“ The snake has eaten what would have been a pretty bird. I would give the sparrow one of my fairy eggs, if I thought he would like it, but perhaps he would not. Vile snake!” she cried, stepping back as she saw the snake writhing on the ground close by her feet. Her words seemed to give him a death-stroke; he lay still, as though lifeless; she touched him with her foot, but he did not move. There was a little frog-pond near by, and to make sure that he should not come to life again, Lizzy took the snake on a stick, and threw it into the pond and then put another egg into her bosom. ”

“ When he had gone so far away that she thought he would not see her, she peeped in amongst the leaves, and there she espied the little home, with its three inmates; not three little birds as yet—but, what she knew were quite as dear to the parents, two speckled eggs. “Ah!” thought Lizzy, “how I should like to see if I could not hatch a sparrow’s egg. I should be sure that a wasp would not come out of a sparrow’s egg.” And she put her hand very slily into the nest, and stole away one of the sparrow’s speckled treasures, and laid it in her bosom by the side of the fairy egg. ”

“ Philip was as sad as Jessie, but he did not cry, and he said,—
“Jessie, may be, if we pray to God, he will send some one to find us, and take us home. Don’t you remember how often aunt Ellen has told us that God sees little children, and everybody, in the night as well as in the day, and that good angels are around us, though we cannot see them? I was a very naughty boy to stop when mother told me to bring Willy straight home from school, and I will pray to God to forgive me, and find you and me and the baby!” ”

“ Suddenly, farmer Ackerman appeared from behind a clump of bushes, and looked earnestly at them. He was an old man, and was much loved and respected by all his neighbours.
Anna and Fritz coloured and looked frightened. They would have slipped away, but he called to them,—
“What disturbs you so, my little ones? What must I understand from those eyes, which turn away from mine, the sudden colour of your cheeks, and these unquiet doubtful looks? Did you come under my apple tree to enjoy the cool shade, or were you enticed by the apples? ”

“ Sarah and Lucy, the two girls, one eleven, the other ten years old, were working away by the light of a single lamp, so deeply engaged that they did not at first notice my entrance. “Where is little Nannie?” I asked. “She is gone to bed—put out of the way,” replied Mrs. Selby. “Oh, mother!” exclaimed the girls. “Well, then—have not you banished her?” “Banished? No, mother—Oh! mother is only teasing us;” and they blushed and smiled.
“Here is some mystery,” said I; “what is it, Sarah?” “Mother may tell if she pleases, ma’am,” said Sarah. ”

“ Forester,” said the shepherd-boy, taking off his straw hat, which, however, he instantly replaced; “can I do anything for you?”
“Tell me, are there any birds’ nests in these woods?” said the prince.
“That is a droll question for a young forest man,” said the boy. “Don’t you hear the birds singing all around? To be sure there are birds’ nests enough here. Every bird has its own nest.”
“Then, do you know where there is a pretty one to be seen?” said the prince.
“Oh, yes; I know a wonderful fine one,” said the boy. “It is the prettiest nest I ever saw in my life. ”

“ I want you to flourish, and breathe out your sweet breath;” and she bent her head over them, and while they breathed forth their sweet breath, they looked so much like little infants, that the tears came into Lizzy’s eyes, while she said, “May the Lord that made you, forgive me!”—When she lifted up her head, she saw a wasp fall to the ground, and then a pretty bird came, and picked it up and swallowed it. Lizzy then took another egg from her pocket, placed it in her bosom, and walked on, taking care to keep at a safe distance from sweet-briers and brambles. ”

“ No harm shall be done you. You have well resisted temptation. You are a noble soul! Go, ask the permission of your young friend, and then come and show us the nest. You shall share the piece of gold between you!”
“Good! good!” said the boy, “this evening I will have an answer for you!”
The prince and tutor went back to the castle, to which they had come the day before, to enjoy the season of spring.
“The nobleness of that boy surprises me,” said the tutor, as they went along. “He is a jewel which cannot be too much prized. He has in him the elements of a great character. ”

“ In passing the sweet-briar bush, the bee and the butterfly were recalled to the minds of the children; and George said, that whenever he passed that bush he should remember that his fingers were too rough for a butterfly’s wings; and that, like the bee, he must diligently store up food for the mind, in early years, that he might have a full supply when the winter of old age should come upon him. ”

“ Old Tommy had a bundle of shawls, and some cakes for them, that their mother had put up.—They were so glad to see their father, and to know that they were found, that they did not care for the cakes; but Jessie took a shawl for herself, and her father wrapped one around Willy, who opened his eyes, and seeing his father had him, fell asleep again.
They were soon on their way home,—Philo running on before them, as if to be the first to announce their coming; and Tommy, with Philip on one side,—and Jessy, holding her little school-basket in her hand, on the other; and Mr. Morton with the baby. ”

“ The longer little Anselmo sat in the snow the more cold he became, until at last he seemed to fall asleep—a sleep from which he would never more awake, had not God, from whom he had asked forgiveness for his disobedience, watched over him in the hour of danger. ”

“ It was imagined that the ostrich was a very stupid bird, because, when pursued, it thrusts its head into the nearest hole, apparently imagining that when he sees nobody, he cannot himself be seen. The fact, however, is, that when quite exhausted by a long pursuit, it shields its head, because it is the most tender and weakest part, and surrenders the rest of the body to its pursuers. Had the ostrich been in any way as stupid as the goose, the race would long ago have been extirpated, as it has many enemies both among men and animals. ”

“ Are you willing to take the risk of having spiders and scorpions in your bosom, for the sake of the hope that they may be pretty birds and butterflies?”
“Oh, yes!” said Lizzy; “I do not think I ever have such bad feelings as spiders and scorpions are made of.”
“Come, then,” cried the fairy; and she led Lizzy round to the other side of the tree, where she saw, high up in the trunk, a woodpecker’s hole.
“Run up,” cried the fairy.
“How can I? There is nothing but an ivy-vine to cling to.” ”

“ We will begin with the skin,—for though the skin covers the whole body, and is so exposed to view, there are many things concerning it with which you are not familiar.—The skin is that thin covering which is spread over the whole surface of the body. It serves to bind together and to protect from injury the more delicate parts which are beneath it. Come, Albert, tell me some of the things which you have observed respecting the skin. ”

“ The prince’s tutor now stepped up to them. He was a dignified, kind-looking man, in a plain dark suit of clothes. The little shepherd had not before observed him.
“Be not disobliging, my lad,” said he. “The young gentleman here has never seen a bird’s nest, although he has often read of them, and he wishes very much to see one. Pray, do him the kindness to lead him to the one you have mentioned, and let him see it. He will not take it away from you. He only wishes to look at it. He will not even touch it.” ”

“ Much astonished, she looked up to the tree, and among the thick boughs she saw little Fritz looking down upon her with roguish eyes. He was a bright boy, but he loved mischief better than work or study. He had gone to the garden of neighbour Ackerman a little before Anna, not to look into the brook, but to climb the tree where the sweet red apples grew. He saw Anna looking into the brook, and mischievously threw an apple to disturb the water. ”

“ Philip! Jessie!”
Oh! how their hearts beat! Philip ran farther into the wood and called again, “Father! Father! here we are!”
But no answer was returned. Just then they saw a light through the trees, at a distance, and Philip, running in the direction, saw his father, and their old man Tom, and Philo. Presently Philo barked, and Philip knew, by the sound, that they were all coming towards them.
“Don’t leave me, Philip!” cried out little Jessie. “I will take the baby up, if you will help me.”
So Philip ran back to the shed, and called again. ”

“ I have wanted an orange all the morning. Where did you get it?”
“Pa’ gave me a penny, this morning, and I bought it with this. I thought you would like to have one.”
“You are very good, my son, to think of your sick mother. And you wouldn’t spend your penny for cake or candy; but denied yourself, that you might get an orange for me? Mother loves you for this manifestation of your self-denial and love for your parent.” And she kissed him.
William heard all this, and it made him feel very bad indeed. ”

“ At dinner, the prince [Page 38] gave him an account of the bird’s nest, and the noble conduct of the little shepherd.
“In truth,” said the tutor, “that boy is a precious jewel. He would make a most valuable servant for our beloved prince; and as God has endowed him with rare qualities, it is much to be wished that he should be educated. His father is too poor to do anything for him; but with all his talents and nobleness of character, it would be a pity, indeed, that he should be left here, to make nothing but a poor shepherd like his father.” ”

“ These fish have two arms, or horns, which they put out of their shells, and stretch a kind of skin across them, which makes a little sail, just like the sail of a ship. They then stretch two more arms out of the shell, which they use as oars or paddles; and when the sea is calm they amuse themselves by sailing about on the water, and look very pretty; but if a storm comes on, they draw in their horns and their little sails, and sink to the bottom. ”

“ How they all opened their yellow bills and piped loud, when the parents brought their food. How the young nestlings grew, were covered with soft down, and then with feathers; and at length, one day, amid the loud rejoicings of the parents, they ventured their first flight to the nearest twig of the thorn-tree, where the old birds fed them tenderly.
The prince and his tutor often met little George as he tended his sheep, while they strayed,—now here, now there. The tutor was much pleased to observe that he always had his book with him, and spent all his spare time in reading. ”

“ He makes me think of the bad spirit in the wilderness, when he said, ‘all this will I give thee.’ Short and good, I gave Michel my hand on it, that I would not show the nest to any one. A promise is a promise, and herewith fare well.”
He turned, and would have gone away, but the prince’s huntsman, who stood near and listened to what passed, came up, and clapped him on the shoulder, said, in a deep bass voice, “Ill-mannered booby! is this the way you treat the prince, who is to be our king? Do you show more respect to the rude goat-herd over the mountains, than to him? ”

“ Bessie, too, heard it; it recalled her fleeting senses. She looked up,—a beautiful dog came bounding towards her. She stretched out her arms; “’Tis Carlo; dear, dear Carlo!” The dog crouched at her feet. She stooped to embrace the animal—the tear-drops glistened in her eyes and fell warm upon the faithful creature. “Oh, Harry! he has come to save us; we shall see home once more.” ”

“ There is still another thing, my dear, to be remembered about the eye. It is so made that sight is pleasant to it. The blue sky, the green grass, the flowers, the rainbow, all give it pleasure.
“A baby, you know, loves to look about, though it knows nothing. ”

“ But, as people are seldom content with what they have, we were not satisfied with our amusements; and when summer arrived, and all the great people came out to their estates in the country, we took great pleasure in the idea of making a country residence for ourselves. We had sometimes followed the old woman to the cellar, and we had observed a place in the corner, on which the light struck from a certain air-hole, open towards the garden. ”

“ We thought it might be teaching them, ma’am, to have love, as one may say, stronger than appetite, and work their little self-denial up with their love, and industry, and ingenuity. Poor people, such as we, cannot do what rich people can, for the education of their children. But there are some things we can do, which rich people can’t—our poor circumstances help us. When our children want to do a kindness, as in this matter of the baby-house, they can’t run to father and mother, and get money to do it with ”