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pavement a long way off. The police- |
man was being "judge," and they
were telling him all about it; but I
could not stay to see which one
gained the 3d.
Willie. They were both wrong.
The boy was afraid to speak the truth,
and say he had a box, because he did
not want to pay more money. The
conductor, too, did not like to say he
must pay 3d. more, because he
thought that perhaps the boy would
not ride.

P. Yes. He was a foolish boy. I dare say he thought this to himself" It is wrong to say anything that is not true-but there is no harm in hiding the truth."

Ion. That was why he kept the box back in the shop, when he asked the Conductor how much. It was just as bad as saying that he had not any box.

P. I heard, yesterday afternoon, the rest of that boy's history. He had to carry the box to Spitalfields, which was a long way off. It was very heavy, so he asked a countryman to help him. "How much," he said, "will you charge me ?"

Countryman. To Zbidel-veelds?Tharts not vurr. It's ony at the end ov Zun Ztreet. Zay voor-bencethart worn't ert ye-and Oy'll take him.

Boy. Very well.

Countryman. He's a mighty evy box, Measter. I sharn't be zorry when I gets to th'end ov Zun Strit. Oh! here's th'end! Oy'll carry him cross the Rod for ee.

Boy. Oh, you must carry it further yet! You said you would take it to Spitalfields for 4d.

Countryman. Weal! and aren't this Zbidel-veelds? Didn't thee zay it wor at th'end ov Zun Strit?

Boy. No. You said so. Countryman. Weel, and thee didn't zay 'tworn't here. When

thee saw Oy didn't know, thee should ev tould me.

W. Yes, he was hiding the truth again.

Countryman.

Weel, Oy worn't carry him noa furder. Zo, give me my voor pence! D'ye he-e-er! Oy'll zit dune here upon him until ye pay

me.

Boy. No; you must first carry it to Mr. Smith's, the draper's.

Countryman. I tell 'ee I worn't goo theer. I zed-I would carry un to the end of Zun Strit-and Oy'll carry him back to t'other end if ye like-but, Oy worn't go no furder.

At last the Boy was obliged to find another policeman, and it was then agreed that he should pay the Countryman 6d. instead of 4d.; so, after having wasted a quarter of an hour, they set off again for Mr. Smith's.

W. What a great deal of trouble for two-pence!

P. "Past 4 o'clock," said the warehouseman. Your master must be a very unpunctual man, for he sent you too late last week. We can't take in country parcels after 4 o'clock, you know that.

W. Did he say that it was his own fault, and not his master's?

P. No. He was afraid, and hid the truth again.

Countryman. Thare noo. Yu're too late agan. Thee must go back. Oy shall wornt zixpence moore.

"Perhaps," said the warehouseman, "you had better leave it at the publichouse over the way, and they will send it here to-morrow." So they left it there, and went away.

His master told him that he had been gone a long time-but, as he did not ask him about the box, the boy thought he would not say that he had been too late.

W. I am quite sure it would have been better for him to have told him

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We are, Sir,

Your obedient servants, GREEN, BROWN, & Co. Then the truth which the boy had been hiding came to light. The box had been left at the public-house, and forgotten!

W. What was done to the boy? P. His master made him go again and deliver the box; and then, I am sorry to say, he sent him away. He said to him-'It is just as bad to hide the truth, as to speak an untruth!

L. He was not a very kind master, I think.

P. Yes he was, Willie. It was very kind of him to turn him away just as I told you the other day, it was very kind of me to correct you when you were not good. Some people would not have taken the trouble, and would have allowed you to be bad

W Yes, I am better now.

P. "And so is the boy. He looks very sorry, and goes up and down the streets asking for a situation. He called at my office yesterday, and when he told me the truth, and all his faults, I promised to call on his master, and ask him to try him again.

Ion. I am so glad-because I do not think he was a very bad boy. He

only hid the truth because he was afraid.

P. Well, Ion, it is right not to judge him too harshly. But he was a foolish boy. It is very silly to fear the truth. Never feel afraid of Truth. Speak out plainly at once, and it will be sure to do you good at last.

Lucy. Yes. If the boy had said the Truth-that the box was left at the public house, it would have seemed to do him harm, because it would have made his master angry with him; -but afterwards, it would have done him good, because it would have made his master trust in him.

W. And it would have done him more good than harm after all, if he had not been afraid of it.

P. Now what "Lesson" can we make about him?

Lucy. I have been making it in my mind. IT IS WRONG TO HIDE

THE TRUTH BECAUSE YOU ARE

AFRAID OF IT.

P. Why?

L. Because it is a cowardly way of telling a lie.

W. That is why it is wrong-I'll tell you why it is foolish. Because, when you hide it, it hurts you. See what trouble the poor fellow had with his box-three times.

P. Yes; and what was worse, he gave quite as much trouble to others. Remember this, Willie, when you grow up to be a man, and to be in business. I know some men who have this habit, and they are very troublesome people. I never do any business with them at my office. If they sell me anything, they never tell me all the truth about it, unless I ask them. I am almost sure to find that there has been some mistake; and then we have to waste time in disputing, and go over all the business again, from the beginning-just as the boy had to do with his Box.

45

MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS. Willie. Run up stairs, Lucy, and get your shawl. We are all going into the fields with mamma, to learn about an animal.

bush sticking out from the hedge, and it seemed rather heavy-it was swinging up and down in this way, and when I looked underneath there he was, sticking to a leaf.

Ion. Oh! that's a snail please, mamma, let us hear about it.

Ion. Willie, I'm going to walk with little Ada, so you have my hoop. Mamma has gone up the long path to the M. Then fetch a dock leaf back gate, and Fan is running for it, and sit down on the after her. grass. Now, all look at it, and W. Come, Lucy, we are to tell me what you observe. lock the gate after us. Ada. It is round.

Ion. Mamma! we are first; Ada is over the stile; and oh, it is so pleasant! we mean to have a roll on the grass. Look at the sun, and the blue sky, and our old seat, and the sheep, and the buttercups, and the butterflies!

Lucy. What animal are we to learn from, mamma?

Mamma. Any one you please. Go, each of you, and find one in the field.

W. Make haste, Lucy! I shall look in the hedges.

M. Here comes Ion. Well, sir, what have you found?

Ion. A frog.

L. And I have a grasshopper in my handkerchief. Why, here comes little Ada, crying. What is the matter?

Ada. Oh, please Ma! de s-e-e-e-e-p would'nt tome, and I did tall to him!

Willie. Ah! ah! ah! ah! ah! I have found such a beauty! You can't see his eyes, nor his nose, nor his ears, nor his legs,, nor his head, nor his tail. Guess what it is! There was a long piece of blackberry |

M. Part of its shell is round, Ada, but not all of it.

Ion. I see something! slime, isn't it? Look, it is spitting. It is coming out.

W. And it is coming out, without any legs.

L. And I know something— it is like the butterfly, because it has not any bones.

M. Stop. Let us think about that-NO BONES! You know why you have bones?

W. Yes; they are to keep us in shape, or else we should bend sometimes.

Ion. How we should bend in windy weather! just as my new kite did. I'm going to put a strong wooden bone to my kite-a backbone—to keep it in shape. The body of the snail is kept in shape by its shell.

M. Not exactly; if a snail were taken out of its shell, you would find that its body would still keep in shape--look! it is crawling on the leaf with part of its body out.

L. I see now; it has a skin. M. Yes; and so have all living things-but that skin is rather

more thick and elastic than yours. It is called a mantle.

W. Ada has a mantle. M. But this one is better than Ada's. It is this mantle which keeps its body in shape. L. It is better than velvet, it is so glossy.

Ion. It is only the slime which makes it shine-that is not nice!

M. If the snail could tell you, Ion, it would say it is very nice. | The slime contains much lime and sticky matter, and with this slime it makes its shell. If its shell were broken, it would mend it with thin layers of slime. The crab, which you know is a jointed animal, often throws off its shell.

L. Just as the caterpillar changes its skin. I suppose the crab's body grows, and the shell does not, and then the shell is not large enough to hold it.

M. Yes; and in its stomach you may find little balls of lime, with which it makes its new shell.

Ion. What sort of blood has the snail?

M. It has white blood, like the butterfly. And there is another difference. When you have been running, how does the blood in your cheeks make them feel?

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warm - the snail's is white and cold.

W. And I think my blood would be cold too, if I were to walk in so idle a manner.

M. No, it is not idle. All animals of this kind move very slowly; they can neither hear, nor see, nor smell much, but they are not idle when they eat-they eat enormously.

W. I remember them-on the peach-trees last year!

L. Mamma, you said yesterday, you would tell me what the snails do in the winter when they have nothing to eat-and where they go to.

M. I will, another day, but we must not stop to talk any longer; it is just dinner-time.

Ion. But, Mamma, I do so want to know about its horns, and those two specks at the ends.

W. And I was going to ask how it walks without legs.

M. It has a foot. The broad flat piece of flesh on which it walks is its foot. Let us now count up the principal things we have learned about it.

L. 1st. The snail's body is very soft.

W. 2nd. And has no bones, but is kept in shape by a thick skin called a "Mantle."

Ion. 3rdly. Its blood is white and cold.

Mamma. Now, Ada, say the fourth part after me.

Ada. 4thly. "It neither moves about, nor smells, nor hears much, but spends its time in eating and sleeping."

M. The principal thing to be

noticed in the snail is its soft body, and all animals with these four distinctions are called soft-bodied animals. Now stand in a row, all four of you, and repeat the lesson from memory. LESSON 3.- The Snail, and many other animals, have

1. A BODY which is soft; having no FRAMEWORK, but a thick skin called "a mantle.”

Such animals are called sOFT-
BODIED ANIMALS.

M. Tell me another soft-
bodied animal?
L. A slug.
W. A periwinkle.
Ion. A mussel.
Ada. A s-e-e-ep.

M. No, Ada. Ask Ion, and he will tell you, as you go home, why we do not call the sheep

2. BLOOD which is white and a soft-bodied animal. See cold.

3. No real LIMBS, and therefore

4. Very little power of motion, although they have a great propensity for eating.

which of you can find out a
large number of these animals
by next Tuesday.

L. I'll try and find six.
Ion. I'll find out ten.

W. I'll find out a hundred!

To grass or leaf, or fruit or wall,
The snail sticks fast, nor fears to fall,
As if he grew there, house and all

Together.

Within that house secure he hides,
When danger imminent betides,
Of storm, or other harm besides

Of weather.

Give but his horns the slightest touch,
His self-collecting power is such,
He shrinks into his house with much
Displeasure.

Where'er he dwells, he dwells alone,
Except himself, has chattels none,
Well satisfied to be his own

Whole treasure.

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