Just then a playmate came along,
And leaned across the gate—
A plan that promised lots of fun
And frolic to relate.
“The boys are waiting for us now,
So hurry up!” he cried;
My little whistler shook his head,
And “Can’t come,” he replied.
“Can’t come?
Why not, I’d like to know?
What hinders?” asked the other.
“Why, don’t you see,” came
the reply,
“I’m busy helping mother?
She’s lots to do, and so I like
To help her all I can;
So I’ve no time for fun just now,”
Said this dear little man.
“I like to hear you talk
like that,”
I told the little lad;
“Help mother all you can, and make
Her kind heart light and glad.”
It does me good to think of him,
And know that there are others
Who, like this manly little boy,
Take hold and help their mothers.
LANGUAGE WORK:
Describe the little lad spoken of in the poem.
Do you know any boy like him?
Tell what this “little man” said to his
playmate.
When night came, was the boy sorry that he had missed
so much fun? What kind of man did he very likely
grow up to be?
* * * *
*
11
rid’ dle brand’-new mys’ ter y
un rav’ el like’ ness es
Once upon a time, Frederick, King of Prussia, surnamed
“Old Fritz,” took a ride, and saw an old
laborer plowing his land by the wayside cheerily singing
his song.
“You must be well off, old man,” said
the king. “Does this land on which you
are working so hard belong to you?”
“No, sir,” replied the laborer, who knew
not that it was the king; “I am not so rich
as that; I plow for wages.”
“How much do you get a day?” asked the
king.
“Two dollars,” said the laborer.
“That is not much,” replied the king;
“can you get along with that?”
“Yes; and have something left.”
“How is that?”
The laborer smiled, and said, “Well, if I must
tell you, fifty cents are for myself and wife; with
fifty I pay my old debts, fifty I lend, and fifty
I give away for the Lord’s sake.”
“That is a mystery which I cannot solve,”
replied the king.
“Then I will solve it for you,” said the
laborer. “I have two old parents at home,
who kept me when I was weak and needed help; and now,
that they are weak and need help, I keep them.
This is my debt, towards which I pay fifty cents a
day. The third fifty cents, which I lend, I spend
for my children, that they may receive Christian instruction.
This will come handy to me and my wife when we get
old. With the last fifty I maintain two sick
sisters. This I give for the Lord’s sake.”
The king, well pleased with his answer, said, “Bravely
spoken, old man. Now I will also give you something
to guess. Have you ever seen me before?”
