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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 
 wy^m
 
 THE CROWN OF SUCCESS
 
 The sparkling crown was placed on her brow. 
 
 /'ii.i;f -'/_?.
 
 HTHE CROWN OF ^ ^ 
 
 SUCCESS BY A.LO.E. 
 
 Thomas Nelson and Sons 
 
 London, Edinburgh, Dublin 
 and New York
 
 4-060 
 AnTcA 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 I. The Dame's departure, 
 II. Mr. Learjttng at breakfast, 
 
 III. The Cottages of Head, 
 
 IV. Plain-work and Faficy-work, 
 V. Mr. Alphabet, 
 
 VI. Mr. Reading's fine shop, 
 VII. The Ladder of Spelling, 
 VIII. Breaking down, 
 IX. Mr. Learning's visit, . 
 X. Dick's mishap, .... 
 
 XI Miss Folly, 
 
 XII. A visit to Arithmetic, 
 
 XIII. The ivonderful Boy, 
 
 XIV. The Thief of Time, 
 XV. Duty a?id Affection, 
 
 XVI. Grammar's Bazaar, 
 XV I L Pride and Folly, 
 
 7 
 12 
 
 16 
 
 22 
 
 29 
 
 35 
 41 
 
 47 
 
 55 
 
 63 
 69 
 
 77 
 81 
 
 90 
 
 95 
 102 
 
 no 
 
 765370
 
 XVIII. The Carpet of History, 119 
 
 XIX. Hammermg in Dates, .... .... .... 125 
 
 XX. The pursued Bird, 131 
 
 XXI. Plans and Plots, 136 
 
 XXII. The Cockatoo, Parade, 143 
 
 XXIII The Cage of Ambition, 152 
 
 XXIV. A visit to Mr. Chemistry, 159 
 
 XXV. A Lesson, 167 
 
 XXVI. Hearing the Truth, 177 
 
 XXVIL A Brave Effort, 185 
 
 XXVIII. Expectation, 190 
 
 XXIX. Empty and Furnished, .... .... .... 196 
 
 XXX. Fruits of Needlework, 204 
 
 XXXI The Croivn of Success, 212 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The sparkling croivn was placed on her broiv. Frontispiece 
 
 Nelly could hardly see the stepping-stones through t/ie 
 
 thick leaves of the plant which she bore, .... .... 27 
 
 Miss Folly went jabbering an : ^^ Just try that bonnet on 
 
 your head," .... .... .... .... .... 73 
 
 Dick, Lubin, Matty, and Nelly paying their first visit 
 
 to Grammar's Bazaar, .... .... .... .... 103
 
 THE CROWN OF SUCCESS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE dame's departure. 
 
 MERRY life had Dame Desley and her four 
 childi-en led in their rural home. The 
 sound of their cheerful voices, the patter 
 of their little feet, the laugh, the shout, 
 and the song, had been heard from morn- 
 ing till night. I wiU not stop to teU of 
 all the daisy-chains and cowslip-baUs made by the 
 children under the big elm-tree that grew on their 
 mother's lawn ; or how they gathered ripe black- 
 berries in autumn ; or in the glowing days of 
 summer played about the hay-cocks, and buried one 
 another in the hay. Their lives were thoughtless 
 and gay, like those of the span'ows in the garden, 
 or the merry little squirrels in the wood.
 
 8 THE dame's DEPARTDRK. 
 
 But a time came at last when these careless days 
 must end. Dame Desley had to take a long 
 journey — she would be absent for many a month — 
 and on the evening before her departure she called 
 her four children around her. 
 
 " My dear children," she said, " I must leave 
 you ; I must give you up for a while to the care 
 of another. But I have chosen a guardian for 
 you who is worthy of all your respect. Mr. Learn- 
 ing is coming to see you to-moiTOw, just an hour 
 before I start ; and I hope that he will find you all 
 good and obedient children during my absence. 
 Whatever he may bid you do, do for the love of 
 me, and when you attend to Mr. Learning, think 
 that you are pleasing your mother." 
 
 When the four children were alone together, just 
 before going to rest, they began eagerly to talk over 
 what Dame Desley had told them. 
 
 " I wonder whether I shall like this Mr. Learn- 
 ing," said Dick, a merry, intelligent boy, with bright 
 eyes that were always twinkling with fun. None 
 of his age could excel him in racing or running ; he 
 could climb a tree like a squin-el, and clear a hay- 
 cock with a bound. He loved the free careless life 
 which he had led in his mother's home, but still he 
 wished for one more full of adventure and excitement. 
 
 "I'm quite sure that I shall not like Mr. Learn-
 
 THE DAME S DEPARTURE. 
 
 ing," cried Matty ; " for I have seen him two or 
 three times, and I did not fancy his looks at all. 
 He is as solemn and as grave as an owl ; he wears 
 spectacles, and has a very long nose, and his back 
 ifl as stiff as a poker." Matty was a pretty little 
 girl, with blue eyes, and golden curls hanging down 
 her neck, but she had a conceited air, which spoiled 
 her looks to my mind. 
 
 " I wish that we could stay where we are, and 
 go on as we always have done, without being 
 plagued by Mr. Learning at all," cried Lubin, with a 
 weary yawn. Such a fat Uttle fellow as he was, just 
 the shape of a roly-poly pudding, with cheeks as red 
 as the apples that grew on the trees in the orchard. 
 
 " But mother spoke kindly of him," said NeUy, 
 a pale lame child who sat in the corner of the 
 room, stringing buttercups and daisies ; "if she 
 likes him, should not we try to like him, and not set 
 our hearts against what mother thinks for our good." 
 
 " Perhaps Mr. Learning's company may be plea- 
 sant for a change ! " cried Dick. " I hear that he 
 gives lots of presents to his friends, and makes 
 them both rich and great. It would be a stupid 
 thing, after all, to spend all one's life in gathering 
 wild-flowers, or kicking up one's heels in the hay. 
 I mean to be famous one day, and they say there's 
 QO way of being so without the help of old Learning.
 
 10 THE DAMB S DEPARTURE. 
 
 There's Mr. Sharp that lives at the hall ; his beautiful 
 house and gi'ounds, his carriages, horses and dogs, 
 all came from Mr. Learning. I've heard of people 
 who, when they were boys, were so poor that they 
 hardly had bread to eat, whom Mr. Learning took 
 under his care, and now they've lots of good things 
 of every sort and kind. Sometimes they're asked 
 to dine with the Lord Mayor of London, where 
 they feast upon turtle and champagne — " 
 
 Fat little Lubin opened wide both his eyes and 
 mouth on hearing of this. 
 
 " And sometimes," continued Dick, " they are 
 actually invited to court, being high in the favour 
 of the Queen." 
 
 " I should like to go to court," said Matty, 
 " and wear fine feathers and lace. But I wonder if 
 Mr. Learning will think of doing such grand things 
 for us." 
 
 " We will see ! " cried the merry Dick ; " I'm 
 resolved to get on in the world ! " and he turned 
 head over heels at once, as a beginmng to his on- 
 ward progress. 
 
 " My children, it is time to go to rest," said 
 the voice of Dame Desley at the door. " Remember 
 to be up in good time in the morning, for my 
 worthy friend Mr. Learning is to breakfast with me 
 to-morrow."
 
 THE dame's DEPAETUEE. 11 
 
 Off went the children to bed. Dick lay awake 
 for some time, thinking over what was before him, 
 and when his merry eyes closed at last in sleep, 
 the subject haunted him stUI He dreamed that 
 he was climbing up a little hillock, made of nothing 
 but books of all the colours of the rainbow — purple, 
 and orange, and blue — and each book that he looked 
 at had his name as its author in big gilt letters on 
 the back. On the top of the hillock stood Mr. Learn- 
 ing, holding a finely-bound volume ia one hand, 
 while he held out the other to Dick to help him 
 on in his climbing. Very proud and very joyful 
 was the little boy in his dream as he clambered 
 higher and higher, and thought what a famous 
 figure he was going to make in the world ! But 
 what was his delight when Mr. Learning placed the 
 well-bound book in his hand, and on opening it he 
 found that all its leaves were made of five-pound 
 notes ! 
 
 "Why, I shall be as rich as Croesus, and as 
 famous as all the seven wise men of Greece put 
 together ! " cried Dick, cutting a caper at the top 
 of his hillock in such a transport of joy, that he 
 knocked over the whole pile of books, just as if it 
 had been a house made of cards, and came down 
 flat on his face with such a bang, that it startled 
 him out of his dream.
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 MR. LEARNING AT BREAKFAST. 
 
 PlTTLE Nelly, though weak and lame, was the 
 first of the children to come down to the 
 parlour in the morning to help her mother, 
 Dame Desley, to lay the table for breakfast. 
 The child felt a little frightened at the idea 
 of the stranger guest, and doubted whether with all 
 her best efforts she could ever please Mr. Learning. 
 
 White were the round breakfast rolls — and 
 whiter still the table-cloth on which they were laid ; 
 and merrily sang the kettle on the hob, as the white 
 steam rose from its spout. 
 
 " Why are there two tea-pots ? " asked Matty, 
 who had just come into the parlour, dressed out in 
 the finest style, as a visitor was expected. 
 
 ** The larger one is for us, my dear," said her 
 mother, as she went to the cupboard for tea ; "and 
 out of the little square-shaped one I shall help my 
 friend Mr. Learning."
 
 MR. LEARNING AT BREAKFAST. 13 
 
 Matty was so cmious to know why Mr. Learn- 
 ing should have a whole tea-pot to himself, that 
 she kept hanging about the table, touching the 
 plates, jingling the cups and saucers, and not notic- 
 ing Dick and Lubin, who had just come into the 
 room. 
 
 Dame Desley filled the large tea-pot, first putting 
 in tea, and afterwards hot water, after the usual 
 fashion ; she then went again to the cupboard, and 
 bringing out a dumpy stone bottle, to the amaze- 
 ment of Matty filled the little tea-pot with ink. 
 
 "Now, my dear," she said, turning to Nelly, 
 who stood behind ready to help her, " bring from 
 my desk a quire of foolscap paper, put it on yonder 
 plate, and place a good steel pen beside it. Mr. 
 Learning has a very peculiar taste ; instead of tea, 
 toast and butter, he always breakfasts on paper and 
 ink." 
 
 " Paper and ink!" echoed all the children ; " what 
 a very funny fellow he must be." 
 
 "No wonder he's thin!" cried Lubin, opening 
 bis round eyes very wide. 
 
 " Hush ! here he comes," said Dame Desley, 
 going herself to open the door for her honoured 
 guest. 
 
 Mr. Learning entered with a solemn air ; he 
 was tall, thin, and grave. He had a forehead very
 
 14 MR. LEAENINQ AT BREAKFAST. 
 
 broad and very high, and was bald at the top of 
 his head. Thick bushy brows overhung his eyes, 
 which looked calmly through the spectacles which 
 rested on his nose, and a long beard descended from 
 his chin. 
 
 The children received their mother's guest each 
 in a different way. Dick, who had made up his 
 mind that Mr. Learning would procure for him for- 
 tune and fame, gave him such a long hearty shake 
 that it seemed as if the boy meant to wring off his 
 hand ! Lubin, with a pouting air, held out his fat 
 fist when desired by his mother to bid the gentle- 
 man "good-morning." Matty, hanging her head 
 on one side with a very affected air, touched his 
 fingers with the tips of her own. Poor Nelly, who 
 was more shy and timid than the rest, dared not 
 lift up her eyes as she obeyed her mother's com- 
 mand ; but she was cheered when the formidable 
 Mr. Learning said in a pleasant voice, " I hope that 
 we shall all be very good friends when we under- 
 stand each other better." 
 
 Then all sat down to breakfast. None of the 
 children — except Lubin, who always thought eating 
 and drinking a very important affair — could attend 
 much to their meal, they watched with such sur- 
 prise and amusement the movements of Mr. Learn- 
 ing. Helping himself to his inky draught with a
 
 MR, LEARNING AT BREAKFAST. 16 
 
 pen, which he used instead of a spoon, he then de- 
 voured sheet after sheet of foolscap paper with such 
 evident relish, that Dick could hardly help bursting 
 out into a laugh, and Matty was inclined to titter. 
 Mr. Learning used a pen-wiper instead of a napkin, 
 which saved Dame Desley's linen. He ate his 
 breakfast with a thoughtful air, hardly speaking a 
 single word, "When the repast was ended, all arose 
 from the table, and the dame, with a sigh, prepared 
 to bid a long good-bye to her children, 
 
 ** I leave you under good care, my darlings," 
 said she ; " and I expect on my return to find you 
 wiser, happier, and better from the instructions of 
 Mr. Learning, who will show you the little homes 
 provided for you, and teach you how to furnish 
 them. Mind that you do all that he bids you do ; 
 work with cheerful good-will, you will then have 
 reason all your lives to rejoice that you ever knew 
 such a friend. And one more parting word, my 
 children : beware all of the society of Pride ; I 
 know that he is lurking about in this neighbour- 
 hood, but keep him ever out of your homes." 
 
 The children were sony to part with their 
 mother ; lame Nelly was especially sorry. The 
 tears rose into the little girl's eyes, but she hastily 
 wiped them away, and tried to look cheerful and 
 hopeful, that she might not sadden her mother.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE COTTAGES OF HEAD. 
 
 OME with me, my young friends," said 
 Mr. Learning, as soon as Dame Desley 
 had departed ; "I will take you to the 
 four little cottages that have been 
 bought for you by your mother, and 
 which you are, by my help, to furnish with all things 
 needful." 
 
 " A cottage all to myself — what fun !" exclaimed 
 Dick, cutting a caper on the grass. 
 
 Guided by Mr. Learning, the four children went 
 on their way towards the villas of Head, four tiny 
 dwellings that stood close together on the top of a 
 hill, two looking to the east and two to the west. 
 Nice little cottages they were, each with a small 
 garden behind it. The two that fronted the west 
 were thatched with golden-coloured straw, and the 
 glass in the little windows was almost as blue as 
 the sky. The two that looked to the east had
 
 Nelly could hardly see the stepping-stones through the thick 
 leaves of the plant which she bore. 
 
 y'"£c- 27.
 
 THE COTTAOES OF HEAD. 17 
 
 darker thatch and brown glass windows. The first 
 were for Matty and Nelly, the others for Lubin and 
 Dick. 
 
 " Mine is the prettiest, much the prettiest cotr- 
 tage !" exclaimed Matty, with a smile of delight ; 
 "it ha the brightest thatch, and the whitest wall, 
 and the most elegant shape besides !" 
 
 "Mine is the biggest!" cried Dick with some 
 pride. 
 
 Now each of the cottages of Head had two little 
 doors, the funniest that ever were seen ; they were 
 just of the form of ears, and Matty's and Nelly's 
 were almost hidden by the golden thatch above 
 them. The children went in and examined the 
 inside of the dwellings one by one. Each had four 
 little rooms — parlour, bedroom, kitchen, and spare 
 room. But the walls were quite rough and bare ; 
 not a scrap of carpet covered the boards ; there were 
 chimneys, it is true, but no grates were to be seen 
 in the empty fireplaces. 
 
 "Well," cried Dick, as with his companions he 
 returned to the space between the cottages, in which 
 they had left Mr. Learning standing, " I should be 
 mighty sorry to have to live in such an unfurnished 
 house !" 
 
 " If it remain unfurnished it will be your own 
 fault," replied Mr. Learning, as he drew from his
 
 18 THE COTTAGES OF HEAD. 
 
 pocket four purses, yellow, red, and pink, and blue 
 " These are the magic purses of Time," he continued, 
 " and most valuable gifts are they ; each of you shall 
 possess one. Every morning you will find in them 
 a certain number of pieces of silver and copper 
 money, — men name them hours and minutes. A few 
 you will employ in paying for your lodging and 
 food in that large dwelling hard by, called Needful 
 House, in which you may remain for a while until 
 your cottages are fit to be lived in. Some of your 
 hours and minutes you must spend on eveiy week- 
 day in buying furniture for these little Heads in the 
 town of Education." 
 
 Dick caught eagerly at the yellow purse, and 
 instantly began to count out the money. Eveiy 
 bright coin had the stamp of a pair of wings on one 
 side, with the motto, " Time files fast," and on the 
 other side in raised letters the motto, " Use me well." 
 
 Lubin and Matty took the red and pink purses 
 with a careless air, as, like too many amongst us, 
 they did not know their value. Lame Nelly veiy 
 gratefully received the blue purse, with the hours 
 and minutes in it. 
 
 " And now," cried Dick, " where is this town of 
 Education, for I'm in a desperate hurry to begin to 
 furnish my Head ?" 
 
 Mr. Learning moved a few steps to the right, and
 
 THE C0TTA0B8 OF HEAD. 19 
 
 pointed with his gold-headed cane to a spot where 
 some smoke rising in the valley showed that a large 
 town must be. 
 
 " You can see it yonder through the trees," said 
 the sage. 
 
 "Oh, dear! it is a good way off!" said Lubin. 
 " I hope that you don't expect us to travel there 
 every day." 
 
 " You must not only travel there," replied Mr. 
 Learning, "but you must carry back the things 
 which you purchase, without minding the trouble or 
 fatigue. The way is very straight and direct. You 
 must go down this hill, which is called Puzzle ; it is 
 not long, but tolerably steep : you must cross the 
 brook Bother which flows at the bottom, and then 
 the shady lane of Trouble will take you right to the 
 town." 
 
 "And what must we do when we get there?" 
 asked Dick. 
 
 " Your first care, of course, must be to paper your 
 rooms ; each one must do that for himself The 
 paper you will buy with your money from the deco- 
 rators, Messrs. Reading and Writing ; their house is 
 the first that you will reach when you come to the 
 end of the lane. Then you will doubtless look out 
 for grates, and other needful articles of hardware ; 
 they may be had at reasonable prices from Mr.
 
 SN> THE OOTTA.GKS OF HEAD. 
 
 Arithmetic, the ironmonger. Mr, History, the car- 
 pet-manufacturer, has a large assortment to show ; 
 and General Knowledge, the carpenter, keeps a 
 wonderful variety of beds, tables, and chairs, of 
 every quality and size." 
 
 " And our gardens, too, will want looking after," 
 cried Dick. 
 
 " Mr. Geography, the nurseryman, wiU help you 
 to lay them out according to the newest design. 
 You, my young friends," continued Mr. Learning, 
 turning towards the two little girls, "who have 
 garden walls with a western aspect, on which the 
 fruit-trees of needlework can grow, must buy plants 
 from Mrs. Sewing, whose white cottage you plainly 
 can see, just at the other side of the brook, near 
 where those weeping willows are dipping their 
 branches in the stream." 
 
 " We shall have lots to do with our money," 
 sighed Lubin. 
 
 "But quite enough of money for all that you 
 require, if you only do not throw it away, nor let 
 some quick-fingered thief like Procrastination steal 
 away your treasure of Time," replied Mr, Learning 
 with a smile. " Think of the pleasure which it will 
 give your mother if she find each of you, on her 
 return six months hence, comfortably settled in a 
 well -furnished house of your own ! If any addi-
 
 THE COTTAGES OF HEAD. 21 
 
 tional motive for exertion be needed, know that 
 when your motiier comes back, I will present a 
 beautiful silver crown of Success to whichever of 
 you four shall have best employed your money in 
 furnishing your garden and house." 
 
 "That crown shall be mine!" thought Dick; 
 " m win it and wear it too ! " 
 
 " I shall certainly never get a crown," said Nelly 
 Desley half aloud ; " it is quite enough for me if 
 my mother be pleased with my cottage!" A fear 
 was on the little girl's mind that she should manage 
 her shopping very badly, and she hoped that the 
 brook would be shallow, as she could see no bridge 
 across it. 
 
 " I shall take my time about this furnishing," 
 said Lubin, as soon as Mr. Learning had taken his 
 departure, promising to return some day to watch 
 the progress of his charges, Lubin, though not 
 lame like Nelly, was heavy and slow in his move- 
 ments, and often Avas laughed at by Dick for his 
 great dislike to trouble. 
 
 " My cottage looks so pretty outside," said silly 
 little Matty, shaking her fair locks, "that I almost 
 think it would do without any furnishing at all."
 
 CHAPTER TV. 
 
 PLAIN- WORK AND FANCY-WORK. 
 
 ^'LL take the measure of my walls at once," 
 cried Dick, " and see what quantity of 
 paper I shall have to buy from Mr, Read- 
 ing. Shall I look after yours too?" and 
 he turned good-naturedly to his sisters. 
 " Please do, dear Dick," replied Nelly. 
 " I shall leave Master Lubin to measure his own ', 
 a lazy young urchin like him would not move a 
 finger if he could help it ; I would not give one of 
 my minutes for his chance of winning the crown of 
 Success !" 
 
 " I shall do very well," gi'umbled Lubin, not 
 much pleased at the cutting remark. 
 
 "Matty, dear," said Nelly to her sister, "as we 
 have something to buy that our brothers have not 
 — and plants of needlework, mother says, are best 
 when put in at the beginning of spring — had we 
 uot better set ofi* at once and buy what Mr. Learn
 
 PLAIN- WORK AND FANCY-WORK. 23 
 
 ing recommended ? Mrs. Sewing does not live far 
 off; we might carry up our needlework plants be- 
 fore our brothers are ready to start with us for the 
 town of Education," 
 
 "You are always in a huiTy !" cried Matty. 
 
 "It is because I am lame," replied Nelly meekly ; 
 " as I can never go fast, I am obliged to make up 
 for my slowness by starting early." 
 
 " Well, it's a fine bright morning, and it's rare 
 fun to have a mn down hill !" cried Matty, "so I 
 am quite willing to go." 
 
 Off she flew like a bird, her long ringlets stream- 
 ing behind her, and her meny laugh was borne 
 back by the wind to Nelly, who, at a much slower 
 pace, walked carefully down the hill. As Matty, 
 however, took to chasing a bright butterfly, which 
 led her quite out of her way, Nelly was the first to 
 reach the brook which flowed at the bottom of the 
 hUI. To her great comfort she found that there 
 were stepping-stones across it, so that there was no 
 need that she should wet her feet with the waters 
 of Bother. Mrs. Sewing's house was also quite near, 
 so that there was little trouble in reaching it. 
 
 The good woman herself was outside her door, 
 occupied in training a large plant of needlework 
 over her porch. 
 
 "Good -morning," said Nelly, who had slowly
 
 24 PLAIN- WOEK AND FANOY-WORK. 
 
 picked her way over the stepping-stones of the 
 brook. 
 
 " Good-moming," repeated Matty, who had rushed 
 on, out of breath with her haste, that she might not 
 be behind her sister. 
 
 Mrs. Sewing was a prim little dame, dressed in a 
 curious garment of patchwork, with a necklace of 
 small round pin-cushions hanging almost as low as 
 her waist. Instead of her own hair she wore a 
 most singular wig, made entirely of skeins of cotton 
 and wool, which hung a long way down her back. 
 
 She received her young customers with a low 
 formal courtesy, and said with a smile as she turned 
 from the one to the other, — 
 
 " That girl is wise, and worth the knowing, 
 Who in life's spring-time comes to sewing." 
 
 "Mrs. Sewing," said Matty, who could hardly 
 refrain from laughing at the funny appearance of 
 the prim old lady, " we've come to buy plants of 
 needlework from you to train up our garden walls. 
 We've plenty of money to buy them with," — here 
 she jingled her hours and minutes, — " so pray show 
 us your stock directly, for we're in haste to begin 
 our planting." 
 
 With another courtesy Mrs. Sewing made leply, — 
 
 " I've Running-up and Felb'ng-down, 
 And Hemming for a lady's gown.
 
 PLAIN-WOEK AND FANOY-WORK. 25 
 
 I've Button-hole, and Herring-bone, 
 And Stitching, finest ever known ; 
 I've Whipping that will canse no crying, 
 And Basting, never source of sighing ; 
 For good Plain-work, there's no denying, 
 is always worth a woman's trying." 
 
 " I don't much admire these Plain- work plants," 
 said Matty, with rather a discontented air ; " their 
 blossoms are so miserably small, the leaves are so 
 big, and the stems are all set with thorns, just &s 
 sharp as needles. You have something yonder a 
 thousand times prettier, with flowers of every hue, 
 and in such lovely little pots !" and Matty pointed 
 as she spoke to a row of plants of Fancy-work, that 
 were at no great distance. 
 
 Again Mrs. Sewing courtesied and replied, — 
 
 " I've Knitting, Netting, Crochet, Tatting, 
 I've Bead-work, German- work, and Plaiting, 
 I've Tent-stitch, Cross-stitch, Stitches varioos 
 To show ofiF patterns multifarious ; 
 Round Fancy-work each lady lingers. 
 So please your taste and ply your fingers." 
 
 " There now ! " exclaimed Matty, who, followed 
 by Nelly, had eagerly run to the Fancy-work row ; 
 " was ever anything so pretty as this ! Every 
 blossom like bunches of beads that glitter so 
 brightly in the sun! This, this is the plant for 
 my money ; and then it is so easy to be carried ! "
 
 26 PLAIN- WORK AND FANCY-WORK. 
 
 Nelly also looked with great admiration on the 
 beautiful flower, and felt greatly inclined to choose 
 one like it. She knew that she had not hours 
 enough to purchase all that she might like, and it 
 was quite natural in a little girl to wish for what 
 was pretty and pleasant. But a thought crossed 
 the lame child's mind, and laying her hand on 
 Matty's arm, she whispered in her sister's ear : 
 " Don't you remember, dear, how fond mother is of 
 the fruits of Plain- work ; we've heard her say many 
 a time that no Fancy-work in the world is half so 
 much to her liking. Now mother will come back 
 to us again when the fruit will have had time to 
 ripen ; pretty blossoms are nice to look at ; but the 
 great thing, after all, is the fruit." 
 
 " I'm not going to plague myself with that stupid 
 Plain-work," cried Matty, shrugging her shoulders ; 
 " but it may do for you ! " She said this in so 
 scornful a tone that it brought the colour to Nelly's 
 pale cheek. 
 
 " Why should I mind ? " thought the lame little 
 girl ; "I know that mother likes Plain-work best ; 
 she values things that are useful rather than those 
 that are pretty ; and oh, I'm so glad that she does 
 80, or what would become of me ! " 
 
 So Matty purchased the pretty ornamented 
 creeper, with its clusters of bright-coloured beads,
 
 PLAIN-WORK AND FANCY-WORK. 27 
 
 and Nelly took a fine thriving plant of Plain-work, 
 to train up her garden walL 
 
 Then both took leave of Mrs. Sewing, who, 
 smiUng and courtesying to the girls, bade them 
 farewell in these words, — 
 
 " Pleasure and profit both attend ye, 
 Sewing ever shall befriend ye ! " 
 
 Matty's plant was in a small light pot, and she 
 easily carried it across the brook ; then turning, she 
 looked back at her sister, who could hardly see the 
 stepping-stones through the thick leaves of the 
 plant which she bore. Nelly's pot was also very 
 heavy, and before she could reach the shore, her 
 lame foot slipped on a stone, and she fell splash 
 into the waters of Bother. 
 
 The stream was very shallow, so there was no 
 danger of her being drowned, but the shock, the 
 tumble, and the wetting were anything but agree- 
 able. It was very unkind in Matty to stand, as 
 she did, laughing at her poor lame sister, as she 
 floundered in the brook of Bother, still grasping her 
 pot of Plain-work. 
 
 " Oh, dear, dear ! how the thorn-needles are 
 pricking my fingers ! " gasped Nelly. 
 
 " Then let go — throw the stupid Plain- work 
 away," cried Matty.
 
 28 PLAIN-WORK AND FANCY-WORK. 
 
 But Nelly had too brave a spirit for that. She 
 knew that what was worth acquiring was worth 
 bearing, and she would not be discouraged by a 
 trifle. I wish that some of my little readers who 
 sit pouting and fretting over a seam, crying over a 
 broken needle, or a prick on a tiny finger, could 
 have seen Nelly when, with repeated efibi'ts, she 
 scrambled out of the brook, with Plain-work safe 
 in her grasp. 
 
 The two girls now made their way up the hill of 
 Puzzle, on their return to the cottages of Head. 
 Matty, eager to plant her pretty creeper, greatly 
 outstripped her sister, as she had done when they 
 at first had set out. But with patient, uncomplain- 
 ing labour, Nelly Desley plodded on her course, and 
 before long both Plain-work and Fancy-work were 
 safely transplanted into the ground by the wall at 
 the back of the gardens.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MR. ALPHABET. 
 
 )OW we're all ready to set off to Messrs. 
 Reading and Writing," cried Dick, as the 
 four children stood together on the slope 
 of the hill ; I vote we have a race — one, 
 two, three, off and away ! " and dashing 
 forward like a young stag, he rushed down the hill, 
 distancing even Matty, and with the force of his 
 own rapid descent cleared brook Bother at a 
 bound. 
 
 Nelly could. not help clapping her hands. 
 "I should have thought," observed fat Lubin, 
 who had kept at her side, " that you, of all people 
 in the world, would have hated this silly racing, 
 and disliked to see any one go at so desperate a 
 pace." 
 
 " Why should I dislike it ? " asked the lame 
 child ; " I would go at a great pace too, if I only 
 were able."
 
 30 MR. ALPHABET. 
 
 " But when you are lame, does it not vex you to 
 be so distanced by others ? " 
 
 Nelly hesitated a little before she replied, " Some- 
 times, I own, it does vex me a little ; but then I 
 am comforted when I think that as long as I do 
 my best I should be only glad that others can do 
 better." 
 
 Lubin and Nelly came up with their brother and 
 sister at the cottage of Mrs. Sewing ; for Dick, who 
 was in a merry mood, had stopped there to help 
 the old dame to transplant a fine slip of Fancy- 
 work, and Matty was standing laughing beside him 
 
 " See how well he does it ! " she cried. 
 
 " I wonder that he is not ashamed to use his 
 fingers like a girl ! " exclaimed Lubin, who was 
 himself remarkably clumsy, 
 
 Mrs. Sewing turned round with a smile and a 
 courtesy. 
 
 " Better the fingers thu3 employing 
 Than in fighting, fidgeting, or destroying," 
 
 observed she. 
 
 Dick looked up and laughed. " I'll soon prove 
 to you, my lad," he cried, " that hands that can 
 ground a pretty slip of German work, are ready and 
 fit for something harder," and he squared up to- 
 wards Lubin with clenched fists, and such a merry 
 look of defiance, that his brother was more than
 
 MR. ALPHABET. 31 
 
 convinced by the sight, and trotted off along the 
 lane of Trouble, at a much brisker pace than usual. 
 
 " We'll go after the plump one," cried Dick, " or 
 he'll arrive at Mr. Reading's before us." 
 
 Along the lane they all went. The weather had 
 been dry of late, and the road was not so muddy 
 as usual. Indeed the walk was so agreeable that 
 Dick remarked that " trouble is a pleasure." It 
 was not long before the four young householders 
 found themselves at the door of Messrs. Reading 
 and Writing. 
 
 Their shop was a very large and handsome one ; 
 indeed a finer and better was not to be seen in the 
 whole town of Education, on the outskirts of which 
 it stood. It was separated into two divisions, over 
 the first and principal of which Mr. Reading himself 
 presided. A great variety of papers for walls were 
 displayed in the large glass windows, and when the 
 children peeped in they saw a vast number more in 
 the shop. 
 
 " Well, here's a fine choice ! " exclaimed Matty, 
 in pleased surprise ; " I think that one might spend 
 half one's life in the shop of Mr. Reading, and 
 always find out something pretty and new." 
 
 "But where is Mr. Reading himself?" cried 
 Lubin ; "and how are we to get through this iron 
 grating which shuts us out from the shop ? "
 
 32 MR. ALPHABET. 
 
 His last question was answered by the funniest 
 little dwarf that ever was seen, who popped out 
 from behind the counter, and with a large iron key 
 in his hand came toddling up to the grating. He 
 was just twenty-six inches high, and had a head 
 almost as big as the rest of his body. 
 
 " I say, little chap, will you let us in ? " said 
 Dick, rapping on the iron bars. 
 
 " I'm not accustomed to be spoken to after that 
 fashion," cried the dwarf angrily; "my name is 
 not ' little chap,' but ' Mr. Alphabet,' though some 
 dare to caU me A B C. I ought to be treated with 
 respect, for I am several thousand years old." 
 
 " You've been wondrously slow then in your 
 growth," laughed Lubin ; " I think I could jump 
 over your head." 
 
 " It's easier said than done," grumbled Alphabet, 
 casting up a glance of scorn at the boy, whose fat 
 figure was not formed for jumping ; " and I should 
 advise you to have a care how you provoke me by 
 any boasting or insolent language. I am both 
 strong and bold, and I come of an ancient race. 
 My father was an Egyptian, or a Phoenician, or — " 
 
 " Never mind your father just now, my good 
 fellow," cried Dick; "just turn your key in the 
 lock, and let us into the shop of Mr. Reading." 
 
 " You don't suppose that I'm going to let you
 
 MR. ALPHABET. 33 
 
 pass without paying toll," growled Alphabet ; " I 
 always expect a fee of some of the money of 
 Time." 
 
 " Let us in," cried Lubin, kicking the giating. 
 
 " You may kick till you're tired," said the gruffy 
 little dwarf; "no one gets to Mr. Reading without 
 paying toll to Mr. Alphabet, his highly respectable 
 porter." 
 
 " Let's give him his fee and be done with it," 
 cried Matty, hastily pulliug out her purse. 
 
 Seeing that there was no use in refusing, as 
 Alphabet had the key of the gate, each of the chil- 
 dren now produced some money, Dick giving less 
 than the others. Alphabet took the bright hours 
 with a merry grin, as he swung back the iron gi'at- 
 ing ; but when Lubin was about to pass in, the 
 dwarf planted liiniself in the way. 
 
 " You said that you could jump over my head ; 
 just try." 
 
 " I don't just think that I could," said Lubin, 
 who was daunted by the manner of the dwarf. 
 
 " Now, for your stupid boast," growled Alphabet, 
 " I win not aUow you to pass till you've paid twice 
 as much as the others have done ; " and as he 
 spoke he half closed the gi'uting in Lubin's face. 
 
 " You can't keep me out now you've unlocked 
 it." cried Lubin (who was, however, still on tho
 
 34 MR. ALPHABET. 
 
 outside, having been as usual behind-hand), and he 
 tried to push the gate open. 
 
 " Push away," said the dwarf with a grin. 
 
 But poor Lubin soon found to his cost that 
 Alphabet was strong as well as little, and quite 
 able to hold his own against any amount of pushing. 
 
 "Won't you help me?" cried Lubin to Dick; 
 the fat boy was getting quite red with his efforts, 
 
 " Oh, nonsense ; fair play is a jewel ! " exclaimed 
 Dick ; " you must fight it out for yourself. If you 
 can't master little A B C, a precious poor creature 
 you must be." 
 
 " Pay double toll, or I'll never let you in ! " 
 shouted the passionate dwarf. 
 
 There was no help for it ; poor Lubin was obliged 
 to pull out his money ; and Alphabet, with a grin 
 of triumph, at last allowed him to enter. 
 
 " Is Mr. Reading at home ? " asked Dick. 
 
 " He is just within," said the dwarf; " if you'll 
 look over the papers for a minute, I'll go and tell 
 him that you are waiting."
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MR. reading's fine SHOP. 
 
 *ELL, Mr. Reading keeps a splendid assort- 
 ment indeed ! " exclaimed Dick, looking 
 round the immense shop with delight. 
 " There are such lots of fine papers here 
 that the only difficulty will be which to 
 choose ! " 
 
 " I know what I will choose ! " cried Matty ; 
 "that paper all covered with pretty little fairies ! " 
 
 " It is but a poor paper ; I cannot in conscience 
 recommend it for wear," said Mr. Reading, who at 
 that instant made his appearance from an inner part 
 of the shop. 
 
 " Oh, but it is channing ! " cried Matty ; " I 
 should care for no paper like that." 
 
 " And I see what I like best ! " exclaimed Dick ; 
 " there's the jolliest paper that ever was made ; 
 don't you see it, up in that comer ? — sets of cannibals 
 dancing round a fire ! "
 
 36 MB. reading's ffne shop. 
 
 " That's the Robinson Crusoe pattern," observed 
 Mr. Reading, "a great favourite with young cus- 
 tomers of mine." 
 
 "That's the paper for my money!" cried Dick ; 
 " I never saw anything more to my mind ! " 
 
 Nelly and Lubin then chose their patterns, the 
 former thinking what would please the taste of her 
 mother, the latter what would cost least of his Time 
 money ; for the lazy rogue grudged every hour that 
 he gave to reading. 
 
 A difficulty came into Nelly's mind. " We are 
 to paper our rooms ourselves," said she ; " how can 
 we do so, having nothing with which we can fasten 
 the paper on firmly ? " 
 
 "I've the paste of Attention at your service," 
 said Reading ; " you will find nothing more certain 
 to stick on a paper than that. You shall cany home 
 a can of it to-day." 
 
 "And there is another thing which we must remem- 
 ber," observed Lubin, who had a sensible and reflecting 
 mind, though too lazy to make much use of it; "as our 
 walls are higher of course than ourselves, we must 
 have a ladder to lift us to the higher parts of them." 
 
 "I can supply that want also," cried the ready 
 Mr. Reading, who seemed to take pleasure in serving 
 his young guests ; " I've the magic ladder of Spell- 
 ing, and I am willing to let it on hire."
 
 MR. reading's fine SHOP. 37 
 
 " Let's see this ladder," said Dick. 
 
 At a word from his master, Alphabet, the stout 
 little dwarf, withdrew into an inner part of the 
 dwelling, and soon re-appeared, lugging with him a 
 ladder which was three times as long as himself. 
 
 "This is a very curious and ingenious ladder," 
 remarked Mr. Reading, " and quite worthy of your 
 closest observation. You see that on the under part 
 of each step is a sentence quite perfectly spelt ; but 
 this, of course, cannot be seen when the ladder is 
 placed by a wall. On the upper part appears the 
 same sentence, but with many a blunder in it to tr}' 
 your powera of recollection. You must study the 
 ladder well before you attempt to mount it, and get 
 the right spelling fixed in your mind, so as to make 
 no mistakes. Then, before putting your foot upon 
 any step, you must spell the sentence upon it ; if 
 you coiTect every blunder, the wood will be finii as 
 a rock ; but if you leave a single fault unnoticed, 
 one little letter misplaced, the step will give way 
 under your weight, and land you flat on the floor." 
 
 " What a horrible ladder ! " exclaimed Lubin ; 
 " it seems to have been expressly contrived to break 
 the neck of every one who is so silly as to mount it." 
 
 "It only needs care in the using," replied polite 
 Mr. Reading, unable to suppress a quiet smile ; while 
 Alphabet, who thought it a capital joke, burst into
 
 38 MR. READINGS FINE SHOP. 
 
 a loud laugh. " I confess that the ladder of Spelling 
 has been the cause of many a tumble ; but still it is 
 an excellent ladder, — the trees of which it was made 
 grew beside our own stream of Bother." 
 
 "Anyone might have guessed that!" muttered 
 Lubin, rubbing his head with a disconsolate air, as 
 if he already felt the bumps produced by the ladder 
 of Spelling. 
 
 " Let's see these funny sentences on the steps," 
 said Dick, " that we are forced to spell so finely. 
 Such a comical ladder as this will make the papering 
 of our walls a very slow affair." 
 
 As my readers may be cuiious to know whether 
 they could have mounted the ladder without any 
 step breaking beneath them, I will give them a few 
 of the sentences to correct at their leisure. I write 
 the faulty words in italics, though I hope that it is 
 not needful to do so. 
 
 I hav to ants, too unkels to, 
 The kindest wons I ever new. 
 
 Except this presint, nevew deer, 
 I am sow glad to here your hear. 
 
 Gals sow shurts, and boys sew beetis, 
 Labour is scene in various seens. 
 
 I eat ate appels at a fate. 
 
 Then took my Ici'f and warked home strait.
 
 MR. READING'S FINE SHOP. 39 
 
 The winds they blue ; the sky was blew ; 
 Tom, as they dashed the oshan threw, 
 Write overbored a poney through. 
 
 Our sovrin rains in joy and piece ; 
 The summer reigris our crops increese ; 
 The weery horse from rain release. 
 
 "I tell you what I'll do," said Lubin, after 
 thoughtfully surveying the ladder from the top to 
 the bottom ; " I'll get good-natured little Nelly to 
 stand below while I'm climbing the steps, and she 
 shall call out to me the right spelling, so that I shall 
 be certain to make no blunder." 
 
 Polite Mr. Heading shook his head. " Each must 
 master the diflficulty for himself," he replied; "not 
 a single ptep would keep firm were there any attempt 
 at such prompting," 
 
 Poor Lubin heaved a sigh like a groan. 
 
 " Who's afraid ! " exclaimed Dick ; " the greater 
 the difficulty the greater the glory of mounting to 
 the top of the ladder ! Just roll up our papers, Mr. 
 Reading, we'll carry them under our arms. The 
 girls will take charge of the can of paste, and as for 
 this remarkable ladder, Lubin and I will contrive to 
 bear it between us. 
 
 Thus loaded, the little party passed again through 
 the iron grating. Dick walked first, with a confi- 
 dent air, holding one end of the ladder of Spelling, 
 while Lubin, gi'umbling and sighing, supported the
 
 40 MR. reading's fine SHOP. 
 
 other end. Nelly followed with the can of Atten- 
 tion, for Matty was too much engaged in looking at 
 and admiring her pretty fairy paper to think of her 
 lame little sister. Mr. Reading, the most polite and 
 agi'eeable of shopkeepers, bade them farewell with 
 a bow ; and Little Alphabet shouted after Lubin, 
 " When you can manage to get to the top of the 
 ladder of Spelling without tumbling down on your 
 nose, I'll give you free leave to come back and jump 
 over mv head if you Hko it ' "
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE LADDER OF SPELLING. 
 
 •HAT a jolly pleasant fellow old Reading 
 is ! " cried Dick, as they jogged along. 
 " Well enough," replied Lubin, jerk- 
 ing his shoulder, " if he had not plagued 
 us with this hateful ladder, and did not 
 keep such a covetous, impudent little poi-ter as that 
 ugly old dwarf A B C" 
 
 " I did not see much harm in the dwarf," laughed 
 Dick ; " the best fun I ever had in my life was see- 
 ing you pushing on one side of the gate, and the 
 little chap pushing on the other. Alphabet was too 
 hard for you, Lubin, my boy, though he is such a 
 mite of a man." 
 
 The observation made Lubin rather sulky, and he 
 said nothing till, having passed through the lane of 
 Trouble, the party stopped by the brook of Bother. 
 
 "I'm afraid, Lubin," observed Dick, "that an 
 awkward fellow like you may miss your footing if
 
 42 THE LADDER OF 8PKLUNO. 
 
 attempting to cross while carrying a weight on youi 
 shoulder. You go first, unburdened, and then I'll 
 easily stretch out the end of the ladder for you to 
 catch hold of." 
 
 Lubin did not wait to be twice invited to put 
 down his tiresome burden. He flung down his end 
 of the ladder, went across the stepping-stones at 
 once, and then, without so much as turning to 
 look at his companion, began to walk fast up the 
 hill. 
 
 " Holloa ! stop ! where are you going ? " shouted 
 Dick. 
 
 Lubin only quickened his pace. 
 
 " The lazy rogue means to leave me to carry this 
 ladder all by myself ! " exclaimed Dick, in high in- 
 dignation. 
 
 " I wish that I could help you, dear Dick," said 
 Nelly; "but I'm lame, and — " 
 
 "And you've been carrying the can all the way, 
 till your face is quite pale with fatigue. I wonder 
 that that saucy puss Matty is not ashamed of treat- 
 ing you so." 
 
 "I was so busy with my fairies that I forgot," 
 began Matty. 
 
 " Ah, well ; take the can now and remember. 
 And as for the ladder — " Without finishing hia 
 sentence, to the surprise of the girls, Dick suddenly
 
 THE LADDEE OF SPELLING. 43 
 
 turned round, and walked back several paces. His 
 object soon became plain ; he was giving himself 
 room for a run. Once more he rushed forward with 
 a bound, and, laden as he was with ladder and with 
 paper, was over the brook in a moment. 
 
 "There's a jump ! " he exclaimed, his face flushed 
 less with the effect, than with the pride which he 
 felt in having accomplished such a feat ; " depend 
 on't, a boy who can leap like that won't soon be 
 turned back in life's long race by any difficulty or 
 trial. I only wish that Mr. Learning could have 
 seen me take that jump." 
 
 Nelly's admiration of her brother's remarkable 
 powers was a little damped by a fear that arose in 
 her mind when she saw how he gloried in them. 
 Nelly was very fond of Dick, but she could not help 
 thinking that she would rather have seen him con- 
 quer his pride than jump over half-a-dozen Bothers. 
 Slowly and thoughtfully the little girl passed over 
 the brook, and Matty, who was now carrying the 
 can, brought up the rear of the party, 
 
 "Dick," said Matty, when she had joined her 
 brother, " I wonder that you did not lay the ladder 
 of Spelling across the stream, and make a bridge of 
 it at once." 
 
 " I was too wary a bird for that," laughed Dick, 
 " You know I've not yet mastered that awkward
 
 44 THE LADDER OF SPEUJNO. 
 
 spelling, and if I'd put my foot upon a step, I should 
 just have gone souse into Bother." 
 
 " Oh, I quite forgot ! " exclaimed Matty. 
 
 " You seem to have a trick of forgetting," said 
 her brother ; " you forget that your can of Attention 
 is full, and you swing it to and fro as you walk, so 
 that you spill it at every step. You had better give 
 it up again to Nelly." 
 
 " How Lubin trots up the hill ! " cried Matty. 
 "I never thought that he could get on so favst." 
 
 " He knows pretty well what he has to expect 
 when I get up with him ! " cried Dick, who was 
 indignant at his brother's desertion ; " I mean to give 
 the fat rogue such a thrashing as he never had before 
 in his life ! " 
 
 "Oh no, dear Dick!" exclaimed Nelly. "I am 
 sure that you had better forgive and forget." 
 
 " I don't see why I should," rejoined Dick. 
 
 " There are a great many reasons," said Nelly, 
 who never suffered an angry or revengeful feeling to 
 rest in her heart ; "we know that it is noble and 
 right to forgive, and to do as we would be done by; 
 and has not dear mother a thousand times told us 
 to live in love and kindness together ? " 
 
 " But he played me such a shabby trick ! " ex- 
 claimed Dick. 
 
 " Yon must remember, dear brother, that Lubin
 
 THE LADDEB OF 8PELUNG. 45 
 
 Lb not so strong as you are, and cannot bear a weight 
 with such ease." 
 
 " No ; you're right there ! " cried Dick proudly, 
 raising the ladder of Spelling with one hand above 
 his head, to show the might of his arm. 
 
 Nelly saw that her brother was getting into 
 better humour, and ventured to say something more, 
 "There is another reason why you should forgive 
 Lubin. Poor Lubin has also, perhaps, something to 
 forgive and forget." 
 
 " I never ran off and left him in the lurch." 
 
 " No," replied Nelly, in a very gentle tone ; " but 
 when he was in trouble with Alphabet, you burst 
 out laughing instead of helping him. I don't think, 
 dear Dick, that you know what pain you give by 
 your way of joking and mocking at othera who 
 can't do as much as yourself." 
 
 " Have I ever pained you, Nelly?" 
 
 " Sometimes," replied the child, 
 
 Dick was silent for a few minutes. He was re- 
 calling to mind times when he had ridiculed hia 
 gentle little sister for her lameness — the slow pace 
 which she could not avoid. He felt ashamed of his 
 ungenerous conduct, and willing to make some amends. 
 
 " It was too bad in me to hurt you, Nelly, who 
 never gave pain to any one ; so, for your sake, this 
 time T'll consent to forgive and forgot."
 
 46 TUK LADDER OF SPELLING. 
 
 While this conversation went on, the brother and 
 sisters had walked half-way up the hill, and, before 
 many minutes had passed, they had all arrived at 
 their group of cottages. Dick kept his word to 
 Nelly, and took no further notice of the desertion of 
 Lubin, than by saying, with a laugh, when first they 
 met, " You went up the hill at such a pace, my fine 
 fellow, that one might have thought that you fancied 
 the terrible Alphabet following close at your heels." 
 
 Lubin looked rather sulky, but was glad to be 
 80 easily let oflf; he was not aware that he owed 
 Dick's forbearance to the kindly ofiices of peace- 
 maker Nelly. 
 
 As the day was now far advanced, the children 
 resolved not to begin their papering work till the 
 morrow. Tliey went to the house Needful, where 
 they were to have their board and lodging for a 
 short time, till their cottages should be a little fur- 
 nished. They were all rather tired with their day's 
 exertions, and none but Dick felt disposed to take a 
 stroll in the evening.
 
 CHAPTER VJII. 
 
 BREAKING DOWN. 
 
 [HE fii-st care of Matty and Nelly in the 
 morning, after they had taken their break- 
 fast, was to water their needle-work plants. 
 " I can't think," said Matty to her sister, 
 " how you could be so silly as to choose that ugly 
 Plain-work, — I'm sure there's not a bit of beauty 
 in it. 
 
 "I wait for the fruit," said Nelly meekly. 
 "It does not climb high Like mine, to adorn the 
 walls ; it creeps heavily along the ground. It is 
 such a mean-looking plant." 
 
 " We shall not think it mean in the season of 
 ripening," observed Nelly. 
 
 " Ah, here comes Lubin ! " cried Matty; "he was 
 
 late for breakfast, as usual Good-morning, my lazy 
 
 brother. Do you know what has become of Dick?" 
 
 "Not I," answered Lubin, with a yawn. 
 
 " Perhaps he has been working at his cottage
 
 48 BREAKING DOWN. 
 
 already," said Nelly, "and has been studying the 
 ladder of Spelling. Just wait till I fetch the can of 
 paste — we'll put Attention into several little pots, 
 and all begin papering our walls together." 
 
 Nelly soon brought the paste, which she had kept 
 during the night at house Needful. As Lubin and 
 his sisters went towards the group of cottages, they 
 heard the cheerful voice of Dick calling to them 
 from the inside of his own. 
 
 " Come in here with you, and I'll show you some- 
 thing worth the seeing." 
 
 "Why, Dick," exclaimed Matty, who was the 
 first to enter, " you don't mean to say that you 
 have papered half your parlour already !" 
 
 " I don't say it, but you may see it," said 
 Dick. 
 
 "What wonderful progress you have made !" 
 
 " I should say that I have," returned Dick, with 
 a mighty self-satisfied air, as he looked around his 
 parlour, already quite gay with the Robinson Crusoe 
 pattern. "I've done more, too, than you can see," 
 he added, striking his hand on the ladder of Spell- 
 ing, which he had placed by the wall ; " I've learned 
 every sentence in this ladder as perfectly as any 
 man can learn them, and can now climb to the very 
 top with the greatest safety and ease." 
 
 Matty and Lubin looked on their clever brother
 
 BREAKING DOWN. 48 
 
 with eyes in which admiration seemed mixed with 
 a little envy. 
 
 " But how could you paper the room without 
 paste?" exclaimed Nelly; "I had charge of the 
 whole supply." 
 
 "My dear simple sister," replied Dick, "you 
 don't suppose that all the paste in the world is held 
 in your can, or that no other kind is to be had. I 
 took a stroll yesterday evening with my acquaint- 
 ance, young Pride, and he told me of a first-iate 
 paste called Emulation, showed me where to get it, 
 and helped me to lay in a capital store. You've no 
 notion how pleasantly it made me get on with my 
 work. I believe I shall paper all my four rooms 
 before you have finished a single one of yours." 
 
 " Oh, let me have some of your pastel" cried Matty. 
 
 " Have it and welcome," said Dick ; "it's cheap, 
 and there's plenty for all. I don't know what ia 
 making our little Nelly look so serious and grave." 
 
 " Oh, Dick," said the child, in a liesitating tone, 
 " did not dear mother warn us to have nothing to 
 do with Pride?" 
 
 "He's a jolly good fellow !" cried Dick. 
 
 " But mother forbade us to keep company with 
 him." 
 
 "Really, Nelly," said Dick, rather sharply, "I'm 
 old enoug'. to choose my own ftiends."
 
 60 BEKAKING DOWN. 
 
 " But if Pride should prove to be not a friend but 
 an enemy ? Oh, dear brother, I should be afraid to 
 use anything that Pride recommends." 
 
 Dick burst into a laugh. " Use what you like, 
 poor, patient, plodding little pussy ; leave me to 
 follow my own ways. You've not resolved, as 1 
 have, to win the crown of Success. You were 
 never made to shine, unless it be like some little 
 taper, giving its quiet light in a cottage ; while I 
 mean to dazzle the world some day, like the erup- 
 tion of a splendid volcano." 
 
 " A precious lot of mischief you may do," observed 
 Lubin ; " better be a sober taper in a cottage, that 
 cheers and gives light to some one, than a blazing 
 volcano, that makes a grand show indeed, but leaves 
 ruins and ashes behind it." 
 
 "Every one to his liking!" cried Dick, nimbly 
 mounting the ladder, and spelling over the sentences 
 so fast that his hearers could hardly follow him. 
 Doubtless he meant to show off his talent, but, in 
 his eagerness to be admired, he forgot — who can 
 wonder that he did so ? — the right spelling of one 
 little word. Down he fell crack on the floor, the 
 moment that he put his foot on the poney ! 
 
 Up jumped Dick in a second, not hurt indeed, 
 but a good deal mortified, especially as Lubui 
 laughed, and Matty began to titter.
 
 BREAKING DOWN. SI 
 
 " Here we go up, up, up, 
 
 Here we go down, down, down, oh I 
 Thiit is clever Dick's way 
 
 Of winning the silver crown, oh 1" 
 
 cried Liibin, bis fat sides shaking with mirth. 
 
 "I would not stand that from him 1 " exclaimed 
 a voice from without, and the shadow of Pride, a 
 beetle-browed, black-haired, ill-favoured lad, now 
 darkened the doorway of Dick, 
 
 "I'll stand no impudence!" cried Dick in a pas- 
 sion, and, dashing with clenched fist up to Lubin, 
 he knocked him down with a blow. 
 
 "Give it him well '" shouted Pride. 
 
 But Nelly rushed forward in haste, and threw 
 herself between her two brothers. "Oh, don't, 
 don't!" she cried in distress; "remember our 
 mother, remember the love which we all should beai 
 to one another ! It was wrong in Lubin to laugh 
 — but oh, please — please don't beat him any more." 
 
 " I'll beat him in another way !" exclaimed Dick, 
 who was, perhaps, a little ashamed of having struck 
 his younger brother; "I'll beat him at climbing 
 this ladder, — one fall shall never daunt me!" and once 
 more he ascended the steps, spelling without a single 
 blunder, till, on the very topmost round, he waved 
 his hand in triumph. 
 
 "I hope you're not hurt?" whispered Nelly to 
 Lubin, who was slowly rising from the ground.
 
 52 BREAKING DOWN. 
 
 The boy turned gloomily away. 
 
 " You don't want her, do you, to cuddle and pel 
 you as if you were a great big baby ? " said Pride. 
 " I wonder you don't go to your own cottage, and 
 shut yourself up quietly there." 
 
 " I'll go and have nothing more to do with any 
 of them," muttered Lubiu, pushing Nelly aside, and 
 leaving the cottage of Dick in a mood by no means 
 amiable. 
 
 Nelly sighed ; and as it appeared that she could 
 at present be of no more use to her brothers, she 
 quietly took her portion of Attention, and went to 
 paper her own little room. 
 
 I shall not tell of all her difficulties and troubles, 
 nor how, when using the ladder of Spelling, she 
 found it several times give way, and drop her down 
 on the floor. The process of learning is a slow one, 
 as every one is likely to know who has done enough 
 of the papering work to be able to read this book ; — 
 and as for that troublesome ladder, A. L. 0. E. will 
 not venture to say that she has never had a tumble 
 from it herself I need only mention, as regards 
 lame Nelly, that in the end, after days and weeks 
 of patient labour, her house was very neatly papered 
 indeed. 
 
 Matty had far less trouble. The ladder of Spell- 
 ing seemed made on purpose to suit her convemence;
 
 BREAKING DOWN. 53 
 
 she mounted the steps with greater ease than even 
 the active Dick could do. Her walk were soon 
 covered with fairies ; but, as Lubin observed, no one 
 could think the cottage of Head well furnished with 
 a paper so poor and thin, — you could almost see the 
 bricks through it. Matty was, however, well 
 pleased ; and even, in the blindness of self-love, had 
 some Hopes of the silver crown. Pride flattered her 
 skill and her quickness, and was always a welcome 
 guest at her cottage as well as in Dick's. Neither 
 the brother nor the sister yet knew the evils that 
 might arise from their using the paste of Emulation, 
 
 And how fared poor Lubin meantime ? He 
 worked slowly, by fits and starts, whenever the 
 humour was on him, but it seemed to his brother 
 and sisters as if his walls would never be papered. 
 Nelly, after her own day's work, would carry the 
 ladder to Lubin, but he constantly refused to use it. 
 
 "What nonsense it is," he would angrily say, 
 "to have words sounded in one way, and spelt in 
 another. I wish that the fellow who made that 
 ladder had been well ducked in the brook of Bother." 
 
 " But as it has been made, and we've no other," 
 observed Nelly, "would it not be wise to make the 
 best of it ? " 
 
 By her gentle persuasion Lubin more than once 
 attempted to mount the first step, but it always
 
 64 BRKAXING DOWN. 
 
 gave way beneath him ; he never could remember,, 
 of the to, too, and two, which was the right one to 
 use. 
 
 At last, catching up the ladder in despair, Lubiu 
 flung it out of his door. 
 
 " Let it go — I should like to break it to bits and 
 make a bonfire of it ! " he cried ; "1 can paper my 
 rooms without it." 
 
 "Oh, no; not the upper parts," suggested Nelly. 
 
 " I don't care for the upper parts, I'll leave them 
 as they are," answered Lubin. " If the bricks and 
 mortar are ugly, no one need look at them, say I." 
 
 " But, Lubin," exclaimed Matty, who had just 
 come in, "you wiU be quite ashamed of your house 
 if it be furnished worse than a ploughboy's." 
 
 " It wiU do veiy well," replied Lubin. " I hate 
 this papering nonsense, and I wish tliat Mr. Learn- 
 ing had been far enough away, rather than come to 
 plague us poor children with his tiresome Heading 
 and SpeUing ! "
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MR. learning's visit. 
 
 [T must not be supposed that during the time 
 which it took to paper the cottages, other 
 I things were neglected ; that Plain-work 
 and Fancy-work were not watered, or that 
 frequent shopping expeditions were not 
 made to the town of Education. My history is by 
 no means a journal of each day's proceedings, but 
 only an account of some incidents that seem most 
 worthy of note. 
 
 I wish that I could tell my young readers that 
 Dick frankly owned himself sorry for having knocked 
 down poor Lubin. Perhaps he would have done so, 
 for he had a kind and generous disposition, but for 
 the evil influence of Pride. This dark companion was 
 almost always now at the elbow of Dick, filling him 
 with notions of his own importance, making him 
 look down upon every one who was not so shai-p as 
 liimself From cottage to cottage Pride moved, noM
 
 * 
 
 56 ME. LEARNTNG'S VISIT. 
 
 putting in Lubin's mind gloomy, angry feelings to- 
 wards his brother; now fiatteriug the vanity of Matty, 
 till she thought herself a perfect model of beauty 
 and almost too good to keep company with her 
 lame little sister Nelly. Pride did not fail also to try 
 to put evil into Nelly's heart, but she never would 
 let him converse with her; she remembered the 
 words of her mother, and shunned the dark tempter 
 who leads so many astrav. 
 
 " I wonder," said Pride one day to Matty as she 
 was watering her Fancy-work plant, — "I wonder 
 why a lovely young creature like you should not 
 spend more of Time's money upon dress." 
 
 Matty giggled and blushed, and said that she 
 feared that there was not such a person as a good 
 milliner to be found in all the town of Education. 
 
 " Well," said Pride, " I think that I can help you 
 to find one whom no one has ever excelled in this 
 important line of business. There is a distant rela- 
 tion of my own, Miss Folly, who is wonderfully 
 quick with her fingers, and makes all sorts of elegant 
 things. Lady Fashion has her so often with her at 
 her fine town-house, that it is clear that she regards 
 Miss Folly almost in the light of a friend, and would 
 not know how to get on without her. Folly is par- 
 ticularly anxious to employ her art in hiding any 
 changes made by age. T have known an old lady
 
 MR. learning's visit. 57 
 
 dressed up by her with wig, rouge, and a low muslin 
 dress, fastened up with bunches of roses, whom you 
 really would have taken, at least at a distance, for 
 some lovely young creature of twenty ! " 
 
 "Oh, could you not introduce me to Miss Folly!" 
 exclaimed Matty ; "if she could so beautify an ugly 
 old lady, what would she do for a young girl like me!" 
 
 " I will bring her here with the greatest pleasure," 
 replied Pride; and glancing at Matty's dress, he added, 
 " From the elegant style of your attire, I should have 
 really imagined that you had long ago known Miss 
 Folly." 
 
 When Dick had almost finished his papering, and 
 Matty was far advanced with hers, the children re- 
 ceived one day a visit from Mr. Learning, who came 
 to observe their progress. Nelly was so hard at 
 work in her spare room, that she did not hear his 
 step, and was a little startled when she felt a heavy 
 hand laid on her shoulder. 
 
 " Don't be afraid," said Mr. Learning kindly, " go 
 quietly on with your work, ' Slow and sure ' is 
 your motto, I see; what you do is done neatly and 
 nicely." 
 
 Nelly looked up with a pleased smile. She had 
 never expected to receive a word of praise from the 
 tall stately gentleman in black, who lived upon 
 paper and ink.
 
 58 MR LEARNINO*S VISIT. 
 
 Mr. Learning then proceeded to Matty's cottage. 
 Matty, who happened to be twining flowers in her 
 beautiful hair, started up, and, in a little confusion, 
 greeted her guardian with a courtesy. 
 
 He glanced round the cottage for awhile in silence. 
 Matty thought that he must be admiring the quick- 
 ness with which she had papered her walls ; his 
 first words disappointed her not a little. 
 
 " You have made a great mistake in not choosing 
 a better and stronger paper ; labour is thrown away 
 upon this. However quickly you may get over 
 your work, no one will ever think a dwelling well- 
 furnished whose walls are covered with nothing but 
 fairies." 
 
 "Stupid, solemn, cross-grained old critic as he is!" 
 thought Matty ; " I knew that he and I would never 
 agree together. I paper my walls to please my own 
 taste, and snap my fingers at Learning !" 
 
 The grave guardian then stalked slowly across 
 the little plot of ground which divided the boys' 
 cottages from those of the girls. Though Dick's was 
 just opposite to Matty's, Mr. Learning chose to cross 
 over first to Lubin's. 
 
 The boy, buried in a deep slumber, lay snoring 
 upon the floor, quite unconscious tliat any one had 
 entered. With great disgust Mr. Learning looked 
 around on one of the most untidy rooms that his
 
 MR, LEAKNINU 8 VISIT. 59 
 
 eyes had ever beheld. It waa only papered to such 
 a height as the arm of the fat boy could reach, and 
 even the little that had been done had been finished 
 in the very worst way. So small a quantity of the 
 paste of Attention had been used, that the papei 
 was already falling off; odd pieces were lying 
 here and there, and the most careless observer 
 must have seen that he was in the dwelling of a 
 sluggard. 
 
 Mr. Learning said nothing at all ; he did not even 
 waken the sleeping boy, though he felt a little in- 
 clined to give him a poke with his boot. The 
 stately guardian took out from his pocket a piece 
 of chalk, and wrote on the rough bricks above the 
 paper, in letters half a foot high, the single word 
 DUNCE, then turning round on his heel, he quitted 
 the cottage of Lubin. 
 
 It was perhaps intentionally that the sage had 
 arranged to make his visit to Dick the last. Here 
 there was much to satisfy and please his philosoj)hic 
 eye, and Mr. Learning's grave face relaxed mto a 
 smile as pleasant as if a whole dozen of copy-books 
 had been spread out for dinner before him. 
 
 " You're a clever fellow," said he ; and Dick 
 made a very low bow, pleased but not at all sur- 
 prised by the compliment. 
 
 "I should not wonder if, some day," pursued Mr.
 
 60 Mfi LKARNING'S VISIT. 
 
 Learning, " I should be able to introduce you to my 
 friends the Ologies." 
 
 "Pray, who may they be?" asked Dick; "I never 
 heard of them before." 
 
 " They are of a remarkably superior family, that 
 has been settled for a length of years in the higher 
 part of the town of Education. There are a num- 
 ber of brothers, and they are all remarkable men. 
 There's— 
 
 " The Ology, who keeps a religious library ; 
 
 " Myth Ology, who deals in books describing the 
 superstitions of heathen nations ; 
 
 " Ge Ology, whoso collection of marbles, stones, 
 various earths, and old fossils makes him famous ; 
 
 " Phren Ology, who professes to tell the charac- 
 ters of people by feeling the bumps on their heads ; 
 
 " Chron Ology, who manufactures nails that are 
 known by the name of dates ; 
 
 " Conch Ology, who keeps a museum with a vast 
 variety of shells ; 
 
 " Entom Ology, who has another filled with 
 butteriiies and other insects; 
 
 " Ichthy Ology, whose taste leads him to make a 
 collection of fish ; 
 
 " Zo Ology, who has a large garden with all kinds 
 of creatures in it." 
 
 " What a very large family it is !" exclaimed Dick,
 
 MR. lrarning's visit. 61 
 
 who had begun to think that these Ologies would 
 never come to an end. 
 
 "I have not mentioned all," replied Learning. 
 " But all are intimate friends of mine, and I invite 
 them all every year to a feast in my house in 
 London." 
 
 "I wonder what you give thera to eat !" thought 
 Dick, "and whether these Ologies have all your 
 own taste for paper and ink!" He had a little awe 
 for Mr. Learning, so did not utter the reflection 
 aloud. 
 
 " You shall know them all some day," continued 
 the guardian ; " they will help you to fortune and 
 to fame!" 
 
 "Why not know them at once?" cried Dick. 
 
 Mr. Learning smiled again; but this time hia 
 smile was not so pleasant. " You are by far too 
 young," he replied, "and have something else to 
 think of at present. Your cottage is nearly papered, 
 I see, but you have as yet not a single grate within 
 it. 
 
 "I'm going to the ironmonger's tliis very day," 
 cried Dick; "there's no use in waiting for my 
 brother and sisters, they are so slow at their work. 
 I shall be hand and glove with all the Ologies be- 
 fore Lubiu has covered his ugly bricks!" 
 
 What was Mr. Learning looking at so attentively
 
 62 MR. LEARNINO'S VISIT. 
 
 through his spectacles, as Dick uttered this sounding 
 boast? He had caught a glimpse of Pride, who, 
 upon his entrance, had hidden himself behind the 
 open door, and who was there listening to the con- 
 versation between Dick and his guardian. 
 
 " Let me give you one word of advice, my boy," 
 said Mr. LeaiTiing, in a serious tone; "go to the 
 town of Education as often as you will, and buy 
 what you may, but never let Pride go with you. 
 He is a safe companion for no one ; and the better 
 that you are acquainted with me, the less cause you 
 will find to cherish him ! " and with this quiet warn- 
 ing, Mr. Learning quitted the cottage. 
 
 " Ah, Pride ! " cried Dick, as the dark one sneaked 
 out of his hiding-place behind the door ; " you find 
 that the saying is true, ' Listeners never hear good of 
 themselves.' " 
 
 Pride looked offended and annoyed. 
 
 "Never mind, old friend," continued Dick; "I 
 won't attend to a word that he said, for I find you 
 as pleasant a companion as any that ever I knew. 
 I'm just going off' to the town to buy grates from 
 Arithmetic the Ironmonger, and if you like to come 
 with me, I can but say that you'll be heartily wel- 
 come." 
 
 Pride needed no second invitation, and the two 
 soon started together.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 dick's mishap. 
 
 *ESSRS. Aritlimetic and Mathematics were 
 large manufacturers of ironware and 
 , machinery of every kmd, of which they 
 kept an immense assortment continually 
 upon sale in a shop attached to the pre- 
 mises. They were said to be near con- 
 nections as well as partners in business. Mr. Arith- 
 metic had the name of a hard man, who looked 
 shai-ply after every farthing, though not quite so 
 hard perhaps as his partner Mr. Mathematics. And 
 yet his workmen, who were all called ciphers, One, 
 Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight and Nine, 
 never complained of their master. They said that 
 they always received their just due, and as long as 
 they kept in their own proper place, had never any 
 reason to grumble. 
 
 Mr. Mathematics was a great philosopher, and 
 shut himself up a good deal, that he might have
 
 64 dick's mishap. 
 
 leisure to invent new and curious machines. He 
 did not show himself to customers so often as Mr. 
 Arithmetic, who was the soul of the business, keep- 
 ing all ""he workmen in order, scarcely ever out of 
 his shop, and ready to serve all the world. 
 
 The Ironmongeiy establishment was on the top of 
 a steep clifi' that rose on the right side of the town 
 of Education, just beyond Mr, Reading's large shop ; 
 and thither, on that fine summer's day, Dick and 
 Pride wended their way. 
 
 " We must go up here," observed Dick, as they 
 reached a narrow staircase cut in the cHfF, and 
 known by the name of the Multiplication stairs. I 
 should not wonder if my readers had run up it many 
 a time ; if so, I need not tell them that it consists 
 of twelve flights of steps, with twelve steps in every 
 flight ; that the first and second are so easy that a 
 baby might almost toddle up them ; that the twc 
 next are rather more steep, while the fifth is easier 
 again ; that the seventh and eighth are perhaps the 
 worst ; while the tenth flight quite tempts one to 
 run, it is so delightfully smooth ! 
 
 Dick was so active and vigorous a boy, that he 
 mounted up to the top without even stopping to 
 take breath. He had thence a fine view of the dis- 
 tant landscape ; but what interested him most was 
 to look down on the town which lay at his feet, and
 
 Miss Folly went jabbering on : " Just try that bonnet 
 
 on your head." 
 
 i''''s:e 73-
 
 DICK'S MISHAP. 
 
 6a 
 
 Bee the gilded names of the different Ologies shin- 
 ing on the fronts of their dwellings. There was 
 Chemistry's beautiful shop too in view, with lovely- 
 coloured glass ja7s in its windows ; and Botany's 
 vast garden not far off; bright with the hues of a 
 thousand flowers. A fine i)lace to look at, and a 
 good place to dwell in, is this town of Education. 
 
 An immense building was now before Dick, though 
 rather dull and unattractive in appearance; the 
 names of Messrs. Arithmetic and Mathematics were 
 in large black letters over the door. Dick entered, 
 followed by Pride, and viewed with astonishment 
 the vast variety of iron utensils around him. He 
 could scarcely stop to look at the simple grates, 
 called sums, which were the things that he came 
 for, his eye was attracted by so many articles more 
 curious and more interesting. There were big rules 
 of-three kettles, simple, inverse, and compound; 
 reduction grindmg-machines, and tables of weights 
 of every species and size. There were innumerable 
 instruments of various kinds that were known by 
 the name of fractions ; Dick did not exactly know 
 their use, but they looked like instruments of torture. 
 In an inner compartment of the place gi-eat machines 
 were fizzing and whizzing, pistons rising and falling, 
 wheels rolling and mmbling; that part belonged 
 especiaUy to Mr. Mathematics, and many of his 
 
 («6) 5
 
 M DICK S MISHAP. 
 
 partner's customers never entered that wing of the 
 building. 
 
 " What do you require here ? " said Mr. Arith- 
 metic, a man dressed in iron-gi-ay clothes, with a face 
 which looked dry and hard as one of his own kettles, 
 above which was a shock of iron-gi-ay hair, which 
 gave him rather a formidable appearance. 
 
 " I want to buy four little grates, to put in my 
 house," said Dick, standing with his hand on his 
 hip, and speaking in an easy tone, to show that he 
 was not afi-aid of Mr. Arithmetic. 
 
 " I understand : my four first sums — Addition, 
 Multiplication, Division, and Subtraction ; " and the 
 learned ironmonger pointed to a pile of some hun- 
 dreds of the articles required by Dick. 
 
 " They are such simple, light little things," 
 observed the boy, " that I'll carry off a couple with 
 ease." 
 
 "As far as mere weight goes," said Pride, "you 
 might bear away all four at once ; but they are rather 
 awkward to hold, and, if I understood you aright, 
 you are obliged to carry all your purchases yourself." 
 
 "Ay," observed Mr. Arithmetic with a grim smile, 
 " when the Prince of Wales himself came to shop in 
 our town, he was obliged to be his own porter. 
 Governesses and tutors may pack up the loads, but 
 the pupils have the carrying after all."
 
 dick's mishap. 67 
 
 " T certainly could manage two grates at once," 
 observed Dick. 
 
 " I would advise you to be content with one at a 
 f.ime," said Arithmetic, "and come for the second 
 to-morrow." 
 
 "Pick me out four good ones, not too small," 
 cried Dick, trying to speak with an air of command ; 
 " I'll walk in further with my comrade, and have a 
 look at yonder machines." 
 
 " Don't go too near those in work," said Mr. Arith- 
 metic to Dick ; " little boys may get into trouble if 
 they meddle with things that they don't understand." 
 
 " Perhaps I can understand rather more than he 
 supposes," muttered Dick, walking with head erect, 
 and nose in the air, and a sort of swaggering step, 
 which he probably thought best suited for a genius. 
 
 He passed on between rows of strange machines, 
 whose use he could scarcely guess at ; but he was 
 ashamed to show any ignorance while Pride was 
 close at his side. At last Dick stopped before 
 a turning-lathe, winch had been made by a man 
 called Euclid, and watched with interest and surprise 
 all the curious articles called problems, which a 
 clever workman wfis every few minutes forming with 
 the circular saw. 
 
 " That does not look such hard work after all," said 
 Dick; "the man has only to hold up the wood to
 
 68 DICK 8 MISHAP. 
 
 that curious whirling machine, and it cuts it right 
 into shape in a second. I think that I could do 
 that myself." 
 
 " I should not advise you to try," said the work- 
 man, as he stopped his lathe for a short time, to go 
 and look for a piece of hard wood. Pride glanced 
 meaningly at Dick, and the boy's foot was in a minute 
 on the board whose motion turned the circular saw. 
 
 " Give me that problem, I'll show you what I can 
 do ! " cried the eager Dick to his prompter ; the 
 next sound that he uttered was a yell, as the saw 
 cut one of his fingers almost to the bone ! 
 
 The cry drew Mr. Aiithnietic to the spot. " Is 
 the hand off? " was his cold hard question. 
 
 Poor Dick held up his bleeding finger. 
 
 " You've got your lesson cheaply," said the iron- 
 gray man; "you had better know your own 
 powers a little better before you meddle with mattei-s 
 like this. Wrap up your finger in your handker- 
 chief, take up your grate, and be gone." 
 
 Much mortified by his morning's adventure, poor 
 Dick in silence obeyed, not making an attempt to 
 burden himself then with anything but a simple 
 sum of Addition. It would have been well indeed 
 for the boy if the experience of that day had cured 
 him of his foolish presumption, and made him give 
 up the company of Pride,
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 MISS FOLLY. 
 
 [H, dear ! how frightful this great big DUNCE 
 
 looks upon my wall !" cried poor Lubin ; 
 
 " and how shall I ever get rid of it ? It's 
 
 always staring me in the face, and telling 
 
 tales of me to every one that comes into 
 
 the room ! What shall I do with the ugly thing ? " 
 
 " Cover it over, dear Lubin," said Nelly, who felt 
 
 for her brother's distress. 
 
 "Does it not look hideous?" cried Lubin, look- 
 ing round with a woe-begone face. 
 
 " It does look hideous indeed, and, if I were you, 
 I would paper it over directly. No one could see it 
 then." 
 
 "It's too high for me to reach," sighed Lubin, 
 
 " Yes, unless you were to use — " Nelly hesitated, 
 
 for she knew Lubin' s dislike to the ladder of Spelling. 
 
 " I know what you mean," said Lubin gloomily ; 
 
 "but I won't use that ladder just now. Perhaps —
 
 70 MISS FOLLY. 
 
 there's no saying — perhaps some day I may learn to 
 spell without stumbling, and get rid of that hateful 
 word DUNCE," 
 
 " No time like the present," suggested little Nelly, 
 with a smile. 
 
 " Not to-day, I say ; I'm not in the humour ; I've 
 no fancy for a tumble on the floor." 
 
 " Plave you a fancy, then, to go with me to 
 Mr. Arithmetic's, to get grates for our little fire- 
 places ?" 
 
 " That's where Dick cut his finger yesterdaj'' ? " 
 
 "Yes; poor Dick!" exclaimed Nelly; "but we 
 won't go so near to the machines." 
 
 " I'll keep at arms' length from all problems," 
 cried Lubin. " Well, if you are going to the iron- 
 monger's shop, we may just as well go together. Is 
 Dick to be of the party ? " 
 
 "No," replied Nelly; "yesterday's mishap had 
 made him rather dislike Arithmetic, though the 
 accident did not happen in his part of the building. 
 But I hope that Matty will come ; I was just going 
 to invite her." 
 
 Casting one more vexed glance at the great dunce 
 on his wall, Lubin sallied forth from his cottage 
 with Nelly. As they crossed over the little green 
 space to Matty's door, they heard such a jabber of 
 voices within her cottage, that one might have
 
 BfllSS FOLLY. 71 
 
 thought that the little dwelling was full of chatter- 
 ing mag])ies. 
 
 In the parlour appeared Matty on her knees, ex- 
 amining with eager praises the contents of a large 
 box of millinery open before her ; while, talking so 
 fast that she could hardly be understood, a curious 
 creature stood beside her, whose dress, manner, and 
 appearance, amazed both Lubin and Nelly. 
 
 The stranger was by nature very small and mean 
 in appearance ; but she had puffed out lier dress with 
 crinoline and hoops to a size so immense, that she 
 half filled up Matty's little jmrlour, and it was hard 
 to imagine how she had contrived to squeeze herself 
 through the doorway. She had seven very full 
 tlounces, each of a different colour, adorned with 
 flowers and beads. Her waist had been pulled in 
 very tightly indeed, till it resembled that of a wasp; 
 and a quantity of gaudy jewellery shone on her neck 
 and ai-ms. But tlie head-dress of Miss Folly — for 
 this was she — was still more peculiar than her figure. 
 An immense plume of peacock's feathers stuck up- 
 right in her frizzled red hair, which was all drawn 
 back from her forehead, to show as much as possible 
 of her face. Her gi-eat goggle eyes were rolling 
 about with a pei-petual motion to match that of her 
 tongue ; and her cheeks, rouged till they looked like 
 peonies, were dotted over with black bits of plaster
 
 72 M188 FOLLY. 
 
 I don't know, dear reader, whether Miss Folly be an 
 acquaintance of yours ; if so, I hope that you will 
 excuse my saying that, notwithstanding her rouge 
 and her jewels, I consider her a perfect fright. 
 
 But here let us make no mistake. I know that 
 there are certain persons who confuse between Miss 
 Folly and Miss Fun, and fancy that these are names 
 for one and the same person. I assure you that 
 this is not the case ; FoUv and Fun are perfectly 
 distinct. I own that laughing, singing, playful little 
 Fun, is rather a pet of my own ; she and I have had 
 pleasant hours together ; nay, I have actually con- 
 sulted her when writing this very book. It is true 
 that she needs to be kept in order, for her spirits 
 get sometimes a little too wild ; she must be for- 
 bidden to do any mischief, or give pain to any crea- 
 ture living. But when under good control, Fun is 
 a bright and charming companion, especially to the 
 young ; and I delight in hearing her merry laugh, 
 and in watching her sparkling eyes. But as for 
 Folly, I cannot abide her ; her mirtli only makes 
 me sad. Perhaps, before they lay down my book, 
 my readers may more clearly distinguish what quali- 
 ties make Miss Folly unlike that general favourite 
 —Fun. 
 
 It was clear that Matty Desley was very well 
 satisfied with her companion, and she turned over
 
 MISS FOLLY. 73 
 
 the wares with delight, as Miss Folly went jabber- 
 ing on, — 
 
 " There, now ; that's something that I can quite 
 recommend ; it's decidedly d la mode, worn by all 
 the duchesses, countesses, baronesses, and lady mayor- 
 esses, at all the balls, routs, conversaziones, and con- 
 certs given this season ! And — yes, just try that 
 bonnet on your head, and look at yourself in this 
 glass" — (FoUy always carries a glass) — " doesn't it 
 show off the channing face ? — doesn't it suit the 
 pretty complexion ? — doesn't it make you look quite 
 bewitching, a lovely little fairy as you are?" 
 
 "Matty !" cried Lubin, the moment Folly paused 
 to take breath, " we're going to Anthmetic the iron- 
 monger ; will you come with us and buy a new 
 
 grate ?" 
 
 " Multiplication is a vexation, 
 Addition is as bad ; 
 The Rule of Three doth puzzle me, 
 And Fractions make me mad!" 
 
 cried Folly, rolling her goggle eyes, and thinking her- 
 self quite a wit. 
 
 " Was it not at Arithmetic's factory that Dick 
 hurt himself yesterday ? " said Matty. 
 
 "Hurt himself, did he?" interrupted Folly, who 
 seemed resolved to take the largest share of the con- 
 versation. " Why did he not come to me for a salve ? 
 Fvfe the best salve that ever was invented — Flattery
 
 74 MISS FOLLY. 
 
 salve, wan-anted to heal all manner of bruises and 
 sores ; yes, headaches, and heartaclies, and all kinds 
 of aches. It's patronized by all the heads of the 
 nobility and gentiy. I've ti-ied it myself many a 
 time, and always find it a perfect cure ! When I've 
 the high-sti-ikes (I'm very subject to the high-strikes), 
 I just rub a little on the tip of my ear, and it calms 
 down my nerves like a charm. I wish you would 
 try it !" she cried, turning to Lubin, 
 
 " I'm not subject to high-strikes, and don't want 
 Flattery salve," said the boy, in his blunt, simple 
 manner ; "all I want is to know whether you, Matty, 
 will go with us to the town of Education." 
 
 " I can't go to-day !" cried Matty, annoyed at 
 being inteiTupted by her brother and sister ; " I shall 
 want every minute of Time's money to buy some of 
 Miss Folly's pretty things !" 
 
 " Leave Miss Folly, I should say," cried Lubin, 
 who had no want of plain common-sense ; "a plea- 
 sant, good-humoured smile makes a face look nicer 
 than all that flummery there." 
 
 " Dear Matty, the days go fast," said Nelly, "and 
 you know that our mother expects to find our cot- 
 tages well furnished on her retuiu. I realJy think 
 that we've no Time money to spare upon what can 
 be of no possible use." 
 
 " What would my Lady Fashion, my most par-
 
 MIS3 FOLLY, 76 
 
 ticular friend, say if she could hear you ?" exclaimed 
 Folly, who had been struggling to get in a word, 
 much talking being very characteristic of Folly ; 
 " she — La<ly Fashion I mean — is always for the or- 
 namental ; the useful she leaves to the vulgar. As 
 for your sister there" (Folly only condescended to 
 speak to Matty), " she knows nothing, I see, of 
 rtounces, furbelows, fringes, and flowers ; she'd put 
 on a bonnet back part forward, or a shawl wrong 
 aide out ; and she looks like a whipping-post, or a 
 thread-paper, or a — " 
 
 " Oh, stop that jabber, will you !" cried Lubin, 
 putting his hands to his ears. 
 
 " Come with us, Matty," entreated Nelly, " and 
 buy something solid and useful. Summer will soon 
 be over, and when cold weather comes, what should 
 we do without grates ?" 
 
 " I can't come, and I won't come !" cried Matty 
 pettisldy ; " don't you see that I'm exceedingly 
 busy?" 
 
 " Come away, Nelly," said Lubin ; " leave her to 
 her fine Miss Folly ; let her furnish her head, if she 
 likes it, with fairies, furbelows, and flounces!" 
 
 Off went the brother and sister, but they had 
 proceeded some way from the door before they got 
 beyond reach of the sound of Miss Folly's chattering 
 tongue.
 
 76 MISS FOLLY. 
 
 Down hill Puzzle, across brook Bother, along 
 Trouble lane, fat little Lubin and Nelly went very 
 sociably together. 
 
 " I don't think that you're as lame as you were," 
 said the boy. 
 
 "The way seems shorter than it did," observed 
 Nelly ; " but one feels the hill most when coming 
 back." 
 
 As the children passed Mr. Reading's fine shop, 
 little Alphabet peeped through the gi-ating, to the 
 no small annoyance of Lubin. 
 
 "Ha, ha! my brave fellow!" cried the dwarf, 
 " have you mounted the ladder of SpelKng, and have 
 you now come to jump over my head?" 
 
 Lubin did not answer, but quickened his pace. 
 He and his sister soon found themselves at the bot- 
 tom of Multiplication stairs. 
 
 " I wonder how we shall ever get up to the top ?" 
 thought lame Nelly, as, with rather a disconsolate 
 air, she glanced up the twelve flights of steps.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A VISIT TO ARITHMETIC. 
 
 T'S a dreadful pull up this staircase !" ex- 
 claimed Lubin, as panting and puffing he 
 'stopped half-way, his fat round face 
 flushed with fatigue till it looked almost 
 the colour of a cock's comb. 
 "It is dreadfully tiring !" sighed Nelly, pausing 
 a moment to take breath. 
 
 "It is worse than the ladder of Spelling!" cried 
 Lubin. "I vote that we go back at once." 
 
 " Oh no, dear Lubin !" said his sister, immediately 
 starting again on her weary ascent — " perseverance, 
 you know, conquers difficulties ;" and as she uttered 
 the words, the lame girl stumbled at that step seven 
 times eight. 
 
 " You'll never succeed," observed Lubin. 
 " I'll try again," said the patient Nelly ; and 
 slowly but steadily she mounted. 
 
 Her example encouraged her brother to follow.
 
 78 A VISIT TO ARITHMETia 
 
 " I say, Nelly," observed Lubin, " what a plague 
 all this education furnishing is ! What lucky dogs 
 those savages are who live in caves that want no 
 fittings, and who have never heard of Reading 
 papers, or ladders of Spelling, or this horrible Multi- 
 plication !" 
 
 Nelly could not help laughing. 
 
 " The very same thought was passing through 
 my head," said she ; " but I tried to drive it away, 
 for it seemed to be only fit for Miss Folly." 
 
 " Perhaps a cave might not be so very ])leasant," 
 rejoined Lubin. " But I wish that some good- 
 natured fairy could furnish these cottages of ours 
 with a stroke of her wand, and save us all this ter- 
 rible trouble." 
 
 "It would not be so good for us, I daresay," said 
 Nelly, stumbling again at nine times six. 
 
 " And wliy not ?" inquired her brother. 
 
 " Why," replied Nelly, as she rubbed her bruised 
 ankle, " I think that the trouble and pain serve to 
 exercise our patience and perseverance, and to make 
 us more fit to meet the trials which are sure to come 
 when we are older. Besides," she added, still 
 mounting as she spoke, "we take more pleasure in 
 that which has cost us trouble than in that which 
 we get with ease ; and it is real enjoyment to feel 
 that a difficulty has been overcome."
 
 A VISIT TO ARITHMETIC 79 
 
 •* Tm sure that we can have no pleasure from 
 this Multiplication stair." 
 
 " Oh yes, when we get to the top !" cried Nelly, 
 who had just reached the pleasant tenth flight, and 
 now went along it hand in hand with her brother 
 at a pace that was almost rapid. 
 
 " Hunah ! hurrah ! " shouted Lubin, not long 
 after, as he stood panting on the topmost step. 
 
 " Oh, what a charming view!" exclaimed Nelly 
 " I'm so glad that we persevered !" 
 
 " It's a tremendous big place, this town of Edu- 
 ca.tion," said Lubin, looking down from his height. 
 " I don't like the look of all those Ologies. I'm 
 afraid that a great lot of things are required for a 
 really well-furnished house." 
 
 " We have only to think of our grates at present," 
 said Nelly. " Please keep close beside me, Lubin ; 
 for I've heard that Mr. Arithmetic is a tembly hard 
 man, and I'm rather afraid to face him." 
 
 So again, hand in hand, the two children walked 
 into the big shop together, and looked in wonder, as 
 Dick had done, at the great heaps of goods within it. 
 
 " We won't go near that machinery part," whis- 
 pered Lubin. "One of these big thundering engines 
 would crack my poor head like a nutshell" 
 
 " What do you want?" asked the iron-gray man, 
 warning from l>ehind a great j)ile of c/wJ-scuttles.
 
 80 A VISIT TO AKITHMfiTIO. 
 
 Nelly squeezed Lubin's hand to make him speak 
 first, for she was a shy little gii'l. 
 
 " We each want four sum-grates, for four little fire- 
 places," said Lubin — "the very lightest that you can 
 give us. I should like some no bigger than my shoe." 
 
 " You're made of different metal from the young 
 fellow whom we had here yesterday," said Arith- 
 metic, looking down with some scorn at the fat 
 little boy. " You'll never cut your fingers by 
 meddhng with problems, I guess." 
 
 " You may answer for that," said Lubin. 
 
 Mr. Arithmetic, without further delay, produced 
 specimens of his four simplest kinds of sum grates, 
 like those from which Dick bad been supplied. 
 Lubin and Nelly soon chose Addition as their first 
 purchase from Arithmetic — a grate so small and so 
 light that even the little girl supported the burden 
 with tolerable ease. 
 
 " You must come back to-morrow for something 
 a little heavier," said Mr. Arithmetic. " Addition 
 is simple enough ; but Division needs a little greater 
 effort of strength." 
 
 " We've done grand things to-day," exclaimed 
 Lubin ; "it's time enough to think about to- 
 morrow." 
 
 " Oh, I will certainly come back then !" cried 
 Nelly, not a little pleased at her presen*, success.
 
 CHAPTER XITl. 
 
 THE WONDERFUL BOY. 
 
 [HAT cveniug Dick and his dark companion 
 Pride sat in his cottage together. The 
 boy looked out of spirits or out of temper 
 Perhaps his cut still pained him ; per- 
 liaps" the perpetual patter of the shower which was 
 falling made him gloomy and dull, for a violent rain 
 had come on, which continued during the whole of 
 that night. 
 
 " Who would have thought," said Pride, " that 
 lazy Lubin and lame Nelly would have mounted so 
 bravely to the top of Multiplication staircase, and 
 have carried back, safely over Bolher, such nice 
 little grates of Addition ? You must really look 
 sharp, Dick Desley, or they'll furnish their cottages 
 before you." 
 
 " Before me ! " exclaimed Dick, with a sneer. 
 " T could do more with my little finger than Lubin 
 with all his fat fist."
 
 82 THE WONDERFUL BOY. 
 
 " Certainly," observed Pride, " it would be an 
 intolerable disgrace to a clever fellow like you if 
 you let any one get before you. You are not one 
 who would endure to see another winning from you 
 the crown of Success." 
 
 " I'll never see tfiut," cried Dick, haughtily. " I 
 should like to know who has a chance against 
 me!" 
 
 " No one has the smallest chance against you, if 
 you only exert yourself," said Pride. " If I were 
 you I would put forth my powers, and do something 
 to astonish them all." 
 
 "I will!" cried Dick, with decision. " I'U go to 
 Arithmetic to-morrow, and bring back the three 
 remaining sum-grates all at once. But what 
 wretched weather we have this evening ! " he ex- 
 claimed ; "I'm afraid all the brightness of summer 
 is going. And what's that on my wall — that dull 
 stain as of damp, that seems creeping over my 
 paper ? " 
 
 " It is merely caused by the rairu I should think 
 nothing of it," said Pride. 
 
 But Dick did think something of the stain. He 
 Daw that it maiTed the beauty of that upon which 
 he had bestowed much diligent labour. 
 
 " I'll cross over to Nelly's cottage," he said, "and 
 see if the damp is staining hers also."
 
 THE WONDERFUL BOY. S3 
 
 Nelly was busy fixing in her grate. She looked 
 upon her brother with a smile. 
 
 " How kind to come and see me through the 
 rain!" 
 
 " I did not come to see you, but your paper. 
 How is this ? — there is not a damp spot upon it !" 
 
 " Nor on Lubin's neither," remarked Nelly. " But 
 I was with Matty just now, and the damp shows 
 sadly on her fairies." 
 
 " What on earth can make the difierence ?" cried 
 Dick, 
 
 " I do not know, unless — unless — " Nelly hesi- 
 tated before she added — " unless it be that both 
 Matty and you used the paste that Pride recom- 
 mended." 
 
 "That has nothing to do with it," said Dick, as 
 he quitted the cottage in displeasure. 
 
 But Nelly had been right in her guess. There 
 will be an ugly stain upon any work which we only 
 pursue with zeal because we want to outdo others 
 in it, 
 
 Dick did not make his appearance on the follow- 
 ing morning at the breakfast-table. The children 
 still took their meals at the house Needful till theii 
 cottages should be better prepared 
 
 " I am so glad that it has stopped raining," said 
 Nelly, when she had finished her breakfast. " I havp
 
 84 THE WONDERFUL BOY. 
 
 been wishmg for the weather to clear, for I promised 
 Mr. Arithmetic that I would go back for the grate 
 of Division. Matty, dear, you will come with us 
 to-day?" 
 
 Matty had come down to breakfast in a dress 
 almost as ridiculously fine as that worn by Miss 
 Folly herself She tossed her head, and re- 
 plied, — 
 
 "I've something better to do than to buy, or 
 carry, or scrub wretched sum-grates of Arithmetic. 
 I'm going out with Miss Folly, to be introduced to 
 some of her friends." 
 
 " But, Matty, the grates are quite necessary," 
 urged Nelly. " We are soon to take up our quarters 
 in our cottages, and sleep there as well as work. 
 What shall we do when the cold weather comes if 
 we've no means of having a fire ?" 
 
 " How shall we cook our dinners ?" asked Lubin, 
 " If there's one thing more useful in a house than 
 anything else, I should say it is a grate in the 
 kitchen." 
 
 " Oh, Miss Folly tells me never to look forward 
 to winter," cried Matty, " but just enjoy myself 
 while I can. So I am not going to plague myself 
 with either Addition or Division to-day. To look 
 after such vulgar things is only a shopkeeper's busi- 
 ums."
 
 THE WONDERFUL BOY, 86 
 
 " But what will mother say," persisted Nelly, "if 
 ghe find your cottage unfurnished ? " 
 
 "Unfurnished, indeed!" cried Matty. " It will 
 be far better furnished than yours. I mean to have 
 French mirrors, and Italian paintings, and German 
 glass and china. I shall get a tambourine also, and 
 perhaps some day a guitar. Miss Folly tells me 
 that Lady Fashion, her most particular friend, has 
 all these ; and though they make a fine show, they 
 are not so dear as one would think." 
 
 "They are all good and beautiful things, I dare- 
 say," began Nelly ; " but — " 
 
 " But cf rates must come before mirrors, and car- 
 pets before German china," laughed Lubin. " We 
 must buy what is needful first, and think of what 
 is pretty afterwards," 
 
 " That may be your way ; but it is not my way, 
 and it was never the way of Miss Folly," cried 
 Matty, as she flaunted out of the house. 
 
 " I wonder at Dick being so late," observed 
 Nelly ; "we ought to be ofi" to the town." 
 
 " He is not late, but early," said Lubin. " He 
 had had his breakfast, and started for the town of 
 Education, before I was out of my bed." 
 
 " I wish that he had waited for us," cried Nelly ; 
 " it is so nice to go through our work all together. 
 You and I had now better set ofil"
 
 80 THE WONDERFUL BOY. 
 
 " I'm going presently," replied Lubin. " I've 
 just five minutes to spare ; and I'm about to step 
 round to Amusement's bazaar, hard by here, to get 
 a few barley-sugar drops, to refresh me on my 
 wearisome walk." 
 
 " I think that you had better delay your visit to 
 the bazaar until you have done your business with 
 Mr. Arithmetic. Our mother's proverb, you know, 
 is, 'Duty first, and pleasure afterwards.' The sky 
 is dark, the weather uncertain ; we may be stopped 
 from going altogether if we do not start off" at once." 
 
 " I should like to be stopped altogether," said 
 Lubin, with a smile. " I should not care if I never 
 took another journey to the town of Education." 
 
 " What ! after all that you said to Matty about 
 the necessity of grates ? " 
 
 " Ah, yes ; they are needful enough, but they are 
 not needed just at this moment. You may go on ii 
 you like it, I'll get my sugar-drops first. Set off 
 now, I'll soon overtake you ; I won't spend much 
 time at Amusement's." 
 
 Nelly sighed, but she saw that there was no use 
 in further entreaty, so she set forth alone. The path 
 down hill was slippery and wet from the rain that 
 had fallen at night — a sister's kind word, or a 
 brother's strong arm, would have been a real comfort 
 aow to the lame little girl. Often and often did
 
 THE WONDERFUL BOY. 87 
 
 Nelly turn and look behind her, to see if Lubin were 
 not following after; but in vain she looked, not a 
 sign appeared on the hill of the fat little sluggard. 
 
 Nelly came to the stream of Bother. The brook 
 was muddy and swollen, and went racing on faster 
 than usual The stepping-stones were scarcely seen 
 above the brown waters that eddied around them, 
 
 " Oh dear, oh dear ; I wish that Lubin or Dick 
 were with me ! " cried poor Nelly, as she gave one 
 more anxious glance behind her. " It is miserable 
 to have to go alone across such a stream as this." 
 She put her little foot upon the first stone, she fancied 
 that it trembled beneath her weight — then on the 
 next, she was almost in the water. It was nothing 
 but a strong sense of duty that made the poor child 
 go on. With trembling steps and dizzy brain she 
 proceeded on her dangerous way, and great was her 
 relief when she reached in safety the farther shore. 
 
 "One difficulty is happily past, but how shall I 
 enter the great town all alone ? how shall I climb 
 the wearisome stair ? how shall I face cold stern Mr. 
 Arithmetic, with no brother or sister to back me ? " 
 such were the reflections of Nelly as she made her 
 way slowly along the muddy lane of Trouble. Some 
 of my readers may have experienced what a dull 
 and discouraging thing it is to do business all by 
 one's self in the town of Education.
 
 88 THE WONDERFUL BOY. 
 
 One difEciilty, however, Nelly found less great 
 than she had expected it to be. It is a curious fact, 
 but well known to all, that those who have once 
 mounted Multiplication staircase never complain any 
 more of its steepness. Nelly ascended it without a 
 single stumble, till, when she had almost reached the 
 top, she met her brother Dick coming down from 
 Mr. Arithmetic's. What was her astonishment to 
 see the strong boy laden witli three grates fastened 
 together. Division, Subtraction, Multiplication, placed 
 one on the top of another ! 
 
 " Dick, you can never carry all that at once ! ''" 
 
 " I do carry all at once, as you may see," replied 
 Dick, with a smile of triumph ; " I'd advise you to 
 get out of my way, lest I knock you over the stair- 
 case." 
 
 " Surely, surely you can't bear that great burden 
 across the swollen brook, or up the steep hill." 
 
 "Take no fears for me: I can't fail with the 
 crown of Success in my view ! " exclaimed Dick, 
 bearing his three grates aloft, as some warrior might 
 carry his banner. 
 
 " If you would only wait a few minutes for me," 
 began Nelly, but Dick at once cut her short, 
 
 " I wait for nobody ! " he cried, pushing past his 
 lame little sister. " If you had been up this morning 
 as early as I was, you might have enjoyed the plear
 
 THE WONDERFUL BOY. 89 
 
 sure of my company." And so saying, Dick and 
 his iron grates went clattering down the staircase. 
 
 Alone poor Nelly entered the shop, alone she took 
 up her purchase, and alone she descended the twelve 
 flights of steps, trembling under the weight of Divi- 
 sion, which she had found a much more serious 
 burden than little Addition had been. 
 
 " How could Dick carry three grates at a time," 
 thouglit Nelly, " when one is almost more than I can 
 support. But then I'm a poor, stupid, lame, little 
 creature, and Dick — oh, Dick is a wonderful boy ' "
 
 CHAPITER XIV. 
 
 THE THIEF OF TIME. 
 
 *HEN Lubin bad said tbat he would nof 
 '"* spend mucb Time money at Amusement 
 bazaar, be bad fully intended to keep 
 his word. He meant to go steadily on 
 bis walk to Education, or, as we might 
 call it, "do his lesson.s." so soon as lie had had a 
 little diversion. But let me advise all my dear 
 young readers to put off their visits to Mrs. Amuse- 
 ment's till they have spent such hours as business 
 requires in the town of Education. Let them count 
 their money before they set out, spend a good por- 
 tion of it wisely and well, and then, with light 
 beai-ts and ea.sy consciences, they may go to refresh 
 and enjoy tliemselves at Mrs. Amusement's bazaar. 
 
 Which of us does not know tlmt bazaar ? It lies 
 on the further side of hill Puzzle, very near to the 
 cottages of Head, and a beautiful large cherry-tree 
 hangs its branches over the door. The house is liot
 
 THE THIEF OP TIME, 91 
 
 lofty, but low and wide, with a multitude of bright 
 little windows. It is divided within into numerous 
 stalls, each possessing separate attractions. There 
 is one much frequented by boys, where bats and 
 balls, bows and arrows, models of boats, and little 
 brass guns are seen in gi'eat profusion. At another 
 stall there are pretty dolls of every size and shape, 
 wooden, wax, and gutta-percha ; some made to open 
 and shut their eyes, and some to utter a sound. 
 There are few prettier sights than that of a number of 
 rosy, good-humoured children, who have finished their 
 lessons well, and are going, each with a bright hour 
 or two in his hand, to the bazaar of Mrs. Amusement. 
 
 The stall that most attracted fat Lubin was one 
 at which sweetmeats were sold : raspberry, straw- 
 berry, pine-apple drops, bull's-eye, pink rock, and 
 chocolate sticks, barley-sugar twisted into shapes 
 more various than I can describe or remember. 
 Lubin had taken his five minutes in his hand, and 
 now spent them easily enough ; but there were more, 
 oh, many more things that he thought that he would 
 like from the stall. He went humming on as he 
 examined the sweetmeats a favourite proverb of his, 
 " All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." 
 Jiut the fat little dunce might have added, " All play 
 and no work will make Lubin a duller." 
 
 full of interest m ail that he saw, with his eyes
 
 92 THE THIEF OF TIME. 
 
 greedily fixed on the stall, Lubin did not notice a 
 lean, small figure, which, softly as a serpent on the 
 grass, had stolen up to his side. This was no other 
 than Procrastination, a pickpocket well known to 
 the police, who had often been caught in the very 
 act of robbing her Majesty's subjects of Time, had 
 been tried and sent to prison, but on getting out had 
 always returned to his bad occupation again. The 
 poet Young long ago set up a placard to warn men 
 to take care of their pockets, giving notice to all 
 concerned that " Procrastination is the thief of 
 Time ;" but, in spite of this warning, there are few 
 amongst us who must not own with regret that the 
 stealthy hand of Procrastination has robbed us of 
 many an hour. 
 
 Have you never suffered from Procrastination, 
 good reader ? It is he who makes us put off till 
 to-morrow what ought to be done to-day. It is he 
 who whispers, "It will be time enough," when a 
 duty should be performed directly. If you are 
 aware, at this very moment, while you sit with this 
 book in your hand, that you ought to be busy with 
 Arithmetic, or should write a letter to a friend, or 
 do some little piece of business, start up without an 
 instant's delay, shut this book with a clap ; perhaps 
 you may then catch between its leaves the sly fin- 
 gers of thief Procrastination,
 
 TDK THIEF OF TIME. 98 
 
 Poor Lubiu was not on his guard : he noticed not 
 the form that crept after him as noiselessly as a 
 shadow. Procrastination took the opportunity when 
 the boy's attention was most engaged with the 
 sweetmeats, to draw out Time's fairy purse, and 
 rifle it of its precious contents. Silently then he 
 replaced the purse emptied for that day, in hopes, 
 perhaps, that when the morrow filled it with new 
 hours and minutes, he might rob its possessor again 
 of the treasure which he guarded so badly. 
 
 " Well, now," exclaimed Lubin, " I can't stop 
 much longer, for I promised Nelly to follow her 
 quickly, and I know that I ought to be at Mr. 
 Arithmetic's by this time. I'll just spend two oi 
 three minutes more on those sugar-plums shaped like 
 marbles, and then away to my business and work 
 like a man." 
 
 So Lubin plunged his fat hand into his pocket, 
 and drew forth his purse of Time. In went his 
 fingers, fumbling about to pull out the minutes that 
 he wanted, but he fumbled and felt in vain — not 
 an hour was left — not a single little minute, to pay 
 for what he required. 
 
 " It's that rogue Procrastination who has robbed 
 me ! '' exclaimed the indignant boy, as turning 
 sharply romid he caught a glimpse of a slim little 
 figure sneaking round the corner of a counter.
 
 D4 THE THTBF OF TIMTB. 
 
 Lubin instantly crave chase. Fat as he was, it "was 
 wonderful to see how he dodged the pickpocket, first 
 round this stall, then round that, shouting all the 
 time, " Stop, thief ! stop, thief ! " as loudly as he 
 could bawl. I need scarcely add that all the boy's 
 efforts were useless. Who ever yet recovered lost 
 Time ? Out of breath and out of heart, poor Lubin 
 stopped panting at last ; Procrastination had had a 
 fair start, and carried off his spoil in triumph. 
 
 " There's no use in attempting to go to Education 
 to-day, I've not a minute left," was Lubin's son-ow- 
 ful reflection. " Oh, that I had started with my 
 sister, had thought of my business before my play, 
 what useful things I might then have bought with 
 ihe hours which are now lost to me for ever ! "
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 DUTY AND AFFECTION. 
 
 ^N the meantime, poor Nelly had been wearilj 
 wending her way along the lane of Trouble, 
 with her burdensome Division on her 
 shoulder. She felt, as many a little student 
 lias felt, quite out of humour for work ; 
 her arms ached, and so did her head ; the mud in 
 the lane was so deep that she could scarcely keep on 
 her shoes, and she sometimes sank in it almost up 
 to her ankle. 
 
 Thus in sorrowful plight the lame girl at last 
 reached the brook of Bother. Its brown turbid 
 waters looked rougher and deeper and dirtier than 
 they ever had done before. The stepping-stones had 
 almost disappeared ! 
 
 Nelly Desley heaved a long weary sigh as slie 
 looked before her, and rubbed her forehead very 
 hard, as puzzled children are wont to do. 
 
 "Oh, this tiresome Division, how shall I evei
 
 96 DUTY AND AFFECTION. 
 
 manage it ! I never saw Bother so bad. Nine's 
 in fifty-nine " — another violent rub ; " I know what 
 will be in, a poor little girl will be in brook Bother ! 
 — and what's to he carHed ? why this grate is to be 
 carried, and a very great vexation it is." 
 
 Weary Nelly sat down, almost in despair, on a 
 stone by the bank of the stream. What object 
 attracted her eye, some yards lower down the cur- 
 rent of the brook, round which the muddy waves 
 were eddying and rolling ? 
 
 "Why — can it be? — yes, there are Dick's three 
 grates all together, Division, Multiplication, and Sub- 
 traction ! " Nelly started up in alarm : " Oh, what 
 can have become of my brother ? " 
 
 A little reflection soon reassured Nelly. Dick, 
 the most active of boys, and a famous swimmer be- 
 sides, could not have come to much harm in a brook 
 in which, though many have been ducked, no one 
 has ever yet been quite drowned. It seemed clear 
 that the boy had found the weight which, prompted 
 by Pride, he had tried to carry, somewhat too much 
 for his strength ; and, being unable to carry it across 
 the waters of Bother, had flung down his tiresome 
 burden, which, by the force of its own weight, bad 
 stuck fast in the mud of the brook. 
 
 " Well, if Dick hjvs failed, I need not mind fail- 
 ing," cried Nelly. " I think that I'll do what he
 
 Dick, Lubin, Matty, and Nelly paying their first visit to 
 Grammar's Bazaar. 
 
 Pa^e 103.
 
 DUTY AND AFFECTION. 97 
 
 has done, and fling away this horrid Di\'ision, — oh, 
 what a relief that would be ! But still, would it 
 not be foolish — v/ould it not be wrong — to give 
 way so to impatience ? My dear mother bade me 
 obey Mr. Learning for her sake, she wishes my cot- 
 tage to be properly furnished ; I must not be a 
 sluggard or a coward. I must do my best to get 
 over this Bother," 
 
 " Well resolved — bravely resolved," said a voice 
 on the other side of the brook; and from behind the 
 clump of willows which drooped their long branches 
 in the stream, Nelly saw two beautiful maidens come 
 forth. They were like, and yet unlike, each other. 
 Both were very fair to look on, both of noble height 
 and graceful mien ; but the one had an air of more 
 stately dignity, such as might beseem a queen ; and 
 her large dark eyes looked gi^aver and more thought- 
 ful than those of her sister. The other had smiling 
 soft blue eyes, beaming with tender love, and the 
 sunlight fell on her golden hair till it seemed like a 
 glory around her. 
 
 These lovely maidens were no strangers to Nelly, 
 
 almost from her infancy she had looked upon them 
 
 as friends ; many sweet counsels and go'^d gifts had 
 
 the lame little girl received from Duty and AtTctj- 
 
 tion. 
 
 " Oh, Duty ! " exclaimed Nelly, who was rejoiced 
 (a«6) 7
 
 98 DUTY AND AFFECTION. 
 
 to find herself no longer alone, " only show me how 
 T can get across, and I will not mind labour or 
 trouble." 
 
 Duty retired for a few moments to her retreat 
 behind the willows, and then returned, bearing on 
 her shoulder a naiTow plank. With the help of 
 smiling Affection she placed this across the stream. 
 
 " This plank, dear child," said calm, stately Duty, 
 "was cut from the tree of Patience, and small as it 
 seems, can well support your weight. Boldly ven- 
 ture upon it ; the stream runs fast to-day, you are 
 no longer able to ford it, but on the plank of Pa- 
 tience you safely can pass across." 
 
 Giddy and tired as she felt, Nelly instantly obeyed 
 the voice of Duty, and placed her foot on the plank. 
 Duty leant forward, and held out her firm hand to 
 aid her, and soon the trembling child and her weari- 
 some burden were safe on the bank nearest to the 
 cottages of Head. 
 
 " Oh, I am so glad to be well over ! " exclaimed 
 Nelly, and with exceeding pleasure she looked up 
 in the face of Duty, and smiled. 
 
 " And now sit down and rest yourself, dear one," 
 said Affection, spreading a thick mantle on the grass, 
 that its dampness might not hurt the child. 
 
 " May I ? " asked Nelly timidly of Duty. 
 
 The beauteous maiden bowed her head in assent.
 
 DUTV A.Mb AFFECTION. 99 
 
 There was no steruness now in her look; Duty is 
 DO enemy to innocent enjoyment — rather should we 
 say that there is no real enjoyment but that which 
 is found by those who take Duty for their guide and 
 their friend. 
 
 "See, here is refreshment for you," said Affection, 
 placing before the weaned child a rich cluster of 
 delicious fruit. How sweet is such refreshment 
 given by the hand of Affection, how doubly sweet 
 after efforts made at the call of Duty ! 
 
 Never, ])erhaps, had Nelly Desley passed a happier 
 hour than slie did now on the bank of that stream 
 which she had crossed with such trouble and fear. 
 She now looked with pleasure at the waves as they 
 rushed so rapidly by her. 
 
 One thought only disturbed little Nelly. "Poor 
 Dick ! I wish that 1 knew of his safety," said she. 
 
 "He is safe enough," replied Duty; "but there, 
 as you may see, lie his three grates in the mud of 
 the stream." 
 
 "If he had only had the plank of Patience," ex- 
 claimed Nelly. 
 
 "It was offered to him as well as to you," said 
 Duty with a graver air ; " and I tliought at tirst 
 that your brother would have gladly accepted ray 
 offer. But there came to this shore of the brook a 
 dark ill-favoured lad — "
 
 100 DUTY AND AFFECTION. 
 
 " It must have been Pride ! " exclaimed Nelly, 
 who knew too well her brother's companion. 
 
 "This Pride," continued Duty, " began to taunt 
 and to scoff. ' Holloa ! ' he shouted across the 
 stream, * will a genius like you stoop to be directed 
 by a woman ! Duty is for slaves, and Patience for 
 donkeys. Kick aside that miserable plank, and 
 clear the brook with a bound, as you've often cleared 
 it before." 
 
 " Dick is a wonderful boy for jumping," cried 
 Nelly, who greatly admired her brother. 
 
 " He jumped once too often," observed Duty ; 
 " this time he jumped not over but into the brook, 
 and mighty was the splash which he made ! " 
 
 Even gentle Affection could scarcely help laughing 
 at the recollection of the scene. 
 
 "But he scrambled out ! " exclaimed Nelly. 
 
 " Yes ; very muddy, and wet, and cross, leaving 
 all his three grates behind him. I do not know 
 whether Pride dried Dick's clothes, and wiped oflf 
 the mud, they both ran off as fast as they could ; I 
 think that your brother was ashamed to be seen, 
 after having so scornfully refused the aid of Affec- 
 tion and Duty." 
 
 It was now time for Nelly to continue her walk 
 and return to her own little cottage. Her beautiful 
 friends accompanied her all the way up hill Puzzle,
 
 DUTY AND AFFECTION. 101 
 
 and made the steep way quite pleasant by their 
 cheerful, wise conversation. Tiring as her lonely 
 expedition to the town of Education had been, 
 Nelly never in future times remembered without a 
 feeling of enjoyment her little adventure by the 
 brook where she had met with Duty and Affection. 
 Dick with some trouble recovered his grates from 
 the stream. But he never looked at them with 
 pleasure, for they served to remind him of the day 
 when, prompted by foolish Pride, he had overtasked 
 bis powers, and, spurning the plank of Patience, liad 
 gone floundering into brook Bother I
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 grammar's bazaar. 
 
 CANNOT undertake to describe all the expe- 
 ditions to Education, nor the various pur- 
 chases made by the children ; but I will 
 here mention the first visit made by the 
 Desleys to Grammar's famous bazaar, a 
 place much frequented by all those who dwell in 
 the town. 
 
 I need hardly tell my readers tliat Grammar's 
 Bazaar lies in quite an opposite direction from Mrs. 
 Amusement's, and that the two concerns have no 
 connection whatever with each other. There are 
 no sweetmeats sold in the former ; the goods are all 
 called wordf^, and are arranged in perfect order on 
 nine stalls, kept by nine sisters, well known by the 
 name of Parts of Speecli. These sisters live and 
 wojk together in the greatest harmony and com- 
 fort, and are highly i-espectod by all the inhabitants 
 of the town of P^ducation. Some indeed call them
 
 grammar's bazaar. 103 
 
 "slow " and "tiresome," and Miss Folly has been 
 heard to declare that the very mention of them 
 gives her the fidgets ; but neither you nor I, 
 dear reader, form our opinions by those of Miss 
 Folly. 
 
 It v^as on a fine morning in summer that Dick, 
 Lubin, Matty, and Nelly paid their first visit to 
 Grammar's Bazaar. They entered it by a low 
 porch, half choked up with parcels of words tied 
 up in sentences ready to be sent to various cus- 
 tomers. 
 
 " A dull, dark place this is ! " exclaimed Lubin ; 
 " I would not give Amusement's Bazaar for fifty 
 like this." 
 
 " Any chance of having one's pocket picked 
 here ? " said Dick, with a malicious wink at his 
 brother, 
 
 "Let's visit all the stalls one after another," cried 
 Matty, " before we make any purchase ; I like to 
 see all that's to be seen. What a conJcal little 
 body is standing behind the first counter ; she is not 
 as big as Alphabet, I should say." 
 
 "She looks like his sister," observed Nelly; "but 
 I suppose that she is one of tlie Parts of Speech." 
 And she read the name "Article" fastened up at 
 the back of the st?dl. 
 
 " What may you sell here, my little lady ? "
 
 104 GRAMMAR'S BAZAAR. 
 
 asked Dick, iu his easy, self-confident way ; " I see 
 only three hooks on yom- counter." 
 
 Miss Article Part of Speech had to stand upon a 
 stool that her head might peep over the top of her 
 stall. " I'm but a little creature," said she, with a 
 good-humoured smile ; " a, an, and the are all the 
 words that I'm trusted to sell. If you want to see 
 a larger assortment, pass on to my sister Noun; she 
 has many thousands of words to show you, models 
 of everything that can be seen, heard, or felt in the 
 world." 
 
 Surely enough a most prodigious collection ap- 
 peared on the counter of Noun, a large portly 
 maiden who presided over the stall next to that of 
 Article. There were ciips and saucers, pins and 
 needles, caps and bonnets, models of houses, churches, 
 beasts, birds, and fishes, by far too numerous to 
 describe. 
 
 "These are all common," observed Noun, seeing 
 the eyes of Dick fixed admiringly upon the collec- 
 tion ; " I have behind me some more curious things 
 that have all names of their own," and she pointed 
 to a row of small figures. " These are not common 
 h\xi proper," she continued; "you wiir notice here 
 Wellington, Napoleon, Nelson, and our gracious 
 sovereign Victoria." 
 
 " And oh, look here, at Miss Adjective's counter V
 
 gkammar's bazaar. 105 
 
 cried Matty ; " she keeps such a lot of dolls' things 
 to dress up the figures of Noun. A pretty, nice, 
 curious cape — " 
 
 " An absurd, ridiculous, preposterous cap," added 
 Dick. 
 
 "Observe," said Adjective with a courteous air, 
 " that I arrange my words in three rows, one above 
 another, which I call degrees of comparison — positive, 
 comparative, superlative.'' 
 
 *' I see, I see," exclaimed Dick ; " here's a bonnet, 
 frightful — that's positive ; another more fHghtful 
 — that's comparative ; and this with the superlative 
 yellow tuft, I should call the most frightfal of all. 
 So, Nelly's clever — that's positive — " 
 " I don't think so," murmured Nelly. 
 "Matty's cleverer — that's comparative." 
 Matty laughed. 
 
 "And I am superlatively clever — without doubt 
 the cleverest of all !" 
 
 "In your own opinion," growled Lubin. 
 Nelly wandered on to the next stall, which was 
 kept by the maiden Pronoun. Though smaller in 
 size, she was so much like her sister Noun as to be 
 frequently taken for her. As it was a trouble to 
 stout Noun to go far or move fast, she very often 
 sent Pronoun upon various errands in her stead. 
 Pronoun sold not manv words; such as she had
 
 106 OKAMMARS.BAZAAK 
 
 were mere pictures of such as were kept by her 
 sister. /, thou, he, she, and it, and some others 
 which we need not stop to enumerate. 
 
 "Here's a famous big stall!" exclaimed Dick, 
 stopping in front of Verb's, which was a very re- 
 markable one, being covered with clock-work figures 
 all in motion. One could see by them what it is to 
 plough, to sow, to reii]), to ivork, to weep, and to 
 dance. The counter of Verb was almost as exten- 
 sive as that of her sister Noun. 
 
 "How do you make all these things move?" said 
 Dick with some curiosity to Verb. 
 
 "I conjugate them; that is, wind them up," she 
 i-eplied, showing a small brass key. 
 
 "Is it easy to conjugate them ?" asked the boy. 
 
 "Easy enough with the regular woixls," replied 
 Verb, " but a good many of mine are quite irregular 
 in their construction, and it is hard to conjugate 
 
 them." 
 
 "And if one conjugate them carelessly, I suppose," 
 said Dick, "that there would be a great crack or 
 whiz, and the whole affair would go to smash." 
 
 "Oh, dou't stop there asking such questions!" 
 cried Lubin ; "I'm heartily tired ot" this stupid 
 bazaar — and if you go on so slowly, we shall never 
 get to the end!" 
 
 "T like to understand things," saidDick ; " there's
 
 grammar's bazaar. 107 
 
 a great deal to attract one's attention in this curious 
 counter of Verb." 
 
 " Adverb, who keeps the next one," observed 
 Nelly, " sells stands for her sister Verb's figures, to 
 display them nicely, 'prettily, safely !" 
 
 "Badly, crookedly, awkwardly !" cried Dick, who 
 was in one of his funny moods. " I don't like the 
 look of Adverb, I think that she's given to lies!" 
 
 "The three sisters who have the last stall," 
 whispered Matty to Dick, " seem all but poor little 
 creatures!" 
 
 " I should call them small, smaller, and smallest, 
 like the three degrees of comparison," laughed Dick, 
 "but I see their names at the backs of their counters, 
 — Preposition, Conjunction, Interjection." 
 
 "Pray, Miss Proposition, what are these?" asked 
 Nelly, as she took up some small labels from that 
 lady's stall, with from, by, of, and such names upon 
 them. 
 
 " They are to show in what case Noun's words 
 are to be packed," replied Preposition politely. 
 " You may remark yonder boxes with Nominative, 
 Possessive, and such names painted upon them ; it is 
 my business to label my sister's goods, that they 
 may be packed accoiding to rule." 
 
 " It must be stupid work to deal in nothing but 
 tickets ! " exclaimed Dick ; " if I were a Part of
 
 108 grammar's bazaar. 
 
 Speech, I'd be Noun rather than Preposition 1 And 
 what has Conjunction to sell ? " 
 
 " Only little balls of string to tie bundles of words 
 together, such as aTid, either, or; and scissors to 
 divide the bundles, such as neither, nor, notwiik- 
 standing." 
 
 " Oh, come here, come here ! " cried Matty eagerly; 
 " there's nothing amusing to look at on the counters 
 of Conjunction or Preposition, but Interjection has 
 something very funny ! Look at these gutta-percha 
 balls shaped like faces, some showing pleasure — 
 some horror-— some stirprise ; just give them a little 
 squeeze, and hear how you make them squeak !" 
 
 Lubin pressed one of the heads between his fat 
 fingers, and oh! ah! squeaked the red lips. 
 
 " I'll try one ! " cried Dick, catching up another; 
 "it's so like Matty's friend. Miss FoUy, that I'm sure 
 that she sat for her likeness !" He thumped it 
 down on the counter, and out came a shrill " lacJc-a- 
 ckiy!" 
 
 " I think," laughed Nelly, " that Interjection sells 
 the funniest words of all !" 
 
 " And the ones that we could best do without," said 
 Dick scornfully, throwing down the lach-a-day ball. 
 
 The children did not leave the Grammar Bazaar 
 empty-handed. I must just remark that Matty 
 loaded herself most with words from the stall of
 
 orammak's bazaar. 109 
 
 Adjective, choosing most of them from the Super- 
 lative row ; and that Lubin, notwithstanding the 
 neat labels of Miss Preposition, never knew how to 
 put one of the words which he got from Noun or 
 Pronoun into its own proper case.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 PRIDE AND FOLLY. 
 
 iNE day Mr-. Learning, having finished a 
 whole volume of travels for breakfast, 
 made up his mind to pay a visit to his 
 charges at the cottages of Head. He 
 walked, as usual, at a rapid pace, with 
 long strides, looking neither to the right hand nor 
 to the left; his thoughts too busy with researches 
 into the manners and peculiarities of distant lands, 
 for him to notice how autumnal hues were already 
 tinging the trees, or how summer roses were giving 
 place to the convolvulus and the dahlia. Mr. Learn- 
 ing did not go empty-handed ; he carried with him 
 as presents to the young Desieys four small hammers 
 of Memoiy, and four bags of brass nails called Dates. 
 This time the first cottage which he entered was 
 that of Dick, and he would doubtless have been 
 pleased to see the numerous articles for ornament 
 and \i8e with which it already was furnished, had
 
 PRIDB AND FOLLY. Ill 
 
 not the first object which met his eye been the ugly 
 figure of Pride. 
 
 Pride was engaged in making a list of all the fur- 
 niture in Dick's dwelling, very much like an auc- 
 tioneer's puff: Everything, according to him, was 
 " first-rate," " of superior quality," or, " fit for the 
 residence of any nobleman in the land." Pride sat 
 with his back to the door, and therefore was not 
 aware of the entrance of Learning, till the stately 
 gentleman in spectacles tapped him on the shoulder 
 with one of the hammers. 
 
 Up jumped Pride in a moment. He had no time 
 to hide himself, oi- to beat a retreat, so, being one of 
 the most impudent fellows in the world, he resolved 
 to brave out the matter with the .solemn philosopher. 
 
 "I did not expect to find you here again," said 
 Mr, Learning in his stifi*est and coldest manner. 
 
 "Well, Pm surprised to hear that," replied saucy 
 Pride, resting his hand on his hip, and trying to look 
 quite at his ease ; " as I go everywhere, and am 
 welcomed by everybody, it's natural enough that I 
 should chance to meet the most potent, grave, and 
 reverend Mr. Learning." 
 
 " Where is your master ? " asked Learning shortly. 
 
 " My master, indeed ! " echoed Pride ; " Dick 
 never j'et mastered me. I should rather say that I 
 am hi<i master ! "
 
 119 PRIDE AND FOLLY. 
 
 " Where has he gone ? " inquired Leaniiug, with- 
 out seeming to notice the insolent remark, 
 
 " He has gone to History's shop, to purchase a 
 carpet for his parlour. He is sure to select a pattern 
 of the newest and most elegant design." 
 
 "Then I leave these for him," said the grave 
 philosopher ; " a bag full of bright braes Dates, and 
 a hammer of Memory to knock them well in." 
 
 " If you had brought a sackful instead of a bag- 
 ful," observed Pride, " it would not have been too 
 much for Dick Desley ; and as for the hammer — 
 don't you know that he has a prodigiously fine 
 Memory of his own ? " 
 
 Without condescending to reply, Mr. Learning 
 put down his gifts, turned round, and, quitting th^ 
 cottage which harboured so impudent a guest, went 
 to the next one, which was Lubin's. The door, 
 as usual, was wide open, and the place deserted 
 and empty. Mr. Learning did not even cross the 
 threshold, so disgusted was he at the unfurnished, 
 untidy state of the sluggard's home. 
 
 " I may as well leave these for him, but he'll 
 never know how to use them," muttered Learning, 
 throwing in the hammer and nails. 
 
 He then crossed over to Matty's j)rotty cottage. 
 Her door was also ajar, and grave Mr. Learn- 
 ing stopped at it for some moments in avStonish
 
 i-RIDE AND FOLLY. 113 
 
 ment at tbe sight which presented itself to his 
 view. 
 
 Miss Folly, in her seven flounces, her beads and 
 flowers, peacock's plume, rouge, ribbons, and all, 
 was half reclining on the uncarpeted floor, engaged 
 in blowdng bubbles. As each rose from the bowl of 
 her ]>ipe, swelling and shining, and then mounting 
 aloft, she watched it with a look of aff*ected delight 
 and admiration in her up-turned eyes. No contrast 
 could be imagined greater than that between the 
 stately gentleman clothed in black, with his broad 
 intellectual brow, spectacled eyes, and grave, solemn 
 manner; and light, fantastical, frivolous Miss Folly, 
 clad in the most absurd of styles, but looking as 
 though she thought herself the very pink of perfec- 
 tion. 
 
 " Dear, who can that funny old fogie be ! " ex- 
 claimed Folly, as she caught sight of grave Mr. 
 Learning. 
 
 "Who may you bo, and what are you doing?" 
 asked Learning, with less politeness than he usually 
 showed to ladies. 
 
 " You don't mean to say that you've never lieard 
 of me ! " cried Folly, her words bubbling out fast 
 like water out of a bottle; "you must be Mr. 
 Ignorance, if you don't know that I'm Mademoiselle 
 Folly, the most particular friend of lovely Lady 
 
 1985) 8
 
 114 PRIDE AND FOLLY. 
 
 Fashion, and the inventress of tight-lacmg, steel- 
 hoops, hair-powder, masks, periwigs — " 
 
 " Flattened heads, blackened teeth, nose-rings, 
 lip-rings, and tattooing," added Mr, Learning, re- 
 membering the account of a tribe f^f savages which 
 he had been reading that morning. 
 
 "And a-s to what I am doing," continued Miss 
 Folly, taking up her pipe, which she had laid down 
 on the entrance of a stranger, "I'm very usefully 
 employed : I'm furnishing the cottage of Miss Matty 
 Desley." 
 
 " Furnishing ! " exclaimed Mr. Learning in sur- 
 prise, as Miss Folly, with distended cheeks, com- 
 menced blowing another bubble. 
 
 Folly was too busy at that moment to reply, even 
 her tongue for a while was silent ; but after she 
 had succeeded in filling a big bubble, and had 
 loosened it from the pipe with a gentle shake, she 
 vouchsafed a little explanation. 
 
 "Yes, I'm furnishing the cottage with fancies; 
 their poetical name is day-dreams, cheap, elegant 
 bubble-fancies." 
 
 " You must take me for an idiot ! " exclaimed 
 Mr. Learning ; " no one in his senses could ever 
 dream of furnishing a house with bubbles ! " 
 
 Miss Folly was so intently gazing after the 
 ascending bubble that she seemed to forget even
 
 PRIDE AND FOLLY. 116 
 
 the presence of the sage. As the airy globule 
 ascended, she began pouring forth a stream of dis- 
 connected nonsense, seeming to speak merely fo7 
 her own pleasure, as her words could cei*tainly not 
 be intended for the information of any listener. 
 
 "A can-iage and four — sleek bays with long 
 tails ; no, white horses with pretty pink rosettes, 
 and harness all glittering with silver ! Drive 
 through London — up and down Hyde Park — taken 
 for the Queen — bowing — smiling — ah me, the 
 bubble has burst ! " 
 
 " This is some poor creature that has lost her 
 wits ! " thought the astonished Mr. Learning, scarcely 
 knowing whether to regard Miss Folly with pity 
 or vnth contemjit. Already another bubble was 
 swelling on the bowl of her pipe, and in a minute 
 another bright ball was floating aloft in the air. 
 
 " Exquisite beauty — great attractions — such a 
 voice — such a manner— such a killing smile ! An 
 ode from the poet-laureate ; bouquets, sent without 
 end ; roses in the middle of winter ; a hundred and 
 fifty scented pink notes on Valentine's day ; the 
 star of the season ; the — lack-a-day ! that lovely 
 bubble has gone for ever ! " 
 
 "It's time that I should go too," said Mr. Learn- 
 ing; "I've heard enough of nonsense to last for a 
 lifetime ! "
 
 il6 PRIDB AND FOLLY. 
 
 He was about to depart when Matty suddenly 
 burst into the cottage, in her eager haste almost 
 knocking down her astonished guardian with a 
 roll of goods which she carried on her shoulder. 
 The shock of the collision was great, but not so 
 great as the shock to poor Matty at so suddenly 
 coming upon Mr. Learning when she only expected 
 to find Miss Folly. She dropped her burden with 
 an exclamation of surprise, and then tried to stammer 
 forth an apology, but knew not how to begin. Mr. 
 Learning stood straight before her, more erect and 
 stately than ever, sternly looking down through his 
 steel spectacles at the confused and blushing girl. 
 Miss Folly, however, was quite at her ease, and 
 hastily pushing aside her basin and pipe, began 
 instantly to unroll the large parcel which Matt}' 
 had dropped in her fright. 
 
 " Ah, I knew it would be so ! You have chosen 
 the sweetest pattern — the prettiest — most tasteful 
 — most charming little carpet that ever a girl set 
 eyes on ! " and she began spreading out on the floor 
 a fabric so thin, that it seemed as if made of rose- 
 leaves. 
 
 " Did you buy that trash from Mr. History ? " 
 said Mr. Learning sternly to Matty. 
 
 " No — why — I own — Miss Folly recommended 
 me rather to tiy Mr. Fiction, who lives close to
 
 PRIDE AND FOLLY. 117 
 
 Amusement's bazaar. It is a great matter, you 
 know, not to have to cross over brook Bother, or 
 carry a carpet up-hill. And Mr. Fiction has such 
 a magnificent shop, and his wares are so very cheap." 
 
 " Cheap and often worthless ! " exclaimed the 
 angry guardian, striking the carpet with his heel, 
 and proving the truth of his words by tearing a 
 great hole in the middle. " I brought a gift for you, 
 Matilda Desley, but I have no intention of leaving 
 it here now. My hammer of Memory, my bright 
 brass Dates, are not required to fasten down such 
 miserable trash as this ! But," he muttered as he 
 strode away, "it is at any rate all of a piece ! a car- 
 pet framed by Fiction is just the thing for a cottage 
 papered with fairies, furnished with fancies, and 
 occupied by Miss Folly ! " 
 
 " Ha, ha, ha ! " laughed Folly, the moment that 
 his back was turned, " I'm glad that the old owl 
 has flown off — he looked ready to peck out my 
 eyes ! " 
 
 I should like, with wise Mr. Learning, to bid 
 farewell to Folly for ever. Perhaps my readers 
 may wonder that I should have introduced them to 
 a creature so very absurd. I should not have done 
 so had I had no suspicion that Folly might intrude 
 herself, without introduction, when they themselves 
 are furnishinfj their own little cottages of Head.
 
 118 PRIDE AND FOLLY. 
 
 Has no little girl who now gazes on this page, ever 
 sat for hours blowing bubbles of fancies with Folly, 
 listening to worse — more ridiculous nonsense than 
 that which shocked Mr. Learning ? Haa she not 
 delighted to imagine herself gi-eat, rich, beautiful, 
 and admired ? has she not consulted Folly about her 
 dress — spent her precious minutes and hours on a 
 looking-glass — or a fanciful garment, or a worthless 
 work of Fiction, when duties had to be performed, 
 when valuable things were to be bought in the 
 ffood town of Education ? 
 
 Ah, dear little laughing reader, have I, like 
 grave Mr. Learning, caught some one in the very 
 fact of harbouring Miss Folly ? Turn her out — at 
 once turn her out ! She is a silly companion, an 
 unsafe guide ; she will never make you loved, 
 respected, or happy. Though not quite so dark and 
 dangerous as Pride, she is much more closely related 
 to him than people would at first imagine ; there is 
 much of Pride in Folly— and oh, for poor, weak, 
 ignorant beings like ourselves, is not Folly seen in 
 all Pride !
 
 CHAPTER XViri. 
 
 THE CARPET OF HISTORY. 
 
 'R. LEiVRNING now stood at the top of 
 liill Puzzle, watching Dick, Lubin, and 
 f-. Nelly, returning laden with carpets from 
 History's shop. Though the carpets, like 
 the rooms, were but small, they were 
 rather heavy burdens for children in wet 
 and slippery weather. 
 
 Learning smiled his own quiet smile, to see the 
 different and characteristic movements of his young 
 charges, the Desleys. Dick, the quick and energetic 
 Dick, was half-way up hill Puzzle when his brother 
 and sister were only beginning to ascend. His 
 bright young face was flushed, but rather with plea- 
 sure than fatigue ; he sped on with a light elastic 
 tread, neither panting nor pausing, but bearing the 
 carpet of History as though he felt not its weight. 
 He moved all the more swiftly for seeing that his 
 guardian's eye was upon him, and on reaching the
 
 120 THE CARPET OF HISTORY. 
 
 crown of the hill, saluted Mr. Learning with a very 
 Belf-satisfied air. 
 
 "You make good progi^ess," observed the sage, 
 politely returning his salute. 
 
 " Oh, I get over everything with a hop, skip, and 
 jump," replied the laughing boy, forgetting his 
 flounder in Bother, "and you'll soon have the plea- 
 sure of presenting me with the silver crown of 
 Success. It's nearly time, I should think, for you 
 to introduce me to all your learned friends the 
 Ologies ! But there's one gentleman in Education 
 whom I fancy more than all — the glorious old fellow 
 who keeps a shop filled with jars of different colours, 
 letorts, electric-machines, and bottles of powders and 
 gases ; I've heard that he sells such fireworks as 
 would set all the world in a blaze ! " 
 
 "You mean, of course, Mr. Chemistry," replied 
 the sage ; " he is my much valued friend ; there is 
 not a more [)leasing companion to be found in the 
 whole town of Education than he. But you are yet 
 far too young. Master Dick, to make the acquaint- 
 ance of so superior and intellectual a man. His 
 goods are not yet for you, though in time you may 
 make them your own. Attend at present to your 
 carpets and your grates ; furnisli your cottage with 
 facts from General Knowledge ; a day perhaps may 
 arrive when you will be ready for things more
 
 THE CA.RPET OF HISTORY. 121 
 
 abstruse, and then I'll introduce you myself both to 
 the Ologies and to Mr. Chemistry, which latter will, I 
 have no doubt, display to you all his magazine of 
 wonders." 
 
 " Always putting off ! " muttered Dick between 
 his teeth ; " always treating one like a mere child. 
 I shall have long enough to wait if I wait for the 
 introduction of slow Mr. Learning. I can do very 
 well without it, and shall certainly try some day 
 whether, by putting a bold face on the matter, I am 
 not able to make my own way to the favour of Mr. 
 Chemistry ! " 
 
 These last words were only overheard by Pride, 
 for Dick had already entered his cottage. In a few 
 minutes more the sound of his busy hammer told 
 that he was already setting vigorously to work to 
 nail down his History car-pet. 
 
 " How comparatively slowly the two other children 
 make their way up the hill ! " said Learning, who 
 stood watching Lubin and Nelly. " Why, the boy 
 has twice sat down to rest on his bundle ; and now, 
 surely my spectacles must be at fault, can he be 
 rolling his carpet up the hill, instead of canying it 
 on his shoulder ! In a fine miry state it will be by 
 the time that he reaches his dwelling ! " 
 
 Surely enough the lazy boy was getting on ^vith 
 his History carpet in the laziest of ways, pushing
 
 122 THE CARPET OF HISTORY. 
 
 instead of bearing, rolling it along as if it were a 
 snowball, and seeming to be quite regardless of the 
 fact that the path was covered with rnud ! Have 
 none of my readers done the same, been content to 
 get up a task in any way, however slothful and 
 careless ? 
 
 " Are you not ashamed of that ? " exclaimed Mr. 
 Learning, pointing to the dirty roll of carpet, as 
 Lubin gained the top of the hill. 
 
 "Oh, sir, the mud will rub off when it is dry," 
 said the boy with an air of unconcern ; " the inner 
 side, where the patteiii is, cannot be soiled in the 
 least." 
 
 "Unroll it and see," said stern Mr. Learninof. 
 
 Lubin slowly obeyed, and had certainly little 
 cause to be pleased with the condition of his new 
 purchase. The pattern, which was full and rich, 
 represented a hundred different scenes of interest. 
 There was the wooden horse of old Troy ; here 
 appeared the gallant sons of Sparta defending the 
 pass of Thermopylae ; great men of Greece and of 
 Rome, Biitish monarchs and statesmen in varied 
 costumes and different attitudes, adorned the History 
 carpet. Adorned, did I say ? rather once had 
 adorned, foi- all was now a jumble of confusion ! 
 There was a great blot of mud just over the face of 
 Julius Cjesar, and not a single Roman emperor stood
 
 THE CARPET OF HISTORY. 12i 
 
 out clear and distinct. In silent indignation Mr. 
 Learning turned away, leaving Luhin to do the 
 best that he could with his poor soiled History 
 carpet. 
 
 Nelly Desley, weary, but cheerful, had just carried 
 her burden home. She was unrolling it now in her 
 simple but beautifully neat little parlour, and sur- 
 veying with great delight the charming pattern 
 upon it. 
 
 "Of all the purchases that I have made, this 
 pleases me most ! " she cried. " What a wonderful 
 variety of pictures, so amusing and interesting ! 
 Ah, there is good Queen Philippa on her knees, 
 begging for the citizens of Calais ; and there brave 
 Joan of Arc leading on her soldiers to battle ! And 
 there, oh, there are the holy martyrs tied to the 
 stake for the sake of the truth, looking so calmly 
 and meekly upwards, as though they had no fear of 
 dying ! I can never pass a dull evening now with 
 this wonderful carpet before me ; it seems as thougli 
 it would take a lifetime to know all its various 
 scenes." 
 
 " Yes," said Mr. Learning, who had entered her 
 parlour unobserved, " that beautiful carpet will serve 
 as a constant feast for the mind. Fiction may boast 
 that his dyes are the brightest ; this I utterly deny ; 
 no coloui-8 are so viviil or so lasting as those that
 
 124 THE CARPET OF HISTORY 
 
 have been fixed by Truth, and these should alone be 
 employed in the carpets which History produces." 
 
 Mr. Learning then gi-aciously bestowed upon 
 Nelly the gift of the hammer and nails, and quitted 
 the cottages of Head well satisfied with at least one 
 of his charges.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 HAMMERING IN DATES. 
 
 •NOCK — kuock — knock! "Oli, this weaii 
 some hammering ! " sighed poor Nelly, 
 as stooping over her carpet till the 
 blood swelled the veins of her forehead, 
 she tried to fasten in, one by one, the 
 date-nails which Mr, Learning had given. " I do 
 not see why it is needful to knock in all these tire- 
 some nails ! Lubin has thrown his whole stock into a 
 rubbish corner, I know, and says that he never means 
 to prick his fingers again by thrusting them into 
 such a bag ! " knock — knock ! " Stephen came to 
 the throne in 1145, or 1154, I'm sure I don't know 
 which — and, what's more, I don't care ! Ah ! " 
 the last exclamation was a cry of pain, for the ham- 
 mer in the girl's awkward hand had come down 
 with some force on her fingers. 
 
 " Well, Nelly, what is the matter ? " asked Lubin, 
 showing his jolly fat face at, the door.
 
 126 HAMMKRINO IN DATEiJ. 
 
 "I'm tired to death of these dates!" replied 
 Nelly, raising her flushed face at the question, 
 
 " So was I with the very first of them ; I never 
 got beyond William the Conqueror ; my carpet will 
 stick on veiy well without nails, if no one takes to 
 dancing a jig upon it ! You are just wearing your 
 spirits out, Nelly, and I'm sure that I wouldn't do 
 that for any man, least of all for that sour Mr. 
 Learning, who scribbled DuNCE on my waU ! " 
 
 "I think," said Nelly, "that my friend Duty 
 would tell me to go hammering on with these 
 dates." 
 
 "Duty would keep one in tight order," laughed 
 Lubin, " but I prefer following my own pleasure. 
 I'm off to Amusement's bazaar, and I advise you to 
 come with me now." 
 
 "Oh, Lubin, not now; not till I have finished 
 my work." 
 
 "Then I'll go without you," said the boy, leaving 
 poor Nelly to her troublesome task. 
 
 Scarcely had Nelly begun her hammeiing again, 
 when Matty popped in her pretty little face. 
 
 " Why, Nelly, what's the use of tiring yourself 
 like that I You will never manage to knock in all 
 those nails 1 " 
 
 " I am afraid that I will not," sighed poor Nelly. 
 
 " Do aj? I <lo," continued Matty. " Miss Folly,
 
 HAMMERING IN DATES. 127 
 
 kind creature, has supplied me with spangles, which 
 are, all the world must own, just as pretty as any 
 brass nails ! " 
 
 "Spangles!" repeated Nelly in surprise; "no one 
 can fasten down a carpet with spangles ! " 
 
 " It's the look of the thing that I care for," said 
 Matty, who had evidently become a very apt pupil 
 of Folly. " And now I'll tell you where I'm going, 
 Nelly. I have long thought, you know, that a pretty 
 tambourine would look wonderfully well in my 
 parlour ; and I think, if I could buy one cheap, that 
 a French picture would give it a fashionable air. I 
 am going on a purchasing expedition, dear Miss Folly 
 being my guide." 
 
 "Oh, Matty!" exclaimed Nelly, "you know 
 that you have not yet bought half the things 
 that you require from Mr. Aiithmetic the iron- 
 monger ! " 
 
 " I wish Mr. Arithmetic at Jericho ! " cried Matty 
 peevishly ; " his goods are so heavy — so uninterest- 
 ing ; they make no show ; I won't plague myself 
 with such things ! " 
 
 "Matty, Matty, my beauty!" called the shrill voice 
 of Folly from without. 
 
 "I'm coming in a moment," cried Matty, as she 
 hastened to join her companion. 
 
 Sadly, but with quiet resolution, Nelly took up
 
 228 HAMMERING IN DATES. 
 
 her hammer again. Not many minutes had passed 
 before she received a visit from Dick. 
 
 " How long are you going to keep on knocking in 
 those dates ? " exclaimed the boy ; " I put in all mine 
 long ago. You see," he added with a merry laugh, 
 as he held up his hands, "I've nails at my fingers' 
 ends ! " 
 
 Nelly, who did not quite understand the joke, and 
 was too honest to pretend that she did so, bent down 
 again over her work. 
 
 "I can't think how you are so slow!" cried Dick. 
 " I've heard you hammer, hammer, hammering for 
 such a time, that I expected when I came in to find 
 your carpet studded aU over with dates, and you 
 have not put in more than six ! " 
 
 " I am sorry that T am so slow and stupid," said 
 Nelly, with a sigh ; "it is not my ftiult but my mis- 
 foitune." 
 
 Dick felt a little repentant for his unkind and 
 tlioughtless words. "I must say, Nelly," he observed, 
 " that slow as you ai-e, your cottage is far better 
 furnished than Matty's, though she is so active and 
 bright. What a lot of trash she has stuffed into 
 her rooms ! And such a lovely cottage she has ! 
 If the inside only matched the outside, it would be 
 charming indeed ! " 
 
 * Dear Matty would have furnished her house
 
 HAMMEEING IN DATES. 129 
 
 veiy nicely," said Nelly, "if Miss Folly Lad not 
 come in the way." 
 
 "Ah, yes! Folly is at the bottom of the mischief!" 
 cried Dick. " How absurdly she has made Matty 
 dress ; what numbers of good hours has the silly 
 girl spent in making herself look ridiculous ! " 
 
 " Oh, don't be hard on Matty ! " cried her sister. 
 
 " Would you believe it 1 " said Dick, " Miss Folly 
 has persuaded her to get not only her carpet, but 
 her chairs and tables also, from Mr. Fiction ! They 
 are as slight as if made of pa.steboard, and won't stand 
 a single week's wear ! Now my furniture is good 
 and substantial, and was very reasonable in price 
 besides." 
 
 " Where did you get it ? " asked Nelly. 
 
 "Oh, you know, where Mr. Learning recommended 
 us to go. I buy my furniture from the upholsterer, 
 General Knowledge, whose shop adjoins Mr. Read- 
 ing's." 
 
 "The immense warehouse of facts," said Nelly. 
 
 "You may well call it immense," cried Dick; "1 
 believe that it would take one a life-time to go 
 thoroughly over the place. There are vaults below 
 full of furniture facts ; rooms beyond rooms stuffed 
 with facts ; mount the stairs, and you'll find stoiy 
 upon story all filled with valuable facts! I assure 
 you, Nelly, that it is a very curious and interesting 
 
 t286j y
 
 130 HAMMERING IN DATES. 
 
 place to visit, and I never go to General Knowledge 
 without carrying back something well worth the 
 having. I'm just on my way to him now," 
 
 "I should like to go with you," said Nelly; "I 
 shall want beds, tables, and chairs ; and as I can't 
 carry much at once, I shall need to go very often to 
 the warehouse." 
 
 " Come then now, and be quick ! " cried Dick, 
 who was, as usual, impatient to start. 
 
 "I think — indeed I am sure," replied Nelly, "that 
 Duty would advise me first to finish the task which 
 I have begun. If other furniture were brought in 
 just now, I might find it harder to nail down my 
 carpet." 
 
 "Good-bye, dear drudge!" cried Dick; "I believe 
 that it would be better for us all if we stuck to the 
 counsels of Duty as steadily as you always do! But 
 you see I'm a quick, sharp fellow, and don't like to 
 be tied down by rules ; I get what I will, when I 
 will, and where I will ; and depend on't, in the end 
 I'll win the crown of Success, for no cottage of Head 
 will be found so well-furnished as mine ! " 
 
 And with this somewhat conceited speech on his 
 tongue, off" darted our clever young Dick, ran down 
 hill Puzzle at speed, and lightly sprang over brook 
 Bother I
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE PURSUED BIRD. 
 
 ERE is no doubt but that iJiek will be 
 the one to win the crown," was the silent 
 reflection of Nelly ; "I work from no hopes 
 of getting that ; but it will be quite reward 
 enough for me if my dear mother be pleased with my 
 cottage ; and smiles from Duty and Affection woiild 
 make any labour seem light." 
 
 By dint of steady hammeiing Nelly at last man- 
 aged to fix in a goodly number of dates. When 
 she was satisfied that enough had been done, she 
 rose from her knees, and relieved herself by a yawn. 
 " T will go and see after my Plain-work," said 
 she ; " the fniit upon it is swelling quite big — T am 
 glad that it will be perfectly ripe when my dear 
 mother comes back. If she be satisfied with it, how 
 little shall I grudge my past trouble — how joyful 
 and happy I shall be !" 
 
 Nelly uttered these words as she crossed her
 
 132 THE PURSUED BIRD. 
 
 threshold, and felt the fresh, pleasant air playing 
 upon her flushed cheek and her aching brow. 
 
 At that moment her ear caught a whirring sound, 
 as of wings, and looking upwards, she beheld a beau- 
 tiful bird pursued by a hawk darting down towards 
 her at the utmost speed that terror could lend it. 
 Scarcely had she seen its danger, when the little 
 fluttering fugitive had sought shelter in the bosom 
 of the child. 
 
 " Oh, poor little bird — poor little bird — the hawk 
 shall not catch you !" cried Nelly, putting one hand 
 over the trembling creature, and holding out the 
 other to keep the fierce pursuer away. 
 
 The hawk, which was of a species called " Tem- 
 pers," not altogether unknown in Great Britain (my 
 readers may, perhaps, have seen specimens), wheeled 
 round and round in circles, as if unwilling to give 
 up its prey. Nelly was quite afraid that it might 
 attack her, and still pressing the poor frightened 
 bird to her bosom, she hurried back into her cottage. 
 
 " You are safe, pretty creature — quite safe. You 
 need no longer tremble and flutter," said the little 
 girl to the bird. It almost seemed as if the fugitive 
 understood her ; it spread its pinions, but not to fly 
 away ; lightly it hopped on to her hand, and rubbed 
 its soft head against her shoulder. 
 
 " I never saw such a beauty of a bird !" cried the
 
 THE PURSUED BIRD. 133 
 
 delighted Nelly; "and it seems just as tame as it 
 is pretty. What lovely white silvery wings, what 
 soft eyes that gleam like rubies, the changing tints 
 on its neck and breast are lovelier than anything I 
 ever saw before !" 
 
 Still perched on her hand, the bird opened his 
 beak, and began to warble a song of gratitude far 
 sweeter than any nightingale's lay. Little Nelly 
 was enraptured at the sound. 
 
 " Oh, how glad I am," she exclaimed, " that I 
 did not leave my hammering before — that I did not 
 go, as I much wished to go, either with Lubiu or 
 Dick. This lovely creature would then have been 
 torn to pieces by the cruel hawk, and I should have 
 seen nothing of it, except perhaps a few stained 
 feathers at my door." 
 
 " I hear the well-known warble of my bird Con- 
 tent !" cried a voice from without which Nelly at 
 once recognized ; and running to open the door as 
 fast as her lameness would let her, she joyfully 
 admitted her two friends, Affection and Duty. 
 
 Content fluttered to the hand of his mistress, 
 Duty. 
 
 "Ah, ti-uant!" cried the fair maiden, as she 
 caressed her little favourite, " how could you wander 
 from me — how could you ever fancy yourself safe 
 apart from Duty ? T saw the hawk wheeling in
 
 134 TBE PURSUED BIRD. 
 
 the au', and I trembled for my beautiful pet ; but 
 he has found here a refuge and protector. Nelly, 
 I thank you for your kindness, and it is with plea- 
 sure that I reward it. You have saved the bird, 
 and the bird shall be yours. Go, pretty warbler, 
 go ; and, yarned by former danger, keej) close to 
 your new young mistress." 
 
 Nelly uttered an exclamation of delight, as, 
 obedient to the word, silver-winged Content tiew 
 Again into her bosora, and nestled there like a child. 
 
 "Oh, tlianks, thanks !" she cried ; " such a trea- 
 sure as this will be a constant deliglit. I would 
 ratlier have the bird Content, than even the crown 
 of Success." 
 
 " You must never part with it," said Duty ear- 
 nestly, " whoever may tempt you to do so; my gift 
 must never be sold or exchanged. Content is a 
 wonderful bird ; joy and hap])iness breathe in his 
 note. Though I bo not visibly present, such a 
 mysterious tie connects Content with Duty, that 
 when you have followed my rules, and acted as I 
 would have you act, my bird will cheer and reward 
 you with one of his sweetest songs." 
 
 " 1 will never, never part with him of my own 
 free will," said Nelly, as she fondled her bird. 
 
 Affection now came forward. The reader may 
 remark that the sisters seemed ever to keep cloae
 
 THE PURSUED BIRO. 135 
 
 together, as though they scarcely could live apai-t. 
 They were indeed tenderly attached, and felt a plea- 
 sure in each other's society which made them never 
 willingly sundered. Duty felt that Avithout Affec- 
 tion she would find eveiy occupation a weaiy task ; 
 and Affection, who was a little given to extrava- 
 gance, would often have got into trouble without 
 the quiet counsels of Duty. Eacii looked fairer 
 and brighter when seen in the company of her 
 sister. 
 
 Affection now placed befoie Nelly a Book, wrapped 
 in a cover of gold. " To my sister's gift," she said, 
 " I must add one yet more precious. However 
 well the head may be furnished, if the highest know- 
 ledge be wanting, all other things become worthless 
 and vain. Treasure this Book, dear child ; make it 
 your counsellor and guide ; you will not prize it 
 less because Duty requires you to study it, and it 
 may be pleasant to you to remember that you first 
 received it from my hand as the best, the noblest 
 gift which even Affection could offer." 
 
 Youthful reader, do you know that Book, a7id do 
 you dearly jmze it? It is that volume which gives 
 knowledge compared to which all the inventions of 
 science, all the learning of man, all the wisdom of 
 this world, is but as dust in the balance.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 PLANS AND PLOTS. 
 
 |0W happy was little Nelly now, with Con- 
 tent as her constant companion. He waa 
 with her when she went on expeditions 
 to the town of Education, flying before 
 her, then stopping to rest on some bush 
 by the wayside to cheer her by his musical song. 
 When she returned home laden with furniture, facts 
 from the warehouse of General Knowledge, or some 
 of Arithmetic's more heavy productions, the way 
 seemed shorter, the burden more light when Con- 
 tent was fluttering near. When the four Desleys 
 at last took up their abode in their four little homes, 
 the presence of beautiful Content made Nelly's as 
 bright as a palace. 
 
 It is time that I should say something about the 
 gardens which lay behind the cottages of Head, and 
 which were to be cultivated by the children. These 
 were very curiously laid out. according to the plan.s
 
 PLANS AND PLOTS. 137 
 
 given by Geography, the celebrated gardener. Each 
 garden represented a map. There were plots of 
 green grass for the sea, dotted with daisies for tiny 
 islands. There was rich dark mould for the land, 
 and flowers or small bushes were planted wherever 
 the capitals of countries should be. Dick, who was 
 very ingenious, contrived to have some characteris- 
 tic plant for most of those cities. 
 
 " See," he exclaimed, " there is a rose-bush for 
 London, a thistle for bonny Edinburgh, and a patch 
 of green shamrock for Dublin. I'm getting a lily 
 for Paris, as that is the capital of France ; and as 
 Holland is famous for tulips, Amsterdam a tulip 
 shall be." 
 
 "And what will you give Belgium?" inquired 
 Matty. 
 
 " Brussels sprouts, to be sure." 
 
 Dick worked early and late at his garden, and it 
 was by far the finest of the four ; even in the sea- 
 son of autumn the difference was very marked. 
 Lubin was so often sauntering off to Amusement's 
 bazaar, and spending his hours at one of her count- 
 ers, that Geography the gardenei- grew quite out of 
 patience with him. Lubin quite forgot where to 
 put in the tiny box hedges which marked the boun- 
 daries of various countries, so that France spread 
 half over Germany, and swallowed up poor little
 
 138 PLANS AND PLOTS 
 
 Belgium altogether. " Italy," as Dick laughingly 
 observed, "was shaped like a gouty shoe, instead of 
 a long slender boot;" and so much grass oveiTan the 
 border, that Matty was certain that all Lubin's land 
 would soon be drowned by the sea. London, Edin- 
 burgh, and Paris were dying for want of watering, 
 and nothing seemed to flourish in Lubin's Europe 
 but such things as groundsel and chickweed. 
 
 Matty at first succeeded far better with her 
 flowers. She had a taste for gardening, she said, 
 and laid out her map very nicely. Whatever ac- 
 corded with her inclination, Matty did quickly and 
 well ; but she worked from no regard to Duty, and 
 whenever she felt a little tired, she threw down her 
 spade, and went to amuse herself with touching her 
 new tambourine, or blowing bubbles of Fancy with 
 Folly. Yet, upon the whole, Matty's garden was 
 fair and pleasant to behold. 
 
 Nelly, who was lame, and had little strength for 
 hard work, found gardening a serious task. It took 
 her long to lay out the plots, long to plant the box 
 hedges ; and watering the cities, and keeping the 
 ground clear of weeds seemed an endless business to 
 Nelly. Yet cheerfully and bravely she worked, 
 while, perched on a bush beside her, the beautiful 
 bird Content poured forth enlivening lays. The 
 harder she laboured, the louder sang he ; and when-
 
 PLANS AND PLOTS. 139 
 
 ever she glanced up from her task, she saw tlie 
 gleam of his silver wing reflecting the sunshine from 
 heaven. 
 
 " Oh, dear little bird !" cried Nelly, " with what 
 a song will you welcome my mother, who will soon 
 return to us now. How she will stroke your soft 
 feathers, and delight in your cheerful lay ! Then, 
 perhaps, thoughtful Duty and sweet Affection will 
 come and remain as my guests, and fill my home 
 with peace and with gladness when chill winter 
 darkens around. Oh, how happily shall we all then 
 gather around our blazing Christmas lire !" 
 
 It seems strange that so kind and gentle a child 
 as Nelly should ever have an enemy ; but she was 
 certainly an object of envy and dislike both to Miss 
 Folly and Pride. 
 
 " I hate that sober, sensible little minx, who ia 
 always thinking of Affection and Duty," said Miss 
 Folly one day to Pride, ivs they were walking in a 
 thicket together, just as the damp evening mist was 
 beginning to fall. 
 
 " I hate her heartily," muttered Pride between 
 his clenched teeth ; for she not only shuts her own 
 door against me, but tries with all the power that 
 she has to weaken my influence with her brothers 
 and sister. She has not succeeded, and she shall 
 not ; but I never forget a wrong, and Pd give any-
 
 140 PLANS AND PLOTS. 
 
 thing in the world to be able to spite and vex 
 her." 
 
 " It drives me wild to hear that bird of here 
 always singing so gaily !" cried Folly. 
 
 " Could we not wring its neck ?" exclaimed Pride. 
 
 ' We dare not so much as touch it without her 
 leave," said Miss Folly, shaking her peacock plume 
 with vexation ; " and yet I'd rather make mysell 
 a head-dress of its feathers than of those of any 
 other bird of the air." 
 
 " We'll get hold of it, and kill it without mercy !" 
 cried ugly Pride, grinding his teeth as he spoke ; 
 " but we must work by cunning, for we dare not 
 use force, the child is under such powerful protec- 
 tion." 
 
 " I'll coax Nelly to paii with her bird," said Folly ; 
 and rolling her goggle eyes, she added, "you know 
 that I'm a rare hand at coaxing." 
 
 " There are few who can withstand you," answered 
 the dai'k one ; his words made Folly simper, she 
 knew not how to blush, " And if," continued Pride, 
 " you succeed, you will make Nelly mortally offend 
 both Duty and Affection ; and to break witli friends 
 such as they are, will make her miserable in- 
 deed." 
 
 " She'll only need a good big bribe," said Folly. 
 " I believe that Matty would part with the dearest
 
 PLANS AND PLOTS. 141 
 
 friend that she has for the sake of a few bright rib- 
 bons, or a bunch of fine feathers to wear." 
 
 " But Matty is not Nelly," observed Pride. 
 
 " Oh, Nelly is only a girl ! " cried Folly, tossing 
 her frizzled head, "and there never yet was a girl 
 that could not be wheedled by Folly into doing the 
 sDliest thing in the world. If I persuaded Matty 
 that Fashion required her to tattoo her nose all over, 
 to dye her hair green, or blue, or mauve, or to walk 
 on all fours like a cat,- — don't you suppose that she 
 would do it ? " 
 
 Pride only shrugged his shoulders in reply. 
 
 " Haven't I coaxed Chinese ladies to torture their 
 babies by squeezing theii- feet into shoes so small, that 
 the half-lamed creatures could never, throughout life, 
 walk except in a waddle ? Have I not — " 
 
 "You have done aU sorts of wonderful things," 
 said Pride ; "no one doubts your power of persuad- 
 ing. Try now your arts upon Nelly, get her to give 
 up her bird, and strangle Content as soon as you 
 get it under your dainty fingers. If you shall be 
 bafiled, I will try next ; 'twill be strange indeed if 
 a simple child like Nelly be able to withstand us 
 both." 
 
 " No fear of that ! " exclaimed Folly. 
 
 So the two cons])irators parted, equally resolved, 
 by any possible means, to effect their object* It was
 
 142 PLANS AND PLOTS. 
 
 not the first time tliat FolJy and Pride had consulted 
 together how to bring sorrow and shame into a 
 young loving heart ; not the first time that they 
 had agreed to use their utmost efforts to destro)^ a 
 bright and beautiful creature, and silence for ever 
 in de-ath the warbling voice of Content
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE COCKATOO, PAKADE. 
 
 ?00D morning to you, sweet Nelly, dear in- 
 dnstrious Nelly ! " was the greeting of 
 ^^ Folly on the following morning, as she 
 stood with a red cockatoo on her wrist, 
 quite filling up Nelly's doorway with her 
 iron hoop and her flounces. 
 
 Nelly was busily engaged in screwing on the legs 
 of a table made of facts from Natural History, which 
 she had bought from General Knowledge. A very 
 curious table it was : the facts were as numerous, 
 and fitted together as closely, as the bits of wood in 
 a Tunbridge-ware box ; and the logs were carved all 
 over with figures of birds and beasts. That table 
 had cost many hours, and had been carried home 
 bit by bit ; it w^as one of the prettiest and hand- 
 somest pieces of furniture which appeared in the 
 little cottage. 
 
 "Good morning," replied Nelly very coldly, ir
 
 144 THE COCKATOO, PAEADE. 
 
 answer to the salutation; she had no good opinion of 
 Miss Folly, and hoped that she did not intend to 
 linger. Folly had, however, come with an object, 
 and did not appear to notice the coldness of the 
 child, indeed no one is slower than Folly in taking 
 a hint to depart. 
 
 " I see that you are as fond of creatures as I am," 
 cried Miss Folly, turning her goggle eyes upon her 
 parrot ; " I have a fancy, I may say a passion, for 
 them ! I keep a regular ' happy family ' at home — 
 dogs, cats, mice, parrots, and pigeons, and a little 
 pet alligator, the dearest duck of an alligator, that 
 I've taught to eat out of my hand ! You must 
 really come and see them all one day." 
 
 "Thank you, but I'm very busy," replied poor 
 Nelly, who wished that her jabbering visitor would 
 leave her in quiet to work. 
 
 " But I've no bird like your Content ; I really 
 think that I must add it to my collection," said 
 Folly ; " it seems to me quite unique ! " 
 
 Nelly had no notion what unique could mean, but 
 she had a great notion that her Content should 
 never be added to Miss Folly's " happy family." 
 
 "Now I've just been thinking," continued the 
 chattertsx', " that it would be a nice plan — a most 
 charming plan, for you and me to make a little ex- 
 change. You give me your bird Content, which I'll
 
 THE COCKATOO, PARADE. 145 
 
 always cherish and coddle, and feed on sugar-plums 
 and strawberry ice, in affectionate remembrance of 
 you" — (0 Folly! Folly! ho>v little you care for 
 truth !) — " and you shall have my magnificent cocka- 
 too, Parade, that I've taught to speak myself; he's 
 the finest creature in the world : you shall hear how 
 clever he is ! " 
 
 Folly coaxed the bird on her wrist, called him by 
 a dozen pretty names, smiled at him, nodded to 
 him, whistled for him, and at length induced him to 
 speak. The cockatoo bobbed his head up and down, 
 shook his wings, puffed out his red feathers, and 
 then in harsh, sharp tones repeated about a dozen 
 times the sentence, "Pretty Poll ! ain't I fine? ain't 
 I fine ? " 
 
 Tlie bird Content, perched on the mantelpiece, 
 seemed listening in wonder to a voice so unlike his 
 own. 
 
 "That is a clever cockatoo," said Nelly, with a 
 smile ; " but I would not exchange my Content for 
 any other bird in the world." 
 
 " Ah, but Parade is a beauty — a real beauty ! " 
 cried Miss Folly ; " Lady Fashion, my most par- 
 ticular friend, would give anything to possess him ! 
 I assure you thai when I put him in my window, 
 every passer-by stops to staie at the creature. Only 
 just hear him again." 
 
 i&>5 10
 
 146 THE COCKATOO, PARADE. 
 
 And again Parade bobbed his head up and down, 
 swelled himself out, and repeated, "Pretty Poll! ain't 
 I fine? ain't I fine?" 
 
 " I protest," cried Folly, speaking faster than 
 ever, " he'll sometimes keep repeating over that 
 sentence from morning till night I " 
 
 Nelly was too polite to say it aloud, but she 
 thought that one might get very weary of hearing 
 "Pretty Poll ! ain't I fine ? ain't I fine ?" 
 
 " I really do not wish to make any exchange," 
 said the lame girl with mild decision ; " Parade has 
 very bright colours, it is true, but I love better the 
 silver wings and soft note of my pretty Content." 
 
 Even Folly could not but see that this her first 
 effort had failed ; but Folly is not easily discouraged. 
 " If this stupid girl do not care for Parade," thought 
 she, "I'll find something else that she cares for;" 
 and putting the cockatoo down on the table, Folly 
 drew a gay jewel-case from her pocket. 
 
 " What do you say to these ? " she exclaimed, 
 opening the case, and drawing from it a long string 
 of what looked like pearls, with a sparkling clasp 
 which seemed to be made of diamonds. 
 
 "They are very pretty indeed !" said Nelly. 
 
 " And so becoming — so charmingly becoming ! I 
 assure you, my dear, if you would only let me dress 
 up your iiair, put it back a V Imperatrice, and adorn
 
 THE COCKATOO, PARADK. 147 
 
 it with tiiese lovely pearls, there's not a creature 
 that would know you again !" 
 
 Nelly laughed, and Folly thought that she had 
 now found a vulnerable point ; that, like the crow 
 in the fable, the child could be caught by flattery. 
 
 "You don't do justice to yourself, my dear; your 
 dress is so common and plain that no one guesses 
 how well you would look if you attended a little to 
 style. If you wore such clothes as Matty now wears, 
 and earned them off with an air, you may depend 
 on't that people would take you for a very grand 
 lady indeed ! " 
 
 " But why should I wish to be taken for what I 
 am not?" asked Nelly simply. 
 
 " My dear, what an absurd question ! Does not 
 every one wish to be taken for somebody grander 
 than herself?" cried Folly, jabbering at railroad 
 speed. "The child of the dogs' meat man wears a 
 necklace and hoop ; the farmer's daughter cuts out 
 the squire's ; the kitchen-maids on Sundays deck 
 out as ladies ; each one mimics some one above her, 
 and wants to cut a dash in the world ! If any one 
 were content to appear really what nhe is, I should 
 cut her society at once ; I should let the whole 
 world know that she had nothing to do imth Folly!" 
 
 Sharino' the excitement of his mistress, "Ain't I 
 fine? ain't I fine?" cried Parade.
 
 148 THE COCKATOO, PARADE. 
 
 "Now, my dear, I'll tell you what I'll do," con' 
 tinued Folly, lowering her voice to a confidential 
 tone; "you shall give me your bird Content, and, 
 as I told you before, I shall feed him and fostei 
 him with the same care as I do my own pet alliga- 
 tor. In return I will not only present you with this 
 charming string of pearls, but will show you how 
 to wear them in a manner the most bewitching." 
 
 " I do not think that pearls would suit a plain 
 little girl like me ! " 
 
 " Plain ! if ever I heard such a thing. You've a 
 countenance quite out of the common ! You've the 
 prettiest nose — the sweetest little nose ; and as for 
 your smile! — " Folly threw up her hands, and 
 cast up her eyes, to denote admiration too great to 
 be expressed by mere words. 
 
 Poor little Nelly was rather taken aback by 
 praises to which she had not been accustomed. She 
 certainly placed little confidence in anything said 
 by her visitor ; yet flattery has some sweetness in 
 it, even from the lips of Folly. Let no little girl 
 who reads my story despise poor NeUy for smiling 
 and blushing, unless she be quite certain that she 
 never herself has done the 8an>e on a similar occa- 
 sion. But Nelly, though amused, was not caught 
 even by the bait of the pearls and the praises. 
 She remembered many a word of sensible advice
 
 THE COCKATOO, PARADE. 149 
 
 given by her faithful friend Duty, and drawing a 
 little back from Folly, who in her eager confidential 
 manner had pressed up quite close to the child, she 
 said in a modest tone, " Whatever our looks may 
 be, a simple and sober dress, such as suits our age 
 and station, is what Duty always recommends." 
 
 " Duty — the old horror ! " exclaimed Folly, who 
 could not endure the very name ; "I don't wonder 
 that you're formal and quiet, if you tie yourself 
 down to her laws. No, no, my pretty Nell, you 
 must break away at once from such a dull, tiresome 
 guide ; don't talk to me of Duty again ! I'll take 
 you under my charge ; I'll show you all my delights; 
 I'U even — " here Folly again lowered her voice to a 
 confidential tone, and leant forward her frizzled 
 head as she whispered, " I'll even manage to in- 
 troduce you to my most particular friend, Lady 
 Fashion ! " 
 
 " Nothing on earth would make me give up 
 Duty ! " exclaimed Nelly warmly, for she could 
 bear no word spoken against her friend. "I will 
 never forget her, nor part with her gift ; and I 
 don't want, indeed I don't, to be introduced to Lady 
 Fashion ! " 
 
 Miss Folly started back in indignation and horror. 
 " Not want to be introduced to Lady Fashion ! the 
 girl must be out of her senses ! Not one moment
 
 lf)0 THE COCKATOO, PARADE. 
 
 longer shall Folly condescend to stay near one who 
 lias the efirontery to own that she does not want to 
 he introduced to Lady Fashion ! " and, snatching 
 up her cockatoo, Parade, Miss Folly rushed out of 
 the cottage as fast as her mass of frippery would 
 let her. 
 
 Nelly looked after her with a wondering smile, 
 an<l Content, perched on the shoulder of his young 
 mistress, burst forth into the merriest of songs. 
 
 Miss Folly did not stop in her running till she 
 ai'iived, out of breath, at the spot where Pride was 
 awaiting her return. 
 
 " What success ? " asked the dark one, though 
 he saw at a glance that Folly had been baffled and 
 defeated. 
 
 " I'll never go near her again ! " gasped forth 
 Folly; " I'll never put my foot across her threshold! 
 She has disappointed me, rejected me, insulted me ; 
 she does not care for my cockatoo. Parade, nor wish 
 to be introduced to my most particular friend. Lady 
 Fashion ! " and Folly almost cried with spite and 
 vexation. 
 
 "She will not escape me so easily," said Pride ; 
 " my arts are deeper than yours. I have resolved 
 that her bird shall die, and die it shall, before to- 
 morrow, let her guard it as well as she may." 
 
 "She always keeps Content beside her," observed
 
 THE COCKATOO, PARADE. 161 
 
 Folly, " and you know that neither of nn are able 
 to take it away by force." 
 
 " Not by force," said Pnde gloomily, " but by 
 fraud. I know that 1 cannot with my own hands 
 wi'ing the neck of Content; but I'll do more, I'll 
 make Nelly kill him herself ! " 
 
 " How can you do that?" exclaimed wondering 
 Folly. 
 
 Pride glanced round to see that no one else waa 
 listening before he replied, in a voice sunk to a 
 horrible whisper, " I've a poisoned cage, called 
 Ambition, very fair and fine to the eye. Let 
 Content be but once placed in that, and he will 
 swell, and swell, till he burst, like one of your own 
 bubbles. Miss Folly." 
 
 FoUy looked charmed at the clever idea. " But 
 how to get the bird into the cage ? " said she. 
 
 "Leave that to me," answered Pride; "I know 
 how to manage these matters. There is many a 
 one who would scorn to listen to the ofiers of Folly, 
 who cannot turn a deaf ear to Pride. You have 
 power over a weak mind like Matty's, and can 
 turn and mould her at your will ; but it needs a 
 more subtle spirit, a more artfvil lure, to overcome 
 a girl who has been brought up under the guidance 
 of Duty."
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE CAGE OF AMBITION, 
 
 *'"ELL furnished, yet simply furnished — all 
 '1 good, plain, solid — that is what I like 
 
 x'^^^^^^K '^^^ approve 1 " 
 
 Nelly looked up on hearing these 
 words, and her glance became one of 
 surprise when she saw by whom they had been 
 uttered. Pride was standing with folded arms not 
 at the door but at the window ; his dark, haughty 
 expression was gone, and he looked mildly down at 
 the child. 
 
 " Do not fear me, Nelly," he said, " I shall make 
 no attempt to enter. I know that you have been 
 set against me by those who have little acquaintance 
 with me. T blame them not, they act for the best ; 
 and I honour you for following the counsels of such 
 friends as Duty and Aftection." 
 
 " Really," thought Nelly as she listened, " Pride 
 is not 80 liad as I took him to be."
 
 THE CAGE OF AMBITION. 163 
 
 " Perhaps," continued the cunning deceiver, 
 " were my character better known, even virtuous 
 Duty herself would find me no foe, but a friend. 
 Mr. Learning I often have served, though he will 
 not acknowledge my services. I have spurred on 
 his cleverest pupil to efforts which, without me, he 
 would never have made." 
 
 " But have you not brought Dick into some 
 trouble ? " suggested Nelly, glancing timidly up at 
 Pride. 
 
 " Such troubles as generous natures encounter, 
 the dangers that await the daring — dangers much 
 to be preferred to the inglorious safety of the slug- 
 gard. To yourself, Nelly, I appeal, for you are a 
 girl of rare sense ; your brave perseverance in labour, 
 your wise use of the bridge of Patience, your atten- 
 tion to the call of Duty, show that you possess a 
 judgment far beyond what might be expected at 
 your age." 
 
 " Pride is not half so ugly as 1 used to fancy 
 that he was," thouglit Nelly. 
 
 " To you I appeal," continued Pride. " Had I 
 possessed the same influence over Lubin as that 
 which I have exercised over his brother, would not 
 the result have been for good ? Would not Lubin' s 
 cottage have been better furnished, his hours more 
 nobly employed ; would he not have scorned to
 
 154 THJ{ OAQE OF AMBITION. 
 
 throw away so much money on sweetmeats ; would 
 not honest Pride have kept him from tlie meannesa 
 of giving up everything for Amusement ? " 
 
 " Yes, J believe so," answered Nelly, and she was 
 only speaking the truth ; she might have added, 
 however, that no efforts are really noble, no acts 
 really worthy of praise, that are owing, not to a re- 
 gard for Duty, but to the influence of selfish Pride. 
 
 " I could not forbear calling here," continued the 
 deceiver, who felt that his artful words were begin- 
 ning to make an impression, " to congratulate you, 
 as I do with all my heart, upon your late conduct, 
 so noble and wise." 
 
 " When — where ? " asked the wondering Nelly. 
 
 " I speak of your tiiumph over Miss Folly — over 
 that weak, silly, frivolous creature who has, un- 
 happily, so much power over the minds of ignorant 
 girls. Wise were you, Nelly, most wise, not to 
 exchange your beautiful Content for false pearls or 
 prating Parade, You have a soul above froth and 
 frippery, you despise both flattery and Folly, no 
 one will catch you blowing bubbles of Fancy to 
 furnish a most empty dwelling ! " 
 
 Nelly began to understand how it was that Dick 
 had found Pride such a pleasant companion, 
 
 " Yea," continued the deceiver, leaning through 
 the open window, on the sill of which he rested his
 
 THE CAGE OF AMBITION. 158 
 
 arms, " you scorn that poor wretched Parade, that 
 screams ' Ain't I tine ? ' to each passer-by, as if seek- 
 ing to attract vulgar notice. Independent of others, 
 you can stand by yourself ; you have won Content, 
 you prize it, you deserve it ; but has it never sti-uck 
 your mind, Nelly, how difficult it may prove for you 
 to keep it ? 
 
 "No," replied Nelly, caressing her bird ; " I shall 
 never give my favourite away," 
 
 " But your favourite may take wing and depart. 
 Do you expect Content to remain in this small 
 cottage, with all the free air to soar in ? " 
 
 Nelly looked uneasy and anxious, and pressed her 
 bird closer to her heart. 
 
 " It is the nature of birds to mount aloft. Trust 
 me, Nelly, Content will not linger long here while 
 he has unrestrained use of his wings." 
 
 " I could not bear to lose him ! " cried Nelly. 
 
 " To save you that pain," said Pride, watching 
 closely her face as he spoke, " see what I have 
 brought for you here ! " and he raised and placed 
 on the sill of tlie window the gilded cage of Ambi- 
 tion. 
 
 " Oh, what a splendid, magnificent cage ! " cried 
 poor simple Nelly, suspecting no evil ; " and did you 
 really intend it for me ? " 
 
 " See how ready I am to forgive and forget," said
 
 166 THE CAGE OF AMBITION. 
 
 Pride, with a wicked, mocking smile, as he saw the 
 guileless child lay her hand on the poisoned gift ; 
 " you have spoken against me, tried to drive me 
 away — na}'-, at this very moment, I believe, you would 
 not suffer me to enter your door — and yet I bring 
 you this cage that you may never lose your Con- 
 tent ; that you may see it grow greater and greater, 
 and never fly from your home ! " 
 
 " You are very good," began Nelly, and stopped 
 short ; she was startled at the sound of her own 
 words. 
 
 "Yes, I am very good, am I ? " laughed Pride, as 
 he turned away from the window, and then began 
 to stalk down the hill, muttering to himself as he 
 walked, " Ay, she will think me very good, doubt- 
 less, when she sees — as she wiU see before morning 
 — her beautiful, her cherished Content gasping and 
 swelling in the agonies of death ! " and as in thought 
 he enjoyed his barbarous triumph, how hideous grew 
 the dark features of Pride. 
 
 But the wicked one was blowing the trumpet of 
 victory before the battle had been won ! Nelly, in- 
 deed, looked with admiration and pleasure upon the 
 glittering cage, and was about to place her favourite 
 within it, when a thought arrested her hand. " My 
 mother has warned us very often to have nothing 
 to do with Pride ; Duty has told me again and
 
 THE CAGE OF AMBITION. 167 
 
 again that nowhere upon earth could 1 liud a 
 more dangerous companion than he. Ought I to 
 accept this gift ? is it suitable, is it right, to take a 
 present from one whom I dare not invite to enter 
 my cottage ? Oh, surely I have done wrong in 
 listening with such pleasure to his flattering words ! 
 What should I do now ; what would Duty counsel 
 me to do ? I will return to him his beautiful 
 cage, and keep nothing, however charming, that 
 ever belonged to Pride ! " 
 
 Catching up the tempting gift, Nelly hastened 
 out of her cottage and saw Pride descending the 
 hilL 
 
 " Pride ! Pride ! " she called out as loudly as she 
 could. The dark one pretended not to hear, and 
 only quickened his steps. 
 
 "Oh, how shall I ever overtake him," thought 
 lame Nelly ; and again she called, but in vain, 
 while she followed as fast as she could. 
 
 " Had I not better keep and use the cage, since 
 it is so hard to return it ? " thought Nelly. Incli- 
 nation bade her go back, and imprison Content 
 within the glittering bars ; but the recollection ol 
 Duty was strong, and exerting her utmost efforts, 
 the child succeeded in overtaking Pride when he 
 bad almost reached brook Bother. 
 
 "Oh, take this back," gasped the panting Melly;
 
 168 THB CAGE OF AMBITION. 
 
 " it is fine and tempting, I own, but Duty would 
 not allow me to keep it." 
 
 " You don't mean to insult me by retui'ning my 
 gift ? " exclaimed Pride, in a tone of fierce dis- 
 appointment. 
 
 " I must do what is right," said Nelly, though 
 frightened by his threatening scowl ; " take back 
 your cage of Ambition, I dare give it no place in 
 my home ! " 
 
 " Then — there, let it go ! " thundered Pride ; and 
 snatching up the poisoned cage, he sent it whirling 
 round and round through the air till it fell splash- 
 ing into brook Bother ! "I only wish that I could 
 send you after it!" he exclaimed, and gnashing his 
 teeth with disappointment and fury, Pride rushed 
 away from the spot. 
 
 Little Nelly returned up the hill at a much slower 
 pace than that at which she had descended it. Ere 
 she had gone half-way a bright silver wing gleamed 
 through the air, and Content alighted on her 
 shoulder. Perched there, the sweet bird poured 
 forth so loud and joyous a lay that one might fancy 
 that he knew the danger from which he had so 
 nanowly escaped, and was aware of the fact which 
 so many, by bitter experience, have learned, that 
 Content must be poisoned and perish if placed in the 
 gilded cage of Ambition.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 A VISIT TO MR. CHEMISTRY. 
 
 *ITH her bird still warbling on hei 
 flhoulder, Nelly bent her steps to the 
 cottage of her sister. Matty had cared 
 little for her society of late, but Duty 
 and Affection had both taught Nelly to 
 keep up all family ties. She was going to tell Matty 
 of her little adventure, but Nelly found her too full 
 of her own troubles to care about anything else. 
 
 " Such a provoking thing has happened ! " ex- 
 claimed Matty, who was seated on a very flimsy 
 chair, which she had purchased from Mr. Fiction. 
 It gave such a loud crack as she leant back upon it, 
 that Nelly expected to see it come to pieces beneath 
 the weight of her sister. 
 
 " O Matty, I wish that you would buy better 
 furniture from General Knowledge," cried Nelly ; 
 " I do believe that in a few weeks those wretched 
 chairs will be fit for nothing but firewood ! "
 
 160 A VISIT TO MR. CHEMISTRY. 
 
 " 1 did buy a pair of screens from General 
 Knowledge," cried Matty ; " I brought them home 
 several weeks ago, a^ you perhaps may remember." 
 
 " Yes, I recollect," replied Nelly ; " they were 
 handsome and valuable screens. One was made of 
 Botany facts, aD carved over with leaves and flowers ; 
 the other of Biography /acis, covered with likenesses 
 of great men. They were really a beautiful pair, 
 but I don't see them now," added Nelly, with an 
 inquiring glance round the room. 
 
 " They're lost to me and my heirs for ever ! " 
 cried Matty, again tossing herself backwards on her 
 chair, which again gave an ominous creaking. 
 
 " How could they be lost ? " exclaimed Nelly. 
 
 " Stolen — stolen by the robber Forgetfulncss," 
 answered Matty ; "a regular burglar he is ! I 
 neglected to lock my door at night — 1 never dreamed 
 of any danger — and in came the robber and carried 
 away my pair of beautiful screens." 
 
 " How very vexatious," exclaimed Nelly. 
 
 " Yes, indeed ; where's the use of spending hours 
 upon hours in furnishing, and labouring to carry 
 heavy things over brook Bother and up the steep 
 hill of Puzzle, if Forgetfulness sneak in at last and 
 carry the best goods away." 
 
 " What use, indeed," echoed Nelly ; " the sad 
 warnings of the misfortunes which have happened
 
 A VISIT TO MR. CHEMISTRY. 161 
 
 to you and poor Lubin from Forgetfulness stealing 
 your facts, and Procrastination robbing him of his 
 hours, must make each of us more careful 'n guard- 
 ing our treasures from such thieves." 
 
 "If Forgetfulness had only taken one of those 
 worthless chairs instead," sighed Matty ; " to think 
 of losing the best facts, and keeping the useless 
 fictions." 
 
 "How now — what's the matter?" cried the 
 cheerful voice of Dick, as he entered Matty's cottage 
 with a brisk lively step ; " you look as doleful as 
 Miss Folly did just now when I met her with her 
 red cockatoo on her wrist, appearing so disconsolate 
 and sad that I thought her most particular friend, 
 Lady Fashion, must have died of late hours or tight 
 lacing ! " 
 
 " Miss Folly disconsolate and sad !" exclaimed 
 Matty ; " ah, perhaps she had heard that my poor 
 little cottage had been robbed." 
 
 "That was not the cause of her melancholy," 
 said Dick ; "I daresay, were the truth to be known, 
 that Miss Folly herself had something to do with 
 the business ; for many a day has she been seen 
 in company with Forgetfulness the burglar." 
 
 "I'm certain that Folly is perfectly innocent," 
 cried Matty. 
 
 " Oh, I don't mean to accuse the fair lady ; I 
 
 (286) il
 
 162 A VISIT TO MR. CHEMISTRY. 
 
 only mention what I have heard ; you and she may 
 settle the affair between you. But as regards her 
 present vexation, that, Nelly, all lies at your door. 
 It seems that you despised her cockatoo Parade, and 
 would not part with Content in exchange for it. 
 But I've set all matters right ; I've taken a fancy 
 to the creature, I've promised to buy it from Folly, 
 and instead of prating for ever, 'Ain't I fine?' I'll 
 teach it to cry, ' Ain't I clever ?' " 
 
 " And then you'll give it to me I " exclaimed 
 Matty. "There's nothing that I adore like Parade ; 
 often and often I've wished to have it. I'm quite 
 astonished that Nelly should prefer that dull, spirit- 
 less creature, Content." 
 
 "I've done more yet to put Folly into good 
 humour," said Dick, who, though he heartily despised 
 his sister's companion, yet liked to amuse himself 
 sometimes with her airs ; "I've invited her to come 
 this evening and see my grand display of fireworks." 
 
 "Fireworks! oh, that will be charming!" ex- 
 claimed Matty, clapping her hands. 
 
 " And I've desired her to bring Pride with her ; 
 nothing goes off weU without him." 
 
 Nelly, who had a disagreeable recollection of her 
 late interview with Pride, looked very grave on 
 hearing of the invitation given to him by her 
 brother.
 
 A VISIT TO MR. CHEMISTRY. 163 
 
 "Where did you get the fireworks?" asked 
 Matty, who, in her pleasure at the idea of seeing 
 something new, had quite forgotten her loss. 
 
 " Where but from Mr. Chemistry ? I knew that 
 it was all nonsense in old Learning to say that his 
 goods were not yet for me. Pride and I were 
 laughing half the evening at the sage's old-fashioned 
 notions. I suppose that he thinks that no one can 
 see the world till forced to look at it through 
 spectacles, like himself. ' You need an introduction, 
 indeed!' cried Pride; 'just step up boldly like a 
 man. Mr. Chemistry, with his gases, his retorts, 
 his acids, and his alkalies, will be glad enough to 
 see the colour of your money without making un- 
 civil observations.' Said I, ' Mr. Pride, your 
 advice is good, and I'll act upon it directly.' So off 
 starts I, brave as a lion ; plank Patience still laj 
 across brook Bother, but I kicked it right into the 
 stream." 
 
 " Oh, why did you do so ? " exclaimed Nelly. 
 
 "Patience may do well enough for you," replied 
 Dick, " but you see a chap like me doesn't want it. 
 Well, to go on with my story. I found Mr. 
 Chemistry hard at work beside an electric machine, 
 and I stopped some moments to watch the crackling 
 sparks drawn from the whirling glass wheel. At 
 la.st the old fellow looked up, and saw rae with my
 
 164 A VISIT TO MR. CHEMISTRY. 
 
 purse in my hand. * You're a young student,' says 
 he. 'An old head on young shoulders,' says I, 
 looking as solemn and wise as Mr. Learning himself 
 could do. ' You'll need to undergo a short examina- 
 tion,' says he, 'upon the first principles of my science.* 
 Those words rather took me aback, for I had not 
 counted upon that. ' What's a simple body ? ' says 
 he, turning over to the first page of a book that 
 was near him. 'A simple body,' says I ; 'why, that 
 is my sister Matty, for she's hand and glove with 
 Miss FoUy.'" 
 
 "0 Dick, how could you speak so?" cried 
 Matty. 
 
 " I set the old fellow laughing, and then, of 
 course, I got everything my own way. I told him 
 that I did not want science but fireworks, and that 
 I knew that he had them in lots. I wished some- 
 thing that would go hissing, and fizzing, and 
 whizzing, and astonish and dazzle beholders. To 
 make a long story short, I carried off all that I 
 wanted ; and I invite you both this evening to see 
 my grand firework display." 
 
 " It will be delightful — quite charming," cried 
 Matty ; " and my darling Miss Folly to be there !" 
 
 "Miss Folly and Pride too," said Dick; "but 
 what makes our NeUy so solemn and grave?" he 
 added, clapping the lame girl on the shoulder.
 
 A VISIT TO MR. CHEMISTRY. 166 
 
 " O Dick, I should like much — very much — to 
 see your fireworks, but I cannot — indeed, I cannot 
 — go to meet Folly and Pride." 
 
 " What nonsense ! " exclaimed Dick, impatiently; 
 " if they're good enough company for us, they're 
 surely good enough company for you." 
 
 " Both my dear mother and Duty have warned 
 me against such companions ; I may not go where 
 they go." 
 
 " Stay at home then — no one wants you !" ex- 
 claimed Dick, who, puffed up as he was by self- 
 confidence, could not endure the slightest opposition. 
 " Set yourself up for a model child — lame, plain, 
 and stupid as you are." 
 
 Poor Nelly's heart swelled as if it would burst 
 at such undeserved rudeness fi'om her brother. She 
 returned, however, no angry word, but silently and 
 quietly quitted the place. Her eyes were so much 
 dimmed by tears, that she could scarcely see her 
 way back to her own little cottage. 
 
 " It was a shame in me to speak so to Nelly," 
 exclaimed Dick, who repented of his unkind speech 
 almost as soon as he had uttered it. 
 
 "You had better tell her so," said Matty, who, 
 though frivolous and careless, was not an ill-natured 
 girl. 
 
 Dick turned to follow Nelly, and would doubt-
 
 166 A 'VISIT TO MR. CHEMISTRY. 
 
 less have made all things smooth with his sister, 
 had he not met dark Pride at the door. 
 
 Ah, dear reader, have you never been stopped by 
 Pride when going to beg forgiveness of one to whom 
 you knew that you had done a wrong, and especially 
 when that injured party was younger and less clever 
 than yourself? 
 
 Dick would not demean himself, as he called it, 
 in the presence of watchful Pride, by telling his 
 little sister that he was sorry for having hurt hei- 
 feelings. Pride came to talk about the fireworks, 
 and, in eager conversation with him, thouglitless 
 Dick soon forgot the wound which his overbearing 
 temper had inflicted upon a gentle and loving heart
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 A LESSON. 
 
 IVENING was coming on. Poor Nelly sat 
 sad and alone in the parlour of her little 
 cottage. She had seen little of Dick 
 since the morning ; and when they had 
 accidentally met, he had not uttered one 
 word of regret for his unkindness. Indeed, his 
 manner had been so careless, that it appeared that 
 what had passed so lately between them had quite 
 gone out of his mind. Nelly tried to forgive and 
 forget, but her spirit was sad and low. Even Con- 
 tent seemed to droop his wing, and would scarcely 
 give even a chirp. 
 
 Nelly felt also — as what girl of her age would 
 not feel ! — being shutout from the merry little party 
 that were going to enjoy the fireworks. The dis- 
 play, on account of the direction of the wind, was to 
 be close in front of Matty's cottage, instead of that 
 of Dick ; and as this dwelling, as we know, adjoined
 
 1C8 A LESSON. 
 
 Nelly's, the lame girl from her little window could 
 have but an imperfect view, and would lose all the 
 general effect. 
 
 "Perhaps," thought poor Nelly, "I have been 
 needlessly strict after all ; I have been a little too 
 particular in doing what I thought that duty might 
 require. I have lost a great deal of pleasure, and I 
 have offended my own dear brother. Everything 
 has seemed gloomy since the morning — even my 
 bird will not sing. Ah, how glad I am that my 
 mother will .soon return. I shall never doubt what 
 I ought to do when I have her dear voice to guide 
 me ; and I am sure that when she is here, Content 
 will warble from morning till night." 
 
 "What, Nelly, here all alone?" said Lubin, put- 
 ting his round, good-humoured face in at the door. 
 
 Nelly only looked up and smiled, for at that 
 moment she could not speak ; and her smile was so 
 sad, that Lubin came in and seated himself at her 
 side. 
 
 "Why, you have been crying, Nelly!" he said. 
 " What is the matter with you, dear ? Has Forget- 
 fulness robbed you of your choicest facts, or Pro- 
 crastination — the sly rogue ! — stolen your hours, or 
 have you dropped some nice little purchase of yours 
 into the muddy waters of Bother?" 
 
 Nelly shook her head in reply to each question
 
 A LESSON. 1<W 
 
 "I have vexed Dick," she answered at last, "by 
 refusing to join his party at the firework display, 
 because he has invited Pride and Miss Folly." 
 
 " I daresay that you did quite right," observed 
 Lubin ; " though it's rather hard upon you to have to 
 give up the fireworks and fun. You'll hardly see 
 anything from your window. Come to my cottage 
 opposite ; there you will have a good view of it all." 
 
 "I would rather remain quietly here, dear Lubin; 
 with many thanks to you for the ofier. I have no 
 heart for amusement this evening, and would not 
 wish Dick to see me watching, as if by stealth, the 
 fireworks which I would not go openly to view." 
 A^ Nelly spoke, she could not prevent two large 
 tears, which had been gathering beneath her lashes, 
 from overflowing her eyes. 
 
 Lubin, lazy sluggard as he was, yet was a kind- 
 hearted boy, and would do a good turn for any one, 
 provided it gave him small trouble. "I'll stay with 
 you, Nelly," he said, kissing the tear from her cheek ; 
 " it will be better for me, you know, to keep clear 
 of Folly and Pride." Nelly squeezed his hand to 
 express her thanks. " There is Miss Folly approach- 
 ing already," continued Lubin. " One might know 
 her coming were she a mile off, by the sound of hei 
 jabbeiing voice." 
 
 Lubin rose and went to the window to look out
 
 170 A LESSON. 
 
 " Yes ; there is Miss Folly — peacock plume, balloon 
 dress, and all ; and she has a red cockatoo on her 
 wrist. Black-browed Pride is behind her. Matty 
 and Dick are running to meet them." 
 
 Nelly did not go to the window ; but she heard 
 the voices without, which sounded distinctly through 
 the still evening air. 
 
 " I wonder if it will ever get dark enough for the 
 lovely, delightful fireworks. I've been wishing all 
 the afternoon that I could push on the sun double- 
 quick to the west. It's always dark when one 
 wants it to be light, and light when one wants it to 
 be dark." My readers will scarcely need to be told 
 that these words were spoken by FoUy. 
 
 " I'm glad that you've brought your cockatoo," 
 said Dick ; " you know that I'm going to buy 
 him." 
 
 " He's worth his weight in gold — he is ; pretty 
 creature ! — just listen to him now !" And NeUy 
 could hear the harsh, grating voice of Parade : 
 "Pretty Poll! ain't I fine? ain't I fine?" 
 
 " I'm going to teach him something else," observed 
 Dick, " Just let me have him here for a few 
 minutes. The fireworks are ready prepared, but we 
 must wait till the twilight grows darker. In the 
 meantime, I will amuse myself by giving Maatei 
 Cockatoo a lesson in talking."
 
 A LESSON 171 
 
 " You'll soon make him say what you like," ob- 
 served Pride. 
 
 "Isn't it a beautiful bird ?" cried Matty. 
 
 " They are gathering round the cockatoo, Nelly," 
 said Lubin, who was still at the window. " Only 
 Miss Folly, with her painted face and goggle eyes, 
 is peeping at the preparations for the fireworks." 
 
 The last faint tinge of red had faded from the 
 sky. Deeper and deeper grew the gathering shades. 
 Lubin could scarcely distinguish the features of the 
 group that were amusing themselves with Parade. 
 
 " Now, my good cockatoo," began Dick, standing 
 in front of his red-feathered pupil, " you know 
 ' variety is charming,* says the proverb. We may 
 like to hear you say the same thing over nine hun- 
 dred and ninety-nine times ; but when a question is 
 asked for the thousandth time, we begin to wish for 
 a little variation. Suppose now, just for a change, 
 you say, 'Ain't I clever? ain't I clever ?' " 
 
 "Ain't I fine ? — ain't I fine ? " screamed Parade. 
 
 " Fine ? Yes, we know that you are ; dark as 
 it is growing, we see that you are ; it's a fact which 
 no one will dispute. But just try now — " 
 
 Dick had not time to conclude his sentence. 
 Bang ! — crash ! — there was a loud deafening noise, 
 as if a cannon had been suddenly fired at their ears, 
 Nelly started in terror to her feet, and rushed to the
 
 172 A LESSON. 
 
 window to see what had happened — frightened by 
 the shrieks and cries which succeeded the temble 
 explosion, that had smashed every pane of glass in 
 the cottages ! The whole air was full of thick 
 smoke, through which Nelly beheld Miss FoUy, with 
 her flounces all on fire, rushing wildly into the 
 dwelling of Dick, which was just opposite to that 
 of Matty. 
 
 " Lubin ! something terrible has happened. 
 Plunge the table-cover into that pailful of water — 
 let us fly to save — oh, help ! help !" 
 
 Back again through Dick's doorway rushed 
 screaming Miss Folly, after having set fire to hia 
 curtains within. Happily she was met by Lubin 
 and Nelly, who threw over her flaming, flaring dress 
 the damp folds of the dripping table-cover. She 
 struggled fiercely to get away from them, as though 
 she thought that they meant to smother her ; and 
 it was with the utmost difiiculty that the two suc- 
 ceeded in throwing Folly on the ground, and put- 
 ting out the flames entirely, by rolling her round 
 and round in the mire, 
 
 Matty's screams of alarm mingled with those of 
 Miss Folly ; and not without cause, for the explosion 
 had set fire to the thatch of her cottage ; and 
 through the windows of Dick's came a terrible fiery 
 ^ow — his furniture was all in a blaze. The whole
 
 L LESSON. 173 
 
 scene around was as light as day in the fierce red 
 glare of the burning. 
 
 Happily assistance was near — very near. Ditty 
 and Affection had been ascending the hill to pay an 
 evening visit to Nelly, when they had been startled 
 by the noise of the explosion, the shrieks, and then 
 the sight of the blazing thatch. Without a moment's 
 delay they had shouted for assistance to a party of 
 men who were going homewards at the close of a 
 day's work. A cart full of empty barrels happened 
 to be passing at the same time, and its contents 
 were instantly seized upon for use. The labourers, 
 incited and directed by the sisters, rushed down at 
 once to the brook, thankful that water was so nigh. 
 Happily there was no wind to fan the fierce confla- 
 gration, a heavy mist was beginning to rise, and 
 strong and willing hands were at work to put out 
 the fire. Duty and Aflfection were everywhere — 
 encouraging the men, directing their efibrts, nay, 
 labouring themselves with an energy and courage 
 which filled all beholders with surprise. Never could 
 Nelly forget that night. The rushing to and fro — 
 the crackling of the flames — the hissing of the 
 water thrown upon them- — the volumes of smoke 
 that arose, the cries, the screams, the haUooing — then 
 the shout of triumph when at length the fire was 
 completely subdued.
 
 174 A LESSON. 
 
 Nelly's chief alarm was on account of her brothei 
 and sister. While the tumult yet raged around, she 
 rushed, guided by Matty's screams, to a spot where 
 she found the poor girl trembling in an agony of 
 terror, 
 
 "Oh, Matty, are you injured?" exclaimed Nelly. 
 
 "I don't know — I can't tell," sobbed Matty, who 
 was much more frightened than hurt, though her 
 hair, and even her eyebrows, had been singed by the 
 explosion of the fireworks. 
 
 " And Dick — poor Dick — is he safe ? " cried Nelly, 
 glancing anxiously around. 
 
 "There he is — lying on the ground!" exclairaea 
 Lubin, who had just discovered his brother stretched 
 senseless upon the earth, having been struck on the 
 head by a large piece of wood at the time of the 
 explosion. 
 
 " Oh, I hope and trust that he is not killed ! " 
 exclaimed Nelly, running to him, in bitter distress. 
 
 " Not killed, only stunned — see, he is opening his 
 eyes," said Lubin, who was now on his knees, sup- 
 porting his brother in his arms. " If Matty would 
 only assist us, we could carry him into your cottage, 
 Nelly, out of this noise and confusion." 
 
 Tenderly the three young Desleys raised their 
 poor wounded brother, and carried him into the cot- 
 tage. Affection soon followed, to attend to his
 
 A LESSON. 176 
 
 hurts and bind up his bleeding brow — for Affection 
 is a nurse of great skill. 
 
 The fire was out — the danger over; Duty re- 
 warded the labourers, and the cottages were left to 
 the children and their two faithful friends in need. 
 Duty and Affection remained through all the dark 
 hours of that trying night, soothing Matty, encour- 
 aging Lubin, cheering the heart of poor Nelly, Even 
 when obliged to leave for awhile, the sisters paid 
 repeated visits to the cottage, bearing with them 
 everything needful. Nelly now found, indeed, what 
 it was to have such friends as Duty and Affection. 
 
 Dick's injury had brought on brain-fever. For 
 three days and nights Nelly scarcely quitted her 
 brother. All his unkindness was quite forgotten, 
 and she would not have left her place at his side 
 for ought that the world could give. Dick had been 
 severely, though not dangerously, hurt. It would 
 be some time, the doctor said, before he would be 
 fit for any exertion. Books must be kept from his 
 sight ; he must not, for weeks to come, be allowed 
 to visit the town of Education. But his life had 
 been happily spared ; gradually his strength would 
 return. Nelly did not like to tell the poor invalid 
 that all the furniture of his cottage, which he had 
 regarded with so much satisfaction, had been de- 
 stroyed by the fire ; nor that i)oor Matty's thatch
 
 176 A LES80N. 
 
 had been burned, and her pretty white wall all 
 blackened and scorched by the flame. 
 
 Dear reader ! should you ever be tempted 
 to harbour Pride, on account of a well-furnished 
 head or a beautiful face — oh, remember how soon 
 the fairest features may be made unsightly, the 
 most talented mind rendered feeble and weak, by a 
 sudden accident or fever. The labours of years 
 may be swept away — the highest powers rendered 
 useless ; and one whom all admire to-day, may be 
 but an object of pity to-morrow.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 HEARING THE TRUTH. 
 
 ^T was not until Dick was able to sit up, 
 propped by cushions, in an arm-chair, that 
 Nelly could be persuaded by Lubin to 
 make a little expedition with him to buy 
 some things needful for their mother, 
 whose arrival in two days was expected. Lubin 
 liked to do nothing by himself; he would not have 
 taken the trouble to cross brook Bother unless a 
 sister had been at his side ; and poor Matty had 
 positively refused to go, as she disliked showing 
 herself to strangers while her hair and eyebrows 
 were so sadly disfigured by the fire. 
 
 " Please, Matty," said Nelly, before she set out, 
 " see that poor Dick wants nothing during my 
 absence. Perhaps you would sit beside him. But, 
 pray, say nothing to him that can possibly vex or 
 excite him ; you know that he is still very weak, 
 and the fever mis'ht possibly return." 
 
 (286) IS
 
 178 HEARING THE TRTTTH. 
 
 Matty agreed to play the nurse for an hour, and 
 •with a slow and lingering step she accordingly went 
 to the cottage in which her brother was staying. 
 
 It was sad to see the young, bright, active boy 
 placed like an aged man in an arm-chair, his cheek, 
 80 lately glowing with health, almost as pale as the 
 pillow upon which it was resting. Dick's eye was, 
 however, still bright, and he had his old playfulness 
 of manner, though his tone was more feeble than 
 usual, as he exclaimed, on the entrance of his sister, 
 "Why, Matty, you and I look for all the world as 
 if we had been in the wars ! I with this bandage 
 across my brow, you with your hair cropped close, 
 and your eyebrows all singed off; you can't think 
 how funny you look ! " 
 
 Poor Matty hid her face with her hands, and was 
 ready to burst into tears. 
 
 " Oh, don't take it to heart ! " cried Dick ; " hair 
 will soon grow again, you know. I wonder that 
 your friend Miss Folly has not helped you to an 
 elegant wig." 
 
 " She is no friend of mine ! " exclaimed Matty, 
 with vehemence. " Do you not know that it was 
 Folly who caused the explosion ? She thought, like 
 an idiot as she is, that it would be fun to put a 
 match to the fireworks when all our backs were 
 turned, and make us start with surprise. It was
 
 HEARING THE TRUTH. 179 
 
 her meddling that caused all this mischief and 
 misery ; " and again poor disfigured Matty hid her 
 face in her hands. 
 
 " Then I hope that you'll cut her from this day 
 forth," observed Dick. 
 
 " She has cut us," replied Matty, quickly. 
 " Have you not heard how her flounces were all 
 in a blaze, and how she rushed about as if mad, 
 into a cottage and out again, till Nelly and Lubin 
 knocked her down just in time to save her from 
 being quite burned ? " 
 
 " I have heard nothing," said Dick, raising him- 
 self on his chair, with an expression of curiosity 
 and interest ; " you know that Nelly has been my 
 nurse, and she would hardly speak a word for feai 
 lest she should put me into a fever." 
 
 Matty was eager to impai-t all her knowledge, 
 quite regardless of Nelly's parting warning, and 
 began to talk so fast that Dick could not help being 
 reminded of poor Miss Folly. 
 
 " Well, you shall hear everything now. Folly 
 was knocked down, or pulled down, as I said, and 
 then rolled about in the mud, till you could hardly 
 have distinguished her head from her feet, or her 
 peacock's plume from a cow's tail. And very 
 thankful and very much delighted she ought to 
 have been, for, if she had been quite choked with
 
 180 HEARING THE TRUTH. 
 
 mire, it would have been better than burning 
 
 alive ! " 
 
 " A painful choice," observed Dick. 
 
 " But she was not choked to death," continued 
 Matty; " she was not hurt the least bit ; and yet — 
 would you believe it ? — Miss Folly is in a most 
 furious rage against those who saved her. She 
 declares that she ought to have a lawsuit against 
 NeUy and Lubin to recover the value of her clothes, 
 and another to get them punished for knocking her 
 into the mud ; and she lias promised a thousand 
 times never to come near one of our family again." 
 
 " I hope," said Dick, with a smile, " that for 
 once Miss Folly may keep her promise. But what 
 has become of her red cockatoo ? " 
 
 " Ah, there's another great gi'ievance ! " cried 
 Matty. "The bird must have been frightened by 
 the explosion; and no wonder, for a terrible sight it 
 was, and a horrible noise it made. Parade has 
 flown off, no one knows whither ; and though papers 
 and placards about him have been put up in every 
 direction, offering no end of rewards to whoever 
 will bring him back, the bird is not to be found. 
 Folly says, that poor innocent I must have hidden 
 him somewhere from view ; but I am sure that I 
 have not even a guess whither the gaudy creature 
 has fled 1 "
 
 HEARING THE TRUTH. 181 
 
 " Had you hidden him," obsei-ved Dick Desley, 
 " Parade would soon have betrayed you by scream- 
 ing out ' Ain't I fine ? ' And what has become of 
 Pride ? " 
 
 " Some say," replied Matty, " that he got a gi-eat 
 blow on the nose at the time of the explosion ; 
 others say that he was not at all injured by it. 
 He certainly did not help Duty to put out the fire. 
 All that I know of Pride is, that he came to our 
 villas this morning, and walked straight up to 
 fours, I suppose from its being the one which he 
 had been most accustomed to visit. I saw him 
 from my window, standing awhile with folded arms, 
 gloomily surveying the place ; he then shrugged his 
 shoulders, said, ' What a wreck ! ' and instantly 
 stalked away." 
 
 " What did he mean by exclaiming ' What a 
 wreck ? ' " asked Dick, with a look of surprise. 
 
 " He meant your poor cottage, of course," replied 
 Matty ; "all its furniture burned and destroyed." 
 
 " How — what ? " exclaimed Dick in a startled 
 tone ; " the fire was not in my cottage at all ; the 
 explosion took place by yours." 
 
 "I know that too well," sighed poor Matty; "but 
 Folly rushed straight into your home, blazing away 
 like a rocket, then rushed out again, but not before 
 she had set your curtains on fire."
 
 182 HEARING THE TRUTH. 
 
 " Do you mean that all my furniture is burned !" 
 exclaimed Dick, striking his fist with violence upon 
 a table that was near him. 
 
 " Burned to a cinder," replied Matty ; " there's 
 scarcely anything left but the grates." 
 
 " The carpet — the splendid carpet destroyed too?" 
 cried poor Dick, starting upright on his feet. 
 
 "Great holes burned in every part, and all the 
 dates as black as charcoal ! " 
 
 Dick sank back on his seat with a groan. 
 
 " The beautifully papered walls," continued 
 Matty, " not fit to be looked at now ; the fine 
 furniture-facts mere charred wood, or little heaps of 
 gray ashes ! " 
 
 " And mother coming back the day after to- 
 morrow ! " exclaimed Dick, with a burst of anguish. 
 " And doubtless Mr. Learning will come with her, 
 bringing the crown of Success for which I have 
 laboured so hard ! I must go at once to the town," 
 he cried wildly ; "I must work, work hard till 
 they appear ! " And springing from his chair he 
 made an effort to walk ; but the limbs, once so 
 active and strong, would no longer support his 
 weight, and, overcome with vexation, Dick tottered 
 back into his seat. 
 
 "I can't do it," he cried; "I can't go! Oh, 
 misery and disappointment ! Leave me, Matty,
 
 HEARING THE TRUTH. 183 
 
 leave me; remain no longer with a wretched boy 
 who has lost everything that he valued ! " 
 
 Matty was frightened at the vehement storm of 
 passion which her indiscretion had raised ; and 
 being quite unable to speak a word of comfort to 
 her brother, she crept out of the cottage, feeling 
 more unhappy than when she had entered it.
 
 CHAPTER XX\ai. 
 
 A BRAVE EFFORT. 
 
 jH ! why should this be — why should this 
 be ? " groaned Dick, as soon as he found 
 himself alone ; " why should I, the genius 
 of the family, suddenly find myself reduced 
 to the state of the veriest dunce ? Why 
 should one wretched accident take from me more 
 than Matty lost by Forgetfulness, or Lubin by Pro- 
 crastination ? Why should I have a cottage so 
 ruined and empty — I who had made its furniture 
 my glory — I who had worked so hard and so well ?" 
 It is a wise thing for those in trouble to try and 
 search for the reason of their trials. No sorrow is 
 sent without a cause. Dick sat long with his brow 
 leaning on his hand, thinking, and thinking, and 
 Becking as well as his poor, languid mind would let 
 him, to trace out his past career. 
 
 Why had he worked so hard — why had he worked 
 80 well ? Was it indeed for the sake of his mother,''
 
 A BRAVE EFFORT. 186 
 
 or from regard to Mr. Learning, or because he had 
 been taught by Duty in all things to do his best ? 
 Dick looked round upon Nelly's little room ; every 
 article there reminded him of patient perseverance, 
 of steady application, not because labour had been 
 easy and pleasant, but because she had felt it to be 
 right. Dick, who was a very intelligent boy, could 
 not but see, now that reflection was forced upon 
 him, that he had spent his hours and furnished his 
 cottage only to please and enrich himself, to triumph 
 over his brother and sisters, to gain the silver crown 
 of Success, and to gratify evil Pride ! Yes, Pride 
 had urged him to every effort : Pride had made 
 him resolve that no cottage should be as splendidly 
 furnished as his own ; Pride had dogged his steps, 
 directed his labours, had introduced him to mischiev- 
 ous Folly, and, worst of all, had made him look 
 down on his best friends and nearest relations, 
 and insult his gentle little sister ! Ah ! this was 
 the bitterest reflection of all ! 
 
 " How Pride used to make me laugh at the lazi- 
 ness of Lubin, the vanity of Matty, the lameness of 
 my dear little Nelly, though that was no fault of her 
 own. I remember now but too well that it was 
 through him that I insulted the sister whose talents 
 might be less than mine, but whose virtues should 
 have been my example. It was Pride who made
 
 Ifl6 A BRAVE EFFORT. 
 
 me ashamed to ask forgiveness, or express regret for 
 words as unjust as they were unkind. Yes, this 
 sore trial must have been sent to warn me that he 
 who takes Pride as his bosom companion will sooner 
 or later repent of having done so. What Pride can 
 offer is but a sorry exchange for the peace, the har- 
 mony, the love which it seems his delight to destroy! 
 Was it Pride who nursed me through my illness? 
 Was it Pride who so gently bore with my wayward 
 humours ; who prepared the cooling draught for my 
 fevered lips, and never seemed weary of watching 
 beside me all through the long dreary night ? 
 Nelly, not one word of reproach did I ever hear 
 from your tongue ; but my heart reproaches me the 
 more for having mocked at your tender counsels, 
 given way to impatient temper, and thrown away 
 your love as a worthless thing at the bidding of 
 haughty Pride ! " 
 
 " Did I not hear my own name ? " said a voice at 
 the door, and the beams of the setting sun threw a 
 dark shadow across the threshold. The next mo- 
 ment Pride would have entered, but Dick waved 
 him back with a gesture of command. 
 
 "Wliat — do you not know your old friend?" 
 cried Pride. 
 
 " I know my old tempter," said the boy, with 
 emotion. " Pride, T have lately suffered much, but
 
 A BRAVE EFFORT. 187 
 
 I have not suffered in vain ; I have lost much, but 
 I have gained something also — a knowledge of my- 
 self, and of you ! Here let us part, and for ever." 
 
 " This is some delusion of a fevered brain ! " cried 
 Pride, beginning to look very angry. 
 
 " No, my fever has passed away, and with it all 
 my vain delusions. To think myself superior to all 
 others was a delusion ; to think that Pride would 
 make me happy was a delusion : to think that a 
 well-furnished head could make up for a haughty 
 and selfish heart, that was the worst delusion of 
 all ! " 
 
 Pride still lingered, unwilling to depart, or to give 
 up one whom he had so long regarded as his slave ; 
 but the sound of footsteps was now heard, and Lubin 
 and Nelly appeared at the door. The little girl cast 
 an uneasy, frightened glance at Pride, who scowled 
 darkly on her in return. But Duty and Affection, 
 the beautiful sisters, were accompanying the chil- 
 dren to their home, and Pride, bold as he waa, 
 shrank back abashed at their calm, majestic presence. 
 
 Dick, though languid and weak, nerved himself 
 now for a great and painful effort. He had never 
 been accustomed to own himself wrong, and the 
 thought of doing so, not privately but openly, in the 
 presence of so many witnesses, brought the warm 
 blood to his pallid cheek, and made his heart throb
 
 188 A BRAVE EFFORT. 
 
 with excitement. But he knew no better way of 
 proving to Pride that his empire indeed was over ; 
 no better way of making amends to Nelly for past 
 unkindness and scorn. Raising himself, therefore, 
 and supporting his weak frame by grasping the 
 table beside him, he uttered these words, in a clear 
 and distinct, though somewhat tremulous tone : — 
 " Nelly, before all, I ask your forgiveness for past 
 unkind and foolish conduct, and thank you for the 
 tender care which I have so little deserved ; and I 
 also ask Lubin's pardon" — here Dick turned towards 
 his brother — "for having often provoked him by 
 rude and mocking words." 
 
 Nelly's only reply was running forward and throw- 
 ing her arms around Dick ; Lubin warmly grasped 
 his hand ; Pride, gi-inding his teeth with suppressed 
 fury, glared for a moment at the three, then, turn- 
 ing round with something like a yell, rushed away 
 from the spot. Let us hope that he never returned ! 
 
 " Well done, nobly done, brave boy ! " exclaimed 
 Duty, coming forward, the red rays of the setting 
 sun streaming upon her glorious figure, and her face, 
 which was bright with loveliness exceeding all mortal 
 beauty. It was the first time that the wounded boy 
 had ever received her praise ; and how sweet fell its 
 accents from her lips, those lips that falsehood nevei 
 had stained !
 
 A BRAVE EFFORT. 189 
 
 " We were coming to see you," said gentle Affec- 
 tion, " and met these our young friends on the way." 
 
 " Coming to see me !" cried the invalid ; " poor, 
 helpless, ruined sufferer that I am !" 
 
 "Nay," said Affection, with a beaming smile, 
 " speak not so gloomily of your state. I bring you 
 the refreshing draught of Hope, to revive your spirits 
 and restore your strength ! " 
 
 As Affection spoke she poured out from a phial 
 into a glass a sparkling effervescing liquid. Dick 
 took it eagerly from her hand, and as he drank it 
 as if drinking in life, Affection continued thus to 
 address him: — "You will soon recover from the 
 effects of your accident, and be able with new vigour 
 and energy to refurnish your own little cottage. 
 You will easily make up for lost time ; indeed, the 
 loss which you have sustained is not so great as has 
 been represented. Look with a hopeful eye on the 
 future, with a thankful eye on the past ; he cannot 
 be very ignorant who is instructed by Duty, nor 
 very poor who has at his command all the treasures 
 of Affection ! "
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 EXPECTATION. 
 
 'ERY bright and beautiful was the day on 
 which Dame Desley returned to her 
 family. The sun rose in the morning in 
 full glory, all surrounded with rosy 
 clouds. The breath of the air was soft 
 and sweet as that of balmy Spring, and Autumn 
 could only be known by the splendid mantle of 
 yellow, red, and brown, which she had thrown over 
 the trees and bushes. Even brook Bother itself 
 cjeemed to sparkle and dance in the sunbeams, and 
 the white houses of Education reflected the cheerful 
 light. 
 
 Nelly rose early, her heart bounding with delight, 
 and made everything ready in her cottage to welcome 
 the mother whom she loved. As she was busily 
 rubbing up some of her furniture-facts till they shone 
 OS brightly as mirrors, poor Lubin joined his sister, 
 looking disconsolate and dull.
 
 EXPECTATION. 191 
 
 "Nelly," said he, rubbing his forehead, "I'm 
 afraid that my cottage is not well furnished. I've 
 no table, and scarcely a chair, my carpet is ail in a 
 muddle, and I'm afraid that my dear mother will be 
 disappointed — even disgusted." 
 
 Nelly did not know what to reply, so she only 
 shook her head gi-avely. 
 
 " Do you think, Nelly, that I'd have time to rush 
 off to Education this morning and bring back a table, 
 bed, and a couple of chairs on my back ? " 
 
 Though Nelly was really sorry for her broth ei, 
 she could hardly help smiling at the idea of fat little 
 Lubin puffing, panting, and blowing, under such a 
 formidable burden. "I fear that you have no time 
 to-day," she replied, "for even one journey to the 
 town of Education. We expect our dear mother 
 early, and we all, except poor Dick, who is not 
 strong enough yet, are going to meet her on the 
 road." 
 
 Lubin rubbed his forehead harder than before. 
 " Had it not been for that thief Procrastination ! " 
 he exclaimed, — 
 
 "And Amusement Bazaar," suggested Nelly. 
 
 "Oh," exclaimed Lubin, half ready to cry, "what 
 a stupid donkey I have been ! " 
 
 "I wish," said the pitying Nelly, "that we were 
 allowed to help each other more. Not that 1 have
 
 192 EXPECTATION. 
 
 much furniture to spare, but how gladly would I 
 give of that little ! " 
 
 " That's impossible," sighed poor Lubin ; " and 
 even if you could stuff my empty cottage with a 
 dozen or so of your facts, that would not hide the 
 horrible DUNCE which Mr. Learning scrawled on my 
 wall. To think oi mother's seeing it ! ugh ! how 
 dreadfully shocked she will be ! " and Lubin gave 
 his forehead an actual bang, as if to punish it for 
 his own neglect. 
 
 "Well, Lubin dear," said Nelly in a soothing tone, 
 "we may regret the mistakes of the past, but let 
 them only make us more anxious to do more with 
 our future hours. You will begin to work hard to- 
 morrow, and carry away a good store from Arith- 
 metic or General Knowledge." 
 
 " I believe the first thing that I should do," 
 observed the rueful boy, "is to master that ladder 
 of Spelling." 
 
 "True, you will never get on without that," said 
 Nelly. " I daresay with patience and pains you 
 will get a well-furnished house after all." 
 
 Poor Lubin looked only half comforted ; but 
 hearing a slow, feeble step, he hastened with Nelly 
 to support Dick, and lead him to his comfortable 
 arm-chair. 
 
 " So mother is coming to-day, and you are all
 
 EXPECTATION. 193 
 
 going to meet her," said the pale boy, with a languid 
 smile. 
 
 " You will wait and welcome her here, dear 
 brother," said Nelly. 
 
 "No," replied Dick, with quiet sadness; "I will 
 await her in my own poor cottage, it is there that 
 she expects to see me. Will you kindly support me 
 thither ? I have just enough strength to cross the 
 sward." 
 
 " But — " began Lubin, and stopped short. 
 
 " Why should you go there," said Nelly, " when 
 you are so welcome to remain where you are ? 
 and—" 
 
 "I know what you are thinking," observed Dick; 
 "you think that I will not be able to bear looking 
 on the change and the ruin. But it is better, Nelly, 
 that I should see all. I have needed the bitter 
 lesson. I would rather go thither at once, and 
 accustom myself to the sight before my dear mother 
 arrives." 
 
 As the boy was evidently in earnest, Lubin and 
 Nelly made no further objections. Dick, supported 
 by them on either side, soon crossed over to his 
 cottage, and was placed in one of the chairs which had 
 been brought out of his own little kitchen, that 
 room having quite escaped the effects of the fire. 
 Dick looked sadly but calmly around him. 
 
 "See," said Nelly, "matters are not so bad after 
 
 (2S5) 13
 
 194 EXPECTATION. 
 
 alL The curtains are gone, and some of the facts, 
 but the grate, fire-irons, and fender are as good as 
 ever, they only want a little rubbing up. A great 
 part of the cai-pet is safe, and all your purchases from 
 Grammar's Bazaar happened to be stowed in the 
 kitchen, so you see that they have not suffered at 
 all. When you get a little strength, dear Dick, you 
 will soon make everything right ; a few new pur- 
 chases will render your cottage as beautiful as it was 
 before the tire." 
 
 Dick smiled, and pressed the hand of his sister. 
 
 Matty now rushed in, all in a flutter, "I'm so 
 glad that you have not started ! " she exclaimed. 
 "I could not have endured not to have been amongst 
 the first to welcome my mother ! " 
 
 "Go then, go all," said Dick. 
 
 "I do not like to leave you alone here," observed 
 Nelly, lingering by the chair of her brother, 
 
 "I shall not be dull," replied Dick; " the bird 
 Content is singing in your home, and I shall listen 
 here to his strains. I should rather be alone for 
 awhile ; there is little chance now that my quiet will 
 be disturbed either by Pride or Miss Folly," 
 
 So Lubin and his sisters departed, Dick remaining 
 behind, rather thoughtful than sad. He was a 
 changed boy from what he had been at the time 
 when he had bounded over the brook, bearing the
 
 EXPECTATION. 196 
 
 ladder of Spelling aloft ; or when he had laughed at 
 Lubin for his struggle with Alphabet, the strong 
 little dwarf Dick had become weak, so he could feel 
 for weakness ; an accident had swept away the best 
 part of his wealth, so that he had a fellow-feeling 
 for the poor. Dick had become more gentle, more 
 humble, more kind ; that which he had deemed a 
 terrible misfortune, that which had laid him on a 
 bed of sickness, had been in truth one of the happiest 
 events of his life. He had gained much more than 
 he had lost. 
 
 Dick sat for some time in eager expectation of his 
 mother's arrival, listening to every noise, and keeping 
 his watchful eye on the road which he could see 
 through the open door. At last there was a sound 
 as of advancing steps and eager voices ; weak as he 
 still was, Dick sprang to his feet, and in another 
 minute, to his great delight, he was clasped to the 
 heart of his mother.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 EMPTY AND FURNISHED. 
 
 PU fiod the poor cottage in a sad state,** 
 was Dick's melancholy observation, as his 
 mother, after the first loving greeting, 
 seated herself at his side, holding his thin 
 hand in her own, and looking tenderly at 
 his pale features. 
 
 " mother, if you had only seen it before the 
 fire!" exclaimed Nelly; "it was beautiful — quite 
 beautiful — so much better furnished than any of 
 ours !" 
 
 " It will be beautiful again," said Dame Desley, 
 cheerfully ; " my boy only wants a little more Time- 
 money when his strength is perfectly restored. And 
 I can see," she added, rising and opening the back- 
 door, through which she could view the garden, 
 " that great pains were once taken here." 
 
 " I have not been able to attend to it since 
 my illness," said Dick ; " but as soon as I am able
 
 EMPTY AND FURNISHED. 197 
 
 to set to work again, I will try to get all into 
 order." 
 
 " I must now go and examine the other cottages," 
 said Dame Desley ; " I noticed as I came here that 
 the wall of Matty's had been scorched, and that the 
 new thatch which has been put on does not look 
 quite so well as the old ; but I hear that the inside 
 has sustained no harm, and I shall now examine 
 with pleasure the furniture bought by my child." 
 
 As Dame Desley was proceeding to the next cot- 
 tage, which, as we all know, was that of Lubin, 
 whom should she meet but Mr. Learning, cane in 
 hand, and spectacles on nose, with a white box 
 under his arm. 
 
 "Oh, what on earth brings him here just now!" 
 exclaimed Lubin to Nelly, ready to stamp with 
 vexation ; " as if it were not bad enough to have 
 mother examining my poor empty cottage, without 
 having him to look on all the time through those 
 horrid spectacles, that will magnify every defect. 
 Just hear now how mother is thanking him for all 
 that he has done for her children, and see what a 
 sly meaning glance he is casting at me, looking 
 through his glasses, as much as to say — ' There's 
 one stupid dunce of a felfow ; I could never make 
 anything of him.' " 
 
 "You wUl do better in future," whispered Nelly,
 
 198 EMPTY AND rTJRNlSHED. 
 
 as she went forward to shake hands with Mr. Learn 
 ing, who benignantly smiled at his pupil. 
 
 " We will go in here first," said Dame Desley ; 
 " Lubin, dear, come to my side." 
 
 The poor boy would gladly have kept back, and 
 had some thoughts of running away down the hill, 
 so grievously was he ashamed that his mother and 
 guardian should see what little use he had made oi 
 his hours. He dared not, however, disobey ; so 
 with Dame Desley on one side, and stately Mr. 
 Learning on the other, feeling like a culprit between 
 two constables, he entered his ill-furnished cottage. 
 
 Dame Desley looked to the right hand, and then 
 she looked to the left ; and the longer she looked 
 the longer grew her face, and the graver the expres- 
 sion which it wore. There was a terribly awkward 
 silence. Nelly felt quite uncomfortable, and Lubin 
 stood twisting the button on his jacket, and wishing 
 himself up to the neck in brook Bother, or any- 
 where but at home. At last the mother spoke, but 
 her accents were those of displeasure. 
 
 " What can you have done, stupid boy, with all 
 your minutes and hours ? " 
 
 "I gave some to my shopping — " whimpered 
 Lubin. 
 
 "Humph!" growled Mr. Learning. 
 
 " Very few, T fear," said Dame Desley
 
 EMPTY AND FURNISHED. 199 
 
 " Procrastination picked my pocket of some, and 
 —and—" 
 
 " I suspect that the frequenters of Amusement's 
 Bazaar could tell us where the best part have gone," 
 said Mr. Learning with freezing severity. " You 
 have thrown away your minutes and your hours 
 upon balls, ninepins, marbles, and lollypops." 
 
 What could poor Lubin reply ? He knew that 
 the accusation was too true. His distress reached 
 its height on his seeing that the eyes of his mother 
 were resting on the big dunce, which stared in 
 black letters from the wall. 
 
 " Oh, that I could pummel Mr. Learning for 
 writing it up there !" thought Lubin. 
 
 " I wonder that you do not blush to look at 
 that !" exclaimed Dame Desley, in high displeasure. 
 " This very day you must be off to Mr. Reading's, and 
 get a respectable paper to cover that shameful wall." 
 
 " And don't forget the ladder of Spelling," cried 
 Mr. Learning ; " there's nothing to be done without 
 that." 
 
 Nelly, who saw that Lubin' s face was growing an 
 red as the feathers of Parade, now timidly came 
 forward to try and draw attention from the unhappy 
 sluggard. " Dear mother, I hope that you remem- 
 ber that you have other cottages to see," she said, 
 placing her hand in that of Dame Desley.
 
 800 EMPTY AND FURNISHED. 
 
 " And I hope that I shall find them very differeni 
 indeed from this," said the disappointed parent, aa 
 she crossed over the way to Matty's. 
 
 The little owner ran on in front, with mingled 
 feelings of hope and fear. She knew that her home 
 was not empty ; that the furniture looked very gay ; 
 but she could not help suspecting that her mother, 
 and yet more the sage Mr. Learning, might think 
 some of it tawdry and worthless. Flinging the 
 door wide open to admit her guests, Matty ran in 
 so hurriedly to put a piece of furniture straight, 
 that her foot was caught in her unfastened carpet, 
 and down she fell on her nose. 
 
 " My dear child, I hope that you're not hurt," 
 cried Dame Desley. 
 
 Matty jumped up, rubbed her nose, and said that 
 it was "nothing," though looking extremely annoyed 
 at such a beginning to the survey. 
 
 " What a hole you have torn in the carpet !" cried 
 her mother. " Wliy, it is not fastened down with 
 nails ; you must be in danger of tripping every 
 minute." 
 
 " Such a carpet!" exclaimed Learning, with con- 
 tempt, kicking it up with his heel. 
 
 "And what a paper!" cried the mother; "as 
 shabby as it is gaudy, and all with the damp show- 
 ing through."
 
 KMPTY AND FURNISHED. 201 
 
 " But T have some things very pretty indeed," 
 said Matty, in rather a petulant tone ; for she could 
 not bear that any fault should be found with het 
 beautiful cottage. "I'm sure that the porcelain 
 jars on the mantelpiece are fit for the palace of a 
 princess ; and just look at my gilded French 
 miiTor, and my elegant tambourine." 
 
 Dame Desley appeared by no means as much 
 delighted at these fine things as her daughter had 
 expected ; and Mr. Learning dryly observed, " I 
 see that you have troubled Mr. Ai'ithmetic, the 
 ironmonger, as little as Mr. History, the carpet 
 manufacturer ; and however pretty your fancy 
 articles may be, I must just venture to remark that 
 a poker is more useful than porcelain, a mat than a 
 gilded French mirror, and that, though a tambourine 
 may be charming, it can't supply the place of a 
 table." 
 
 " Your fui'niture also looks so light and fragile," 
 observed Dame Desley, " that I should be almost 
 afraid to use it." 
 
 " Oh, it does exceedingly well," cried the morti- 
 fied Matty, tossing herself down on a chair, to show 
 that her mother was mistaken. She had chosen, 
 however, an unfortunate way of ilisplaying the 
 strength of her furniture ; the luckless chair gave 
 way with a crash, and Matty came down with a
 
 202 EMPTY A.ND FURNISHED. 
 
 thumping blow — not this time on her nose, but on 
 the back of her head. 
 
 More hurt than she had been by her former 
 tumble, and yet more mortified than hurt, the poor 
 child began to cry. Dame Desley and Nelly ran to 
 raise her, while Mr. Learning, grave as he usually 
 was, could hardly refrain from laughing. 
 
 " She has quite a bump on her poor head !" cried 
 Nelly. " Dear Matty ! what can we do for her ? " 
 
 " Get me the pink salve from the mantelpiece," 
 sobbed Matty. Her sister hurried to the place as 
 fast as she could. 
 
 " Let me see it first," said Dame Desley, examin- 
 ing the little china pot, which was labelled, " Flat- 
 tery Salve, patronized hy the nobility and gentry. 
 Warranted to heal all manner of bruises and 
 sores." 
 
 " Where did you get this?" inquired the mother. 
 Matty whimpered out that she had had it from 
 Miss Folly. 
 
 " Let Miss Folly keep her own trash to herself!" 
 cried the indignant dame, flinging the little pot out 
 of the window ; " that is a most dangerous salve : 
 its effect is often that of injuring the brain, weaken- 
 ing the senses — producing dizziness and delirium 
 Bring a little cold water, Nelly ; that is a far bettei 
 thing to apply to a bump on the head like this."
 
 EMPTY AND FURNISHED. 203 
 
 " I am afraid," observed Mr. Learning, as the 
 simple remedy was tried with effect, " that Matty, 
 quick and ready a pupil as she is, will have almost 
 as much to do as Lubin before her cottage is really 
 well furnished. She had better at once commence 
 the work of getting rid of the trash ; and I should 
 recommend her to make a famous large bonfire of 
 it to celebrate her mother's return." 
 
 Poor Matty, who had at first eyed with mingled 
 curiosity and hope the white box under the arm of 
 her guardian — believing that it must contain the 
 silver crown of Success — felt her heart sink at 
 these words ; and with drooping head and melan- 
 choly mien, she went with her companions to the 
 cultage adjoining.
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 FRUITS OF NEEDLEWORK. 
 
 ^OW this is what I should call neat — neat, 
 and not gaudy," said Dame Desley, as she 
 stood in the doorway of Nelly's home, and 
 surveyed with a pleased eye the perfect 
 order of the place. " The fire-irons bright, 
 though small — the paper chosen with judgment — 
 everything needful, though there is little to spare — 
 eacli article in its proper place, and neat and good 
 of its kind." Oh, how delightful to Nelly was the 
 praise which she had fairly earned by self-denying 
 labour ! 
 
 " Considering that Nelly is lame — that she has 
 never been gifted either with quickness or strength, 
 I have every reason," observed Mr. Learning, " to 
 be satisfied with what she has done." 
 
 " And what a beautiful bird ; and how tame !" 
 cried Dame Desley, as Content, recognizing a friend, 
 hopped lightly down to her finger.
 
 FRUITS OF NEEDLEWORK. 206 
 
 "That was the gift of my dear friend, Duty," 
 said Nelly. 
 
 " A friend whom you cannot prize too much, or 
 follow too closely," observed her mother. 
 
 "Here she comes herself!" cried Nelly in joyful 
 surprise, " and sweet Affection behind her ! They 
 have doubtless come here to-day to welcome home 
 my dear mother." 
 
 The meeting was a very joyous one. Duty and 
 Affection had for many years been the valued friends 
 of Dame Desley. 
 
 After the first words of greeting had passed 
 between them, Affection inquired whether the dame 
 had seen the gardens of her daughters, and looked 
 at their needlework plants. 
 
 " Not yet, but I am going to examiae them," 
 replied the mother. 
 
 " Let us all come together !" said Duty. 
 
 With a very low bow of respect, Mr. Learning 
 ofiered his arm to the noble maiden ; Affection 
 rested one hand on Dame Desley' s, and, smiling, 
 held out the other to Nelly ; Lubin and Matty fol- 
 lowed behind — the boy somewhat sulky and sad, 
 but the girl with reviving spirits. Matty was a 
 little jealous of the praises which her sister had re- 
 ceived ; but she expected in the garden, if not in the 
 cottage, to be found far superior to poor, lame Nelly.
 
 206 FRUITS OF NEEDLEWORK. 
 
 The gardens of Nelly and Matty were divided 
 from each other only by a box-hedge, which was 
 scarcely three inches high. The party, though 
 entering from Nelly's back-door, went immediately 
 into the garden of her sister, as Dame Desley 
 thought that it was right to attend first to that of 
 the elder. 
 
 Both gardens won a fair meed of praise. Matty, 
 as has before been mentioned, happened to be fond 
 of geographical flowers ; and while the arrangement 
 of the two gardens was equally neat and correct, 
 Matty had certainly a larger number of countries 
 and capitals to display. 
 
 " I should not wonder," whispered Matty to 
 Lubin, " if I were to win the silver crown of Suc- 
 cess after all." 
 
 Lubin' s only answer was a sigh ; for he knew 
 that he had lost all chance of getting the prize. 
 
 " And now for the needlework plants," said Dame 
 Desley, approaching the garden-wall. 
 
 Every one uttered an exclamation of pleasure on 
 beholding Matty's beautiful creeper. Ripe fruits, 
 with rosy down like that upon the peach, hung on 
 its twining boughs, looking lovelier by contrast with 
 its green and shining leaves. Matty plucked one, 
 and offered it to her mother. Tlie dame quickly 
 removed the rind, and a delicate little bead-purse
 
 FRUITS OF NEEDLEWORK. 207 
 
 met ber admiring gaze. It was of pink and gold, 
 with tiny tassels to match, Matty pulled anothei 
 fruit from the bough, and it offered to view a pretty 
 bead-mat, with a pattern of flowers upon it. 
 
 " Well, that is a fine plant !" observed Mr. Learn- 
 ing, admiration in his spectacled eyes. 
 
 Matty triumphantly squeezed Lubin's arm. " I 
 think that I shall get the prize," she whispered. 
 " I should have been sure of it if that stupid chair 
 had not given me such an unfortunate tumble. 
 How ugly Nelly's plant looks yonder, with its large, 
 coarse, prickly stem ; and it grows so close to the 
 ground. I should be ashamed to have such a thing 
 in my garden !" 
 
 " Now for Nelly's needlework," said Aflection. 
 
 The whole party moved on to the spot, when 
 they saw a plant — not beautiful, it must be owned, 
 but with three fruits, as big as pumpkins, resting 
 upon the ground, half covered with large green 
 leaves. 
 
 " Shall I pluck one?" said NeUy, modestly. 
 
 " Let us see it," replied Mr. Learning. 
 
 Nelly stooped, and broke from its stalk the 
 smallest of the fruits. It was so ripe that the rind 
 burst open in her hands, and out dropped a cap as 
 white as .snow, with a number of delicate frills all 
 neatly hemmed and gathered. With a smile and a
 
 208 FRUITS OF NEEDLEWORK, 
 
 blusb, Nelly presented her little offering to hei 
 mother, while a murmur of approbation sounded 
 from all around. 
 
 " Ah, how useful this will be !" exclaimed Dame 
 Desley ; " this fruit is charming indeed !" 
 
 " Let us see the others," said Duty, bending for- 
 ward to gaze. 
 
 Again Nelly stooped and raised the ripe fruit ; 
 again it burst open in her grasp. She pulled out 
 an apron, very prettily made, with neat little pockets 
 in front ! 
 
 " The veiy thing that I have been wanting !" 
 cried the dame, putting it on with pleasure and 
 pride. 
 
 " There's more yet to be seen," said Mr. Learning. 
 
 The third fruit was so very big, that but for the 
 assistance of both Duty and Affection, Nelly would 
 hardly have known how to manage. It was not 
 quite so ripe as the others, and would not come 
 readily from the thick stalk, and the rind did not 
 burst open as those of the two first had done. 
 
 " How can we see what is in it?" cried Matty. 
 
 " Something very good is in it, no doubt," said 
 Affection ; and Duty, pulling a pair of scissors out 
 of her pocket, soon decided the question. A gi-etit 
 hole was made in the rind, and all the party pressed 
 round with curiosity to watch the little girl, who
 
 FRCriTS OF NEBDLEWORK. 209 
 
 now began slowly to draw out the gray contents of 
 the fruit, 
 
 " I say," exclaimed Lubin, " what's that long 
 thing ? — it looks for all the world like a sleeve." 
 
 " The body is coming after," cried Matty, 
 
 Yes, sure enough it was coming, body and skirt 
 and all — a nice, new, warm dress, for Dame Desley 
 to wear through the approaching winter. 
 
 When the whole of the huge fruit was emptied, 
 and the gown held up by Affection, there was a 
 general clapping of hands, in admiration of the 
 wonderful plant. Matty alone looked coldly upon 
 it, and observed in a low tone to Lubin, that such 
 a dress as that would certainly never be worn by 
 Lady Fashion. 
 
 "Nor made by her most particular friend," 
 laughed Lubin, who had half forgotten his own 
 troubles in Nelly's triumph. "Depend upon it 
 that a sensible dress Hke that was never stitched by 
 Miss Folly," 
 
 "We may congratulate Nelly," said Duty, "upon 
 the success of her Plain-work. I wish that every 
 girl in the land had such a plant in her garden." 
 
 "I think that none of us can doubt," observed 
 Mr. Learning, taking the white box from under his 
 arm, " which of our four young friends has made the 
 best use of Time-money — which has best deserved 
 
 (286) U
 
 JIO FRUITS OF NEEDLEWORK. 
 
 the crown of Success." And opening the box, he 
 took out a most elegant wreath of leaves worked in 
 filigree silver, and made an attempt to place it on 
 the head of the blushing Nelly. But the little girl 
 modestly shrank back. 
 
 "Oh, no!" cried NeUy ; " it is not for me. It 
 would not be right, it would not be fair, that poor 
 Dick should lose what he had fairly earned, because 
 Folly set his furniture on fire. Lubin can witness, 
 Matty can witness, that his cottage was far better 
 furnished than mine before the accident happened. 
 Indeed the crown ought to be his. I could Dot 
 bear to deprive him of it." 
 
 Duty smiled kindly at the little pleader ; Affec- 
 tion stooped down and gave her a kiss. 
 
 " I must say," observed honest Lubin, in answer 
 to Nelly's appeal, " that none of us cut such a dash 
 as Dick did before that unlucky explosion." 
 
 "Nelly," said Mr. Learning, with a most benevo- 
 lent air, "the crown is yours — I give it to you. 
 You may bear it to your brother, if you will." 
 
 The lame girl waited for no further permission, but 
 hurried off at the greatest speed which she could 
 command, to carry to another the prize which she 
 herself might have worn. 
 
 "After all, I believe that Nelly has deserved all 
 the praise and love which she has won," sighed the
 
 FRUITS OF NEEDLEWORK. 211 
 
 disappointed Matty, her jealousy conquered by the 
 example of generous self-denial which she saw in 
 her younger sister. 
 
 The party quickly followed the steps of Nelly 
 Desley to the cottage of Dick — Lubin assisting his 
 mother to carry the various gifts of his sisters. 
 Affection quitted the rest for a few minutes in order 
 to direct the movements of some attendants, who 
 were spreading a table in the open air, in the space 
 between the cottages. They were making prepara- 
 tions for a banquet, designed as a pleasant surprise 
 for the Desleys upon th^ir mother's return. The 
 treat was given by Duty and Affection upon the 
 joyful occasion, and especially intended to honour 
 the wearer of the crown of Success.
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 THE CROWN OF SUCCESS. 
 
 'INE, Nelly ! no, it can never be mine ! " 
 exclaimed Dick, resisting with emotion 
 the efforts of his sister to place the 
 crown on his head. 
 
 "It was to be for the one who had 
 made the best use of his hours," said 
 Nelly ; " it is fairly yours, for none of our furniture 
 could be compared to that which you brought from 
 the town. It was not your fault that an accident 
 destroyed what had cost you so many good hours, 
 nor is it right that you should suffer a double loss 
 from the fire." 
 
 " There might have been reason in what you 
 say," observed the pale invalid, "if the accident 
 had indeed been owing to no error of my own. 
 Nay, Nelly, you must not prevent me from telling 
 the whole truth. It is best that I should speak, 
 and that all these my friends should hear." L>;une
 
 THK CROWN OF SUCCESS, 213 
 
 Desley, her children, and her guests, were all stand- 
 ing around the boy. "If," continued Dick, "I had 
 obeyed the voice of ray mother — if I had turned my 
 back upon Pride, and not attempted, at his bidding, 
 things that I was not able to perform — if he had 
 not introduced me to FoUy, whom I encouraged, 
 although I despised her — the explosion would never 
 have taken place, I should have suffered no shame 
 and loss. I am willing to bear the consequences of 
 my own wilfulness and presumption. I should 
 blush to wear the crown of Success, which I feel 
 that I do not merit. Let me see it on your brow, 
 dear Nelly ; its proper place is there. Next to the 
 pleasure of winning it myself, is that of knowing 
 that it belongs to one who so richly deserves it." 
 
 Nelly was no longer able to resist. The spark- 
 ling crown was placed on her brow. Lubin con- 
 gratulated her with frank kindness, and even Matty 
 felt that she had no right to complain. The reflec- 
 tion, however, passed through the mind of the girl, 
 " All this honour and pleasure might have been 
 mine, had I never listened to FoUy ! " 
 
 And now Mr. Learning came forward, and stood 
 in the centre of the circle, leaning one hand on the 
 arm-chair of Dick, while with the other he motioned 
 for silence. It was clear, from his preparatory 
 cough, that the sage was going to make a speech.
 
 214 THE CROWN OF SUCCESS. 
 
 " My friends," he began, in his distinct, solemn 
 tone, glancing benignly around, " we are all met 
 together on a happy occasion. We see merit re- 
 warded with success, and patient obedience to Duty 
 achieving more than talent or genius. Before we 
 proceed to the banquet to which our fair friends 
 have invited us, let me mention before all my 
 intentions in regard to the future year. When 
 twelve months have run their course I will again 
 return to this place, again look for a kindly welcome, 
 again examine the cottages here. If I find that 
 Dick has made up for the past — that Matty, giving 
 up all connection with Folly, has furnished wisely 
 and well — that Lubin, by steady perseverance, has 
 made all forget that the word DUNCE was ever in- 
 scribed on his wall — not only one, but all and each 
 of my young friends shall receive a crown of 
 Success." 
 
 " Hurrah ! hurrah ! " shouted Lubin, who had 
 just been forming a number of good resolutions. A 
 smile of pleasure lit up the pale features of Dick ; 
 and Matty, in expectation, already felt the silver 
 crown on her head. 
 
 " And now," said graceful Duty, " let Mr. Leam- 
 ing conduct our Nelly to the feast prepared, as she 
 is Queen of the day." 
 
 Even Dick, as if gaining fresh strength from the
 
 THK CROWN OF SUCCESS. 216 
 
 sight of the pleasant company around him, was 
 able, leaning on his mother, to join the cheerful 
 circle that on that beautiful autumnal day gathered 
 around the board. Conversation flowed freely, 
 nothing painful was recalled, no one whispered 
 about Pride, no one mentioned Miss Folly. Brightly 
 sparkled the beverage of Hope, foaming and bub- 
 bling in the glass ; and every one who has tasted it 
 knows what a delicious beverage it is. The stores 
 of Amusement had been half emptied to furnish 
 sweetmeats and cakes for the table ; and Affection 
 had provided a large quantity of the dried fruits of 
 sweet Recollections. Merry were the smiles that 
 were exchanged ; merry the jests that were made ; 
 merriest of all the loud song of Content, as he 
 warbled his lay of delight, fluttering round the head 
 of her who wore the silver crown of Success. 
 
 And I now would gather around me my readers, 
 to make them a little address ere we pai-t. I see 
 them in my mind's eye — from the school-boy with 
 jacket and cap, who has thought it a condescension 
 to read such "childish stuff"," to the little curly- 
 headed urchin in tartan frock, who, when taking a 
 drive with mamma, asks whether the little stream 
 which he passes be not "the real brook Bother." 
 Tliere is the tall elder sister, who only reads aloud
 
 216 THE CROWN OF SUCCESS. 
 
 " to amuse the children ; " and the girl who "hates 
 all lessons ; " and the little laughing fairy who 
 expects some day to see dwarf Alphabet standing 
 at the door of a shop. It is not hard to make a 
 speech when no one can see the speaker. So, with- 
 out blushing, or coughing, or stammering, A. L. 0. E. 
 addresses her readers. 
 
 Have not you, my friends, been reading in my 
 story of persons and scenes with which you your- 
 selves are familiar ? Have you not each a nice 
 little head to furnish, and Time-money to pay for 
 your purchases ? And do not all your best friends 
 recommend you to go to the good town of Educa- 
 tion ? Do not you know the muddy brook Bother ? 
 Have you not crossed it on the plank of Patience ; 
 or have you never — pi'ay pardon the question — 
 gone floundering right into the middle ? I am 
 pretty sure that you have paid toll to Alphabet, the 
 stout little dwarf; that you have felt how trouble- 
 some and tedious it is to climb Multiplication stair- 
 case ; that you have examined Reading's fine shop ; 
 glanced at Arithmetic's gi'ates and fire-irons ; and 
 probably tumbled many a time from that awkward 
 ladder of Spelling. Have I not amongst my young 
 audience a clever Dick, a lazy Lubin, a silly Matty, 
 and a lame little child like Nelly ? Each reader 
 must judge for himself which character most re-
 
 THE CROWN OF SITCCE9S. 217 
 
 sembles his own, and let each kindly accept a suit" 
 able word of advice. 
 
 Clever reader ! beware of Pride. Don't let him 
 lurk behind your door — don't let him lead you to 
 cut either your fingers or your friends, by attempt- 
 ing things for which you are not fitted, or by look- 
 ing down upon companions not gifted with powei-s 
 like your own. Do not despise Patience, or think 
 that vou are too clever to need it. It is not the 
 quickest or shai-pest pupil tliat really spends Time 
 to best purpose. Often has the haughty, self- 
 willed crenius been found to forfeit the crown of 
 Success. 
 
 Lazy reader ! you who love play far better than 
 work, and are tempted to vote Education, its 
 tradesmen, its fan)ily of Ologies, and all, as the 
 greatest boies in the world, beware of Procrastinar 
 tion — beware of the thief of Time — beware of put- 
 ting ofi" till to-morrow what ought to be done to- 
 day. Can you bear to see that word dunce so 
 terribly distinct on your wall ? Can you bear to 
 throw away on nothing but Amusement those pre- 
 cious hours and minutes which, well employed, might 
 gain for you the silver crown of Success ? 
 
 Silly reader ! — but here I must pause, for it is 
 probable that no little girl glancing over my pages 
 will accept the title as her own. Yet, if she know
 
 218 THE GROWN OF STT0CES8. 
 
 Miss Folly, delight in her gossiping prate, drese 
 according to her fanciful taste, and value her 
 poisonous salve, she must really excuse me for class- 
 ing her with our poor, conceited young Matty. 
 There are thousands and tens of thousands, I fear, 
 of such silly girls in the world (some of them may 
 possibly be amongst my readers), who would furnish 
 their heads with bubbles, and neglect the good for 
 the gay. To such I would utter a gentle warning. 
 Folly can never lead you to real happiness or real 
 usefulness in the world. She may promise you 
 pleasures for a moment ; but her pleasures either 
 vanish into air, or leave pain and vexation behind. 
 Then shut her out from your home ; give her idle 
 fancies no room. Let your dress be sober, neat, 
 and quiet — suited to the station in which you are 
 placed. Girls who deck themselves out to be 
 admired remind us of the cockatoo Parade, puffing 
 out its red feathers, and always repeating the cry, 
 " Ain't I fine ? ain't I fine ? " Let your furniture 
 be useful and solid ; water well the plant of Plain- 
 work. It is not the fanciful, frivolous miss who 
 merits the crown of Success. 
 
 But, perhaps, amongst my audience are several 
 who may be described as lame, from the difficulty 
 with which they make their way to the town of 
 Education. They can hardly climb up hill Puzzle,
 
 THE CROWN OF SUCCESS. 219 
 
 and are often tempted to sit down in despair by the 
 swollen waters of Bother! Courage, my dear 
 young friends ! Resolute perseverance will yet win 
 the crown of Success. If you keep your eye upon 
 Duty, and bravely follow where she would lead — if, 
 guided by gentle Affection, you steadily pursue a 
 right course — you will conquer difficulties at last, 
 be useful, honoured, and beloved. 
 
 But if you would further know how to find out 
 Duty, and, having found her, how to get strength 
 and courage to follow her precepts, remember, dear 
 friends, what was the best gift that even Affection 
 could offer. There is something better than human 
 knowledge — something stronger than mortal effoi-ts 
 — something more precious than earthly Success ! 
 Oh, make it your own, for only when that is pos- 
 sessed will the bird Content fold its silver wings 
 and rest in your bosoms for ever !
 
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