No, it is past mending," said Henry; "and the first thing we must do will be to tell Mother." "Oh no!" said the little boy, "I am afraid to tell her." "We must never be afraid to tell the truth, dear Charley. I will set you a good example. You shall never learn to tell a lie from me." Henry had always remembered what his Mother had said to him, the very first time he ever saw his little brother; and very often, when he was tempted to be naughty, or get in a passion, the words "Your brother will do just as you do," would seem to come from his heart, and he would conquer his passion. In a few moments the boys heard the wheels of the carriage. Henry went to the hall door, and opened it. He held Charles by the hand. He had to hold him pretty tight, for Charles tried to get away. His face was pale. He waited until his Mother got out of the carriage and came up the steps—and taking hold of her hand and looking up in her face, he said in a firm voice, "Mother, I have broken your vase." "And I too," said the little boy, "and it is broken all to pieces." Henry was glad to hear his little brother say this, and oh! how happy it made him feel, to think that he had learned to speak the truth from him. Their Mother kissed them both and said, "My darling boys, I am rejoiced that you are not afraid to speak the truth. I would rather lose twenty vases than have you tell a lie; but you knew it was wrong to play in the parlors, did you not?" "Yes, dear Mother, it was wrong, and I knew it was," replied Henry. "I will submit to any punishment you think right. I ought to have remembered that you advised us not to go there." "If you think you ought to be punished," said his Mother, "Charley shall go to bed to-night without your singing to him. This will make you both remember. Is that right?" "Yes, dear Mother," said Henry; but he looked very sorry; and little Charles made up a long face, for he loved his brother so much, that he could not bear to think that he must go to sleep without holding his finger and hearing him sing. When bed-time came, Charley wanted to beg his Mother to think of some other punishment for him. He wanted his dear brother so much. He looked at Henry, but Henry said, "Good-night, little fellow. We deserve this. Come!—one night will soon be over. Now, let us see how well you can behave;" and he gave him a smile, and a kiss so full of love, that the little fellow put his lips tight together, and marched off to bed without a tear. It was pretty hard to do it, but he had this kind brother to set him a good example, and he was determined to be as good a boy as Henry. Not many weeks after this, poor little Charles was taken sick. He was very sick indeed, and every day he grew worse. The doctor did all he could for him, and Henry staid with him night and day, and would hardly take any rest. He gave him all his medicine, and sang to him very often when he was in pain. But Charles did not get any better, and at last, the doctor said that he could not make him well—the little boy must die. When Henry heard this, the tears burst from his eyes, and he sobbed out, "Oh my brother! Oh my brother! I cannot part with you, my little precious brother." The poor little fellow had become so weak and thin that he could scarcely lift his hands from the bed where he lay. [Pg 41] [Pg 42] [Pg 43] [Pg 44] [Pg 45] The last night came. He knew that he would not live many hours, for his dear Mother had told him so; and now she told him, that as he had always tried to be a good boy, he would go to Heaven, and Jesus would take him into his bosom, and love him, and keep him, until they came to him. His little pale face grew bright. "Dear Mother," said he, "will Jesus let my brother come to me? I want my brother in Heaven. Come here close to me," said he to Henry. His brother leaned his face down close to the little boy's face, and helped him clasp his arms around his neck, and then he whispered, in a soft weak voice, "Do not cry, dear brother, do not cry any more. I will pray to Jesus, to let you come very soon and sing me to sleep in Heaven." These were the last words he spoke, for his breath grew shorter and shorter, and soon after his little hand dropped away from his brother's, and he was dead. His Father had him buried in Greenwood Cemetery. It was in the summer time that he died, and his brother Henry planted a white rose-bush at the foot of the little grave, and a red rose-bush at the head, and often in the pleasant summer afternoons he would go alone to Greenwood, and sit upon little Charley's grave, and think how he might now be praying for him in Heaven. Henry is now a man. He was always a good boy. He is now a good man; and although many years have passed since he lost his little brother, he goes every summer to Greenwood to visit his grave; and the tears always come into his eyes when he speaks of him, and tells that little Charley's last words were, that he would pray to Jesus to let his darling brother come soon, and sing him to sleep in Heaven. ANNIE BROWNE. Little Annie Browne was an only child, that is, her parents had no little boys at all, and only this one little girl; so you may be sure they loved this little girl very much indeed, and were all the time doing every thing to make her happy. Now I wonder if the dear little boy, or girl, who is reading this, can guess the means that Annie's Father and Mother took to make her happy. Did they give her plenty of candy? No. Did they buy new play things for her every day? No. Did they take her very often to the Museum, or the Circus, or the Menagerie? No. This was not the way. I will tell you what they did; and I will tell you what Annie did, for one whole day, when she was about five years old, and that will give you a very good idea of the way they took to make her good, for then she was sure to be happy. Well, one day Annie woke up very early in the morning, and, sitting up in her little bed, which was close by the side of her Mamma's, she first rubbed her eyes, and than she looked all round the room, and saw a narrow streak of bright light on the wall. It was made by the sun shining through a crack in the shutter. She began to sing softly this little song, that she had learned in school— "What is it shines so very bright, That quick dispels the dusky night? It is the sun, the sun, Shedding around its cheerful light—- It is the sun, the sun." Presently she looked round again, and saw her Mamma sleeping. She said in her soft little voice—"Mamma, Mamma, good morning, dear Mamma." But her Mamma did not wake up. Then she crept over her to where her Papa was sleeping, and said— "Papa, Papa, good morning, dear Papa." But her Papa was too fast asleep to hear her. So she gave her Papa a little kiss on the end of his nose, and laid gently down between them. In a few minutes, her Papa woke up, and said— "Why! what little monkey is this in the bed?" which made Annie laugh very much. She then jumped out of bed, and put on her stockings and shoes herself, as all little boys and girls of five years old ought, and put on her clothes; and her Mamma, who was now awake, fastened them, and brushed her hair nicely, and washed her face and hands. After that, she said some little prayers, that her Mamma had taught her—and then ran down stairs, singing as gay as a lark, and dancing as light as a fairy. After breakfast, her Mamma got her school basket, (it was a cunning little basket,) and put in it a nice slice of bread and butter, and a peach, and gave her a little bouquet of flowers to present to her teacher, whom little Annie loved dearly; and then her Mamma said, "Good bye, my darling," and Annie made her such a funny little curtsey, that she nearly tumbled over, and off she went to school with her Papa, who always saw her safe to the door. [Pg 46] [Pg 47] [Pg 48] [Pg 49] [Pg 50] [Pg 51] Annie staid in school from nine o'clock until two. When she came home, her Mother kissed her, and said— "Have you been a good little girl in school to-day?" "I think I have," said Annie; "Miss Harriet said that I was very diligent. What is diligent, Mamma?" "To be diligent, my dear," answered her Mamma, "means to study your lesson all the time, without thinking of play, or any thing else, until you know it perfectly." Annie said she was glad it meant such good things, and added, "Mamma, will you play I am a lady, coming to see you, if you are not too busy?" Her Mamma said she would. So Annie got her two dollys. One was a very pretty wax doll, with eyes that could open and shut. Her name was Emily; and the other was not wax, but was larger. Her name was Augusta. She put on their hats and visites, and dressed herself in an old hat, with a green veil, and came near her Mamma, and made believe ring a bell, and said, "Ting a ling, ting a ling." "Come in," said her Mamma. Little Annie shook hands with her Mamma, and said, "How do you do, Mrs. Browne?" "Thank you, I am very well," said her Mamma. "Take a seat, my dear Mrs. Frisby," that was Annie's name. "How are your children, Mrs. Frisby?" "Oh! they are very sick," answered Annie; "one has the toothache, and the other has a little square hole in the back of her head, and it has made her head ache." "Dear me, Mrs. Frisby," said her Mamma, "I am very sorry to hear it; you ought to go to the doctor with them." Then Annie pretended to go to the doctor, and she took out of the drawer a little bit of sugar for medicine. She eat the medicine up herself, and said that it had done the dollys a great deal of good. In this pleasant way she amused herself until dinner time. After dinner, her Papa and Mamma took her to Union Park, as it was pleasant; and there Annie jumped the rope with other little girls, or rolled a great hoop. She could roll the hoop very well. Then she came skipping home, and had her tea; and after that her Mother undressed her and heard her say her prayers, and kissed her for good night; and she jumped into bed, and in a moment was fast asleep. Don't you think Annie was a happy little girl? I think she was, for all her days passed in this pleasant manner. Some other time, perhaps, I will tell you more about little Annie Browne. THE THREE BEARS. Laura and Fanny came one Saturday to spend the day with their Grandmamma. The moment they got into the house, little Laura ran to the book-case, to get a book to read; and Fanny asked for a needle and thread, and began to sew up a corner of the red cloth that was on the work-table. Both these little girls were very fond of coming to see their Grandmamma, and she liked to have them come; for they gave her no trouble, and were very good and polite to every body. Pretty soon Laura said, "Oh, dear! this is not a very interesting book, I am tired of reading it. I wonder where Aunt Fanny is. I believe I will go find her, and get her to tell me a story." "A story!" said Fanny, "then I will go too." So she stuck her needle in her work, and they both ran out of the room. They found their Aunt Fanny in the next room. She was sitting at her writing-desk, writing a letter. "Oh, Auntie!" said Laura, coming up to the desk, "how much you have written; I am sure you must be tired. Suppose you stop a little while, and rest yourself by telling us a story." Her Aunt laughed, and said that was a very clever way of getting a story out of her, and asked the children what kind of a story they would like. "I like a fairy tale," said little Fanny. "And I like a ghost story," said Laura. "I think a ghost story is great fun, for I never believe a word of it." "But you know I never tell ghost stories," replied her Aunt; "they are very silly things. I will tell you a story about three bears, which I read a long while ago. I do not remember it exactly, but I think I can make it do for you." "Oh, yes! yes!" cried the children, "three bears!—that will be funny I know." [Pg 52] [Pg 53] [Pg 54] [Pg 55] [Pg 56] [Pg 57] So their kind Aunt laid down her pen, and took little Fanny upon her lap, and told Laura to get a bench and sit by her side, and commenced her story.[A] This story should be read aloud. When the reader comes to the "great big bear," or to any thing he says or does, he (the reader) should read in a loud gruff voice; all about the "middling sized bear," in the ordinary voice; and all about the "tiny bit of a bear," in a high small squeaking voice. "Once upon a time there were three bears, that lived in a thick wood. One was a GREAT BIG BEAR, one a middling sized bear, and the third a tiny bit of a bear. The GREAT BIG BEAR lived in a GREAT BIG HOUSE; the middling sized bear lived in a middling sized house; and the tiny bit of a bear lived in a little speck of a house; and the houses were close together. "Well, one day the bears went off to take a walk; and, while they were gone, a little ragged dirty old woman came through the wood. All at once, she spied the three houses; so she hobbled up to see who lived in them. First she went into the great big bear's house, and there she saw a great big bowl of porridge on the table. She tasted it. It was a great deal too hot. Then she came out of the house, and went into the middling sized bear's house, and there she saw a middling sized bowl of porridge. So she tasted it, and found it was a little to hot. She came out, and went into the tiny bit of a bear's house, and there she saw a little mite of a bowl of porridge. She tasted it, and it was just right, so the little ragged dirty old woman eat it all up. Then she went up stairs and laid down on the tiny bit of a bear's bed, and was very soon fast asleep. "By and by, the bears came home. The great big bear went into his house, and looked on the table. Then he said, in a tremendous voice— "'Somebody has been at my bowl of porridge.' "The middling sized bear went into his house, and, looking on the table, he said in a middling sized voice— "'Somebody has been at my bowl of porridge.' "Then the tiny bit of a bear went into his house, and, looking on the table, he said, in a little squeaking voice— "'Somebody has been at my bowl of porridge, and eat it all up.' "Oh, how angry he was. He went to the door, and called the other bears, and they all three went up stairs together, to search for the thief; and there they found the thief, in the shape of the little ragged dirty old woman that was fast asleep, and snoring like a trumpeter, on the bed. The great big bear went and stood at the head of the bed; the middling sized bear went and stood at the middle of the bed; and the tiny bit of a bear went and stood at the foot of the bed. Then the great big bear said— "'Who is this in the bed?' "The middling sized bear said— "'It looks like a dirty old woman.' "'And there's some of my porridge sticking on her lips,' said the tiny bit of a bear. As he said this, the old woman awoke, and opened her eyes. "When she saw the bears, she was frightened almost out of her wits; so she started up, and jumped right out of the window, that was close to the bed, and ran off with all her might and main. Then the bears tumbled down stairs head over heels, pell-mell, and rushed out of the house, to catch her and eat her up; but they were so fat, they could not run as fast as she could; so the little ragged dirty old woman got off, all out of breath, but safe and sound." "What did the tiny bit of a bear do for his dinner?" asked Fanny. "He had to suck his paws, I suppose," answered her Aunt; "but I do not know, for that was the end of the story." The children had laughed very much at this story, because their Aunt had told it to them in a way that made it very amusing. They thanked her, and said they hoped she would tell it to them again, the next Saturday. She promised she would, and told them to run off, as she wanted to finish her letter. So the little girls went off, and spent the rest of the day in various ways, taking care not to be troublesome or noisy; and when they went home, they told their Mother, as well as they could, the funny story of the three bears. ABOUT MINDING QUICKLY. Emma was one day sitting by the fire, on a little bench. She was trying to cut a mouse out of a piece of paper. She had a pair of scissors, with round ends. Her Mother had given her these scissors for her own, because they were safer for her to use than scissors with pointed ends. [A] [Pg 58] [Pg 59] [Pg 60] [Pg 61] [Pg 62] Presently her Mother said, "Come here to me, Emma." "Wait a minute, Mother," said Emma. "Do you know," said her Mother, "that it was naughty for you to say that?" "Why, you can wait a little minute," said Emma; "I am very busy. Don't you see that I am making a mouse?" "Emma," replied her Mother, "do you know that I ought to punish you, because you do not mind?" "I am coming right away," cried Emma, dropping her scissors and her paper mouse, and running up to her Mother. Her Mother took her up on her lap, and said, "My little girl, this will never do. You must learn to come at once when you are called; you must obey quickly. If you continue in this very naughty habit of not minding until you are told to do a thing two or three times, you will grow up a very disagreeable girl, and nobody will love you." Emma looked up mournfully into her Mother's face, and said, "Mother, I will try to do better." She was a good-tempered child, and was seldom cross or sullen; but she had this one bad habit, and it was a very bad habit indeed—she waited to be told twice, and sometimes oftener, and many times she made her kind Mother very unhappy. For a few days after this Emma remembered what her Mother had said to her, and always came the first time she was called. She came pleasantly, for it is very important to mind pleasantly, and did every thing she was told to do right away, and her Mother loved her dearly, and hoped she was quite cured of her naughty ways. But I am very sorry to have to say that a time came when Emma entirely forgot her promise. You shall hear how it happened...

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