The Apple Dumpling and Other Stories for Young Boys and Girls Part 2

ANNIE BROWNE.

Little Annie Browne was an only child, that is, she had no little brothers or sisters; so you may be sure her parents loved this little girl very much indeed, and were always endeavouring to make her happy.

Now I wonder if the dear little boy or girl, who is reading this, can guess the means that Annie's Father and Mother took to make her happy.

Did they give her plenty of candy? No. Did they buy new play-things for her every day? No. Did they take her very often to the Museum or the Zoological Gardens? No; this was not the way. I will tell you what they did; and I will tell you what Annie did for one whole day when she was about five years old, and that will give you a very good idea of the way they took to make her _good_, for then she was _sure_ to be _happy_.

Well, one day Annie woke up very early in the morning, and, sitting up in her little bed, which was close by the side of her Mamma's, she first rubbed her eyes, and then she looked all round the room, and saw a narrow streak of bright light on the wall. It was made by the sun s.h.i.+ning through a crack in the shutter. She began to sing softly this little song, that she had learned in school,--

"What is it s.h.i.+nes so very bright, That quick dispels the dusky night?-- It is the sun--the sun; Shedding around its cheerful light, It is the sun--the sun."

Presently she looked round again, and saw her Mamma sleeping. She said, in her soft little voice, "Mamma, Mamma! good morning, dear Mamma!"

But her Mamma did not wake up. Then she crept over her to where her Papa was sleeping, and said,--

"Papa, Papa! good morning, dear Papa!"

But her Papa was too fast asleep to hear her. So she gave her Papa a little kiss on the end of his nose, and laid gently down between them.

In a few minutes, her Papa woke up, and said,--

"Why! what little monkey is this in the bed?" which made Annie laugh very much. She then jumped out of bed, and put on her stockings and shoes herself, as all little boys and girls of five years old ought, and washed her face and hands, and put on her clothes; and her Mamma, who was now awake, fastened them, and brushed her hair nicely. After that, she said some little prayers that her Mamma had taught her, and then ran down stairs, singing as gaily as a lark, and dancing as lightly as a fairy.

After breakfast, her Mamma got her school basket (it was a cunning little basket), and put in it a nice slice of bread and b.u.t.ter, and a peach, and gave her a little bouquet of flowers to present to her teacher, whom little Annie loved dearly; and then her Mamma said, "Good bye, my darling!" and Annie made her such a funny little curtsey, that she nearly tumbled over, and off she went to school with her Papa, who always saw her safe to the door.

Annie staid in school from nine o'clock until two. When she came home, her Mother kissed her, and said--

"Have you been a good little girl in school to-day?"

"I think I have," said Annie; "Miss Harriet said that I was very diligent. What is diligent, Mamma?"

"To be diligent, my dear," answered her Mamma, "means to study your lesson all the time, without thinking of play, or anything else, until you know it perfectly."

Annie said she was glad it meant such good things, and added, "Mamma, will you play I am a lady coming to see you, if you are not too busy?"

Her Mamma said she would. So Annie got her two dolls. One was a very pretty wax doll, with eyes that could open and shut. Her name was Emily; and the other was not wax, but was larger. Her name was Augusta. Annie put on their hats and shawls, and dressed herself in an old hat, with a green veil, and came near her Mamma, and made believe ring a bell, and said, "Ting a ling, ting a ling."

"Come in," said her Mamma.

Little Annie shook hands with her Mamma, and said, "How do you do, Mrs.

Browne?"

"Thank you, I am very well," said her Mamma. "Take a seat, my dear Mrs.

Frisby," that was Annie's name. "How are your children, Mrs. Frisby?"

"Oh! they are very sick," answered Annie; "one has the toothache, and the other has a little square hole in the back of her head, and it has made her head ache."

"Dear me! Mrs. Frisby," said her Mamma, "I am very sorry to hear it; you ought to go to the doctor with them."

Then Annie pretended to go to the doctor, and she took out of the drawer a little bit of sugar for medicine. She ate the medicine up herself, and said that it had done the dollies a great deal of good. In this pleasant way she amused herself until dinner time.

After dinner, her Papa and Mamma took her to the Park, as it was a pleasant day; and there Annie jumped about with other little girls, or ran with her great hoop. She could roll the hoop very well.

Then she came skipping home, and had her tea; and after that her mother undressed her and heard her say her prayers, and kissed her for good night; and she jumped into bed, and in a moment was fast asleep.

Don't you think Annie was a happy little girl? _I_ think she was, for all her days pa.s.sed in this pleasant manner. Some other time, perhaps, I will tell you more about little Annie Browne.

THE THREE BEARS.[1]

[1] From "The Doctor," by Robert Southey.

Once upon a time there were Three Bears, who lived together in a house of their own, in a wood. One of them was a Little, Small, Wee Bear; and one was a Middle-sized Bear, and the other was a Great, Huge Bear. They had each a pot for their porridge, a little pot for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized pot for the Middle Bear, and a great pot for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had each a chair to sit in; a little chair for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized chair for the Middle Bear; and a great chair for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had each a bed to sleep in; a little bed for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized bed for the Middle Bear; and a great bed for the Great, Huge Bear.

One day, after they had made the porridge for their breakfast, and poured it into their porridge-pots, they walked out into the wood while the porridge was cooling, that they might not burn their mouths, by beginning too soon to eat it. And while they were walking, a little old Woman came to the house. She could not have been a good, honest old Woman; for first she looked in at the window, and then she peeped in at the keyhole; and seeing n.o.body in the house, she lifted the latch. The door was not fastened, because the Bears were good Bears, who did n.o.body any harm, and never suspected that any body would harm them. So the little old Woman opened the door and went in; and well pleased she was when she saw the porridge on the table. If she had been a good little old Woman, she would have waited till the Bears came home, and then, perhaps, they would have asked her to breakfast; for they were good Bears,--a little rough or so, as the manner of Bears is, but for all that very good-natured and hospitable. But she was an impudent, bad old Woman, and set about helping herself.

So first she tasted the porridge of the Great, Huge Bear, and that was too hot for her; and she said a bad word about that. And then she tasted the porridge of the Middle Bear, and that was too cold for her; and she said a bad word about that too. And then she went to the porridge of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and tasted that; and that was neither too hot nor too cold, but just right; and she liked it so well, that she ate it all up: but the naughty old Woman said a bad word about the little porridge-pot, because it did not hold enough for her.

Then the little old Woman sate down in the chair of the Great, Huge Bear, and that was too hard for her. And then she sate down in the chair of the Middle Bear, and that was too soft for her. And then she sate down in the chair of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and that was neither too hard, nor too soft, but just right. So she seated herself in it, and there she sate till the bottom of the chair came out, and down came hers, plump upon the ground. And the naughty old Woman said a wicked word about that too.

Then the little old Woman went up stairs into the bed-chamber in which the three Bears slept. And first she lay down upon the bed of the Great, Huge Bear; but that was too high at the head for her. And next she lay down upon the bed of the Middle Bear; and that was too high at the foot for her. And then she lay down upon the bed of the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and that was neither too high at the head, nor at the foot, but just right. So she covered herself up comfortably, and lay there till she fell fast asleep.

By this time the Three Bears thought their porridge would be cool enough; so they came home to breakfast. Now the little old Woman had left the spoon of the Great, Huge Bear, standing in his porridge.

"=SOMEBODY HAS BEEN AT MY PORRIDGE!="

said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. And when the Middle Bear looked at his, he saw that the spoon was standing in it too. They were wooden spoons; if they had been silver ones, the naughty old Woman would have put them in her pocket.

"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN AT MY PORRIDGE!"

said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice.

Then the Little, Small, Wee Bear looked at his, and there was the spoon in the porridge-pot, but the porridge was all gone.

"_Somebody has been at my porridge, and has eaten it all up!_"

said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.

Upon this the Three Bears, seeing that some one had entered their house, and eaten up the Little, Small, Wee Bear's breakfast, began to look about them. Now the little old Woman had not put the hard cus.h.i.+on straight when she rose from the chair of the Great, Huge Bear.

"=SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR!="

said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice.

And the little old Woman had squatted down the soft cus.h.i.+on of the Middle Bear.

"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR!"