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2.

3.

My mother, I know,

Would sorrow so,

Should I be stolen away;

So I'll speak to the birds
In my softest words,

Nor hurt them in my play.

And when they can fly,
In the bright blue sky,
They'll warble a song to me;
And then if I'm sad,

It will make me glad

To think they are happy and free.

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1. An old man sat at the door of his house.

The sun had set, and the air was warm and mild. The wind was calm, the sky was blue, and the clouds in the west were red, and gold, and purple.

1 Pronounced dōr. 2 Pronounced bʊû.

8 Pronounced thru.

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2. The old man sat with his face to the west, but he did not see the sky; he could not see it, for he was blind.

3. Near the house stood an elm tree, and a bird sat on a bough of the tree. It sang such sweet notes that one might have said that it sung to please the blind old man.

4. And though the old man was blind, his face did not look sad: though his sight was gone, there was much still left him to make him happy.

5. First, and best of all, he had a good son. He had been good and kind to this son when

the son was a child; and now the child was grown a man, it was the son's turn to be good and kind to him in his old age.

6. His son gave him the best room and the best bed in the house. He gave him neat warm clothes, and a soft chair to sit in.

7. He read to him every day, he led him out to walk, and he did all he could to help and cheer him.

hědg'eş cûck'ôô pigeon wěl'côme

X.-THE SPRING.

win'ter hol❜low to'wards1 4 thank'fûl shel'ter-ed3 a-böût' bud'ding wârm'er a-röûnd'

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1. THE spring is come again, and there are green buds on the trees. We can hear the notes of the cuckoo in the grove.

2. The cuckoo is a pretty bird, like a pigeon, and it comes to welcome in the spring. Hark! how it cries Cuckoo, cuckoo !

3. The swallows have also come flying back from the warm lands where they spent the winter.

1 Pronounced pij'un.

2 Pronounced wěl'kům.

3 Pronounced shěl'terd.

• Pronounced tō'ardz.

4. But it is still cold on the hills and in the high grounds. There are little lambs lying about that would be very glad if the sun shone warmer, and the winds were less keen and biting.

5. There is a farm house yonder, and it is well sheltered by trees and the hills that slope around it.

6. A little girl, called Fanny, lives there, who is very thankful that she has been so happy and safe through the long winter.

7. She is come out into the fields to look about and see if the trees are budding, and if the snow is gone from the hollow places in the hillocks, where the violets will soon be found.

8. She is going towards the fold where there are a great many sheep and lambs. There is one little lamb that is not so strong as the rest, and it looks as if it would die, unless it is sheltered better till warmer days come.

9. Fanny, who is a kind girl, has been into the fold, and taken the poor little lamb in her arms. She will take it home with her, and feed it with nice new milk. When the lamb is strong again, she will let it return to its mother.

XI.-MARY MERTON.

grand'fä-ther sun'sět grieve

blos'som

âl'mōst

af'ter-nôôn

blǎn'ket

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1. MARY MERTON lived in the country, and her grandfather lived in the city of New York. Mary loved her grandfather very much, for he was always kind to her.

2. In the month of June, when the rose bushes were in blossom, he came to see Mary, and staid a week. Almost every afternoon, just before sunset, they walked out into the fields together.

3. One evening they met a man who was driving some sheep and lambs. One of the little lambs had been hurt by a cart-wheel, and was very lame.

4. Mary asked the man to let her carry the lamb home, because it was too lame to trot along after its mother.

5. "I will buy it for you," said her grandfather. "But I think the little one will grieve for its mother; and I will buy the old sheep too."

1 Pronounced é'vn-ing.

2 Pronounced bâwt.

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