McGuffeys Second Eclectic Reader | Page 5

and crowed from morning till night. No one ever heard her cry unless she was sick or hurt.
4. When she had learned to walk, she loved to go about the house and get things for her mother, and in this way save her as many steps as she could.
5. She would sit by her mother's side for an hour at a time, and ask her ever so many questions, or she would take her new book and read.
6. Susie was always pleasant in her play with other children. She never used an unkind word, but tried to do whatever would please her playmates best.
7. One day, a poor little girl with a very ragged dress was going by and Susie heard some children teasing her and making fun of her.
8. She at once ran out to the gate, and asked the poor little girl to come in. "What are you crying for?" Susie asked.
9. "Because they all laugh at me," she said.
10. Then Susie took the little girl into the house. She cheered her up with kind words, and gave her a nice dress and a pair of shoes.
11. This brought real joy and gladness to the poor child, and she, too, thought that Susie was rightly called Sunbeam.

LESSON XIII.
wood'lands di vine' raised un til' droop'ing blessed
whose seek up'ward hov'els in'ner steal
heav'en hearts lil'ies die roam'ing
IF I WERE A SUNBEAM.
1. "If I were a sunbeam, I know what I'd do; I would seek white lilies, Roaming woodlands through. I would steal among them, Softest light I'd shed, Until every lily Raised its drooping head.
2. "If I were a sunbeam, I know where I'd go; Into lowly hovels, Dark with want and woe: Till sad hearts looked upward, I would shine and shine; Then they'd think of heaven, Their sweet home and mine."
3. Are you not a sunbeam, Child, whose life is glad With an inner brightness Sunshine never had? Oh, as God has blessed you, Scatter light divine! For there is no sunbeam But must die or shine.

SECOND READER. 35
LESSON XIV.
sup port' a long' boots be long' dol'lar years
man'age taught cor'ner no'tice mon'ey black'ing
gen'tle men hon'est (on'est) quite buy earned
[Illustration: Boy offering to shine man's shoes.]
HENRY, THE BOOTBLACK.
1. Henry was a kind, good boy. His father was dead, and his mother was very poor. He had a little sister about two years old.
2. He wanted to help his mother, for she could not always earn enough to buy food for her little family.
3. One day, a man gave him a dollar for finding a pocketbook which he had lost.
4. Henry might have kept all the money, for no one saw him when he found it. But his mother had taught him to be honest, and never to keep what did not belong, to him.
5. With the dollar he bought a box, three brushes, and some blacking. He then went to the corner of the street, and said to every one whose boots did not look nice, "Black your boots, sir, please?"
6. He was so polite that gentlemen soon began to notice him, and to let him black their boots. The first day he brought home fifty cents, which he gave to his mother to buy food with.
7. When he gave her the money, she said, as she dropped a tear of joy, "You are a dear, good boy, Henry. I did not know how I could earn enough to buy bread with, but now I think we can manage to get along quite well,"
8. Henry worked all the day, and went to school in the evening. He earned almost enough to support his mother and his little sister.

LESSON XV.
tread whis'per soft'ly talk cheer ful' care'ful
DON'T WAKE THE BABY.
[Illustration: Script Exercise:
Baby sleeps, so we must tread Softly round her little bed, And be careful that our toys Don not fall and make a noise.
We must not talk, but whisper low, Mother wants to work, we know, That, when father comes to tea, All may neat and cheerful be. ]

LESSON XVI.
full load heav'y mid'dle heav'i er
slip wrong han'dle broth'er de ceived'
[Illustration: Two boys carrying a basket on a pole between them.]
A KIND BROTHER.
1. A boy was once sent from home to take a basket of things to his grandmother.
2. The basket was so full that it was very heavy. So his little brother went with him, to help carry the load.
3. They put a pole under the handle of the basket, and each then took hold of an end of the pole. In this way they could carry the basket very nicely.
4. Now the older boy thought, "My brother Tom does not know about this pole.
5. "If I slip the basket near him, his side will be heavy, and mine light; but if the basket is in the middle of the pole,