Pansy

“ One shoe off, one elastic gone, his bright red-stocking torn and hanging, himself covered from head to foot with mud. How could a boy have done so much mischief to himself in so short a time! If only Rollo had had a reputation for being careful, she would have surely stopped to hear his story; but, alas for him! A more heedless boy never lived than this same Rollo. Still, this was worse than usual; so much worse that the mother decided on the instant that he must have a severe lesson. ”

“ His name is giant Satan. He is a very mighty giant, the prince of them all, and he carries hundreds and hundreds of darts, and they are all different, and some are very sharp; some burn like fire when they strike; some fly swifter than lightning. ”

“ So he reached his hand into the bag where they are kept, and felt about till he got one with the little word no on it, and this he soon clapped into his sling, and with a sharp twirl or two about his head he let fly, and away went the giant howling and running at hot speed."
"Has he never come back?"
"Oh, yes! Every little while he turns up, but almost always in a different dress, so no one will think him the same wicked old creature that he is. But it is easy to know him every time, whatever clothes he has on, for he always wants one to do some mischief." ”

“ I should think they would soon be used up, if the giant comes back very often."
"That's one of the strangest things about these stones, the more you sling the more you have to sling. I guess God is so pleased when one of his children throws one at this wicked giant, he puts two more in its place."
"What are the other stones for?"
"They are for all the other giants."
"Other giants! Are there more?"
"Ever so many; ever so many."
"Oh, dear! it's just too bad. I wish they were all dead. Did that boy kill them all that he slung at?"
"No, no; they keep coming at him every day. ”

“ He had a little room neatly fitted up, next to the attic, where he spent his evenings, and at the foot of the bed hung a motto which Mr. Peters gave him.
"It tells your fortune for you, don't forget it," he said when he handed it to Crawford.
And the boy laughed and read it curiously: "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much."
"I'll try to be, sir," he said; and he never once thought of the long box over which he had been faithful.
All this happened years ago. Crawford Mills is errand boy no more, but the firm is Peters, Mills, Co. A young man and a rich man. ”

“ Remember, my family are in your keeping, and for their sakes as well as for your own, do not take one risk unless you must."
Many's the boy who has said: "I'm not afraid to taste cider, or beer, or wine, just this once. I know where to go, and where not to go, and what I can stand. And I don't need any pledge. And if I want to smoke a cigar I can smoke one, and there stop. And I can read one bad book and no more, if I set my heart upon it. And I can spend an hour with Jim Brown and not swear, even if he does. What's the use of a fellow's going to excess every time? ”

“ This is the most beautiful of all."
"And what is the name of it?"
"J-e-s-u-s, Jesus."
"Yes, you need not fear a thousand giants all at once, so long as you have that stone to sling. That is the living stone. It will grind them to powder." ”

“ Tricksy belonged to little Robbie Parker, and was one of the nicest dogs I ever knew. Robbie thought so; he came to his mother almost every night with a fresh story of the fellow's goodness.
"It is a pity he has such a dishonorable name," the mother said. "I don't like tricky people."
"O, mamma!" would Robbie say. "He is only a dog; but then I know he wouldn't do any thing mean."
In the course of time, Robbie's older brother Nelson, became the owner of the wickedest looking little dog that over yelped. ”

“ You can't tell any thing by looking at a picture."
Tom came and looked over their shoulders.
"Where is the thing?" he asked.
"Why, it is that wonderful Giessbach fall in Switzerland that Mr. Warder told us about. He said it was just the loveliest view in all Switzerland; and he promised aunt Kate a picture of it. But pictures are the most unsatisfactory things! I want to see the color of the rocks, and the little ferns and bushes growing about, and hear the water dashing. But I don't suppose I ever shall see or hear any such things. ”

“ It was the beginning too, of Galileo's study about the moon and the stars, and planning ways for finding out more about them. There is a long, long story about that which you will find it very interesting to read. I could not begin to tell you of the many difficulties in the way, nor what long hard work it took to learn to make a telescope like this one in the Observatory at Paris, for instance. A great many scholars helped to study it out. One man would find out one thing, and perhaps all the others would be sure it wasn't true. ”

“ Poor old man! In the last few months he has grown gray very fast. I don't think he will come here many more mornings asking for news from his lost Henry. Death will come and take him to the arms of Jesus, I trust, and maybe then he will get some good word about his wandering boy.
How are you treating your parents and your Heavenly Father?
Standing next to this old man is a boy nine years old. His mother has sent him to see if a letter has come yet from his father. Not long ago this father joined the army and went a thousand miles away to the West to fight the wild Indians. ”

“ Joseph Addison wrote a great deal for this paper, and by this time the scholarly boy had become a great man; his writings were very much admired. Indeed, to this day scholars love to read Addison. When I was a little girl I remember seeing a copy of "The Spectator," which my father had among his treasures, and he used occasionally to take it out, and read bits of it to me, explaining why certain things in it were so witty, or so sharp, and I remember thinking that "Sir Roger" (one of the people whom The Spectator went often to see) was the nicest man who ever lived. ”

“ Sometimes the soldiers wander away from the camp and while every thing seems so safe around them, suddenly the crack of a rifle is heard, and a bullet from an Indian gun speeds through the soldier's heart. ”

“ Now I have taken a good deal of pains to inquire into the character and habits of mocking-birds, and I find that mine is not an unusual one, but is quite like his race; so that if you think of getting such a bird for a pet, you may safely feed him as I do mine, and expect him to act very much as Mornie does.
He and all his class are very brave when they have any young birds to defend; they have been known to kill snakes by darting at their eyes and biting, and by striking them sharp blows on the head with their beaks. ”

“ It's awful! What DID he do when giant Satan came with all those fiery darts? Ugh!"
"He just flung stone after stone till he had to gather up all his darts and hurry off into darkness somewhere. He's as 'fraid as death of some stones. He'll dodge a thousand ways rather than be hit with one of them."
"What are they? I want to know; he may come at me?"
"Here they are, my dear child. You'll need them every moment of your life just as much as this boy I've been telling you about, who has learned how to use so many of them."
"Oh! May I have them all?"
"Just as many as you will sling ”

“ Brave old Tricksy took kindly to him, and used to frolic with him in a dignified way, and whether it was that being with the little scamp so much he learned some of his ways or not, I do not know, but certain it is that the funny thing I am going to tell you, actually happened.
There was nothing that the little scamp named "Noble" liked better than to have a race with old Tricksy around the great trees on the lawn. Yes, perhaps there was one thing that he liked almost as well, and that was, to curl himself on a certain cushion that before he came, had been the large dog's special property. ”

“ He chose rather to cut off good people's heads. That was about all he cared to do. That's what he wanted to do when he stood there on the hillside and for forty days kept calling for some one on the other side to come over and fight with him. He knew he was so strong and had such a strong dress on—made of brass, as I said—that he could easily cut off any one's head that dared come out against him. For there was no such giant anywhere. ”

“ Yet there was a good deal in him to like, and he might have made a splendid man, I suppose. "Poor Dick!" his friends used to say of him, but they always spoke of Addison with respect.
It is easy to get the name of being a very wild boy in school, always doing mischief; but it is not so easy to be the first scholar, and by and by one of the finest writers of the day. ”

“ Nothing worth touching, and it is as dark as a pocket up here, and cold, besides; how the wind blows in through those knotholes! There's a mouse! If there is any thing that I hate, it's mice! I'll tell you what it is, if old Peters thinks I'm going to stay up here and tumble over his rusty nails, he's much mistaken. I wasn't hired for that kind of work."
Whereupon John bounced down the attic stairs, three at a time, and was found lounging in the show window, half an hour afterwards, when Mr. Peters appeared.
"Have you put that box in order already?" ”

“ What did our grave old dog do but turn around very quickly, spring to the bench behind the stove, curl himself on the cushion, and go to sleep, leaving the disappointed younger one to bear the loss of his frolic and his cushion, as best he might! ”

“ All these questions the boy asked, and had no answers save that tiresome one, "I don't know."
Perhaps other bright little boys are asking and getting no good answers. Let us see if we cannot find a little bit to tell them. In the first place, I think a man named Galileo had perhaps the most to do with inventing telescopes. Other people were studying into the matter, and trying to invent a machine that would be useful, but he is the first one who accomplished much.
He was born in Pisa, a little more than three hundred and fifty years ago. A smart boy was Galileo. ”

“ You needn't suppose Rollo's mother enjoyed it. She seemed to care nothing for the park; she hardly glanced at the swans, and did not go near the monkeys. All the time she missed a happy little face and eager voice that she had expected to have with her. Miss Helen Merrivale was another disappointed one. Had not she and Rollo planned together this ride to the park? Now, all she could learn from his mother was that Rollo was detained at the last minute. She did not intend to tell the Merrivales that her careless little boy seemed to grow more careless every day ”

“ He is always ready to run on certain kinds of errands, and this is one of them. So he will carry the flowers and the big foolscap letter too, all the way to grandma—nearly a hundred miles—for fifteen cents! Very cheap, you see. But that's his way, and he makes a good living because he's never idle like some folks who won't work unless they get the highest wages.
On and on and on he hurries to carry your message, and he goes just as cheerfully and cheaply a thousand miles for you as one. How like Jesus, who came so far to bring us good tidings of great joy ”

“ INTERLAKEN means between the lakes, and is the name of a village in Switzerland. It is situated between two lakes called Thun and Brienz. All you geography scholars will be able to turn to it in your minds, or if not so, on your maps. The village is in a plain and on the river Aare, and you have in the picture a view of the bridge across the river. The people who live at Interlaken lead quite uneventful lives, gaining the means of living by carving toys in all sorts of quaint devices, which are sold in the shops which line the principal streets. ”

“ Perhaps this young lady would do something for her little sick girl.
"Her whole mind seems to be set on a doll; she's never had a doll, and she thinks she'd never get lonesome if she had one; she's a lovin' little thing, Patty is."
"She shall have a doll before the week is out," Stella said decidedly. "I have a pretty wax one with golden curls and blue eyes that I used to play with myself. I have not had it out for a long time, and it has no clothes, but I'll dress it up just as pretty as I can, and—let me see, to-day is Monday—by Wednesday I'll have it ready." ”