Harriet Myrtle

“ Then Sally poured all the butter-milk, and all the milk from which she had skimmed the cream, into a clean wooden pail, and stirred in some barley meal, and carried it off to the pig-sty. She stood outside the paling of the pigs' little yard, and called, "Pig—pig—pig!" and out came the pigs from their sty, little and big, grunting and squeaking and scrambling, and tumbling over one another. ”

“ In the tops of these trees was a rookery; we knew these trees very well, because we often used to walk that way, partly because it was a nice walk, and partly because an old woman, whom we were all very fond of, kept an apple and gingerbread-nut stall under the largest tree. However, as I said before, these trees were a long way off—two whole fields off—more, two whole fields and all the meadow. At the top of the meadow, near where we stood, there was also a high tree, and at the foot of this we laid down the Kite. ”

“ Come, both [9] of you, and let us fly the Kite high up in the blue sky; come as many of you as can, and this day you shall see what a Kite can do!"
Up we all jumped, the Kite was brought down, and away we all started into the meadows, running nearly all the way, and James White never ceasing to talk of the wonderful things he intended the Kite should this day perform.
We arrived in a large, grassy meadow, sloping down to a low hedge. Beyond the hedge was a very large field, and beyond that field another large field, which [10] had some high trees at the farthest end. ”

“ They saw far out, on the other side of the water, near the edge of the meadow, five or six men and a woman, and the gardener was making signs and calling out to them.
"O!" said nurse, "you may be sure that is the poor mother of the baby."
"Let us run out and hold up [47] the baby, to show her it is safe!" cried Charlotte. "Come quick! O, how happy she will be!"
Nurse wrapped up the baby in a warm shawl, and out they went. Helen carried the cat, and little Robert came bustling after them with the cradle, shouting as loud as he could, "They're all safe! here they are! look here!" ”

“ Then Sally took up little Annie, and got a large brown pan for her bath, and stood her in it, and brought a jug of fresh cold water to pour over her.
Little Annie stood very still, but when the water was coming, she held up her hands and said, "Will it be cold?"
"O, no!" said Sally; "it's a beautiful warm morning." Then she washed and dressed little Annie, and afterwards they had their breakfast together in a nice comfortable kitchen. Sally had a good appetite after having been [64] so busy, and little Annie had a large basin of boiled bread and milk, and she always gave some to Trusty. ”

“ I can see its long tail hanging down. But do look here! the Kite has made us a present of five young rooks; two are fluttering among the golden pippins, and three are hopping and gaping among the gingerbread-nuts."
James White scarcely looked at the rooks; he said he had more important business to attend to. He took off his jacket, and immediately began to climb up the [21] tree. In less than twenty minutes he succeeded in bringing down the Kite, with only two small rents in its left shoulder, and the loss of one wing, all of which he said he could easily repair. ”

“ It is the capital city of Scotland, just as London is of England, and it is very beautiful. They saw it quite plain from the sea, with hills behind it and on each side of it, of many forms; some bare and rocky, others clothed with trees. [33] When they came quite opposite to it, a gun was fired in the ship. It made such a noise that everybody started, and some of the ladies screamed. Charlotte and Helen did not like it; but Robert did very much indeed. ”

“ When the gardener saw them coming, he ran and caught up little Charlotte in his arms, and nurse gave her the baby, and she held it up as high as she could. The poor woman, who was indeed the mother, saw it directly, and seemed hardly able to bear so [48] much joy, for her husband who was by her, threw his arm round her as if to prevent her falling down. She clasped her hands together—then held them out towards her child—then raised them upwards.
Mary and Willie could not sit still any longer, they both jumped up, and began to clap their hands and dance for joy. ”

“ In this manner the Kite was pulling us along, the string cutting our hands, and running through our fingers like fire, till at last I was obliged to let go, and being unable to get out of the way, was knocked down, and being also unable to roll myself out of the way, my brother fell over me. James White was thus left alone with the Kite, and was dragged [18] struggling and hallooing down the meadow slope. ”

“ When they got into the house, nurse asked for some warm whey with a little sugar in it. She said that was [45] the best thing for such a little baby; and it sucked it in, and seemed to like it, and soon began to smile, and crow, and kick about its feet, and throw about its arms. The children were quite delighted at this; and now being happy about the baby they began to think of poor puss; and Robert and Helen went out to look for her. They found her just outside the house door, mewing and making a great fuss. Helen ran away and got a saucer full of milk, and put it down in the lobby. ”

“ We took the five young rooks home with us, and had great amusement in rearing and feeding them, and as soon as they were old enough, we took them out into their native fields, and let them fly directly under the tree where they were born. ”

“ An Autumn Flood.
am going," said Mary's mamma, on another evening, to tell you a story about Scotland, and about some children who went there by sea, in a large steam-ship.
Their names were Charlotte, Helen, and Robert, and they went with their papa and mamma to visit their uncle and aunt. They went in August, when the weather [23] is fine, and the days are long. They left home in the evening, for the steamer was to start at ten o'clock at night. There was a great bustle when they came to the place where the ships lie in the river Thames. ”

“ Then she poured all her pailful into the pigs' trough, and then they began [61] squeaking and grunting and scrambling more than ever, and put their long noses in, some of them up to their eyes, and some got their feet in, and all of them gobbled it up as fast as they possibly could.
After Sally had fed the pigs, she took out some corn, and went to the poultry yard, and called, "Chuck—chuck—chuck!" ”