McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader Part 5

2. He looked with sadness upon the little prisoners flying about the cage, peeping through the wires, beating them with their wings, and trying to get out.

3. He stood for some time looking at the birds. At last he said to the boy, "How much do you ask for your birds?"

THIRD READER. 55 4. "Fifty cents apiece, sir," said the boy. "I do not mean how much apiece," said the man, "but how much for all of them? I want to buy them all."

5. The boy began to count, and found they came to five dollars. "There is your money,"

said the man. The boy took it, well pleased with his morning's trade.

6. No sooner was the bargain settled than the man opened the cage door, and let all the birds fly away.

7. The boy, in great surprise, cried, "What did you do that for, sir? You have lost all your birds."

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8. "I will tell you why I did it," said the man. "I was shut up three years in a French prison, as a prisoner of war, and I am resolved never to see anything in prison which I can make free."

LESSON XX.

A MOMENT TOO LATE.

1. A moment too late, my beautiful bird, A moment too late are you now; The wind has your soft, downy nest disturbed-- The nest that you hung on the bough.

2. A moment too late; that string in your bill, Would have fastened it firmly and strong; But see, there it goes, rolling over the hill!

Oh, you staid a moment too long.

3. A moment, one moment too late, busy bee; The honey has dropped from the flower: No use to creep under the petals and see; It stood ready to drop for an hour.

4. A moment too late; had you sped on your wing, The honey would not have been gone;

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Now you see what a very, a very sad thing 'T is to stay a moment too long.

5. Little girl, never be a moment too late, It will soon end in trouble or crime; Better be an hour early, and stand and wait, Than a moment behind the time.

6. If the bird and the bee, little boy, were too late, Remember, as you play along On your way to school, with pencil and slate, Never stay a moment too long.

LESSON XXI.

HUMMING BIRDS.

1. The most beautiful humming birds are found in the West Indies and South America. The crest of the tiny head of one of these s.h.i.+nes like a sparkling crown of colored light.

2. The shades of color that adorn its breast, are equally brilliant. As the bird

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flits from one object to another, it looks more like a bright flash of sunlight than it does like a living being.

3. But, you ask, why are they called humming birds? It is because they make a soft, humming noise by the rapid motion of their wings--a motion so rapid, that as they fly you can only see that they have wings.

4. One day when walking in the woods, I found the nest of one of the smallest humming birds. It was about half the size of a very small hen's egg, and

THIRD READER. 59 was attached to a twig no thicker than a steel knitting needle.

5. It seemed to have been made of cotton fibers, and was covered with the softest bits of leaf and bark. It had two eggs in it, quite white, and each about as large as a small sugarplum.

6. When you approach the spot where one of these birds has built its nest, it is necessary to be careful. The mother bird will dart at you and try to peck your eyes. Its sharp beak may hurt your eyes most severely, and even destroy the sight.

7. The poor little thing knows no other way of defending its young, and instinct teaches it that you might carry off its nest if you could find it.

LESSON XXII.

THE WIND AND THE SUN.

A FABLE.

1. A dispute once arose between the Wind and the Sun, as to which was the stronger.

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2. To decide the matter, they agreed to try their power on a traveler. That party which should first strip him of his cloak, was to win the day.

3. The Wind began. He blew a cutting blast, which tore up the mountain oaks by their roots, and made the whole forest look like a wreck.

4. But the traveler, though at first he could scarcely keep his cloak on his back, ran under a hill for shelter, and buckled his mantle about him more closely.

5. The Wind having thus tried his utmost power in vain, the Sun began.

6. Bursting through a thick cloud, he darted his sultry beams so forcibly upon the traveler's head, that the poor fellow was almost melted.

7. "This," said he, "is past all bearing. It is so hot, that one might as well be in an oven."

8. So he quickly threw off his cloak, and went into the shade of a tree to cool himself.

9. This fable teaches us, that gentle means will often succeed where forcible ones will fail.

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LESSON XXIII.

SUNSET.

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LESSON XXIV.

BEAUTIFUL HANDS.

1. "O Miss Roberts! what coa.r.s.e-looking hands Mary Jessup has!" said Daisy Marvin, as she walked home from school with her teacher.

THIRD READER. 63 2. "In my opinion, Daisy, Mary's hands are the prettiest in he cla.s.s."

3. "Why, Miss Roberts, they are as red and hard as they can be. How they would look if she were to try to play on a piano!" exclaimed Daisy.

4. Miss Roberts took Daisy's hands in hers, and said, "Your hands are very soft and white, Daisy--just the hands to look beautiful on a piano; yet they lack one beauty that Mary's hands have. Shall I tell you what the difference is?"

5. "Yes, please, Miss Roberts."

6. "Well, Daisy, Mary's hands are always busy. They wash dishes; they make fires; they hang out clothes, and help to wash them, too; they sweep, and dust, and sew; they are always trying to help her poor, hard-working mother.

7. "Besides, they wash and dress the children; they mend their toys and dress their dolls; yet, they find time to bathe the head of the little girl who is so sick in the next house to theirs.

8. "They are full of good deeds to every living thing. I have seen them patting the tired horse and the lame dog in the street.

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