Oliver Optic

“ You saw that he wanted money more than food. I am afraid, Henry, your money will do him more hurt than good.”
“I hope not, uncle.”
“It is not charity to give money to such persons. When [Pg 74] you have any thing to give, you ought to use a great deal of care. We should visit the poor, and find out about them.”
“We know Mrs. White is good,” said Flora.
“We do; and we may give to her without fear.”
The children had learned a new lesson about giving—a lesson which every body ought to learn. [Pg 75] [Pg 76] ”

“ It is no wonder, therefore, that her father and mother thought she must be sick, for this plan had made a great [Pg 13] change in her,—just as when boys and girls become men and women, and have a great many things to think about, they have to stop playing, and do not laugh half so much as when they were children.
After dinner, the children all met in the play room. It was a nice little chamber up stairs, where Frank and Flora kept their playthings, and where they played in stormy [Pg 14] weather. ”

“ White, the poor widow, had been able to get along very well while she could obtain work, and while David, her oldest son, could sell plenty of newspapers. But it was very hard times, and there was not much work to be done; so the poor had to get along as well as they could. ”

“ She felt that God had heard her prayers, and made these children the agents of his bounty. Her eyes were full of tears, but they were tears [Pg 86] of joy. As she heard the rattling of the sticks of wood which the men were throwing from the wagon, it seemed like sweet music to her ears. ”

“ She had been thinking of it for two or three weeks. Indeed, she had been so kind of sober while she thought, that her parents feared she might be sick. She was almost always laughing, and was as fond of play as any little girl you ever saw. ”

“ Then Flora danced three or four times round the room, for she was so happy she could not keep still. I hope my readers have all found out [Pg 85] that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” I am sure Flora and Frank were quite as happy as the poor widow—though her fears about her children being cold and hungry had suddenly been driven away. ”

“ Then they wanted to be off at once, and Flora’s mother could hardly keep her from running out in the cold, before the things were ready.
I suppose my readers all know that in the city, or any where, when they want to have a great time, they get [Pg 61] up a procession, and march through the streets. They sometimes have wagons, and chariots, and carriages.
Mr. Lee, who was very glad to find that the children were so kind as to remember the poor widow on Christmas, meant to surprise them. So he got up a kind of procession. Perhaps you will think it was a queer procession ”

“ Frank was chosen to keep the funds, and he put them into one of the boxes. Then Flora said they had better go down and tell her father all about the plan, and he would show them how to go to work.
Flora was so delighted, she could not walk, but went [Pg 46] dancing down the stairs and through the entries. She kept thinking all the time how glad the poor widow would be to see the things, and how happy they would all be when they carried them to her.
Mr. and Mrs. Lee were in the sitting room when the party rushed through the entry. They saw that “something was in the wind,” and Mr. ”