McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader Part 19

LESSON LXX.

YOUNG SOLDIERS.

1. Oh, were you ne'er a schoolboy, And did you never train, And feel that swelling of the heart You ne'er can feel again?

2. Did you never meet, far down the street, With plumes and banners gay, While the kettle, for the kettledrum, Played your march, march away?

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3. It seems to me but yesterday, Nor scarce so long ago, Since all our school their muskets took, To charge the fearful foe.

4. Our muskets were of cedar wood, With ramrods bright and new; With bayonets forever set, And painted barrels, too.

5. We charged upon a flock of geese, And put them all to flight-- Except one st.u.r.dy gander That thought to show us fight.

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6. But, ah! we knew a thing or two; Our captain wheeled the van; We routed him, we scouted him, Nor lost a single man!

7. Our captain was as brave a lad As e'er commission bore; And brightly shone his new tin sword; A paper cap he wore.

8. He led us up the steep hillside, Against the western wind, While the c.o.c.kerel plume that decked his head Streamed bravely out behind.

9. We shouldered arms, we carried arms, We charged the bayonet; And woe unto the mullein stalk That in our course we met!

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10. At two o'clock the roll we called, And till the close of day, With fearless hearts, though tired limbs, We fought the mimic fray,-- Till the supper bell, from out the dell, Bade us march, march away.

LESSON LXXI.

HOW WILLIE GOT OUT OF THE SHAFT.

1. Willie's aunt sent him for a birthday present a little writing book. There was a place in the book for a pencil.

Willie thought a great deal of this little book, and always kept it in his pocket.

2. One day, his mother was very busy, and he called his dog, and said, "Come, Caper, let us have a play."

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3. When Willie's mother missed him, she went to the door and looked out, and could not see him anywhere; but she knew that Caper was with him, and thought they would come back before long.

4. She waited an, hour, and still they did not come. When she came to the gate by the road, she met Mr. Lee, and told him how long Willie had been gone. Mr. Lee thought he must have gone to sleep under the trees. So they went to all the trees under which Willie was in the habit of playing, but he was nowhere to be found.

5. By this time the sun had gone down. The news that Willie was lost soon spread over the neighborhood, and all the men and women turned out to hunt. They hunted all night.

6. The next morning the neighbors were gathered round, and all were trying to think what to do next, when Caper came bounding into the room. There was a string tied round his neck, and a bit of paper tied to it.

7. Willie's father, Mr. Lee, took the paper, and saw that it was a letter from Willie. He read it aloud. It said, "O father!

come to me. I am in the big hole in the pasture."

THIRD READER. 189 8. Everybody ran at once to the far corner of the pasture; and there was Willie, alive and well, in the shaft. Oh, how glad he was when his father caught him in his arms, and lifted him out!

9. Now I will tell you how Willie came to be in the shaft.

He and Caper went to the pasture field, and came to the edge of the shaft and sat down. In bending over

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to see how deep it was, he lost his balance, and fell in. He tried very hard to get out, but could not.

10. When the good little dog saw that his master was in the shaft, he would not leave him, but ran round and round, reaching down and trying to pull him out. But while Caper was pulling Willie by the coat sleeves, a piece of sod gave way under his feet, and he fell in too.

11. Willie called for his father and mother as loud as he could call; but he was so far away from the house that no one could hear him.

12. He cried and called till it was dark, and then he lay down on the ground, and Caper lay down close beside him.

It was not long before Willie cried himself to sleep.

13. When he awoke it was morning, and he began to think of a way to get out. The little writing book that his aunt had given him, was in his pocket. He took it out, and, after a good deal of trouble, wrote the letter to his father.

14. Then he tore the leaf out, and took a string out of his pocket, and tied it round Caper's neck, and tied the letter to the

THIRD READER. 191 string. Then he lifted the dog up, and helped him out, and said to him, "Go home, Caper, go home!" The little dog scampered away, and was soon at home.

LESSON LXXII.

THE PERT CHICKEN.

1. There was once a pretty chicken; But his friends were very few, For he thought that there was nothing In the world but what he knew: So he always, in the farmyard, Had a very forward way, Telling all the hens and turkeys What they ought to do and say.

"Mrs. Goose," he said, "I wonder That your goslings you should let Go out paddling in the water; It will kill them to get wet."

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2. "I wish, my old Aunt Dorking,"

He began to her, one day, "That you would n't sit all summer In your nest upon the hay.

Won't you come out to the meadow, Where the gra.s.s with seeds is filled?"

"If I should," said Mrs. Dorking, "Then my eggs would all get chilled."

"No, they wo n't," replied the chicken, "And no matter if they do; Eggs are really good for nothing; What's an egg to me or you?"

3. "What's an egg!" said Mrs. Dorking, "Can it be you do not know

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You yourself were in an eggsh.e.l.l Just one little month ago?

And, if kind wings had not warmed you, You would not be out to-day, Telling hens, and geese, and turkeys, What they ought to do and say!

4. "To be very wise, and show it, Is a pleasant thing, no doubt; But, when young folks talk to old folks, They should know what they're about."

Marian Douglas.

LESSON LXXIII.

INDIAN CORN.