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diff --git a/29360.txt b/29360.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..016ebec --- /dev/null +++ b/29360.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2068 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Bad Family and Other Stories, by Mrs. Fenwick + +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: The Bad Family and Other Stories + +Author: Mrs. Fenwick + +Release Date: July 9, 2009 [EBook #29360] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BAD FAMILY AND OTHER STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, adhere and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + +THE BAD FAMILY + +AND OTHER STORIES + +MRS FENWICK + + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE DUMPY BOOKS FOR CHILDREN + +Selected by E. V. LUCAS, and each having End-papers specially +designed by Mrs. FARMILOE + +I. THE FLAMP, THE AMELIORATOR, and THE SCHOOLBOY'S APPRENTICE. +_Written by_ E. V. LUCAS + +II. MRS. TURNER'S CAUTIONARY STORIES + +III. THE BAD FAMILY. By Mrs. FENWICK + +_Other Volumes in the Series are in preparation_ + + + + +THE DUMPY BOOKS FOR CHILDREN. + + + + +NO. III. THE BAD FAMILY. +BY MRS. FENWICK. + + + + +The Bad Family; & Other Stories + + +BY +MRS. FENWICK + + +LONDON: GRANT RICHARDS +1898 + + + + +_CONTENTS_ + + + PAGE + +_Introduction_ ix + +_The Bad Family_ 1 + +_The Good Family_ 15 + +_Foolish Fears_ 29 + +_The Broken Crutch_ 39 + +_The Journal; Or, Birthday Gifts_ 45 + +_The Basket of Plumbs_ 65 + +_The Choice of Friends_ 75 + +_Cousin James and Cousin Thomas_ 87 + +_The Disasters of Impatience_ 97 + +_The Deaf and Dumb Boy_ 109 + +_Limby Lumpy_ 119 + +_The Oyster Patties_ 135 + + + + +Introduction + + +Mrs. Fenwick, like Mrs. Turner (some of whose Cautionary Stories have +already been published in this series), lived and wrote at the beginning +of this century. Mrs. Turner practised verse, Mrs. Fenwick prose. I can +tell nothing of Mrs. Fenwick's life, except that among her books were +_Infantine Stories_, the _Life of Carlo_, _Mary and her Cat_, _Presents +for Good Boys and Girls_, _Rays from the Rainbow_ (an easy system of +teaching grammar), and _Lessons for Children; or, Rudiments of Good +Manners, Morals, and Humanity_. It is from the last-named book that the +first ten of the following stories have been taken. It was a favourite +work in its day, and not only was it often reprinted in England, but was +translated into French: for little French children, it seems, need +lessons too. + +As for these _Rudiments_, although it was Mrs. Fenwick's purpose that +they should lead to good conduct, it would satisfy their present editor +to know that they had amused. That is why they are printed here, and +also to show the kind of reading prepared for the childhood of our +great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers. In those days exaggeration +was rather in favour with story-tellers; and we therefore need not +believe that there was ever a family quite so bad as the Bad Family in +this book, or a Good Family so good; or that Mrs. Loft (in 'The Basket +of Plumbs') would have bought fruit from a household down with fever; or +that a boy of ten could write so well as the hero of 'The Journal.' But +after making allowances for exaggeration, we may take everything else as +truth. As I said, these stories are included in this series chiefly to +provide entertainment; but if they also have the use Mrs. Fenwick +wished--if the misadventures of Frank Lawless keep us from robbing +orchards, and 'The Broken Crutch' leads to the befriending of weary and +wooden-legged sailors--why, so much the better. + +The last two stories in this book, 'Limby Lumpy' and 'The Oyster +Patties,' were not written by Mrs. Fenwick; but they seem to fit in +here rather well. + +E. V. LUCAS. + +_October_ 1898. + + + + +The Bad Family + + +There is a certain street in a certain town (no matter for its name) in +which there are two handsome houses of equal size. The owners of these +houses have each six children, and the neighbours have named one the BAD +FAMILY, and the other the GOOD FAMILY. + +In the Bad Family there are three boys and three girls; and the +servants, who are always much teased and vexed when they live where +there are naughty children, speak of them thus:--the eldest they call +FIGHTING HARRY, the second GREEDY GEORGE, and the youngest IDLE +RICHARD; the eldest girl is nicknamed CARELESS FANNY, the next LYING +LUCY, and the youngest SELFISH SARAH. + +MASTER HENRY indeed well deserves his title, for he thinks it a mighty +fine thing to be a great boxer, and takes great pride and pleasure in +having a black eye or a bloody nose. This does not proceed from courage; +no, no: courage never seeks quarrels, and is only active to repel +insult, protect the injured, and conquer danger; but Harry would be one +of the first to fly from real danger, or to leave the helpless to shift +for themselves. He knows that he is very strong, and that few boys of +his age can match him, so he picks quarrels on purpose to fight, because +his great strength and his constant practice make him almost sure to +conquer. All his schoolfellows hate him, for such a boy can neither +have a good temper, a good heart, nor good manners. It is a pity he +should be sent to school, for learning is thrown away upon him; he will +be fit only to live with men that sweep the streets or drive carts and +waggons, for with such coarse and vulgar habits, gentlemen will not +endure him in their company. + +GEORGE, the second boy, is always thinking of eating and drinking. He +follows the cook from place to place to know what nice things she has +got in her pantry. When there is any dainty on the dinner-table, his +greedy eyes are fixed on it from the moment he sits down till he is +helped, and then he grudges every morsel that any one else puts in his +mouth. In his eagerness to get more than his proper share, he crams +great pieces into his mouth until he is almost choked and the tears are +forced from his eyes. He will get slily into the store-room and steal +honey, sugar, or raisins; and in the pantry he picks the edges of the +tarts and pies, and does a number of other mean tricks. When there is +company at dinner, he watches the parlour-door till they leave it, and +before the servants have time to clear the table, he sips up all the +drops of wine that are left in the glasses, and will even eat the +parings of apples and pears that lie on the dessert plates. If he has +an orange or a cake, he runs into some dirty hole to eat it, for fear +his brothers and sisters should ask for a piece. If he has any money +given him, he spends it all at once, and crams and eats till he can +scarcely move. + +This greedy boy is always watched and suspected. No one will trust him +in a garden, for he would eat till he made himself sick, or tear down +the branches of the trees to get at the fruit. Nor can he be allowed to +pay any visits, for the manners of a glutton give great offence to all +well-bred people. He has a sallow, ugly look, and is always peeping and +prying about, like a beast watching for its prey. + +IDLE RICHARD, the third son of the Bad Family, is a great dunce. Yet he +is very capable of learning well, if he chose to take the trouble, but +he is fond of idleness and of nothing else. In the morning when he is +called, though he knows it is time to get up, he will lie still, and +after he has been called again and again, he is never ready in time for +breakfast. At his meals he lolls upon the table, or against the back of +his chair, and is just as slow and drawling in his manner of eating as +in his learning. When he is sent to school, instead of looking at his +book, he is gazing all round the room, or cutting bits of stick with his +knife; sometimes he lays his head down on the desk and falls asleep, and +then pretends to have the headache to excuse his idleness. His master is +obliged often to punish him, and then for an hour or two he will learn +very well, but next day he gets back to all his idle tricks, and does +nothing; so that he is far below many boys that are much younger than +himself. When other children go to play, he sits still or lies down +upon the ground; he can take no pleasure, for he hates the trouble of +moving, and there he sits yawning and pining for want of something to +do. When he walks, he drags his feet along as if they were too heavy to +lift up. His clothes are always dirty, for he will not brush them; his +eyes are dull and heavy; he looks like a clown and speaks like a +blockhead. Idle Richard is a burthen to himself, and scorned by +everybody. + +MISS FANNY has got the title of Careless, because she minds no one thing +that she ought. If she goes out to walk, she is sure to lose one of her +gloves, or lets her bonnet blow off into the mud, or steps into the +middle of some filthy puddle, because she is staring about and not +minding which way she goes. At home, when she should go to work, her +needle-book, or her thimble, or her scissors cannot be found; though +she has a work-basket to put these things in, they are never in the +right place. + +At dinner she does not observe how her plate stands on the table, and +perhaps her meat and all the gravy tumble into her lap. If she has a +glass of wine, she spills it on her frock; if she hands a plate of bread +and butter to any one, she is sure either to drop the plate, or to +let the bread and butter fall upon the carpet. She wears very coarse +clothes, for she cannot be trusted with good ones. At night when she +undresses to go to bed, she throws her frock on a chair or the ground, +instead of folding it neatly up, so that it is tumbled and not fit to +put on the next morning. If she writes, she throws the ink about her +clothes; if she tears a hole in her frock, she does not take a needle +and thread to mend it directly, but pins it up; then perhaps the pin +pricks her half a dozen times in an hour, and tears three or four more +holes in the frock. If she has a book lent to her, she will let it fall +in the dirt, or drop the grease of the candle upon the leaves. She is +always a slattern and always dirty; she is a disgrace to herself and a +burthen to her friends. + +What a shocking name the next is--LYING LUCY! It is dreadful to think +that any one should deserve to be so called, but this wicked little girl +deserves it, for she has no sense of honour, and seldom speaks the +truth. Even when she does say what is true, on account of her having +told falsehoods so long, people know not how to believe her, for who can +depend upon the word of a LIAR? If she would forbear for a whole month +to tell a lie, there would be hopes of her amendment, and then her word +might be taken. But till she leaves off this shameful practice, she must +expect to be shunned and pointed at with scorn wherever she goes. + +SELFISH SARAH loves no one but herself, and no one loves her. She will +not let her brothers or sisters or any other child play with her toys, +even if she is not using them. She hoards up her playthings, and cannot +amuse herself with them, for fear another should touch them. If she has +more sweet cake or fruit than she can eat, she puts it by, and lets it +spoil and get mouldy rather than give it away; or if she sees a poor +child begging in the streets, without shoes, stockings, or clothes to +cover him, she will not part with a halfpenny to buy him a bit of +bread, though she is told that he is starving with hunger. She never +assists any one, nor is ever thankful or grateful for what is done for +her. She covets everything she sees, yet takes no real pleasure in +anything. + +The parents of these odious children never look happy, nor enjoy +comfort. The brothers and sisters never meet but to quarrel, so that the +house is always in an uproar. All abuse each other's vices, yet take no +pains to cure their own faults. The servants hate them, the neighbours +despise them, and the house is shunned as though it had some dreadful +distemper within. They live without friends; for no prudent persons will +suffer their children to visit where they can learn nothing but +wickedness and ill manners. + + + + +The Good Family + + +What a different picture the other house presents to our view! The +parents of the Good Family are always cheerful and happy; the children +love each other and agree together; the servants are content and eager +to oblige, and visitors delight to come to the house, because they pass +their time there with both pleasure and profit. + +MANLY EDWARD, the eldest son, is a fine youth, who makes himself the +friend and protector of his younger brothers and sisters. Edward has +true courage, for he will meet danger to help the helpless, to rescue +the oppressed, or in defence of the injured; yet he tries to avoid all +quarrels, and is very often the peacemaker among those who are engaged +in a dispute. His manners are gentle and graceful. He shuns the company +of the rude vulgar boys, yet insults no one by seeming to hold them in +contempt. It is not fine clothes or money that he pays respect to, it is +virtue and good manners; and if the poorest boy in the school has the +most of these good qualities, he gains the most of Manly Edward's love +and esteem. + +STUDIOUS ARTHUR, the second son of the Good Family, does not learn +quickly, but what he wants of that power he makes up by diligence. As he +finds he cannot get his task by heart as fast as some other boys, he +therefore fixes his whole thoughts on his book; and no calls to go to +play, nor any sort of thing, can draw him from his lesson till he has +learned it perfectly. Arthur is seldom seen without a book in his hand; +and if he goes out to walk, he puts one in his pocket, to be ready if he +should chance to have a few minutes to himself. He never wastes any +time, and by that means he gains a great deal of knowledge. He is so +attentive that he never forgets what he reads and learns. Arthur will, +no doubt, become a very wise man, and already he often finds the +knowledge he has gained of great use to him. His parents commend him, +his friends admire him, and his schoolfellows respect him. + +WELL-BRED CHARLES, the third son, is also a charming boy. He is greatly +remarked for his perfect good manners. He never forgets to behave with +politeness wherever he is. In the company of his parents and their +friends he is attentive to supply the wants of every one. He listens to +the discourse, and when he is spoken to he answers at once in a lively, +ready, and pleasant manner, but is never forward and talkative. When he +has a party of playfellows, his mirth is not noisy and boisterous. He +does not think, as some rude children do, that all play consists in +screaming, shouting, tearing clothes, and knocking things to pieces, but +finds plenty of sport for his little visitors without doing any of these +things, and makes them as merry as possible. When cakes or fruit are +sent into the playroom, he helps his guests all round before he touches +any himself. He places them in the seats nearest the fire, or, in fine +weather, where they can see the most pleasant prospect. As good manners +always arise from a good temper and a kind heart which desires to make +others happy, so they are sure to promote good-humour and happiness. The +play-parties of Charles, therefore, are never spoilt by disputes and +quarrels. His visitors come with delight, and leave him with regret. + +WELL-BRED CHARLES is constantly attentive to the ease and comfort of +those about him. He pays great respect and deference to people who are +old. He never uses coarse words nor bad language, and always speaks +civilly to servants. He does not enter the parlour with dirty hands and +face, nor ever greases his clothes, for he knows that dirty habits are +offensive, disgusting things, and therefore he carefully avoids them. + +Some children put on their good manners with their best clothes, and +think they need behave well only before company; but the politeness of +such children is stiff, awkward, and troublesome, and they always forget +themselves, and return to some of their vulgar habits, before they leave +the company. It is the constant practice of good manners, at all times +and in all places, that renders them easy, becoming, sweet and natural, +like those of Well-bred Charles. + +The daughters of this good and happy family are no less worthy of praise +than the sons. The eldest girl, whom we may call PATIENT EMMA, has the +misfortune to suffer from illness. Sometimes she has severe pain, yet +she bears it with patience and fortitude. She even tries to hide what +she feels, that she may not afflict her kind parents; and the instant +she has a little ease she becomes as cheerful as any one. She submits +without a murmur to take what medicines the doctors prescribe for the +cure of her illness. She is not so foolish as to expect to find a +pleasant taste in physic, but she expects that it will be of service to +her; and she would rather have a bitter taste in her mouth for a few +moments, than endure days, weeks, and months of pain and sickness. As +peevish, fretful tempers often bring disease on the body, so a patient, +even temper not only lessens all suffering, but helps to cure the +diseases of the body; Miss Emma, therefore, will perhaps in a short time +regain her health, and should such an event happen, what joy it will +give to all who know, pity, and admire this excellent little girl! + +GENEROUS SUSAN thinks all day long how she can add to the happiness of +others. It is her greatest pleasure to relieve distress, to do good, and +to promote the comforts of all around her. She watches the looks of her +parents, that she may fly to oblige them. If they are going out to ride +in the coach, and there is not room enough for all the children, she +will give up her place, that one of her brothers or sisters may go. She +will at all times leave play, or decline paying a visit, to attend on +Emma, her sick sister. She sits whole hours by her bed-side to watch her +while she sleeps, and is careful to stir neither hand or foot, lest she +should disturb her slumbers. When awake, she reads to her, talks to her, +or sings to her, if that seems most to amuse her. She would gladly bear +the pain herself, if it were possible so to relieve poor Emma. + +When Susan has any money given to her, she does not treat herself with +sweetmeats or toys, but buys something that will be useful to her +brothers or sisters. At other times she will buy a pair of shoes for a +poor child that goes bare-footed, or purchase a book for some little boy +or girl to learn to read in. Her mamma often gives her old frocks and +gowns to bestow on some distressed family, and then Susan works with all +her might for several days, to mend and make them up in the most useful +manner: for she has been told that a poor woman who has two or three +children to take care of, and goes out to daily labour, has not time to +work with her needle, and perhaps does not know how to do it properly. +When Susan has mended or made three or four little frocks, and sees the +children neatly dressed in them, she feels more delight and pleasure than +if she had twenty dolls of her own, clothed in silks and satins. Generous +Susan has the blessing of the poor and the love of all her family. + +MERRY AGNES, the youngest child of the whole, is a fine, healthy, +lively, sprightly, laughing little girl, who feels no pain, and has no +cause for sorrow. She is a kind of plaything for her elder brothers and +sisters, who all delight in her good-humour. They never tease, torment, +and try to put her out of temper, as some children do to those who are +younger than themselves, but they commend her goodness and strive to +improve her. When they tell her not to do anything, she obeys them at +once: for she sees that they are all gay, smiling, happy children, +because they do what is right. If she wants to have what is not proper +for her, she can bear to be denied, and skips away just as merry as +before. This little girl will become very clever, for her brothers and +sisters take pleasure in teaching her what they have been taught, and +she attends to their lessons, and improves by their advice. She knows +that they are all good, and she wishes to be like them. + +It is a fine sight to see this Good Family all together: for among them +there are no sour looks or rude words, no murmurs, no complaints, or +quarrels. No: all is kindness, peace, and happiness. + + + + +Foolish Fears + + +Mary Charlotte had a silly habit of screaming when she saw a spider, an +earwig, a beetle, a moth, or any kind of insect; and the sound of a +mouse behind the wainscot of the room made her suppose she should die +with fright. The persons with whom she lived used to pity her for being +afraid, and that made her fond of the silly trick, so that she became +worse daily, and kept the house in a constant tumult and uproar: for she +would make as much noise about the approach of a poor insect not much +larger than the head of a pin, as if she had seen half a dozen hungry +wolves coming with open jaws to devour her. + +Mary Charlotte was once asked by Mrs. Wilson, a very good lady, to go +with her into the country, and Mary was much pleased at the thought of +going to a house where there was a charming garden and plenty of nice +fruit. But the country is a sad place for people who encourage such +foolish fears, because one cannot walk in a garden or field without +seeing numbers of harmless insects. + +Mrs. Wilson, with her coach full of guests, arrived at her country-house +just before dinner, and as soon as that meal was over, Mary begged leave +to go out into the shrubbery. It was a charming place, and Mary was +quite delighted with the clusters of roses and all the sweet-smelling +shrubs and flowers that seemed to perfume the air. But as she was +tripping along, behold on a sudden a frog hopped across the path. It was +out of sight in a moment, yet Mary could go no farther; she stood still +and shrieked with terror. At the same instant she saw a slug creeping +upon her frock, and she now screamed in such a frantic manner that her +cries reached the house. The company rushed out of the dining parlour, +and the servants out of the kitchen. Mrs. Wilson was foremost, and in +her haste to see what was the matter, she stumbled over a stone, and +fell with such violence against a tree, that it cut her head dreadfully; +she was covered with a stream of blood, and was taken up for dead. + +It was soon known that the sight of a frog and a slug was all that +ailed Miss Mary, and then how angrily and scornfully did every one look +at her, to think that her folly had been the cause of such a terrible +disaster. Mary Charlotte had not a bad heart, and when she heard Mrs. +Wilson's groans of pain while the doctors were dressing her wounds, she +wept bitterly, and sorely repented her silly unmeaning fears. + +Mrs. Wilson was in great danger for many days, and Mary crept about the +house in the most forlorn manner, for no one took any notice of her, and +she dared not go out in the garden, for fear still of meeting some mighty +monster of a snail, or something equally alarming. At length Mrs. Wilson +grew better, and then she sent for Mary to her room, and talked to her +very kindly and very wisely on the folly of fearing things which had not +the power to hurt her, and which were still more afraid of her than she +could be of them--and with reason, since she was stronger, and had far +more power to hurt and give pain than a thousand frogs or mice had. + +Mary promised that she would try to get the better of her fault, and she +soon proved that her promise was sincere. + +One day she was with Mrs. Wilson in her chamber, and this good lady, +being fatigued and sleepy, gave Mary a book of pretty stories to divert +her, and begged the little girl would make no noise while she slept. +Mrs. Wilson lay down on the bed, and Mary sat on a stool at some little +distance. All was as still as possible. After some time, as Mary chanced +to lift her eyes from her book, she saw not far from her a spider, who +was spinning his web up and down from the ceiling. She was just going to +scream, when she thought of the mischief she had already done to Mrs. +Wilson, and she forbore. At the same moment, as she turned her head to +the other side, a little gray mouse sat on the table, nibbling some +crumbs of sweet cake that had been left there. Mary now trembled from +head to foot, but she had so much power over herself that she neither +moved nor cried out. This effort, though it cost her some pain at first, +did her good, for in a minute or two she left off trembling. Her fear +went away by degrees, and then she could observe and wonder at the +curious manner in which the spider spun long lines of thread out of its +own mouth, and made them fast to each other and the wall just as he +pleased; and could also admire the sleek coat and bright eyes of the +little gray mouse on the table. Mary's book slipped from her lap, and as +she stooped to catch it, that it might not fall on the floor, she was +seen by the two visitors, who instantly fled away to their retreats in +the greatest fright possible. Neither spider nor gray mouse appeared +again that day; and ever after Mary Charlotte had courage and prudence, +and took care not to do mischief to others, nor deprive herself of +pleasure, by the indulgence of foolish fears. + + + + +The Broken Crutch + + +One hot day in the month of June, a poor sunburnt lame sailor, with but +one leg, was going along the road, when his crutch broke in half, and he +was forced to crawl on his hands and knees to the side of the road, and +sit down to wait till some coach or cart came by, whose driver he would +ask to take him up. The first that passed that way was a stage coach, +but the man who drove it was a surly fellow, and he would not help the +sailor, as he thought he should not be paid for it. + +Soon after this the tired sailor fell fast asleep upon the ground, and +though a thick shower of rain came on, yet still he slept: for sailors +when on board their ships have to bear all sorts of weather. + +When the wind blows, the waves of the sea often dash over the deck of +the vessel and wet the poor men to the skin while they are pulling the +ropes and shifting the sails. + +When the lame sailor awoke he found a boy's coat and waistcoat laid on +his head and shoulders, to keep him from being wet; and the boy sat by, +in his shirt, trying to mend the broken crutch with two pieces of wood +and some strong twine. 'My good lad,' said the sailor, 'why did you pull +off your own clothes to keep me from being wet?' 'O,' said he, 'I do not +mind the rain, but I thought the large drops that fell on your face +would awake you, and you must be sadly tired to sleep so sound upon the +bare ground. See, I have almost mended your crutch, which I found broke; +and if you can lean on me, and cross yonder field to my uncle's +farmhouse, I am sure he will get you a new crutch. Pray, do try to go +there. I wish I was tall enough to carry you on my back.' + +The sailor looked at him with tears in his eyes, and said, 'When I went +to sea five years ago, I left a boy behind me, and if I should now find +him such a good fellow as you seem to be, I shall be as happy as the day +is long, though I have lost my leg and must go on crutches all the rest +of my life.' + +'What was your son's name?' the boy asked. + +'Tom White,' said the sailor, 'and my name is John White.' + +When the boy heard these names he jumped up, threw his arms round the +sailor's neck, and said, 'My dear, dear father, I am Tom White, your own +little boy.' + +How great was the sailor's joy thus to meet his own child, and to find +him so good to those who wanted help! Tom had been taken care of by his +uncle while his father was at sea, and the sunburnt, lame sailor found a +happy home in the farmhouse of his brother; and though he had now a new +crutch, he kept the broken one as long as he lived, and showed it to all +strangers who came to the farm, as a proof of the kind heart of his dear +son Tom. + + + + +The Journal; or Birthday Gifts + + +It was the custom of Mr. Clayton to present gifts to his children on +their birthdays, and his gifts were of less or greater value, according +to their industry, improvement, and good conduct during the year. It was +also the wish of Mr. Clayton that his eldest son and daughter should +each keep a journal of all their actions. He did not desire to see this +journal himself, but he advised them to read over at the end of each +week what they had written, that the record of what was good might +incite them to other acts of virtue, and the history of their mistakes +and errors serve as a warning for the future. + +This kind, indulgent father seldom had cause to punish his children; +they were indeed very good and docile children, always respecting the +commands of their parents, and loving each other with the true fondness +of brothers and sisters. + +One only of these children went to school, and that was the eldest boy, +Laurence Clayton. The others were instructed by a governess at home. +Laurence was a fine boy, the hope and pride of his family. For nine +birthdays he had received gifts from the hand of his father as the +reward of his good conduct, and now his tenth birthday was approaching, +and Mr. Clayton had heard so pleasing an account of Laurence from his +schoolmaster, that he said, beside the present he meant to give him, he +would on the birthday grant any favour Laurence should ask of him. + +A week only was wanting to complete Laurence's tenth year. Company was +invited, and the young folks were all thinking and talking of the +expected pleasures of that day--all but Laurence, who became pensive and +silent, shunned his brothers and sisters, and even the presence of his +father, to shut himself up in his own room; but, as he replied, when +asked about his health, that he was very well, it was supposed that he +was busy at his studies, and they still prepared for the birthday. + +On the 24th of August Laurence was ten years old, and a finer morning +than it proved was never seen. The two families that were invited came +to breakfast. All were assembled in the parlour, and admiring a very +handsome pair of globes, which, mounted on mahogany stands, were to be +presented to Laurence; when he entered the room, not dressed in the suit +of clothes that had been laid in his chamber, but in his oldest jacket, +his cheeks quite pale, and his eyes red and swelled with weeping. He +turned his head away as he passed the globes, and, dropping on his knees +before his father, he said, 'O, sir, you promised to grant me a favour +this day, pray let it be your forgiveness! I know I do not deserve your +pardon, but if you will forgive me this once, I am sure I never, never +can deceive you again.' + +Mr. Clayton, shocked and surprised, desired to know what fault he had +committed, when Laurence took his journal-book from his pocket and gave +it into his father's hand, saying, 'I am ashamed to repeat what I have +done, but it is written there, sir.' Mr. Clayton took the book, and told +Laurence to withdraw till he had read it. On opening the journal Mr. +Clayton found that all was regular down to the entry for the 2nd of +August, which ran thus:-- + +Monday, August 2nd.--Being a school holiday, I went out with my father +in a boat. He taught me to steer the rudder, while he managed the oars. +It was a happy day. We dined at Mr. Black's, whose son showed me some +fine drawings from busts of heathen gods, goddesses, and heroes; and my +aunt Eleanor, who was there, gave me five shillings to buy Baldwin's +_Pantheon_, that I might read the history of Jupiter, Juno, Mars, +Minerva, Venus, Bacchus, Apollo, Hercules, and all the rest of the Pagan +deities. Coming home, my father praised me for behaving well. Indeed it +was a happy day.' + +From the happy day Laurence had thus described, there was an entire +blank in the journal; but between the leaves was placed a written paper, +from which Mr. Clayton read as follows:-- + +'August 23rd.--To-morrow is my birthday, and my father is preparing +gifts for me, which he thinks I deserve. My brothers and sisters are +rejoicing, but I am wretched; when my father smiles on me, I feel my +cheeks burn, and my heart swells as if it would burst; and when he +calls me his dear good Laurence, something rises in my throat, and seems +about to choke me. If these are the feelings that belong to guilt, I +wonder any one can bear the pain of being wicked: for no headache or +toothache ever gave me a quarter of the torment I have suffered since I +became a wicked boy. Oh, my dear, kind father, take pity on me, and this +once forgive me. I will tell you truly all I have done. + +'On Tuesday, August 3rd, sir, I set out to go to school. It was the day +after I had been so happy with you in the boat and at Mr. Black's, and +as I met William Thompson, I could not help telling him what a pleasant +day I had spent. "Oh, then," said he, "you are fond of the water; I and +two or three more are just going to take a little row, and you shall go +with us." At first I refused, but William told me I was too early for +school, and as he was also going to school, and promised to be back in +time, I at last consented. + +'Three dirty boys were waiting at the side of the river, and though I +did not like their company, I was then ashamed to go back, so we all +jumped into a boat and rowed away. For some time we went on very well; +both wind and tide were in our favour, and it was quite easy to manage +the boat. + +'The fine day and the pleasant river soon made me forget school, till I +heard some distant clock strike twelve; then, distressed at what I had +done, I insisted we should go back. But it was very hard to row against +wind and tide, and they began to quarrel and were going to fight. I +sprang up to snatch the oar from a boy who was going to strike another, +and in suddenly raising my arm I knocked his hat off into the river. It +swam away, and as we were turning to row after it, we dropped one of the +oars, and trying to row with the other, we ran the boat aground upon a +bank of mud. There we were obliged to stay, for we could not force the +boat off, nor could we wade to the shore through that mud. I bore the +blame of these misfortunes; they all abused me sadly, and the boy whose +hat was lost, cried and sobbed most bitterly: for, he said, he belonged +to a cruel master, and should be beaten almost to death; so at last, to +make him quiet, I promised to give him mine. + +'Well, sir, there we stayed, and I heard the same clock strike one, two, +three, and four. At last, two men called to us from the opposite side of +the river. They were the owners of the boat we had taken away, and were +in search of it. They got another boat, and came to us in a great +passion, swearing that if we did not pay them five shillings each for +the day's work we had hindered them of, and pay for the oar we had lost, +they would take us before a justice of the peace and have us sent to +prison. William Thompson had no money in his pocket, but I had the five +shillings my Aunt Eleanor had given me the day before at Mr. Black's to +buy the _Pantheon_; that they took, but not being enough to satisfy +their demand, they also took away my satchel with all my school books, +telling me where they lived, and that they would restore it safe as soon +as I brought them the rest of the money. The other boys were so poor and +so ragged, the men did not ask anything of them. + +'It was near six o'clock when we got on shore, about the time I knew I +should be expected home from school. William Thompson went down on his +knees to beg I would not tell what had happened, promising at the same +time to bring the money to release my books the next morning. Indeed I +was so much ashamed of having played truant thus, that I was glad enough +to conceal it. The boy whose hat I had knocked off into the river would +not leave me till he had got mine, so I was forced to slip in at the +garden-gate and steal up the back stairs to my own room, that I might not +be seen to come home without my hat. I was now very hungry, yet afraid to +show myself; when I was called to tea, my legs trembled under me as I +went downstairs. I met my sister Molly in the hall, who gave me an apple, +and then asked me what I had had for dinner at school. I turned from her, +for I knew not what to answer; but as soon as I got into the parlour, +you, sir, told me to bring you my Latin grammar. Then I was forced to +answer, and a lie seemed easier than the truth: so I said I had left my +satchel and my books at school. I could not play nor amuse myself any +way all that evening, and when I took up my journal, what had I to set +down--that I had played truant, lost my hat and my money, and told my +father a lie? No, no, I could not bear to write all that. + +'Next morning, sir, I had new troubles. I was forced to steal slyly out +of the house, that no one might see me put on my best hat, and when I +got to William Thompson's, he had got no money to give me. I dared not +go to school without my books, so I went to seek the man that had them. +He was gone to his daily work, and we could not find him, and I waited +and loitered till he came home to his dinner. I begged and prayed for my +books, and at last he gave them up to me, making me promise I would +bring him the money next day, or something that he could sell for money, +which if I did not do, he said he would come and declare the whole story +to you, sir. I got to school that day time enough for afternoon's +lessons, and was forced to tell another lie to my master, to excuse my +not coming sooner. + +'I had no dinner either that day; but the pain of hunger was nothing to +the fear of being found out. Well, sir, to tell all the worst at once, I +have from time to time carried away, to pay the man whose oar we had +lost, my silver pen and pencil, my compasses, my pocket inkstand, and +that handsome bound set of Natural History you gave me on my last +birthday. Then in going to seek him, I have stayed away three more +mornings from school. And my head has been so filled with other thoughts +that I have not minded my lessons as I used to do. I have lost my place +in my class twice, have been punished once, and my master threatens to +make complaints to you, sir, of the change in my conduct. To excuse +wearing my best hat, I did also invent a wicked lie of having lost my +other at school. + +'Alas! alas! how many sad things have I been guilty of since I first +played truant! If I had but confessed my fault that day, how many more I +should have avoided! I have never known a happy moment since, and if I +could describe to my brothers and sisters the pain and grief I have +felt, I am sure they would never be as naughty as I have been. + +'O, sir, I cannot bear to deceive you any longer, and if you will grant +me your pardon, indeed, indeed, I will try never to offend you more.' + +It is not possible to express how great Mr. Clayton's surprise and +sorrow was on perusing this paper; yet, convinced by Laurence's candid +confession of his faults that his penitence was sincere, he consented to +forgive him the past and restore him to his favour. Laurence knelt at +his father's feet, and while he kissed his parent's hand and bathed it +in tears of gratitude, he felt the first moment of pleasure he had known +for three long weeks. + +Though all were glad to see Laurence forgiven, no one could be merry; +and it was the first grave birthday that had ever been known in the +family. The globes were covered up and sent into Mr. Clayton's library: +for though he could forgive, it would not have been right to have +rewarded Laurence, as if he had not done wrong. But that day twelvemonth +came, and then Laurence deserved the globes and the love and praise of +every one for his diligence and goodness throughout the year. Whenever +he was tempted to do wrong, he remembered that one error often becomes +the source of many others, and carefully avoided committing the first +fault. His journal was kept faithfully, and all the days in it were +happy days; and on his eleventh birthday Laurence could play and dance +with a light heart and a clear conscience. + + + + +The Basket of Plumbs[1] + + +A poor girl, whose face was pale and sickly, and who led a little ragged +child by the hand, came up one day to the door of a large house, and, +seeing a boy standing there, said to him, 'Do, pray, sir, ask your mamma +to buy these plumbs. There are four dozen in my basket.' George Loft +took the basket to his mother, who counted the plumbs, and finding them +right in number and that they were sound, good fruit, sent out to know +the price. The girl asking more than Mrs. Loft thought they were worth, +she put the plumbs again into the basket, and told George to carry them +back, and say it did not suit her to buy them. + +Now these plumbs were fresh picked from the tree; they had a fine bloom +on them, and were very tempting to the eye. George loved plumbs above +all other fruit, and he walked very slowly from the parlour with his +eyes fixed on the basket. The longer he looked, the more he wished to +taste them. One plumb, he thought, would not be missed; and as he put +his hand in to take that one, two others lay close under his fingers. It +was as easy to take three as one, and the three plumbs were taken and +put into his pocket. When he reached the hall door and gave the basket +back to the girl, his face was as red as a flame of fire, but she did +not notice it, nor thought of counting her plumbs; for how could she +suppose any one in _that_ house would be so mean as to take from _her_ +little store! + +It chanced that as the girl turned from the door, Mrs. Loft came to the +parlour window, and, seeing the girl look so ill, she felt sorry she had +not bought the plumbs. Therefore, throwing up the sash, she asked the +cause of her sickly looks. The girl then told a sad story of distress: +she had been ill of a fever; her parents had caught the disease of her, +and were now very bad and not able to work for the support of their +children. In the little garden of their cottage a plumb-tree grew, and +she had picked the ripe plumbs and had come out to sell them that she +might buy physic for her parents and food for herself and her hungry +little sister. Mrs. Loft paid the girl the full price for her plumbs, +gave her wine to carry to her sick parents and food for herself and the +child, and bade her return the next day for more. + +Soon after the grateful girl had left the house, Mrs. Loft, placing the +fruit in her dessert-baskets, found that, instead of forty-eight, there +were only forty-five plumbs; and, far from thinking her son had been +guilty of the theft, she laid the blame on the girl, who she now thought +had tried to impose on her. It was not the loss of three plumbs that +Mrs. Loft cared for, but the want of an honest mind that gave her +offence. She had meant to be a friend to the poor girl, but now she +began to doubt the truth of her story; for Mrs. Loft thought if she +could impose in one thing she might also in others. Deeming the girl +therefore no longer worthy of her kindness, she gave orders for her to +be sent away when she came on the morrow. + +George had heard the whole: first, the tale of distress, and then his +mother's censure of the blameless girl. He had not only taken from a +poor, wretched creature a part of her little all, but had been the means +of bringing a foul reproach upon her, while her parents, who might have +been saved from greater distress by his mother's bounty, would now be +left helpless, in sickness and in sorrow. All this cruel mischief he had +done for the sake of eating three plumbs--he, too, who had never wanted +food, clothes, nor anything a child need desire to possess. He felt the +bitter pangs of guilt, and the fruit, whose shape and bloom had looked +so tempting, was now as hateful as poison to the sight of George. + +There was still a way left to make some amends: namely, to confess his +fault to his mother. It did require some courage to do this; and when a +boy throws away his sense of honour, no wonder his courage should +forsake him. George could not resolve to disclose a crime to his mother, +which he thought she never would find out. The first day in each week he +had sixpence given him for pocket-money, and he laid a plan to save that +money, and to bestow it for a month to come on the girl. This, he +thought, was doing even more than justice: for as her three plumbs were +only worth one penny, he should by this means give her two shillings +for them, and save his own credit with his mamma. He wished with all his +heart he had never touched the plumbs; but as he had done it, it seemed +to him less painful to leave the poor girl to suffer the blame, than to +accuse himself. + +With this plan of further deceit in his mind, George went to dinner; but +before the cloth was taken from the table he had reason enough to repent +of his double error. Mrs. Loft, in paying for the plumbs, had given a +number of half-pence, among which, unseen by her, a shilling had +slipped. When the poor girl reached the cottage she found the shilling, +and lost not a moment in coming back to restore it to its right owner. +Mrs. Loft well knew that she who could be thus just in one instance must +have an honest mind. Her doubts of the poor girl were at an end, but no +sooner did she cast her eyes on George, than she read, in the deep blush +that spread over his face, in his downcast look, and the trembling of +his limbs, who was the guilty person. + +Guilt not only fixes the stings of remorse within the bosom, but +imprints its hateful mark upon the outward form. + +[1] The spelling is Mrs. Fenwick's. + + + + +The Choice of Friends + + +The moon was shining on a clear cold night, and it was near ten o'clock, +and all the children of the village of Newton, except one, were in bed +and asleep. That one, whose name was Frank Lawless, was above three +miles from home, weeping with pain and fear, alone, forlorn, cold, and +wretched, with no shelter but a leafless hedge and no seat but a hard +stone; while his father and mother were running wildly about the fields +and lanes, not knowing what had become of their naughty boy. + +Frank Lawless had been playing truant that day, and was met by his +father with a number of bad boys, to whom he ought not at any time to +have spoken. They were the children of brickmakers, and most likely they +had never been taught what was right; so that if they said wicked words, +told lies, and took things which did not belong to them, one could +scarcely wonder at it; but that Frank Lawless, who had the means of +knowing the value of good conduct and good manners, should choose such +boys for his friends and playfellows, was indeed most strange. Yet thus +it was; their shouting, laughing, and vulgar mirth pleased Frank. They +had also a great share of cunning, and found the way to manage him, so +as to get from him what they wanted to have. When they told Frank that +he was very handsome and very clever, and that it was a shame so fine a +boy should be forced to go to school if he did not like it, he was silly +enough to be pleased, and gave them in return his playthings and his +money; nay, he would even take sugar, cakes, fruit, and sweetmeats from +his mother's store-room to bestow on these ill-chosen friends; and their +false pretence of love for him made him quite careless of gaining the +real love of his father and mother. + +On meeting his son in the midst of the brickmakers' children, Mr. +Lawless[2] was very angry, and, taking him home by force, he gave him a +severe reproof, and then locked him up in his chamber. Frank, who had +lately grown very sullen and froward, was far from being sorry for his +fault, and said to himself that his father was both cross and cruel, and +wished to prevent his being happy. With these wicked thoughts in his +head, he began to contrive how to make his escape; and the window not +being very high above the ground, and having a vine growing up to it, +whose branches would serve as a sort of ladder, he got out, reached the +ground, and passing unseen through the garden-gate, ran with all his +speed till he came up to the boys, who were still at the cruel sport of +robbing birds'-nests in the lane where he had left them. + +But he did not seem half as welcome to them now as in the morning, when +he had brought a pocket full of apples, and as he said he was come to +live with them, and should never go home again, their manner was quite +changed. One took away his hat and another his shoes. They cut sticks to +make a bonfire, and, having got a great pile, they made Frank carry it. +The weight was too much for him, and when he let it fall, they gave him +hard words and still harder blows. He now began to find that the service +of the wicked is by no means so easy as to obey the commands of the good. + +While Frank Lawless was toiling under his heavy load of sticks, the boys +were laying a plan to rob an orchard. It was the autumn season of the +year, and all the fruit of the orchard was gone, except the pears of one +tree, which, as it stood very near the dwelling-house of the owner of +the orchard, these boys had been afraid to climb. Now having Frank +Lawless in their power, they thought of making him, in the dusk of the +evening, commit the theft and run all the hazard, while they stayed in +safety by the hedge, ready to receive the stolen fruit. Frank, dreading +what might happen to him in the daring attempt, begged and prayed them +not to force him there; but he had made himself a slave to hard +task-masters, and they cuffed and kicked him, till, to escape from their +hands, he climbed the tree. + +Scarcely had Frank pulled half-a-dozen pears, when his false friends +heard the farmer who owned the orchard come singing up the lane: and, to +save themselves from being thought to have any concern with it, they +began to pelt Frank with stones, and cry aloud--'_See, see, there is a +boy robbing Farmer Wright's pear-tree._' Frank got down as quickly as he +could, but not soon enough to escape the angry farmer, who gave him a +most severe horse-whipping, while those who had brought him into this +sad scrape stood laughing, hooting, and clapping their hands. It was +useless to try to excuse himself; he had been seen in the tree, the +pears were found in his pocket, and the farmer, after whipping him +without mercy, pushed him out of the orchard and bade him be gone. + +Smarting now with pain, and almost blinded by his tears, he ran to get +away from the false and cruel boys who were making sport of what they +had caused him to suffer, when one, still more wicked than the rest, +threw a great stone after him, which, hitting his ankle-bone, gave him +such extreme torture that he sank on the ground not able to proceed a +step farther. The boys made off in alarm at what they had done, and +Frank, in terror and pain, sat sobbing on a stone till he was found by +his father, who had been searching for him in the greatest distress. + +His father took him home, warmed and fed him and healed his bruises, +though after such extreme bad conduct, he could not esteem and caress +him like a good child. It was happy for Frank Lawless that he took the +warning of that day. He had gained nothing but shame, pain, and sorrow +by his choice of wicked friends, and from that time he chose with more +wisdom. Good conduct brought him back to his father's favour, and now at +ten o'clock at night, when the moon and stars were shining in the sky, +and the air was cold and frosty, Frank Lawless was always snug in bed, +like the rest of the good children of the little village of Newton.[3] + +[2] One drawback to bringing Frank's father into the story is that he, +in spite of his character, has to be called Lawless too. + +[3] There is one error in this story which perhaps it is worth while to +point out. Birds'-nesting and orchard-robbing are not in season +together. + + + + +Cousin James and Cousin Thomas + + +James Brown was born at a farmhouse. He had not seen a town or a city +when he was ten years old. + +James Brown rose from his bed at six in the morning during summer. The +men and maids of a farmhouse rise much sooner than that hour, and go to +their daily work. Some yoke the oxen to the plough, some bring the +horses in from the field, some mend the hedges, some manure the land, +some sow seed in the ground, and some plant young trees. Those who have +the care of the sheep, and who are called shepherds, take their flocks +from the fold and lead them to their pasture on the hills, or in the +green meadows by the running brook. The maids meanwhile haste to milk +the cows, then churn the butter, put the cheese into the cheese-press, +clean their dairy, and feed the pigs, geese, turkeys, ducks, and +chickens. James Brown did not work in the fields, so when he rose from +his bed, his first care was to wash his face and hands, to comb and +brush his hair; and when these things were done, and he had said his +morning prayers, he went with his father about the farm or weeded the +garden. Garden work was very proper for a boy of his age and size. + +James Brown had a cousin, named Thomas, and Thomas Brown once came to +pay James a visit. The two boys were very glad to see each other, and +Thomas told James of the famous city of London, where he lived. He spoke +of the spacious paved streets, crowded all day by throngs of people, and +lighted at night by rows, on each side of the way, of glass lamps. He +told him of the fine toy-shops, where all kinds of playthings for +children are sold: such as bats, balls, kites, marbles, tops, drums, +trumpets, whips, wheelbarrows, shuttles, dolls, and baby-houses. And of +other great shops where linens, muslins, silks, laces, and ribbons fill +the windows, and make quite a gay picture to attract the passers-by. He +described also the noble buildings and the great river Thames, with its +fine arched bridges, built of stone. He spoke or the immense number of +boats, barges, and vessels that sail and row upon the Thames, and of the +great ships that lie at anchor there, which bring stores of goods from +all parts of the world. He told him of the King's palace and the Queen's +palace, of the park and the canal, with the stately swans that are seen +swimming on it. + +Nor did he forget to describe Saint Paul's Church, with its fine choir, +its lofty dome and cupola, and its curious whispering gallery, where a +whisper breathed to the wall on one side is carried round by the echo, +and the words are heard distinctly on the opposite side of the gallery. +He spoke also of Westminster Abbey, that fine old Gothic building which +contains a great number of monuments, erected there to keep alive the +remembrance of the actions of great and wise men. + +He told James likewise of the Tower of London, which is always guarded +by soldiers, and in one part of which he had seen lions, tigers, a wolf, +a spotted panther, a white Greenland bear, and other wild beasts, with +many sorts of monkeys.[4] + +Thomas Brown talked very fast on these subjects, and as James, who had +never seen anything of the kind, was quite silent, and seemed as much +surprised as pleased with all that he heard, Thomas began to think his +cousin was but a dull, stupid sort of boy. But the next morning, when +they went out into the fields, he found that James had as much +knowledge as himself, though not of the same kind. Thomas knew not wheat +from barley, nor oats from rye; nor did he know the oak tree from the +elm, nor the ash from the willow. He had heard that bread was made from +corn, but he had never seen it threshed in a barn from the stalks, nor +had he ever seen a mill grinding it into flour. He knew nothing of the +manner of making and baking bread, of brewing malt and hops into beer, +or of the churning of butter. Nor did he even know that the skins of +cows, calves, bulls, horses, sheep, and goats were made into leather. + +James Brown perfectly knew these, and many other things of the same +nature, and he willingly taught his cousin to understand some of the +arts that belong to the practice of husbandry. + +These friendly and observing boys, after this time, met always once a +year, and they were eager in their separate stations to acquire +knowledge, that they might impart it to each other at the end of the +twelvemonth. So that Thomas, while living in a crowded city, gained a +knowledge of farming and all that relates to a country life; and James, +though dwelling a hundred miles from London, knew all the curious things +that it contained. + +[4] These, it is sad to say, have now gone. Beyond a venerable raven, +the Tower has no live stock. To-day Thomas would describe the Zoo +instead. + + + + +The Disasters of Impatience + + +On the day that Mr. Daleham removed from his town residence to his new +house in the country there was much bustle and business in the family. +The servants were all employed in unpacking and arranging chairs, tables, +sofas, and sideboards in their proper places. Some men were putting up +beds, while others were hanging window-curtains and nailing down carpets. +The only idle persons in the house were Arnold and Isabel, and they could +find nothing to do but to skip from room to room, ask questions, admire +their new dwelling-house, and talk of the pleasure they should receive +in a visit their father was engaged to make that day to Mr. Morton, his +intimate friend, who lived about one mile and a half distant. + +So desirous were Arnold and Isabel of seeing Morton Park, or rather +perhaps of eating some of the fine grapes and melons which they had +heard grew in Mr. Morton's hot-house, that the morning seemed to be the +length of the whole day. When people are without employment, time hangs +heavily on their hands, and minutes will appear to be as long as hours. +Half a dozen times in the course of the morning these children ran to +the door of the library, to ask their father when he would be ready to +go, and though he was engaged sorting papers and arranging his books, +they did not forbear their troublesome inquiries till he was quite +angry with them. + +At length, however, the joyful tidings came to Arnold and Isabel that +they were to dress directly, as their father would be ready to set out +in half an hour. As the day was very fine, and the coachman's assistance +was useful to the other servants busied in disposing the furniture in +the various apartments, Mr. Daleham chose to walk to Morton Park; but +after he had dressed, and the half-hour had elapsed, he still had orders +to give that detained him. + +Arnold and Isabel meanwhile were standing at the hall door, almost wild +with their impatience to be gone; and at last Arnold proposed to his +sister that they should go on first, as their papa could soon overtake +them; and Isabel eagerly ran to ask the housekeeper whether they must +take the right or the left-hand road. The housekeeper was busy with a +basket of china, some of which had been broken in the carriage; and as +her thoughts were fixed on the fragments of the china, she scarcely +attended to the nature of Isabel's question, and said hastily that the +right-hand road led to Morton Park; and so it did, but that was the +coach road, and Mr. Daleham meant to go a much nearer and cleaner way, +upon a raised path across some pleasant meadows. + +No sooner had Isabel received the housekeeper's reply than away they +went, and in their eagerness to reach Morton Park, they did not at +first observe that the lane was very dirty; but at last some large +splashes of mud on Isabel's clean frock attracted Arnold's notice, and +he then perceived that his own white stockings and nankeen trousers were +in the same dirty state. What was now to be done? They both felt that it +was highly improper to go to a gentleman's house in such a condition; +but then Arnold said that his father must know that the road was dirty +after so much rain as they had had lately, and as he meant to walk, he +supposed their getting a few splashes was of no consequence. Isabel +agreed with this mode of reasoning, and on they went, expecting every +moment to hear their father's steps behind them. + +The lane now became wider and more open to the beams of the sun, which +had dried the pathway; but though they were somewhat out of the mud, the +heat of the sun was so intense they knew not how to bear it, and they +walked as fast as they could in order to get to some shady place. While +they were panting with heat, they suddenly came to a stream that ran +directly across the road, and it had no bridge over it, because foot +passengers rarely came that way. + +They were now in the greatest distress. To stand still in the full +burning sun was dreadful, and to go back was equally fatiguing. There +was no place to sit down in that part of the road, but on the opposite +side of the stream three large oak trees were growing, and formed a +pleasant shade over a green bank. Isabel, greatly tired, and almost +fainting with heat, wished she could get to the shady bank; so did +Arnold, and he said he could take off his shoes and stockings, and carry +his sister through the water on his back. This plan was settled; and +they agreed that, when they were over the stream, they would wait on the +bank for their papa, and endeavour to rub off upon the grass the clots +of mud that stuck to their shoes. But either Arnold was not so strong as +he had supposed he was, or Isabel, having her brother's shoes and +stockings to carry in her hand, did not hold fast round his neck, for +just as they were in the middle of the stream, his foot slipped, he +staggered, fell, and down went brother and sister at once into the pool. + +Both scrambled up in a moment, and neither had suffered more injury +than being completely bathed in the water. With streaming hair and +dripping garments they reached the bank; but when Isabel saw that the +ribbons of her new straw bonnet were spoiled, she began to cry and +accuse her brother of having thrown her down on purpose, which so +provoked the young gentleman, that he said it was all owing to her +clumsiness, and at the same time he shook the sleeves of his jacket, +from which he was wringing the wet, in her face. Isabel's anger +increasing at this, she rudely gave her brother a severe box on the ear. +A scuffle now ensued, which caused a second tumble, and this fall being +on the rough gravel, Isabel's face was scratched by the sharp pebbles, +and Arnold's elbow sadly cut by a large flint stone. + +The smart of these wounds cooled their passions; they thought no more +of fighting, and were wiping away the blood, and looking with grief and +dismay at their wet, dirty clothes, when a servant came up who had been +sent in pursuit of them. + +Mr. Daleham was not far behind. He had been told that Arnold and Isabel +were gone before him, and was much alarmed at not finding them in the +field-path. He had therefore returned the same way to search for them; +he ordered the servant to conduct them home, and told them that their +silly impatience had spoiled their pleasure, as it was not possible for +them now to appear at Morton Park. + +Mr. Daleham then hastened on, for fear Mr. Morton's dinner should wait +for him; and Arnold and Isabel, forlorn, wet, draggled, and dirty, were +led back to their own house. They passed a dismal afternoon, lamenting +their folly and imprudence; and next morning they heard that there were +not only plenty of grapes, melons, peaches, and filberts on Mr. Morton's +table, but that also a very merry party of children were assembled +there, who danced on the lawn till the dusk of evening approached, and +then played at blindman's buff in the great hall. + + + + +The Deaf and Dumb Boy + + +'Now, my dear boy and girl,' said their aunt to Charles and Helen +Laurie, 'you are come to stay a whole fortnight with me, and we must +take care not to mis-spend our time, for not all the art of man can +restore one day that is lost. You, Charles, shall practise your drawing +while Helen works, and then while I hear Helen spell and read, you may +write. Each day of our lives should be made some good use of; and while +we are young, and have health and strength, we ought to learn all those +things which we may wish to know when we are grown old.' + +Charles and Helen Laurie now ran in search of their books, which were +soon found, as they were laid in the right place; and then they sat down +to their tasks, glad to please their aunt, and quite certain that to +learn to be wise and good was the best thing in the world. + +At the hour of noon, when the clock had struck twelve, their aunt told +them to leave their books, put on their hats, and go out to walk with +her. They went through some fields, and down a pretty lane, and in the +hedges on each side were tall oak, elm, and poplar trees, that made the +lane look like a grove, and kept them from the rays of the sun. At length +they came to a small, neat, white house that stood on a green lawn, and +had bushes of lilac blossoms before the windows, with a large fish-pond +at the end of it. The house had rails before it, and Charles and Helen +went with their aunt through a gate that was made of the tools that men +work with in the fields, such as a rake, a spade, a hoe, and a scythe. + +In the house they saw a fine-looking boy of ten years of age, with +light-brown hair, hazel eyes, and cheeks as red as a rose. He came up to +Charles and Helen, and shook hands with them, and seemed joyous at +seeing them, but did not say a word. They thought it strange that he did +not speak to them; and at last Charles said to him, 'Your lawn would be +a good place to play at trap-ball on, if it were not for the fish-pond +that is so near it. Do you play at trap-ball, sir?' + +The boy, whose name was Jackson, put his hand to his mouth, shook his +head, got up from his chair, went for a slate, wrote on it, and gave it +to Charles, who read these words: 'I cannot speak to you. I do not hear +what you say to me. I am a poor deaf and dumb boy, but I shall be glad +to please you, now you have been so kind as to come to see me. Pray +write down on this slate what you wish me to do.' + +Charles took the slate, and when Helen read the words that were written +on it, her eyes were full of tears, to think that such a sweet boy +should be deaf and dumb. But Charles hung his head, for Jackson wrote +so fine a hand, that he did not like to show that he could not perform +as well. Helen knew what Charles was thinking of, for she had heard him +found fault with, and had seen him write when he did not take pains to +learn to write a fine hand; so she went to the hall door and made a sign +to Jackson, as much as to say they would like to go out. + +Jackson led them round the lawn to the fish-pond, and that they might +see the fish, he threw in some pieces of bread to make the fish jump up +to catch the bread in their mouths. He next took them to the back of the +house to show them the farm-yard; there they saw cocks and hens on the +rubbish heap, ducks and geese dipping or swimming in the pond, pigs +grunting, cows, calves, and a pet lamb, who, as soon as he saw them, +came out of a barn and ran up to Jackson, that he might stroke and play +with him; but he was full of tricks, and when Charles or Helen went near +him he strove to butt them with his young horns. He would not eat out of +their hands, but he took all that Jackson gave him. In the same barn +that the lamb came out of, were a goat and two young kids. The goat, the +kids, the lamb, the calves, all were fond of Jackson, for he had a kind +heart and would not hurt the smallest insect. + +Charles and Helen stayed that day to dine with Jackson, of whom they +grew more and more fond each moment that they were with him. He was a +boy of a sweet, gentle temper, and won the kindness of all who came to +his house. He drew as well as he wrote, and knew all the things that a +deaf and dumb boy could learn. He had a box of tools, and had made a +bird-cage and a neat desk to write on. It is a sad thing to be deaf and +dumb, for much of what boys learn at school, and which it is right to +know, cannot be taught to a deaf and dumb child. + +Charles told his aunt Laurie, as they went home at night, that when he +had grown to be a man he would love Jackson, and try to be of use to +him, since blind or deaf and dumb men must want some one to guide and +take care of them. + +It is a sad thing not to see, or not to speak and hear; so that all boys +and girls who have their sight and speech should be glad to make the +best use of them. They should, while they are young, do what they are +told by their friends is right to be done, and then when they grow up +they can be of great use in the world. A fool, a dunce, or a bad man +does harm and not good in the world. + + + + +Limby Lumpy; + +Or, the Boy who was Spoiled by his Mamma[5] + + +I + +Limby Lumpy was the only son of his mamma. His father was called the +'Pavior's Assistant'; for he was so large and heavy, that when he used +to walk through the streets the men who were ramming the stones down +with a large wooden rammer would say, 'Please to walk over these +stones, sir.' And then the men would get a rest. + +Limby was born on the 1st of April; I do not know how long ago; but, +before he came into the world, such preparations were made. There was a +beautiful cradle; and a bunch of coral, with bells on it; and lots of +little caps; and a fine satin hat; and tops and bottoms for pap; and two +nurses to take care of him. He was, too, to have a little chaise, when +he grew big enough; after that, he was to have a donkey, and then a +pony. In short, he was to have the moon for a plaything, if it could be +got; and, as to the stars, he would have had them, if they had not been +too high to reach. + +Limby made a rare to-do when he was a little baby. But he never was a +_little_ baby--he was always a big baby; nay, he was a big baby till +the day of his death. + +'Baby Big,' his mamma used to call him; he was 'a noble baby,' said his +aunt; he was 'a sweet baby,' said old Mrs. Tomkins, the nurse; he was 'a +dear baby,' said his papa,--and so he was, for he _cost_ a good deal. He +was 'a darling baby,' said his aunt, by the mother's side; 'there never +was such a fine child,' said everybody, before the parents; when they +were at another place they called him 'a great, ugly, fat child.' + +Limby was almost as broad as he was long. He had what some people called +an open countenance; that is, one as broad as a full moon. He had what +his mamma called beautiful auburn locks, but what other people said were +carroty; not before the mother, of course. + +Limby had a flattish nose and a widish mouth, and his eyes were a little +out of the right line. Poor little dear, he could not help that, and +therefore it was not right to laugh at him. + +Everybody, however, laughed to see him eat his pap, for he would not be +fed with the patent silver pap-spoon which his father bought him; but +used to lay himself flat on his back, and seize the pap-boat with both +hands, and never leave go of it till its contents were fairly in his +dear little stomach. + +So Limby grew bigger and bigger every day, till at last he could +scarcely draw his breath, and was very ill; so his mother sent for three +apothecaries and two physicians, who looked at him, and told his mamma +there were no hopes: the poor child was dying of over-feeding. The +physicians, however, prescribed for him--a dose of castor oil. + +His mamma attempted to give him the castor oil; but Limby, although he +liked tops and bottoms, and cordial, and pap, and sweetbread, and +oysters, and other things nicely dished up, had no fancy for castor oil, +and struggled, and kicked, and fought every time his nurse or mamma +attempted to give it him. + +'Limby, my darling boy,' said his mamma, 'my sweet cherub, my only +dearest, do take its oily poily--there's a ducky, deary--and it shall +ride in a coachy poachy.' + +'O! the dear baby,' said the nurse, 'take it for nursey. It will take it +for nursey--that it will.' + +The nurse had got the oil in a silver medicine spoon, so contrived that +if you could get it into the child's mouth the medicine must go down. +Limby, however, took care that no spoon should go into his mouth; and +when the nurse tried the experiment for the nineteenth time, gave a +plunge and a kick, and sent the spoon up to the ceiling, knocked off +nurse's spectacles, upset the table on which all the bottles and glasses +were, and came down whack on the floor. + +His mother picked him up, clasped him to her breast, and almost +smothered him with kisses. 'O! my dear boy,' said she, 'it shan't take +the nasty oil--it won't take it, the darling; naughty nurse to hurt +baby: it shall not take nasty physic'; and then she kissed him again. + +Poor Limby, although only two years old, knew what he was at--he was +trying to get the master of his mamma; he felt he had gained his point, +and gave another kick and a squall, at the same time planted a blow on +his mother's eye. + +'Dear little creature,' said she, 'he is in a state of high convulsions +and fever--he will never recover.' + +But Limby did recover, and in a few days was running about the house, +and the master of it; there was nobody to be considered, nobody to be +consulted, nobody to be attended to, but Limby Lumpy. + + +II + +Limby grew up big and strong; he had everything his own way. One day, +when he was at dinner with his father and mother, perched upon a double +chair, with his silver knife and fork, and silver mug to drink from, he +amused himself by playing drums on his plate with the mug. + +'Don't make that noise, Limby, my dear,' said his father. 'Dear little +lamb,' said his mother, 'let him amuse himself. Limby, have some pudding?' + +'No; Limby no pudding'--_drum! drum! drum!_ + +A piece of pudding was, however, put on Limby's plate, but he kept on +drumming as before. At last he drummed the bottom of the mug into the +soft pudding, to which it stuck, and by which means it was scattered all +over the carpet. + +'Limby, my darling,' said his mother; and the servant was called to wipe +Limby's mug and pick the pudding up from the floor. Limby would not have +his mug wiped, and floundered about, and upset the cruet-stand and the +mustard on the table-cloth. + +'O! Limby Lumpy; naughty boy,' said his father. + +'Don't speak so cross to the child; he is but a child,' said his mother; +'I don't like to hear you speak so cross to the child.' + +'I tell you what it is,' said his father, 'I think the boy does as he +likes; but I don't want to interfere.' + +Limby now sat still, resolving what to do next. He was not hungry, +having been stuffed with a large piece of pound cake about an hour +before dinner; but he wanted something to do, and could not sit still. + +Presently a saddle of mutton was brought on the table. When Limby saw +this he set up a crow of delight. 'Limby ride,' said he, 'Limby ride'; +and rose up in his chair, as if to reach the dish. + +'Yes, my ducky, it shall have some mutton,' said his mamma; and +immediately gave him a slice, cut up into small morsels. That was not +it. Limby pushed that on the floor, and cried out, 'Limby on meat! Limby +on meat!' + +His mamma could not think what he meant. At last, however, his father +recollected that he had been in the habit of giving him a ride +occasionally, first on his foot, sometimes on the scroll end of the +sofa, at other times on the top of the easy chair. Once he put him on a +dog, and more than once on the saddle; in short, he had been in the +habit of perching him on various things; and now Limby, hearing this was +a _saddle_ of mutton, wanted to take a ride on it. + +'Limby on--Limby ride on bone,' said the child, in a whimper. + +'Did you _ever hear_?' said the father. + +'What an extraordinary child!' said the mother; 'how clever to know it +was like a saddle--the little dear. No, no, Limby--grease frock, Limby.' + +But Limby cared nothing about a greasy frock, not he--he was used enough +to that; and therefore roared out more lustily for a ride on the mutton. + +'Did you ever know such a child? What a dear, determined spirit!' + +'He is a child of an uncommon mind,' said his mother. 'Limby, +dear--Limby, dear--silence! silence!' + +The truth was, Limby made such a roaring, that neither father nor +mother could get their dinners, and scarcely knew whether they were +eating beef or mutton. + +'It is impossible to let him ride on the mutton,' said his father: +'quite impossible!' + +'Well, but you might just put him astride the dish, just to satisfy him; +you can take care his legs or clothes do not go into the gravy.' + +'Anything for a quiet life,' said the father. 'What does Limby +want?--Limby ride?' + +'Limby on bone!--Limby on meat!' + +'Shall I put him across?' said Mr. Lumpy. + +'Just for one moment,' said his mamma: 'it won't hurt the mutton.' + +The father rose, and took Limby from his chair, and, with the greatest +caution, held his son's legs astride, so that they might hang on each +side of the dish without touching it; 'just to satisfy him,' as he said, +'that they might dine in quiet,' and was about to withdraw him from it +immediately. + +But Limby was not to be cheated in that way, he wished to feel the +saddle _under_ him, and accordingly forced himself down upon it; but +feeling it rather warmer than was agreeable, started, and lost his +balance, and fell down among the dishes, soused in melted butter, +cauliflower, and gravy--floundering, and kicking, and screaming, to the +detriment of glasses, jugs, dishes, and everything else on the table. + +'My child! my child!' said his mamma; 'O! save my child!' + +She snatched him up, and pressed his begreased garments close to the +bosom of her best silk gown. + +Neither father nor mother wanted any more dinner after this. As to Limby, +he was as frisky afterwards as if nothing had happened; and, about half +an hour from the time of this disaster, _cried for his dinner_. + +[5] This story and the one which follows it are not by Mrs. Fenwick. +'Limby Lumpy' is from _The Holiday Book_. + + + + +The Oyster Patties + + +There was once a little boy, who perhaps might have been a good little +fellow if his friends had taken pains to make him so, but I do not know +how it was, instead of teaching him to be good, they gave him everything +he cried for; so, whenever he wished to have anything, he had only to +cry; and if he did not get it directly, he cried louder and louder till +at last he got it. By this means Alfred was not only very naughty but +very unhappy; he was crying from morning till night; he had no pleasure +in anything; he was in everybody's way, and nobody liked to be with +him. Well, one day his mamma thought she would give him a day of +pleasure, and make him very happy indeed, so she told him he should have +a feast, and dine under the great cedar tree that stood upon the lawn, +and that his cousins should be invited to dine with him, and that he +should have whatever he chose for his dinner. So she rang the bell, and +she told the servants to take out tables and chairs and to lay the cloth +upon the table under the tree; and she ordered her two footmen to be +ready to wait upon him. She desired the butler to tell the cook to +prepare the dinner, and to get all sorts of nice dishes for the feast; +but she said to Alfred, 'What shall you like best of all, my dear boy?' +So Alfred tried to think of something that he had never had before, and +he recollected that one day he had heard a lady say, who was dining +with his papa and mamma, that the oyster patties were the best she had +ever eaten. Now Alfred had never tasted oyster patties, so he said he +would have oyster patties for dinner. 'Oyster patties, my dear boy? You +cannot have oyster patties at this time of the year, there are no +oysters to be had,' his mamma said to him; 'try, love, to think of +something else.' + +But naughty Alfred said, 'No, I can think of nothing else,' so the cook +was sent for, and desired to think of something that he might like as +well. The cook proposed first a currant pie, then a barberry pie, or a +codlin pie with custard. 'No, no, no,' said Alfred, shaking his head. +'Or a strawberry tart, my sweet boy; or apricot jam?' said his mamma, +in a soothing tone of voice. + +But Alfred said, 'No, mamma, no, I don't like strawberries; I don't like +apricot jam; I want oysters.' + +'But you cannot have oysters, my little master,' said the cook. 'But I +will have oysters,' said the little boy, 'and you shan't say that I +can't have them, shall she, mamma?' and he began to scream and to cry. +'Do not cry, my sweet soul,' said his mamma, 'and we will see what we +can do; dry up your tears, my little man, and come with me, and the +cook, I daresay, will be able to get some oysters before dinner; it is a +long time to dinner, you know, and I have some pretty toys for you +upstairs if you will come with me till dinner is ready.' So she took the +little crying boy by the hand and led him up to her room, and she +whispered to the cook as she passed not to say anything more about it +now, and that she hoped he would forget the oyster patties by the time +dinner was ready. In the meantime she took all the pains she could to +amuse and please him, and as fast as he grew tired of one toy she +brought out another. At last, after some hours, she gave him a beautiful +toy for which she had paid fifteen shillings. It was a sand toy of a +woman sitting at a spinning wheel, and when it was turned up the little +figure began spinning away, and the wheel turned round and round as fast +as if the woman who turned it had been alive. Alfred wanted to see how +it was done, but, instead of going to his mother to ask her if she would +be so good as to explain it to him, he began pulling it to pieces to +look behind it. For some time he was very busy, and he had just +succeeded in opening the large box at the back of the figure when all +the sand that was in it came pouring out upon the floor, and when he +tried to make the little woman spin again, he found she would not do it +any more; she could not, for it was the sand dropping down that had made +her move before. + +Now do you know that Alfred was so very silly that he began to be angry +even with the toy, and he said, 'Spin, I say; spin directly,' and then +he shook it very hard, but in vain; the little hands did not move, and +the wheel stood still. So then he was very angry indeed, and, setting up +a loud cry, he threw the toy to the other end of the room. Just at this +very moment the servant opened the door and said that dinner was ready +and that Alfred's cousins were arrived. + +'Come, my dear child, you are tired of your toys, I see,' said mamma, +'so come to dinner, darling; it is all ready, under the tree.' So away +they went, leaving the room all strewed with toys, with broken pieces, +and the sand all spilt in a heap upon the floor. When they went under +the dark spreading branches of the fine old cedar tree, there they saw +the table covered with dishes and garnished with flowers; there were +chickens, and ham, and tongue, and lobsters, besides tarts, and +custards, and jellies, and cakes, and cream, and I do not know how many +nice things besides; there was Alfred's high chair at the head of the +table, and he was soon seated in it, as master of the feast, with his +mother sitting by him, his cousins opposite to him, his nurse standing +on the other side, and the two footmen waiting besides. As soon as his +cousins were helped to what they liked best, his mamma said, 'What will +you eat first, Alfred, my love? A wing of a chicken?' 'No,' said Alfred, +pushing it away. 'A slice of ham, darling?' said nurse. 'No,' said +Alfred, in a louder tone. 'A little bit of lobster, my dear?' 'No, no,' +replied the naughty boy. 'Well, what _will_ you have then?' said his +mother, who was almost tired of him. 'I will have oyster patties,' said +he. 'That is the only thing you cannot have, my love, you know, so do +not think of it any more, but taste a bit of this pie; I am sure you +will like it.' + +'You _said_ I should have oyster patties by dinner time,' said Alfred, +'and so I will have nothing else.' 'I am sorry you are such a sad +naughty child,' said his mother; 'I thought you would have been so +pleased with all these nice things to eat.' 'They are _not_ nice,' said +the child, who was not at all grateful for all that his mother had done, +but was now in such a passion, that he took the piece of currant tart, +which his nurse again offered to him, and squeezing up as much as his +two little hands could hold, he threw it at his nurse, and stained her +nice white handkerchief and apron with the red juice. Just at this +moment his papa came into the garden, and walked up to the table. 'What +is all this?' said he. 'Alfred, you seem to be a very naughty boy, +indeed; and I must tell you, sir, I shall allow this no longer; get down +from your chair, sir, and beg your nurse's pardon.' Alfred had hardly +ever heard his father speak so before, and he felt so frightened, that +he left off crying, and did as he was bid. Then his father took him by +the hand, and led him away. His mother said she was sure he would now be +good, and eat the currant tart. But his papa said, 'No, no, it is now +too late, he must come with me'; so he led him away, without saying +another word. He took him into the village, and he stopped at the door +of a poor cottage. + +'May we come in?' said his father. 'Oh yes, and welcome,' said a poor +woman, who was standing at a table with a saucepan in her hand. 'What +are you doing, my good woman?' 'Only putting out the children's supper, +your honour.' 'And what have you got for their supper?' 'Only some +potatoes, please you, sir, but they be nicely boiled, and here come the +hungry boys! They are coming in from their work, and they will soon make +an end of them, I warrant.' + +As she said these words, in came John, and William, and Thomas, all with +rosy cheeks and smiling faces. They sat down, one on a wooden stool, one +on a broken chair, and one on the corner of the table, and they all +began to eat the potatoes very heartily. But Alfred's papa said, 'Stop, +my good boys, do not eat any more, but come with me.' The boys stared, +but their mother told them to do as they were bid, so they left off +eating, and followed the gentleman. Alfred and his papa walked on till +they arrived once more under the cedar tree in the garden, and there was +the fine feast, all standing just as they had left it, for Alfred's +cousins were gone away, and his mamma would not have the dinner taken +away, because she hoped that Alfred would come back to it. 'Now, boys,' +said the gentleman, 'you may all sit down to this table, and eat +whatever you like.' + +John, William, and Thomas sat down as quickly as they could, and began +to devour the chickens and tarts, and all the good things at a great +rate; and Alfred, who now began to be very hungry, would gladly have +been one of the party; but when he was going to sit down, his papa said, +'No, sir, this feast is not for _you_; there is nothing here that you +like to eat, you know; so you will wait upon these boys, if you please, +who seem as if they would find plenty that they will like.' Alfred at +this began to cry again, and said he wanted to go to his mamma; but his +father did not mind his crying, and said he should not go to his mamma +again till he was quite a good boy. 'So now, sir, hand this bread to +John, and now take a clean plate to Thomas, and now stand ready to carry +this custard to William. There now, wait till they have all done.' It +was of no use now to cry or scream; he was obliged to do it all. When +the boys had quite finished their supper, they went home, and Alfred was +led by his father into the house. Before he went to bed, a cup of milk +and water and a piece of brown bread were put before him, and his +father said, 'That is your supper, Alfred.' Alfred began to cry again, +and said he did not want such a supper as that. 'Very well,' said his +father, 'then go to bed without, and it shall be saved for your +breakfast.' Alfred cried and screamed louder than ever; so his father +ordered the maid to put him to bed. When he was in bed, he thought his +mamma would come and see him, and bring him something nice, and he lay +awake a long while; but she did not come, and he cried and cried till at +last he fell asleep. + +In the morning when he awoke he was so hungry he could hardly wait to be +dressed, but asked for his breakfast every minute. When he saw the maid +bring in the brown bread again without any butter, and some milk and +water, he was very near crying again; but he thought if he did he should +perhaps lose his breakfast as he had lost his supper; so he checked his +tears, and ate a hearty meal. + +'Well,' said his father, who came into the room just as he was eating +the last bit of bread. 'I am glad to see the little boy who could not +yesterday find anything good enough for him at a feast eating such +simple fare as this so heartily. Come, Alfred, now you may come to your +dear mamma.' + + +THE END + + +_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_ + + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +Transcriber's Note. + +One obvious misspelling is corrected. All other archaic variants and +inconsistencies of spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are +retained from the original. + +Redundant story title pages have been removed. Page numbers in the +table of contents match the original. + +The page scans came from the Children's Book Collection of the Library +of the University of California, Los Angeles. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Bad Family and Other Stories, by Mrs. Fenwick + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BAD FAMILY AND OTHER STORIES *** + +***** This file should be named 29360.txt or 29360.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/3/6/29360/ + +Produced by David Edwards, adhere and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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