New National Fourth Reader | Page 4

away
with him, miles and miles, over the hills, and up to a big cave in the
mountain. There he heard ever so many more voices, and it was noisier
than ever.

"Where am I?" he said, as soon as he could speak.
"O you're safe at home," answered Wait-a-bit, for he seemed to be the
spokesman; "and they have been expecting you for some time."
"This isn't my home," said Johnny, feeling very miserable and
beginning to cry.
"O yes, it is," said a chorus of voices. "This is just where such folks as
you belong. There are many of your fellows here, and you won't be
lonesome a bit."
They had begun to unwind the web from his eyes now, so he opened
them and looked about him. O what a wretched place it was!
Against the sides of the cave, stood long rows of boys and girls, with
very sorry faces, all of them saying over as fast as they could speak,
"Going to, going to!" "Wait a bit, wait a bit!" "Pretty soon, pretty
soon!" "In a minute, in a minute!" studying the names just as hard as if
they were lessons.
There were Delays, and Tardys, and Put-offs, with ever so many more;
and in a corner by themselves, and looking more unhappy than all the
rest, were the poor little fellows whose names were "Too late."
* * * * *
Directions for Reading.--Pupils should read loud enough for all the
class to hear them.
The words forming a quotation should usually be spoken in a louder
tone than the other words in the lesson, as--
_"Johnny,"_ said his mamma, one day, _"will you bring me an armful
of wood?"_
* * * * *
Language Lesson.--Divide into syllables, accent, and mark the sounds

of the letters in the following words: _Carlo, armful, mountain,
unwind_.
What two words can be used for each of the following: _I'm, didn't,
let's, you're, isn't, won't?_
What other words could be used instead of got (page 16, line 4)?[02]
Proper names should begin with capital letters: as, _Johnny, Carlo_.
Give three other words used as proper names in this lesson.
[02] paragraph 4 of this lesson
* * * * *

LESSON II.
de spair', loss of hope.
pro cras' ti na tor, one who puts off doing any thing.
res o lu'tions, _promises made to one's self; resolves_.
yon'der, _there; in that place_.
mon'strous, of great size.
gi'ant, _an unreal person, supposed to be of great size_.
hor'rid, causing great fear or alarm.
ex pect'ed, _thought; looked for_.
* * * * *

"I'M GOING TO."

PART II.
"O dear, dear! Where am I?" said Johnny in despair. "Please let me out!
I want my mamma!"
"No, you don't," said Wait-a-bit. "You don't care much about her, and
this is really where you belong. This is the kingdom of Procrastination,

and yonder comes the king."
"The kingdom of what?" said Johnny, who had never heard such a long
word in his life before.
But just then he heard a heavy foot-fall, and a great voice that sounded
like a roar, saying, "Has he come? Did you get him?"
"Yes, here he is," said Wait-a-bit, "and he'd just been saying it a little
while before we picked him up."
Johnny looked up and saw a monstrous giant, with a bright green body
and red legs, and a yellow head and two horrid coal-black eyes.
"Let me have him," said the giant. So he took him up just as if he had
been a rag-baby, and looked him all over, turning him from side to side,
and from head to feet.
O but Johnny was frightened, and expected every moment to be
swallowed!
"Let's see," said the giant; "he always says 'Pretty soon.' No, that isn't it.
What is it, my fine fellow, that you always say to your mamma when
she asks you to do any thing for her?
"It isn't 'Pretty soon,' nor 'In a minute.' What is it? They all mean about
the same thing, to be sure, and bring every body to me in the end; but I
must know exactly, or I can't put you in the right place."
Johnny hung his head, and did not want to tell; but an extra hard poke
of the giant's big finger made him open his mouth and say with shame,
that he always said, "I'm going to."
"O that's it!" said the giant. "Well, then, you stand there."
So he unwound a bit of the web from his fingers--just enough so that he
could hold the Procrastinator's Primer--and stood him at the end of a
long row of children, who were saying over and over again, just as fast
as they could speak, "Going to, going