McGuffeys Third Eclectic Reader | Page 3

placed at the end of a sentence; as, God is love. Life is
short. Or is used after an abbreviation; as, Dr. Murphy. Jan. 10, 1879.
An Interrogation Point (?) denotes a question; as, Has he come? Who
are you?
An Exclamation Point (!) denotes strong feeling; as, O Absalom! my
son! my son!
The Dash (--) is used where there is a sudden break or pause in a

sentence; as, The truth has power--such is God's will--to make us
better.
Quotation Marks (" ") denote the words of another; as, God said, "Let
there be light."
An Apostrophe (') denotes that a letter or letters are left out; as, O'er,
for over; 't is, for it is. And is also used to show ownership; as, The
man's hat. Helen's book.
MCGUFFEY'S
THIRD READER.
LESSON I.
THE SHEPHERD BOY.
1. Little Roy led his sheep down to pasture, And his cows, by the side
of the brook;
(13)
14 ECLECTIC SERIES.
But his cows never drank any water, And his sheep never needed a
crook.
2. For the pasture was gay as a garden, And it glowed with a flowery
red; But the meadows had never a grass blade, And the brooklet--it
slept in its bed:
3. And it lay without sparkle or murmur, Nor reflected the blue of the
skies; But the music was made by the shepherd, And the sparkle was all
in his eyes.
4. Oh, he sang like a bird in the summer! And, if sometimes you
fancied a bleat, That, too, was the voice of the shepherd, And not of the
lambs at his feet.

5. And the glossy brown cows were so gentle That they moved at the
touch of his hand O'er the wonderful, rosy-red meadow, And they stood
at the word of command.
6. So he led all his sheep to the pasture, And his cows, by the side of
the brook; Though it rained, yet the rain never pattered O'er the
beautiful way that they took.
7. And it was n't in Fairyland either, But a house in the midst of the
town, Where Roy, as he looked from the window, Saw the silvery
drops trickle down.
THIRD READER. 15
8. For his pasture was only a table, With its cover so flowery fair, And
his brooklet was just a green ribbon, That his sister had lost from her
hair.
9. And his cows were but glossy horse-chestnuts, That had grown on
his grandfather's tree; And his sheep only snowy-white pebbles, He had
brought from the shore of the sea.
10. And at length when the shepherd was weary, And had taken his
milk and his bread, And his mother had kissed him and tucked him,
And had bid him "good night" in his bed;
11. Then there entered his big brother Walter, While the shepherd was
soundly asleep, And he cut up the cows into baskets, And to jackstones
turned all of the sheep.
Emily S. Oakey.
LESSON II.
JOHNNY'S FIRST SNOWSTORM.
1. Johnny Reed was a little boy who never had seen a snowstorm till he
was six years old. Before this, he had lived in a warm country, where
the sun shines down on beautiful

16 ECLECTIC SERIES. orange groves, and fields always sweet with
flowers. 2. But now he had come to visit his grandmother, who lived
where the snow falls in winter. Johnny was standing at the window
when the snow came down.
3. "O mamma!" he cried, joyfully, "do come quick, and see these little
white birds flying down from heaven." 4. "They are not birds, Johnny,"
said mamma, smiling. 5. "Then maybe the little angels are losing their
feathers! Oh! do tell me what it is; is it sugar? Let me taste it," said
THIRD READER. 17 Johnny. But when he tasted it, he gave a little
jump--it was so cold. 6. "That is only snow, Johnny," said his mother. 7.
"What is snow, mother?" 8. "The snowflakes, Johnny, are little drops of
water that fall from the clouds. But the air through which they pass is
so cold it freezes them, and they come down turned into snow." 9. As
she said this, she brought out an old black hat from the closet. "See,
Johnny! I have caught a snowflake on this hat. Look quick through this
glass, and you will see how beautiful it is." 10. Johnny looked through
the glass. There lay the pure, feathery snowflake like a lovely little star.
11. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star!" he cried in delight. "Oh! please show
me more snow-flakes, mother." 12. So his mother caught several more,
and they were all beautiful. 13. The next day Johnny had a fine play in
the snow, and when he carne in, he said, "I love snow; and I think