If Emily"s Grandma had said that it would not hurt her to have her teeth pulled out, it would have been very wrong, and Emily would not have believed her another time, when she was to have any thing done to her.
This little girl had no Mother. Her Mother was dead, and her Grandma took care of her, and was very kind to her, and Emily loved her dearly, and so she made up her mind to go and have her teeth out, without any trouble, because her Grandma was in bad health, and she knew that if she cried and made a great fuss about it, it would trouble her, and perhaps make her sick.
Now was not this thoughtful and good, in a little girl, only seven years old? I hope all the little boys and girls that read this will try to be as good.
After dinner, Emily and her Grandma put on their things, and went to the dentist"s house. The little girl trembled when the door was opened, but she walked in without saying a word.
They went into the parlor, for there were some persons up stairs in the dentist"s room, and they had to wait.
"Grandma," said Emily, "may I look at the books on the table? It will keep me from thinking about my teeth."
Her Grandma said she might, and the little girl was soon quite interested in looking at the pictures in the books, and showing them to her Grandma.
In a little while the servant came to tell her she could go upstairs.
Her heart beat fast, but she went up to her Grandmother, and said, "Dear Grandma, you are not well; you look quite pale to-day. Do not go with me; I will go alone, and I promise you I will be a brave little girl."
She kissed her Grandma, and ran out of the room.
When she entered the room up stairs, she saw two ladies there. She stopped; but the dentist said, "Come in, my little girl, do not be afraid, I will be as gentle as I can."
The ladies saw that she was alone, so one of them went up to her and took her hand. She was an old lady, and wore spectacles, and she looked very kind and good. So the dear little girl let the dentist lift her into the great chair, and take off her hat, and the old lady kept hold of her hand, and said, "It will be over in a minute, my dear child," and then she pressed her little hand so kindly, that Emily felt quite comforted.
The other lady was a young lady, and she too felt sorry that Emily was to suffer. She wanted to smooth her hair, and give her a kiss; but she thought that the little girl might be afraid of so many strangers, so she sat down very quietly.
When the dentist had looked into Emily"s mouth, he saw that four teeth must come out. So he got the instrument, and held her head tight with his arm.
Emily turned pale, but she kept quite still, and did not cry or scream; and the dentist pulled out the four teeth, one after the other, without a sound from her lips.
When they were all out, some large tears came from her eyes, and rolled down her cheeks; but she only said "Thank you," to the lady that held her hand; and, putting her handkerchief to her mouth, she ran down stairs.
"My darling child," said her Grandma, "how well you have behaved; I did not hear the least noise."
"No, Grandma," replied Emily, "I tried very hard not to scream; I was determined to be quite still; and a good old lady like you, Grandma, held my hand, which was a great comfort. But, oh! Grandma, it _did_ hurt me.
"My dear child, I know it did," said her Grandma; "you are the best little girl in the world, and a happiness and a treasure to me."
After Emily had gone, the ladies who had witnessed her good conduct, and admired her courage, asked her name and where she lived, and one of them, the young lady, sent her a pretty little gold ring with a blue stone in it, and a little note containing these words:
"For the dear little girl, who had the courage to bear a great pain n.o.bly."
Emily was very much pleased with this little present; it was so unexpected. She could not find out who had sent it to her.
I hope all the little boys and girls will read this story with attention, and when they go to the dentist"s they will think of Emily, and try to imitate her good conduct.
[Ill.u.s.tration: James putting his father"s wig on the poor boy"s head.]
THE WIG.
Julia and her brother James were very early, one cold winter morning, sitting in the bas.e.m.e.nt. They were not wicked children, but they were very thoughtless, and sometimes they did a great deal of mischief.
I am afraid they were doing mischief now, for Julia was sitting by the window, cutting up Mamma"s ap.r.o.n to make a dress for her doll; and James was kneeling on the rug, pulling pieces of worsted out of it and throwing them into the fire, and seemed very much amused as he watched them rolling about and curling up with the heat.
While they were thus employed, two children pa.s.sed the window.
"Only look, brother," said Julia, "at these poor children. How cold they must be! see, the little boy has no hat on, and his toes are coming out of his shoes, and the little girl"s frock is all ragged."
"Let us call them in," said James, "and they can warm themselves by the fire."
As James said this, he tapped on the window, and the little children came to the bas.e.m.e.nt door. James ran and opened the door, and said, "Come in, poor children, and warm yourselves." He placed his own and his sister"s little chair for them by the fire, and then Julia and he went into a corner of the room to consult together what they should give them, to make them warm.
Now the Father of these children had had the misfortune to lose his hair, and he was obliged to wear a wig. Every night, when he went to bed, he used to take off his wig, and hang it upon a nail in his dressing-room, and put on a white night-cap with a long ta.s.sel at the end of it.
The morning that I am telling about, he was not yet up, as it was very early; and the wig was hanging on the nail, as I have told you.
James looked at the poor little boy. He saw that his ears were very red with the cold, and he said to his sister, "I will go up stairs, and find something to put on his head."
So he ran up stairs very fast, and went into his Father"s dressing-room and looked all round. Presently he saw the wig hanging on the nail.
"Oh!" said he to himself, "that is just the thing. It will come all over the poor boy"s ears, and keep them very warm indeed."
So this thoughtless little fellow climbed up on a chair, and pulled the wig off the nail, and then went into the closet and got a pair of new boots of his own; and running down as fast as he could, he pulled the wig over the poor boy"s ears, and helped him on with the boots. They fitted exactly, for James and he were very nearly of the same size.
While he was doing this, Julia had dressed the little girl in a nice warm frock of her own, and also made her a present of her school m.u.f.f, and the little beggar children went away, highly delighted with their good fortune, and were out of sight long before any one had come into the room to prevent all this mischief.
When their Father got up, he opened the door of his bed-room, which led into the dressing-room, and began to dress himself. Presently he went to the side of the room where he had hung up his wig the night before. The nail was empty. There was no wig on it. He looked down on the carpet, and on all the chairs, and in all the drawers, but there was no wig to be found. He rang the bell, and said to the servant, "Do you know any thing about my wig?"
But the servant said she had not been in the room. She did not know where it was.
Now only see, what trouble these children had made for their kind Father; and how ashamed and frightened they were, when they saw him come into the bas.e.m.e.nt room with his night-cap on, and their Mother with him, looking very grave, for she was afraid that the children knew more about the wig than any body else.
"James," said his Father, "do you know where my wig is?"
At first James was afraid to speak; but although these children were heedless, and fond of doing mischief, they were not liars. So James came close to his Father, and said, "Dear Papa, I will tell you the truth. I am afraid I have been very naughty. I gave your wig to a poor boy who had no hat, and I gave him my new boots too, for his shoes were full of holes. I am very sorry, Papa. Please to punish me, and forgive Julia."
"Why, what has Julia been doing?" said her Mamma and Papa at the same time.
"I gave the little girl my new frock, and my school m.u.f.f," said Julia, "she looked so cold. Her little hands were nearly frozen."
"My dear children," said their Father, "I do not blame you for wishing to be kind to the poor, but do you not see how wrong it is to be so thoughtless, and what trouble you give your Mother and me by such conduct? If you do not think before you act, you will always be in mischief, and perhaps do a great deal of injury. To make you remember this--you, Julia, must go to school for two weeks without a m.u.f.f, and wear your old dress; and you, James, must have your old boots patched, and wear them instead of the new ones which you gave to the poor boy."
The children submitted to this punishment without a murmur; but they were dreadfully grieved when they saw the trouble they had made for their dear Father, who could not leave the house, or attend to his business for two whole days, as it took all that time to have another wig made for him. They even could not laugh when the kitten climbed up the back of his chair, and tried to play with the ta.s.sel of his night-cap; and ever after, when they were going to do a thoughtless thing, they would recollect their Father"s wig in time to stop; and at last they got to be as careful and thoughtful, as they were before heedless and mischievous.
THE BOYS" SCHOOL.