McGuffey's Second Eclectic Reader by William Holmes McGuffey (ebook reader txt) 📕

loud cry, timidly flies away. He must go again to the water and catch another fish for his dinner.

9. Thus you see, that the eagle is a robber. He robs fishhawks, whose only mode of getting a living is by catching fish.

LESSON XLII.

leaf task twice sigh'ing hol'i days

gay twig meant stopped dif'fer ent

puff edge mat'ter au'tumn hun'dreds

lead grew rus'tled Oc to'ber trem'bling

[Illustration: Several large trees; fence in foreground.]

WHAT THE LEAF SAID.

1. Once or twice a little leaf was heard to cry and sigh, as leaves often do, when a gentle wind is blowing. And the twig said, "What is the matter, little leaf?"

2. "The wind," said the leaf, "just told me that one day it would pull me off, and throw me on the ground to die."

3. The twig told it to the branch, and the branch told it to the tree. When the tree heard it, it rustled all over, and sent word back to the trembling leaf.

4. "Do not be afraid," it said; "hold on tight, and you shall not go off till you are ready."

5. So the leaf stopped sighing, and went on singing and rustling. It grew all the summer long till October. And when the bright days of autumn came, the leaf saw all the leaves around growing very beautiful.

6. Some were yellow, some were brown, and many were striped with different colors. Then the leaf asked the tree what this meant.

7. The tree said, "All these leaves are getting ready to fly away, and they have put on these colors because of their joy."

8. Then the little leaf began to want to go, and grew very beautiful in thinking of it. When it was gay in colors, it saw that the branches of the tree had no bright colors on them.

9. So the leaf said, "O branch! why are you lead- colored while we are all beautiful and golden?"

10. "We must keep on our working clothes," said the tree, "for our work is not yet done; but your clothes are for holidays, because your task is now over."

11. Just then a little puff of wind came, and the leaf let go without thinking, and the wind took it up and turned it over and over.

12. Then it fell gently down under the edge of the fence, among hundreds of leaves, and has never waked to tell us what it dreamed about.

LESSON XLIII.

gold lambs fond'ly crick'et whirl'ing

fields leaves flee'cy fare'well cov'er let

glade vale dream con tent' flut'ter ing

[Illustration: Large tree.]

THE WIND AND THE LEAVES.

                   1.
"Come, little leaves," said the wind one day.
"Come o'er the meadows with me, and play;
Put on your dress of red and gold
Summer is gone, and the days grow cold."

                   2.
Soon as the leaves heard the wind's loud call,
Down they came fluttering, one and all;
Over the brown fields they danced and flew,
Singing the soft little songs they knew.

                   3.
"Cricket, good-by, we've been friends so long;
Little brook, sing us your farewell song,—
Say you are sorry to see us go;
Ah! you will miss us, right well we know.

                   4.
"Dear little lambs, in your fleecy fold,
Mother will keep you from harm and cold;
Fondly we've watched you in vale and glade;
Say, will you dream of our loving shade?"

                   5.
Dancing and whirling, the little leaves went;
Winter had called them, and they were content.
Soon fast asleep in their earthy beds,
The snow laid a coverlet over their heads.

George Cooper.

LESSON XLIV.

wore green joke Jessie pres'ents

jol'ly deal trim ex pect' leg'gings

MAMMA'S PRESENT.

1. Jessie played a good joke on her mamma. This is the way she did it.

2. Jessie had gone to the woods with Jamie and Joe to get green branches to trim up the house for Christmas. She wore her little cap, her white furs, and her red leggings.

[Illustration: Three girls carrying a small Christmas tree.]

3. She was a merry little girl, indeed; but she felt sad this morning because her mother had said, "The children will all have Christmas presents, but I don't expect any for myself. We are too poor this year."

4. When Jessie told her brothers this, they all talked about it a great deal. "Such a good, kind mamma, and no Christmas present! It's too bad."

5. "I don't like it," said little Jessie, with a tear in her eye.

6. "Oh, she has you," said Joe.

7. "But I am not something new," said Jessie.

8. "Well, you will be new, Jessie," said Joe, "when you get back. She has not seen you for an hour."

9. Jessie jumped and laughed. "Then put me in the basket, and carry me to mamma, and say, 'I am her Christmas present.' "

10. So they set her in the basket, and put green branches all around her. It was a jolly ride. They set her down on the doorstep, and went in and said, "There's a Christmas present out there for you, mamma."

11. Mamma went and looked, and there, in a basket of green branches, sat her own little laughing girl.

12. "Just the very thing I wanted most," said mamma.

13. "Then, dear mamma," said Jessie, bounding out of her leafy nest, "I should think it would be Christmas for mammas all the time, for they see their little girls every day."

LESSON XLV.

pur'ple plumes pail hap'pened coat

shal'low wad'ed Charles nap yes'ter day

[Illustration: Two girls playing in water; two boats are beached on the sand behind them.]

MARY'S STORY.

1. Father, and Charles, and Lucy, and I went to the beach yesterday. We took our dinner, and stayed all day.

2. Father and Charles went out a little way from the shore in a boat, and fished, while Lucy and I gathered sea mosses.

3. We took off our shoes and stockings, and waded into the shallow water. We had a pail to put our seaweeds in.

4. We found such beautiful ones. Some wore purple, some pink, and some brown. When they were spread out in the water, the purple ones looked like plumes, and the brown ones like little trees.

5. Such a funny thing happened to Lucy. She slipped on a stone, and down she went into the water. How we both laughed! But the wind and sun soon dried Lucy's dress.

6. Then father came and took us in the boat for a row. After that we had a picnic dinner in the woods.

7. Then father spread his coat on the grass, and took a nap while we children played on the beach.

LESSON XLVI.

bid sore smile Ralph for get'

hay stem shone Wick scream

tore point pluck thorns snatched

[Illustration: Mother and boy walking in hay field.]

RALPH WICK.

1. Ralph Wick was seven years old. In most things he was a fine boy, but he was too apt to cry.

2. When he could not have what. he wanted, he would cry for it and say, "I will have it."

3. If he was told that it would hurt him, and he could not have it, he would begin to tease and cry.

4. One day, he went with his mother into the fields. The sun shone. The grass was cut. The flowers were in bloom.

5. Ralph thought he was, for once, a good boy. A smile was on his face. He wished to do as he was told.

6. He said, "Mother, I will be good now. I will do as you bid me. Please let me toss this hay."

7. "That I will," said his mother. So they threw the hay, as Ralph wished, and he was very happy.

8. "Now you must be tired," said his mother. "Sit down here, and I will get a nice red rose for you."

9. "I would like to have one," said Ralph. So his mother brought the red rose to him.

10. "Thank you, mother," he said. "But you have a white one, also. Please give me that."

[Illustration: Mother and boy sitting in field.]

11. "No, my dear," said his mother. "See how many thorns it has on its stem. You must not touch it. If you should try to pluck a rose like this, you would be sure to hurt your hand."

12. When Ralph found that he could not have the white rose, he began to scream, and snatched it. But he was soon very sorry. The thorns tore his hand. It was so sore he could not use it for some time.

13. Ralph did not soon forget this. When he wanted what he should not have, his mother would point to his sore hand. He at last learned to do as he was told.

LESSON XLVII.

slope voic'es rush'ing beam'ing track cheeks

flood'ing laugh'ter health a glow' coast'ing trudg'ing

frost'y Is'a bel pleas'ure land'scape

[Illustration: Several children sledding down snowy hill.]

COASTING DOWN THE HILL.

[Illustration: Script Exercise:

Frosty is the morning;
   But the sun is bright,
Flooding all the landscape
   With its golden light.
Hark the sounds of laughter
   And the voices shrill!
See the happy children
   Coasting down the hill.

There are Tom and Charley,
   And their sister Nell;
There are John and Willie,
   Kate and Isabel,—
Eyes with pleasure beaming,
   Cheeks with health aglow;
Bless the merry children,
   Trudging through the snow!

Now I hear them shouting,
   "Ready! Clear the track!"
Down the slope they're rushing,
   Now they're trotting back.

Full of fun and frolic,
   Thus they come and go.
Coating down the hillside,
   Trudging through the snow.

]

LESSON XLVIII.

heed sight sly'ly stream drift'ing

flock flight snaps hid'den cir'cling

THE FOX AND THE DUCKS.

1. On a summer day, a man sitting on the bank of a river, in the shade of some bushes, watched a flock of ducks on the stream.

2. Soon a branch with leaves came drifting among them, and they all took wing. After circling in the air for a little time, they settled down again on their feeding ground.

[Illustration: Fox watching ducks from a distance.]

3. Soon another branch came drifting down among them, and again they took flight from the river; but when