xt7n5t3fz84r https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7n5t3fz84r/data/mets.xml Optic, Oliver, 1822-1897. 18  books b92-165-30098781 English Hurst, : New York : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Proud and lazy, a story for little folks  / by Oliver Optic [pseud.] text Proud and lazy, a story for little folks  / by Oliver Optic [pseud.] 18 2002 true xt7n5t3fz84r section xt7n5t3fz84r 
Zbe flitberbaIt taorict



PROUD



AND



LAZY



A STORY FOR LITTLE FOLKS




                 BY
         OLIVER OPTIC
AUTHOR OF sTHE BOAT CLUB," "ALL ABOARD,) "NOW OR NER
    " TRY AGAIN," " POOR AND PROUD," " THE WOODVILLB
            STORIES," ETC., ETC.



    NEW
HURST 



YORK
COMPANY



PUBLISHERS

 This page in the original text is blank.


 




      PROUD AND LAZY.


                   I.
  TOMMY WOGGS was a funny little boy.
He was very proud and very lazy. He
seemed to think he was a great man, and
that other people lived only to serve and
obey him.
  None of the boys and girls liked him,
because he used to order them round, and
because he thought himself so much better
than they were.
 Tommy's father was a doctor, and a rich
man. HIe could afford to have servants to
wait upon his son, but he was not quite
rich enough to spoil the child by letting
him do as he pleased.
There are some things that wealth cannot
                   5

 

Proud and Lazy.



purchase. It will not buy wisdom, for all
the money in the world would not teach a
person even to perform a simple question
in arithmetic.
  It will not buy the love and respect of
others.  Many rich men are hated and
despised by nearly all who know them.
  So Tommy's father could not buy an
education for his son, nor would wealth
win for him the esteem of his companions.
He must study like the children of poor
people if he wanted to be wise; and he
must treat them well, in order to obtain
their good will.
  Tommy did not like to study, and he did
like to command others. He wished every
body to think that he was better than they,
because he had been to New York, and
because his father was rich.
  Children are just like men and women.
They always find out the really good boys



6

 
            Proud and Lazy.          7

and girls, and love and respect them. And
they never think much of those who think
too much of themselves.
  When Tommy was eight years old, his
father sent him to the village school. It
was a public school, and it was the best in
the town. He had learned his letters at
home, and was able to read a very little.
  At first he was pleased with the idea of
going to school, and did not even tell his
mother he would not go. He was very apt
to say he would not do anything, when he
was told to do it.
  I am sorry to add that his parents were
very much to blame, for he was an only
child, and they did not like to cross him.
They did not make him " mind," as all
good parents ought to do, and as all good
children are willing to do. He used to have
his own way; and when he went to school,
he hardlv knew what it was to obey.

 

8          Proud and Lazy.

  Miss Dale, the teacher, gave him a good
seat, when he first went to school, and spoke
very kindly to him. For two or three days
he got along quite well. It was a new thing
to him, and he was pleased with the school
and the teacher.
  But in a little while he was tired of the
place, and of the teacher, and he had yet
to learn that he could not always have his
own way.
  On the fourth day of his school-life, when
Miss Dale called him up to read, he made
up his mind that lie would not read.
  "I don't want to read," said he.
  "Perhaps you don't, Thomas. Do you
know what vour father sends you to school
f1 r " replied Miss Dale.
  "No, I don't."
  "You must not speak so to me. Come
here."



"I won't."

 

Proud and Lazy.



  "Don't be naughty, Thomas. I asked
you to come to me."
  " I won't."
  "If you won't come, I shall bring you."
  Tommy didn't exactly know what to make
of this; but the teacher did not give him
much time to think about it, for she took
him by the collar of his coat, and, in spite of
his kicking and screaming, dragged him up
to the desk.
  "Now, stand there, Thomas; and if you
are a good boy, and obey me, I will not hurt
you at all."
  " I won't be a good boy," growled
Tommy; and when Miss Dale let go of him,
he threw himself on the floor and began to
kick and scream as though he had been mad.
  The teacher opened her desk, and took
out a little stick. Tommy did not like the
looks of the stick, but he kept on kicking
and screaming.



9

 

To         PProud and Lazy.

  "Get up, Thomas," said Miss Dale.
  "I won't," screamed Tommy, very loud.
  "Won't you"
  "No, I won't."
  " Then I shall whip you."
  "No, you won't," yelled Tommy.
  But lie was mistaken. Miss Dale would
and did whip him, till he was glad to get
up. He found the little stick was a thing
not to be trifled with, for it made him smart
so he could not bear the pain.
  "I'm going home," said Tommy.
  "Not yet, Thomas."
  "Yes, I will."
  "I think not. Now, pick up your book,
and be a good boy."
   I won't."
   Then a smart cut of the stick upon one of
his legs made him scream with pain again.
  "Pick up your book, now, Thomas."

 

            Proud and Lazy.           II

  "I'll tell my mother of you," snarled
Tommy, as he picked up the book.
  "' You may, if you choose. Now open your
book."
  He did not mind, and again he felt the
terrible stick, which caused him to obey.
  "Now", Thomas," said Miss Dale, as she
put the stick in the desk, " when I tell you
to do anything, you must obey me."
   I won't, either."
   "You miust not say you won't to m."
   "Yes, I will."
   The teacher opened the desk and took out
the stick again.
  "Will you"
  " Yes, I will."
  Tommy felt the stick once more; and this
time blow followed blow till Tommy, of his
own accord, promised not to use the naughty
words again.
  "Now, Thomas, if you will be a good boy

 

Proud and Lazy.



you will not have any more trouble. You
must do what I tell you to do, and not be
saucy to me."
  " I'll tell my mother of you. She don't
whip me," muttered Tommy.
  "You may tell your mother, and if she
does not wish you to mind, she must not
send you here. But I think she wants you
to be a good boy, obey your teacher, and
get your lessons."
  "C No, she don't," said Tommy, who was
not quite willing to be good yet.
  "Well, it does not make any difference
whether she does or not; you must mind all
I say if you come to school here."
  Miss Dale then heard him read; but he did
not do very well. He was thinking all the
time what he could do that was naughty;
but as he kept one eye on the little stick, he
did not venture again to disobey or to be



saucy.



12


 
Proud and Lazy.



13



  When he went home that day he told his
mother he was not going to school any more;



and perhaps
his own way.



she would have let him have
But his father, when he heard



1.



Tommy makes a mistake.



what Miss Dale had done, said he was glad
she had made him mind, and that he should
go to school in the afternoon.
  To make the matter sure, Dr. Woggs went
to school with him himself, and told the

 
`4         Proud and Lazy.

teacher to make a good boy of him, if she
could, and above all things to make him
obey her. So Tommy got the worst of it,
after all.


 








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Tommy and his Father.



4"



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Proud and Lazy.



I7



                   II.

  TOMIMY WOGGS learned to obey while he
was in school. That little stick produced a
great change in him; but after the first
week, Miss Dale did not have occasion to
use it again.
  He found that he must mind, and he had
sense sufficient to see that it was just as
easy to obey before he was whipped, or even
scolded, as it was afterwards.
  It was the next year after Tommy be-
gan to go to school that he went to New
York. It was a great thing for a little boy
like him to go away so far, and see so many
wonderful things; and his companions, for
a time, thought he was a real hero.
When he came back he told ever so many

 
Proud and Lazy.



stories of what he had seen-of the fine
buildings in New York, of the great crowds
of people in Broadway, and the sights he
saw at the Museum.
  But the children soon grew tired of it,
and did not want to hear any more of
Tommy's stories. I think it quite likely
that, if Tommy had not been so smart about
it, they would have been glad to hear a great
deal more about New York.
  But I have another story to tell about
Tommy; and I hope it will convince all my
young readers that it is better to obey their
parents, even if they are not punished, than
it is to disregard what they tell them.
  I have said that Tommy was proud and
lazy. He was so proud he did not like to
mind; and so lazy that he did not like to
go to school, because he had to study there,
and learn his lessons.
  One fine morning in June, when the birds

 
Proud and Lazy.



were singing on all the trees, and the grass
looked bright and green on the hills, Tommy
left his father's house to go to school.
  He did not want to go to school that day.
He told his mother it was too pleasant to be
shut up in a school room all day, and he
begged that he might be permitted to stay
at home.
  " No, Tommy, you must go to school
Your father says that you must not stay at
home a single day, unless you are sick."
  This was about an hour before school
time, and the lazy boy sat on the door stone,
for a while, and then came back and told
his mother he did not feel very well.
  " What ails you, Tommy " asked his
mother.
  " I'm sick."
  "Not very sick, I think."
  "Yes, I am; real sick."



3I9

 
Proud and Lazy.



  Just then his father came in, and heard
his complaint.
  "How long have you felt sick, Tommy"
asked his father.
  " Ever since I got up," replied Tommy,
placing his hand upon his stomach.
  "You ate your breakfast very well for
a sick boy."
  " I feel worse since I ate my breakfast,"
said the little boy, trying very hard to look
sick.
  "What ails you"
  " I feel sick at the stomach."
  "W Tell, I think you will feel better by and
by," added Dr. Wroggs.
  "But I can't go to school, father."
  "0 , you can't " said his father, with a
smile.
  "I don't feel able to go."
  " Then you needn't go."
  Tommy was much pleased to find he had



20

 

Proud and Lazy.



gained his point; and he did not think of
the wicked lies he had told. His father said
he might stay away from school that day,
and this was all he wanted.
  He had a pair of rabbits in the wood shed,
and without thinking that he was sick, he
was going out to play with them.
  "Where are you going, Tommy " asked
his father.
  "Out in the wood shed to see my rabbits."
  "I thought you were sick."
  "So I am, father."
  "Then sit down on the sofa, and I will
attend to you in a moment. Do you feel
very sick"
  "I'm real bad, father," replied Tommy,
quickly, for he was afraid his father would
send him to school, after all.
  Dr. Woggs opened a drawer in his book-
case, and took out a little jar, filled with a
kind of yellow powder. He then asked Mrs.



21

 

Proud and Lazy.



Woggs to get him a little molasses in a cup,
and a teaspoon.
  Tommy turned pale then, for he knew all
about that powder in the little jar.
  " Now, my son, we will make you well by
to-morrow, so that you will be able to go
to school again," said Dr. Woggs, as he
took the cover off the jar.
  Tommy began to cry, for he would rather
have taken a whipping than a dose of that
nasty, yellow powder.
  " What's the matter, Tommy Do you
feel worse " asked his father.
  " I don't want to take any of that stuff,"
whined the poor little invalid.
  "I know, Tommy, it isn't pleasant to
take; but when we are sick, we must take
something to keep us from getting any
worse."



"I don't want to take it, father.



22



It

 
Proud and Lazy.



always me a good deal sicker than I was
before-it does indeed, father."
  " That's very true, my boy; but, for all
that, you must take it. We very often have
to make folks worse before they can be any
better. It always hurts to set a broken
arm or leg; but no one would think of
letting it remain unset because the opera-
tion is painful."
  His mother soon came with the cup of
molasses, and Dr. Woggs put some of the
yellow powder into it, and stirred up the
mixture.
  " I don't want to take it, father," cried
Tommy, who was trembling with dread at
the very thought of the nasty stuff.
  " I can't help it, my boy. You must take
it," said the doctor, in such a tone that the
poor boy felt he must obey, or confess that
he had told a falsehood.
  " I can't take it, father," he groaned.



23  

 
24         Proud and Lazy.

   "Poor boy! I know it is not good; but
only think how sick you are! Why, you are
so bad that you cannot go to school."
  "I will go to school," whined Tommy.
  "What! when you are sick" asked his
father. " 0, no; you must not go to school
when you are sick; it is a bad place for
sick boys. Take the medicine, stay at home
and get well."
  "I will go to school," repeated Tommy,
earnestly.
  "Not when you are sick, my son."
  "I'm not sick, father."
  "Not sick!"
  "No, father."
  "Didn't you say only a few moments since
that you were sick-real bad "
  " But I am much better now; and I think
I am able to go to school."
  "You may be sick again, my son."
  "I shall not, father; I know I shall not."

 

Proud and Lazy.



  "I think you had better take the medi-
cine to prevent another attack."
  " No, father; I wasn't sick at all," said the
little boy, very sheepishly.
  Dr. Woggs scolded him in a most severe
manner for the falsehood he had uttered,
and then sent him to school. He ought to
have remembered this lesson. It was the
last time that Tommy ever pretended he was
sick, as that disgusting yellow powder fre-
quently showed itself to his imagination.
  I don't think it would answer for many
parents to do as Tommy's father did; but
he was a doctor, and understood the case.



25


 





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I  I )llOlEi



"1H.



I



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VWNAUFCEV.,



Tommy had been in New York.



'A



ONTO 71    "MI,
,  III    -- , -
jI


 
Proud and Lazy.



                   III.

  IT was a beautiful morning in June when
Tommy Woggs left his home to gYo to school,
after the events which I have related in the
last chapter.
  He did not want to go to school-of course
he did not, or he would not have pretended
to be sick, that he m!ight stay at homne. The
grass looked so green, and the birds sang
so sweetly, that he wvished to have a good
time with them in the fields.
  If he had been a good bor! and had always
done his duity in school, he would not have
felt so; and he was just as much to blame
for feeling wrong as he was for doingY wrong.
  I have always noticed that children who
behave well, and get their lessons, like to
be in school. It is a pleasant place to them.



27

 

Proud and Lazy.



And doing right always makes us happy,
wherever we are.
  But those who are naughty, and neglect
their duties, are always in trouble; and for
this reason they hate school. It is their
own fault, however, that they dislike it, for
if they did right, they would be happy not
only there, but everywhere else.
  Tommy dragged along the street like a
snail, or like a sheep led to the slaughter.
When he got about half way to the school
house, he met Joe Birch and Ben Tinker.
  My readers already know Joe Birch, and
know that he was a bad boy; and I suppose,
after being told that Ben Tinker was his
constant companion, they can easily guess
what kind of a boy he was. They were very
much alike, and were the leaders in all the
mischief done in Riverdale.
  "Where are you going, Tommy " asked
Ben.



28

 
Proud and Lazy.



  " I am going to school," he replied, stop-
ping to talk with the two boys, who were
seated on a rock at the side of the road.
  "Have you got any money, Tom " said
Joe.
  "No, I haven't."
  "'Cause, if you've got three cents about
you, I will tell you something."
  " What "  inquired  Tommy, without
thinking of the price which the bad boy
asked for his important information.
  "' That's telling," replied Joe, winking at
his companion.
  "Won't you tell me"
  "Give me three cents, and I will."
  "I haven't got three cents; but I will give
them to you some time."
  " I won't trust you. Give me the money
now, and I will tell you all about it," addledL
Joe.



29

 

Proud and Lazy.



  " How can I give it to you when I haven't
got it"
  The two bad boys saw that he was willing
enough to pay them for what they had to
tell him, and they had only to devise a plan
by which he could raise the funds.
  "Are you going to school, Tom " asked
Joe Birch.
  "Yes."
  "What for"
  "Because my father makes me go. I tried
to get off this morning. I made believe
sick; but father was going to make me take
some of his nasty physic, and I thought I'd
rather go to school than do that."
  "I can tell you how you can stay away
from school without taking any physic."
  "How"
  "Give me the three cents, and I will tell
you."
  " I haven't them; if I had I would."



30

 
Proud and Lazy.



3'



  "W Well, I will tell you how to get them, if
you like."
  "How"
  "Go home to your mother, and tell her
the schoolma'am sent you home for three
cents to buy a new book."
  "I'll do that," replied Tommy, not stop-
ping to think how wvicked was the act which
the bad boy proposed to him.
  "M Mind you, Tom, go to your mother-
don't go to your father."
  Tommy promised to do just as he was
told by these bad boys, and ran home with
all his might, to get the money for them.
His mother did not stop to ask him any ques-
tions, though she wondered what book he
could buy for three cents.
  "Here's the three cents," said Tommy, as
he joined the boys in the road. " Now tell
me how I can stay away from school with-
out having to take any physic."

 

Proud and Lazy.



  "Just come with us; we are not going
to school this fine morning. When the fac-
tory bell rings for twelve o'clock, just go
home; and your folks won't know but that
you have been to school."
  " That's the way," added Ben Tinker.
"That's what the fellers call 'hookin'
jack.'"
  Tommy did not exactly like the idea at
first, for he could not. help thinking what
might happen in case he got found out.
He did not ask himself whether it was
right or wrong to do what the boys called
"hooking jack;" but only whether he should
get found out or not.
  We ought always to do right, whatever
may happen to us; and we should never
do wrong, even if we feel certain of not
being found out.
  " Where are you going " asked Tommy.



"Over the other side of the river.



32



Wge

 
Proud and Lazy.



must not let any one see us after school
time, for they will know we ought to be in
school."
  "And, just you mind, Tom WAogs," added
Ben, " if you get found out yourself, you
mustn't tell of us. If you do, you will be
apt to get a broken head-mind that."
  Joe Birch jumped over the wall into the
lot, and was followed by his companions in
evil. Tommy( did not feel just rihlit; not
that he felt bad because he was doingv wrong,
but because he was afraid of the two boys.
  When they had crossed the lot, they came
to a by-road; and here it was agreed that
Ben should run up to the village and buy
something with the money which Tommy
had furnished.
  He was gone but a little while; and when
he joined them again, they all hastened
across the bridge, and were soon in the
woods, where no one could see them.



33

 

Proud and Lazy.



  "What did you buy with the money"
asked Joe.
  "Some cigars. I got six for three cents."
  "Cigars! " exclaimed Tommy. "What
do you want of cigars "
  "To smoke, of course. What do you
think "
  "It will make you sick."
  "I guess not. You shall have one, if
you like. A feller ain't nobody if he, don't
smoke," replied Joe.
  But the boys decided not to smoke at
first; and seeing there was plenty of sticks
and brush in the woods, Tommy proposed
that they should build a house-just for the
fun of it.
  "So we will; and when we get it done, we
will smoke our cigars in it, and have a good
time," replied Ben.
  "That will be first rate," added Joe.
"But how are you going to build it "



34

 
            Proud an Lazy.            35

  "0, I know how. I have been to New
York, and I know all about these things,"
said Tommy, beginning now to show his
usual vanity.
  "I say, Tom, do they make houses out of
brush in New York " asked Ben.
  " No; but then I have been about more
than you have, and I ought to know more,
of course. I will be the builder, and you
two shall be my servants."
  " Look here, Tom-none of that talk, my
boy. We ain't your servants, any how," said
Joe.
  " Never mind him, Joe," added Ben.
"Let him build the house, if he can. I won-
der what it will look like! "
  "Well, you bring me the sticks and brush,
and see if I don't build a good one," replied
Tommy.
  The two boys agreed to this plan; and in a
little while they had a great pile of sticks

 
Proud and Lazy.



and brush, and Tommy began to build the
house. He stuck up two sticks, like the
letter A, and then carried a long pole from
the top of them down to the ground.
Against the pole, he set up long sticks; and
then told his companions to cover them over
with brush and leaves.
  It did not take a very long time to build
such a house as this, and it was soon fin-
ished. The boys were much pleased with it,
and seated themselves on the ground, inside
of it, for the purpose of having a good time.



.36


 


























A--



  -2 =  -

The home in the woods.



-



l-

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Proud and Lazy.



39



                   IV.

  IT was now after eleven o'clock, and it
would soon be time for the truants to re-
turn home.
  The hut which they had built was not
very tight, but it kept the sun out; and the
boys were so well pleased with it that they
agreed to come there again in the after-
noon. They wished the forenoon had been
much longer, for their fun came to an end
too soon.
  " Now, boys, we will have a smoke," said
Joe, as they seated themselves in the house.
  "Yes; and we haven't any too much time,"
replied Ben Tinker, as he took the cigars
from his pocket.
  " Have you any matches"

 

Proud and Lazy.



  "To be sure I have. What's the use of
cigars without any matches Take a cigar,
Tom."
  Tommy took the cigar, and though he had
some doubts about smoking it, he did not
like to be behind his companions in any-
thing. He thought it would make him sick,
as he had known it to do to others. He did
not want to smoke it, but he had not the
courage to refuse.
  He was proud, and did not want to have
the other boys any smarter than he was.
They thought it was manly and big to smoke,
for I don't believe either of them could have
liked the fumes of a cigar. They had not
smoked enough for this.
  Ben lighted a match, and then his cigar.
Joe, as dignified as any old smoker, took a
light from him; and both of them puffed
away, and felt as big as though they were
doing some great thing.



An

 

Proud and Lazy.



  "Have a light, Tommy" asked Ben.
"If you are going with us, you must learn
to smoke."
  "All the fellers that are anything smoke,"
added Joe.
  "Then I'll smoke," replied Tommy. "I
used to see lots of gentlemen smoking cigars
in Broadway, in New York, when I was
there."
  " Of course you did."
  Tommy put the cigar into his mouth; he
did not like the taste of the thing, but he
felt that it was a good cause, and he was
willing to be a martyr. Ben lent him his
cigar to light it by; and with a little in-
struction from his friends, he was soon able
to puff away as smart as any of them.
  It was not half so bad as he had feared it
would be. It did not make him sick, at
first, and he thought he was one of that kind
who can smoke without learning.



4I

 

Proud and Lazy.



  He felt as big as his companions then, for
the wrong idea that smoking was smart had
taken full possession of him.
  There are some savages who paint their
faces-they think it is smart; we don't
think so. Some Indians wear bits of tin
fastened to the ends of their noses-thev
think it looks pretty; wve don't think so.
  It does not follow, therefore, that every
thing that looks smart is so. A little boy.
or any boy, with a cigar in his mouth, is a
disgusting sight to sensible people. NWe
never heard of any man who thought it was
smart for boys to smoke, or to make use of
tobacco in any way.
  "Now, Tom, tell us something about New
York while we are smoking," said Ben.
  "Well, I will, if you wish me to do so;
but I have got almost tired of talking about
New York. Everybody wants to know
what I saw there."



42


 


















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-



Some Savages who paint their faces.
Some Savages who paint their faces.



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  -
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Proud and Lazy.



  "'Do they" laughed Joe.
  "Yes; I don't like to say no to them, for
I am willing to help along those who don't
know as much as I do."
  "Do you mean to say we don't know as
much as you do " demanded Ben, angrily.
  "Well, you haven't been to New York-
have you"
  "WXhat if we haven't"
  "Then, of course, you can't know so much
as I do. I was there a week."
  " If you say that again, I'll pound you,"
said Ben, rising.
  "There's a stump for you, Tom," added
Joe.
  Tommy had not a great deal of courage;
but, in a little w lhile, Joe Birch managed to
get up a fight between his little companions.
Hie showed Tommy how to strike; and the
two boys went into the matter like real
bruisers.



45

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-



The   - -  t        s.

The fight in the wroods.



A

 

Proud and Lazy.



  Of course, Tommy Woggs got whipped-
and it served him just right. His face was
scratched, and one of his eyes was very red.
Just then he thought he should not tell
another boy that he did not know as much
as he did.
  The quarrel was soon made up; for after
Ben Tinker had thrashed the little boaster
he was satisfied, and Tommy did not dare to
be cross. By this time they had to start for
home.
  Tommy had not got half way to his
father's house before he began to feel dizzy,
and to realize a very unpleasant feeling at
the stomach. But he hurried home as fast
as he could, which was not very fast, for he
was sick in earnest now.
  He staggered into the parlor, where his
mother was sewing. He felt very bad then,
and wished, with all his heart, that he had



48

 
            Proud and Lazy.           49

gone to school, and kept away from the bad
boys.
  "I feel sick, mother," said Tommy, as he
threw himself into a chair.
  "Why, Tommy! You are as pale as a
ghost," exclaimed his mother, looking up
from her work. " What ails you "
  " I feel sick at the stomach. I want to go
to bed."
  WAThatever were the doubts AIrs. Woggcrs
had in the morning about her son's sickness,
she had none now. His pale face and blue
lips were evidences of his condition.
  Taking him by the hand, she led him up-
stairs, and put him into bed. Then she
called Dr. Woggs, wt ho was in his library, to
come upstairs and see him.
  "Poor boy; hle is real sick," said his
mother, as the doctor entered the room.
Hc He is just as pale as death, and could
hardly walk upstairs."

 
Proud and Lazy.



50



  "'What ails him "
  "H He is sick at the stomach, just as he was
this morning. It was too bad to send him to
school when he felt so sick. I knew he was
ill then."
  " He wasn't very bad this morning," said
the doctor, who did not know what to make
of it.
  "He was real sick then, and I knew he
was. It was too bad to make him go to
school," added the fond mother.
  "But I didn't make him go to school,"
replied Dr. Woggs. " I was only going to
give him some medicine to make him
better."
  The cigar had done its work; and it
operated upon him just as that nasty yellow
powder would if he had taken it.
  "What's this " said the doctor, after the
contents of Tommy's stomach had been

 
Proud and Lazy.



thrown up. "What have you been doing'
Tommy"
  "Nothing,  father,"  replied  Tommy,
faintly.
  " You have been smoking. You smell as
strong of tobacco smoke as a bar-room
loafer."
  " Smoking!" exclaimed Mrs. Woggs, with
horror.
  "Have you been smoking, Tommy 't
asked his father sternly.
  The poor sufferer felt so bad, he had no
courage to tell a lie, and he was obliged to
own that he had been smoking.
  When he felt a little better, his father
questioned him so closely, that in spite of his
promise, Tommy had to say he had " hooked
jack " that forenoon, and that he had been
in the woods with Joe and Ben, where each
of them had smoked a cigar.
  Dr. Woggy went to the school that after-



51

 
Proud and Lazy.



noon, and told Miss Dale all about it; and
then to the parents of Joe and Ben, and told
them all about it. The truants were all
punished; and as the schoolmistress prom-
ised to send word to their homes when either
of them was absent again, they had no
chance to " hook jack" afterwards.
  Tommy was as well as ever the next day;
but that red eye became a black eye, and the
children laughed at him for a week.
  He thought how much trouble he had
caused himself by being proud and lazy, and
he resolved to be a better boy. He did very
well for some time; he went to school with-
out complaining, and didn't talk big; but he
was not entirely cured.
  It often takes a great while to get rid of
bad habits; but we should banish them, even
if it takes a whole lifetime to do so.



.52


 












CARELESS KATE

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She tried to look as if nothing had happened. Page 8

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CARELESS KATE.



I.



"y KATE b"



said Mrs. Lamb to her daugh-



ter, who was playing in the garden, in front
of the house.



"What do you want, mother"



replied



the little girl, without even lifting her eyes
from the ground, in which she was planting
a marigold.
  I don't think any of my young readers re-
gard this as a proper answer for a little girl
to make to her mother; and I hope none of
them ever speak to their parents in this
manner.
  "Come into the house. I want you,'
added her mother.
                  57

 

Careless Kate.



  -But Kate did not go till she got ready.
  She was not in the habit of minding her
mother at once, and without asking any im-
proper questions, as all good children do,
or ought to do, at least.
  When she stepped out of the bed of
flowers, in which she had been at work, iD-
stead of looking to see where she put her
feet, she kept her eyes fixed on the place
where she had just planted the marigold.
  " Look before you leap " is a good motto
for everybody-for children, as well as for
men and women. If Kate had thought of it,
perhaps she would have saved herself and
her inother a great deal of trouble.
  She did not mind where she stepped, and
put her foot upon a beautiful, sweet-scented
peony, which had just come out of the
ground. She broke the stem short off, and
crushed the root all in pieces.
  Now, this flower was very highly prized



58

 
Careless Kate.



by Mrs. Lamb, for she had brought it from
a great distance, and it was the only one of
the kind in Riverdale at that time.
  Kate was very fond of flowers herself, and
when she saw the mischief she had done, she
cried with anger and vexation. She would
not have spoiled this peony for a great deal,
for she had looked forward with much plea-
sure to the time when it should bud and
blossom, and fill the garden with its fra-
grance.
  " What is the matter with you, Kate"
called her mother, from the house, when she
beard tbate crving.
  "I did not mean to do it, mother," sobbed
the poor girl.
  "Didn't mean to do what, Kate " said
her mother, rushing into the garden to find
out what mischief had been done.
  Mrs. Lamb was very angry when she saw
that the peony was spoiled; and she took



59

 

Careless Kate.



Kate by the arm, and shook her. I don't
think this shaking did any good; but it was
a great trial to her to see her favorite flower
destroyed.
  "You careless girl! " said Mrs. Lamb.
  "I didn't mean to, mother," replied Kate.
  "But you were careless, as you always
are. Will you never learn to be careful
You walk about the flower beds as though
they were solid rocks."
  "I did not mean to tread upon it," was
all that poor Kate could say.
  It was very true that she did not mean to
spoil the peony; but it was almost as bad