XXX. THE CAREFUL BOY.

Mr. Brown. WHO was that boy, my son, who just passed us in the street?

:

Philip. That was John Ray he goes to our school.

Mr. B. Then why did you not bow to him? Philip. O! he is what the boys all call a Mr. B. Stop! If it is some nick'name you have in your thought, do not speak it; for it is a poor and mean way of giving of-fence, to call a person by a nick'name. But tell me what the boys do not like in John Ray.

Philip. Why, he is always a-fraid of spoil'ing his clothes, or wearing out his shoes; so he will not climb trees, or kick football.

Mr. B. I wish that you and your broth'ers were more a-fraid of spoil'ing your clothes; for it costs me a great deal of mon'ey to buy them.

Philip. We are as care'ful as we can be, fath'er; but I should not like to be as par-tic'u-lar as John Ray is.

Mr. B. Do you know why John Ray is so careful of his clothes?

Philip. I do not know, un-less it is be-cause he likes to look like a dan'dy.

Mr. B. His moth'er is a poor widow, who denies her-self man'y com'forts, that she may send John to school.

Philip. His clothes are so good, I did not know that he was poor.

Mr. B. John knows that his moth'er works hard, and that if she had to spend much money on his clothes she would have to work hard ́er.

Philip. And so, like a good fel'low, he is grateful for her kindness, and tries to save her all the expense he can!

Mr. B. Yes, that is the reasons why he is a-fraid of spoil'ing his clothes, and wearing out his shoes. Do you think he ought to be praised, or blamed?

Philip. O fath'er, he ought to be praised. I am sorry I ever laughed at him. I love him now for his care. May I ask him to come and see me?

Mr. B. Yes; there will be some straw'ber-ries ripe to-morrow. You may ask John Ray to come

and take tea with us.

Philip. May I? Then I can show him my rabbits, and the pony, and the new book you gave me. I will never call him by a nick'name a-gain.

Mr. B. Nev'er call an'y one by a nick'name. Never say a word to give any one pain. Be kind and po-lite to all. Kindness makes happy him who gives, as well as him who re-ceives.

(15, 17, 38, 56, 72, 124, 201-5, 213, 230, 233, 247, 275, 303-5, 330, 340.)

1. THE same little girl who let the butter-fly es-cape, was one day walk'ing in the gar'den, when she saw some thing al-most like a large ball hanging from

* See page 60.

the limb of a tree. She pointed it out to her mother, and asked what it was.

2. "It is well, Lucy, that you did not give way to your hab'it of touch'ing things," said her mother; "for you would have been bad'ly stung if you had touched this wasps' nest."

3. "Why, mother, it looks as if it were made of brown paper. Is that re'al-ly what it is made of?" - "It is a sort of paper; but, what is very strange, Lucy, the little creatures made that paper themselves."

4. "I wonder how they did it," said Lucy; "I should like very much to know."-"Do you know the way the paper-makers went to work, that your father took you to see a short time ago?" asked her mother.

5. "Yes," an'swered Lucy; "I know that they made the paper of old lin'en, which was torn and beaten all to pieces, and then squeezed in a press till it was made into a thin, smooth sheet; then it was hung up to dry."

6. "Well, the wasps, with their little jaws, take off the fi'bres or threads of old wood; then they work them into a sort of paste, as the paper-makers work and beat the old lin'en; then they carry the paste to the place where they mean to build their nest; then they spread it out till it is as thin as a sheet of the finest paper."

7. "How tired their little jaws and legs must be," said Lucy, "be-fore they get such a large piece of paper made!"

8. "They are very happy in the work, I have no doubt," said her mother; "for all kinds of creatures, from a wasp to a man, are happy when busy with work that is useful.

9. "There are as many as fif'teen or six'teen sheets of wasps' paper, one with-in an-oth'er, in that little nest be-fore us; and, be-sides, it is di-vid'ed into little cells for the young wasps to live in.”

10. Lucy's mother then said she had work to do in the house, and must leave her. "Be sure," said she, "not to disturb the wasps; for, though quite harmless if left a-lone, they are not very goodnatured when of-fend'ed."

XXXII. THE WASPS' NEST.

PART II.

1. Lucy's mother left her; and, after she was gone, the little girl stood for some time in deep thought, with her eyes fixed upon the wasps' nest.

2. "Can it be, as mother says," thought she, "that there are fifteen or sixteen sheets of paper in that nest? I wish I could see the inside, and then I should be quite sure.

3. "Should one of the wasps come to sting me, I am a great deal bigger and strong'er than a wasp, and could soon kill it.

4. "I do think I might ven'ture to knock the nest off the bush, and then, after it is knocked off, the wasps would fly out, and I could take up the nest and look at it.

5. "Be-sides, they would never know that it was I who had knocked down their house, so that they would not think of hurt'ing me for it."

6. As Lucy thought thus, she took up a large stick and gave the nest as hard a knock as she could. She did not, as she had hoped, knock the nest off the branch on which it was fixed.

7. But she gave such an a-larm to the wasps, that they at once flew out as fast as the size of the hole would let them; and, after flying about as if in search of the person who had given them of-fence, they all set'tled upon Lucy.

8. Hands, face and neck, were soon covered; and, as she tried to beat them off, sting after sting was pierced into her skin. In an ag'o-ny of fear and pain, she stamped and screamed; but the more she tried to knock off the angry insects, the more they as'sailed her.

9. Often did Lucy wish she had at-tended to what her mother had said, and never touched the nest. She tried to run

away, but they flew much swift'er than she could run, and it seemed as though their anger would never have an end.

10. At length

she reached the house, and the wasps flew back to their nest. Her mother was shocked to see her. Lucy's face was soon swelled to such a size that she was a sad