Their Mother kissed them both and said, "My darling boys, I am rejoiced that you are not afraid to speak the truth. I would rather lose twenty vases than have you tell a lie; but you knew it was wrong to play in the parlors, did you not?"
"Yes, dear Mother, it was wrong, and I knew it was," replied Henry. "I will submit to any punishment you think right. I ought to have remembered that you advised us not to go there."
"If you think you ought to be punished," said his Mother, "Charley shall go to bed to-night without your singing to him. This will make you both remember. Is that right?"
"Yes, dear Mother," said Henry; but he looked very sorry; and little Charles made up a long face, for he loved his brother so much, that he could not bear to think that he must go to sleep without holding his finger and hearing him sing.
When bed-time came, Charley wanted to beg his Mother to think of some other punishment for him. He wanted his dear brother so much. He looked at Henry, but Henry said, "Good-night, little fellow. We deserve this.
Come!--one night will soon be over. Now, let us see how well you can behave;" and he gave him a smile, and a kiss so full of love, that the little fellow put his lips tight together, and marched off to bed without a tear. It was pretty hard to do it, but he had this kind brother to set him a good example, and he was determined to be as good a boy as Henry.
Not many weeks after this, poor little Charles was taken sick. He was very sick indeed, and every day he grew worse. The doctor did all he could for him, and Henry staid with him night and day, and would hardly take any rest. He gave him all his medicine, and sang to him very often when he was in pain. But Charles did not get any better, and at last, the doctor said that he could not make him well--the little boy must die.
When Henry heard this, the tears burst from his eyes, and he sobbed out, "Oh my brother! Oh my brother! I cannot part with you, my little precious brother."
The poor little fellow had become so weak and thin that he could scarcely lift his hands from the bed where he lay.
The last night came. He knew that he would not live many hours, for his dear Mother had told him so; and now she told him, that as he had always tried to be a good boy, he would go to Heaven, and Jesus would take him into his bosom, and love him, and keep him, until they came to him.
His little pale face grew bright. "Dear Mother," said he, "will Jesus let my brother come to me? I want my brother in Heaven. Come here close to me," said he to Henry. His brother leaned his face down close to the little boy"s face, and helped him clasp his arms around his neck, and then he whispered, in a soft weak voice, "Do not cry, dear brother, do not cry any more. I will pray to Jesus, to let you come very soon and sing me to sleep in Heaven."
These were the last words he spoke, for his breath grew shorter and shorter, and soon after his little hand dropped away from his brother"s, and he was dead.
His Father had him buried in Greenwood Cemetery.
It was in the summer time that he died, and his brother Henry planted a white rose-bush at the foot of the little grave, and a red rose-bush at the head, and often in the pleasant summer afternoons he would go alone to Greenwood, and sit upon little Charley"s grave, and think how he might now be praying for him in Heaven.
Henry is now a man. He was always a good boy. He is now a good man; and although many years have pa.s.sed since he lost his little brother, he goes every summer to Greenwood to visit his grave; and the tears always come into his eyes when he speaks of him, and tells that little Charley"s last words were, that he would pray to Jesus to let his darling brother come soon, and sing him to sleep in Heaven.
ANNIE BROWNE.
Little Annie Browne was an only child, that is, her parents had no little boys at all, and only this one little girl; so you may be sure they loved this little girl very much indeed, and were all the time doing every thing to make her happy. Now I wonder if the dear little boy, or girl, who is reading this, can guess the means that Annie"s Father and Mother took to make her happy.
Did they give her plenty of candy? No. Did they buy new play things for her every day? No. Did they take her very often to the Museum, or the Circus, or the Menagerie? No. This was not the way. I will tell you what they did; and I will tell you what Annie did, for one whole day, when she was about five years old, and that will give you a very good idea of the way they took to make her _good_, for then she was _sure_ to be _happy_.
Well, one day Annie woke up very early in the morning, and, sitting up in her little bed, which was close by the side of her Mamma"s, she first rubbed her eyes, and than she looked all round the room, and saw a narrow streak of bright light on the wall. It was made by the sun shining through a crack in the shutter. She began to sing softly this little song, that she had learned in school--
"What is it shines so very bright, That quick dispels the dusky night?
It is the sun, the sun, Shedding around its cheerful light--- It is the sun, the sun."
Presently she looked round again, and saw her Mamma sleeping. She said in her soft little voice--"Mamma, Mamma, good morning, dear Mamma."
But her Mamma did not wake up. Then she crept over her to where her Papa was sleeping, and said--
"Papa, Papa, good morning, dear Papa."
But her Papa was too fast asleep to hear her. So she gave her Papa a little kiss on the end of his nose, and laid gently down between them.
In a few minutes, her Papa woke up, and said--
"Why! what little monkey is this in the bed?" which made Annie laugh very much. She then jumped out of bed, and put on her stockings and shoes herself, as all little boys and girls of five years old ought, and put on her clothes; and her Mamma, who was now awake, fastened them, and brushed her hair nicely, and washed her face and hands. After that, she said some little prayers, that her Mamma had taught her--and then ran down stairs, singing as gay as a lark, and dancing as light as a fairy.
After breakfast, her Mamma got her school basket, (it was a cunning little basket,) and put in it a nice slice of bread and b.u.t.ter, and a peach, and gave her a little bouquet of flowers to present to her teacher, whom little Annie loved dearly; and then her Mamma said, "Good bye, my darling," and Annie made her such a funny little curtsey, that she nearly tumbled over, and off she went to school with her Papa, who always saw her safe to the door.
Annie staid in school from nine o"clock until two. When she came home, her Mother kissed her, and said--
"Have you been a good little girl in school to-day?"
"I think I have," said Annie; "Miss Harriet said that I was very diligent. What is diligent, Mamma?"
"To be diligent, my dear," answered her Mamma, "means to study your lesson all the time, without thinking of play, or any thing else, until you know it perfectly."
Annie said she was glad it meant such good things, and added, "Mamma, will you play I am a lady, coming to see you, if you are not too busy?"
Her Mamma said she would. So Annie got her two dollys. One was a very pretty wax doll, with eyes that could open and shut. Her name was Emily; and the other was not wax, but was larger. Her name was Augusta. She put on their hats and visites, and dressed herself in an old hat, with a green veil, and came near her Mamma, and made believe ring a bell, and said, "Ting a ling, ting a ling."
"Come in," said her Mamma.
Little Annie shook hands with her Mamma, and said, "How do you do, Mrs.
Browne?"
"Thank you, I am very well," said her Mamma. "Take a seat, my dear Mrs.
Frisby," that was Annie"s name. "How are your children, Mrs. Frisby?"
"Oh! they are very sick," answered Annie; "one has the toothache, and the other has a little square hole in the back of her head, and it has made her head ache."
"Dear me, Mrs. Frisby," said her Mamma, "I am very sorry to hear it; you ought to go to the doctor with them."
Then Annie pretended to go to the doctor, and she took out of the drawer a little bit of sugar for medicine. She eat the medicine up herself, and said that it had done the dollys a great deal of good. In this pleasant way she amused herself until dinner time.
After dinner, her Papa and Mamma took her to Union Park, as it was pleasant; and there Annie jumped the rope with other little girls, or rolled a great hoop. She could roll the hoop very well.
Then she came skipping home, and had her tea; and after that her Mother undressed her and heard her say her prayers, and kissed her for good night; and she jumped into bed, and in a moment was fast asleep. Don"t you think Annie was a happy little girl? _I_ think she was, for all her days pa.s.sed in this pleasant manner. Some other time, perhaps, I will tell you more about little Annie Browne.
THE THREE BEARS.
Laura and f.a.n.n.y came one Sat.u.r.day to spend the day with their Grandmamma. The moment they got into the house, little Laura ran to the book-case, to get a book to read; and f.a.n.n.y asked for a needle and thread, and began to sew up a corner of the red cloth that was on the work-table.
Both these little girls were very fond of coming to see their Grandmamma, and she liked to have them come; for they gave her no trouble, and were very good and polite to every body.
Pretty soon Laura said, "Oh, dear! this is not a very interesting book, I am tired of reading it. I wonder where Aunt f.a.n.n.y is. I believe I will go find her, and get her to tell me a story."