Part 2
“Now, then,” said George, “we must climb this, for I find it will not open;” so he was soon on the other side. But Rose was so short she could not even get to the top rail.
“Oh, what are we to do?” cried she.
“Why, if you cannot get over, Rose,” said George, “we must go back, for there is no way but this to reach aunt Jane’s house.”
“Oh dear, oh dear!” said Rose, “why we are so near to it, I can see the roof through the trees.”
“I cannot help it,” said George; “we must not stay here, for it will soon be dark.”
“I am so tired!” said poor Rose, with a sigh.
“Do not think of that now,” said George, as he got off the top of the gate on which he had sat to rest, “for we have a long way to go back, and must make haste;” so, hand-in-hand, they set off.
In a short time they met a man that knew them well: “Ah, go home, go home,” said he, as he shook his stick at them; “they are all in a great fright about you.”
Poor George and Rose ran as fast as they could, for they now thought they had done wrong to leave home.
As soon as they got to the door, Rose ran up to her grandmamma, and said, as tears ran down her cheeks, “It was all my fault, _that_ it was; for George did not wish to go, but I led him out.”
“No,” said George, “it was my fault too, for I knew it was wrong, and Rose did not.”
“Well,” said their kind grandmamma, as she kissed them and dried their eyes, “you will not do so any more, I dare say, now that you feel that you are too young to go out alone. But it is high time you were in bed, so run up stairs to Ann, like a good boy and girl.”
THE GLOW-WORM.
As John and Mary Green were on their way home from their aunt’s house, where they had spent the day, they saw something bright in the grass by the road-side.
“Look, look! what is that?” said John to the maid.
“Oh, I dare say it is a drop of dew which shines in the light of the moon,” said she.
“Oh, no,” said Mary, “the moon does not shine through that thick hedge at all: let me try to pick it up.”
“Here it is,” cried John, “I have got hold of it; but it does not shine now: this cannot be it.”
“Do not drop it,” said Mary; “but take it home to mamma, and she will tell us what it is.”
They now made all the haste they could: they found their mamma at the hall-door, who was looking out for them, and told her what they had brought.
“Oh, I dare say it is a glow-worm,” said she: “let me look at it: yes, that it is.”
“A glow-worm! mamma,” said John and Mary, “what is that?”
“It is a small worm, which is able to send forth a light from its body, which shines in the dark, as you saw it. This is the only insect of the kind which is found in our isle, but there are many in other lands, and some of them give far more light than this does. There is the fire-fly, which, as it flits in and out of the dark bushes in the night with its star-like light, must look very pretty.”
“Oh, how I wish I could see it!” said John.
“The men who live where the fireflies are, sometimes use them as a lamp, to guide them from place to place.”
“How droll,” said Mary, “when you want a light, just to run into the woods and catch one!”
“How many things there are in the world,” said John, “which I have not heard of!”
“Yes,” said his mamma, “that is quite true; and though you should live to be an old man, you will still have to say the same, for the earth and the sea are full of the works of the Lord, and no life is too long in which to learn them all.”
THE REED-BIRD.
“James, James, where are you gone?” said Jesse Wright.
“Hush, Jesse, here I am, quite safe,” said James. “Pray do not make such a noise.”
“What have you found there?” said Jesse, as she spied him out deep in the thick rushes. “Shall I come to you?”
“No, no,” said James, “that you must not: I shall soon get out, and then I will tell you what I have seen.”
“What can it be?” thought Jesse.
While James is making his way out, let me tell you what sort of a place it was where he and Jesse were. There was a flat field, or marsh, through the midst of which ran a small clear brook; tall grass and rushes grew thick and close over this marsh, and many trees marked the course of the stream. Jesse was on the edge of the marsh when first she lost sight of James, who had heard the chirp of a bird which was new to him, and had crawled into the sedge to look from whence it came.
“Well,” said Jesse, “so here you are at last. What a mess you are in!”
“I do not care for that,” said James, “for I have seen something worth a sight, and it was the first of the kind I ever saw.”
“Make haste and say what it was,” said Jesse: “was it alive?”
“Oh, yes, to be sure,” said he.
“I thought,” said Jesse, “that only frogs and toads lived in the marsh.”
“Then you thought wrong,” said James: “but if you can be still, I will tell you what it was. While I stood here with you I heard such a strange chirp, and as I did not know what bird’s note it was, I thought I would try and find the nest, (not to touch it or take the eggs, of course, but just to have a look at it.) So I crept in very still, and went to the place from whence the sound came. In a short time I was close to it, and there I saw such a sweet little nest! it was made of the dead leaves of the rush and sedge, and a few pieces of dry grass, and lined with the soft tops of the reed. And, oh, Jesse! I wish you could have seen the eggs; there were six of them, white, with small red spots all over; such tiny things! On the stem of a reed, close by the nest, was the hen-bird, and her mate was not far off; but the noise you made drove them away.”
“I did not mean to do harm, dear James,” said Jesse. “I wish I had been with you, I would have been very still then. But what is the name of the bird?”
“Why, it must be the reed-bird,” said James, “for I have seen a print of one, and this was just like it; and I have read of it too. It eats the seeds of the reed, and young snails, and flies.”
[Illustration: “On the stem of a reed, close by the nest, was the hen-bird.”]
“How large is it, James?” said Jesse.
“It is quite a small bird; but from its thick coat, and long tail and legs, looks as large as a red-breast. Its bill is very small.”
“Oh dear,” said Jesse, “did you feel that? was it not a drop of rain?”
“Yes, that it was,” said James, “and a large drop, too: I think it will soon pour. Come, we must run home fast, or that dark cloud will catch us.” So they set off, and just reached their papa’s door in time.
A TALE OF THE NORTH.
“Shut the door, Hugh, and bring your stool to the fire-side, and I will tell you a tale. What sort of a one must it be?” said Mrs. Stone.
“Thank you, dear mamma; a tale of the north, if you please; that cold place, where there is so much snow and ice. I like to hear of that, when I am snug and warm by the fire; and I feel so glad I do not live there.”
“And perhaps those whose home is in that cold land, would not change their lot with yours. They love their close, round huts, their rough benches, their furs and sledges, as much as we do our nice house and fire-side, our chairs and rugs.”
“Do tell me more of them!” said Hugh.
“They are a small race of men, not more than four or five feet high, with dark faces, deep-sunk eyes, and straight black hair. In the warm days they live on the fruits of the chace, in the winter on the dried flesh of the rein-deer, salt-fish, and cheese. You know I once told you what a long, dark winter theirs is, when the sun is not seen for many days.”
“Yes, mamma,” said Hugh, “and it must be very dull for them, poor things. But will you tell me about the rein-deer?”
“Ah, I do not know what they would do if they had not such a friend as the rein-deer proves to them: from it they get both milk, food, and warm clothes. It feeds on a moss, of which there is a great deal there; and though the snow may lie very thick upon the ground, the rein-deer can tell where his food grows, and with his fore-feet and broad horns he digs through the snow to get a meal.”
“Oh, mamma, how can he find it out?” said Hugh.
“The quick sense of smell with which the rein-deer is gifted, leads him to the right spot, and he is never known to search in vain. The men yoke them to their sledges, which glide over the smooth, hard snow at a great rate.”
“What sort of a thing is a sledge, mamma?” said Hugh.
“It is made of birch-wood, something in the shape of a boat, about six feet long, with a high back; and here, wrapt up in his thick furs, the man sits as snug as can be. They drive with a cord tied to the horns of the rein-deer, which flies over the ground at great speed, with his light load. If you will bring me that large book from the shelf I can show you the print of one.”
“Oh, I see it,” said Hugh, as his mamma turned over the leaves; “that is a nice thing to ride in. But look at that man, he is so wrapt up in furs, I can only see his eyes. What a droll cap he wears! and see, mamma, the rein-deer has such a gay thing round his neck, with a bell hung in front; pray is that for use or show?”
“I have read,” said Mrs. Stone, “that the rein-deer likes the sound of a bell; and also, when four or five sledges travel at once, in the dark, or in a snow-storm, it helps to keep them all in one track.”
“It is of no use to make roads there, for the snow would quite hide them, would it not, mamma?” said Hugh.
“Yes, my dear, the sun and the stars guide them in the way they wish to go; but I cannot talk to you more now, for I must write a note to your aunt, before post-time. You may try to draw the sledge and rein-deer in your new book, if you please; but you must take great pains.”
“Oh, yes, that I will, for I should like to draw that much, to show papa when he comes home,” said Hugh, as he took his stool to his mamma’s side, that she might look at his work now and then.
THE END.
Joseph Rickerby, Printer, Sherbourn Lane.
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. 2. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. 3. Enclosed blackletter font in =equals=.