18.  In the next lesson perhaps you will find out how she learned the meaning of these words.

LESSON IX.

The same subject, continued.

[Illustration]

1.  There was a small family living very near to your residence, my young friends who are reading this lesson, consisting of the father, the mother, and four young children.

2.  The oldest was a boy of twelve years old, the next was a little girl of about eight, the third was another pretty little girl of six, and the youngest was an infant boy, only nine months old.

3.  As you may well suppose, the baby, as he was called, was the delight, not only of the father and the mother, but also of his elder brother and his two sisters.

4.  The oldest brother had a dog whose name was Guido,—­an Italian name, which is pronounced as if it were spelt Gwe’do.

5.  The dog had learned to love the dear little baby as much as the rest of the family; and very often, when he was lying on the floor, the baby would pull his tail, or his ears, or put his little hand into the creature’s mouth, and Guido would play as gently with him as if he knew that the baby was a very tender little thing, and could not bear any rough treatment.

6.  Nothing pleased the whole family, and Guido among the rest, so much, as to hear the baby try to say papa, and mamma, and bub, and sis; for he could not say brother, nor sister, nor pronounce any other words plainly.

7.  The youngest sister was very fond of making him say these words; and every time the little creature repeated them to her, she would throw her arms around his little neck, and hug and kiss him with all the affectionate love her little heart could express.

8.  She often used to dress her little doll as prettily as she knew how; tying its frock on one day with a pretty blue ribbon, and on another with a red one; for she had noticed, that whenever the doll was newly dressed, the dear little baby would look very steadily at it, and hold out its little arms towards it; and then she would carry it to her little brother, and say to him, “Dolly,—­pretty dolly,—­bub want to see dolly?”

9.  One day she had dressed her doll in a very bright new dress, with very gay ribbons, and was carrying it towards her father to show it to him, when suddenly she heard the baby cry out, “Dolly!”

10.  She immediately ran with delight to her little brother, holding up the doll in its new shining dress, and repeated her usual words, “Dolly,—­bub want dolly?”

11.  The baby, delighted, looked up in its mother’s face, and laughed, and crowed, and giggled, and in its delight again repeated the word “Dolly!”

12.  Pleased with her success, the little sister was unwearied in her efforts to make her little brother repeat other words; and day by day she was gratified to find the list of words which he lisped was growing in length.