They know where the apples hang ripest, They know where the fruit hangs the thickest Fairy barks that have drifted to land. 4. Those who toil bravely are strongest; The humble and poor become great ; And so from these brown-handed children M. H. Krout. LESSON LI. MY MOTHER'S GRAVE. 1. It was thirteen years since my mother's death, when, after a long absence from my native village, I stood beside the sacred mound, beneath which I had seen her buried. Since that mournful period a great change had come over me. My childish years had passed away, and with them my youthful character. The world was altered too; and, as I stood at my mother's grave, I could hardly realize that I was the same thoughtless, happy creature, whose cheeks she had so often kissed in an excess of tenderness. 2. But the varied events of thirteen years had not effaced the remembrance of that mother's smile. It seemed as if I had seen her but yesterday, as if the blessed sound of her well-remembered voice was yet in my ear. The gay dreams of my infancy and childhood were brought back so distinctly to my mind, that, had it not been for one bitter recollection, the tears I shed would have been gentle and refreshing. The circumstance may seem a trifling one, but the thought of it now pains my heart; and I relate it that those children who have parents to love them may learn to value them as they ought. 3. My mother had been ill a long time, and I became so accustomed to her pale face and weak voice that I was not frightened at them, as children usually are. At first, it is true, I sobbed violently; but when day after day I returned from school and found her the same, I began to believe that she would always be spared to me. But they told me she would die. 4. One day, when I had lost my place in the class, I came home fretful and discouraged. I went to my mother's chamber. She was paler than usual, but she met me with the same affectionate smile that always welcomed my return. Alas! when I look back through the lapse of thirteen years, I think my heart must have been stone not to have been melted by it. She requested me to go down stairs and bring her a glass of water. I pettishly asked why she did not call a domestic to do it. With a look of mild reproach which I shall never forget, if I live to be a hundred years old, she said, "And will not my daughter bring a glass of water for her poor sick mother?" 5. I went and brought her the water, but I did not do it kindly. Instead of smiling and kissing her, as I was wont to do, I set the glass down very quickly and left the room. After playing about a short time, I went to bed without bidding my mother good night. But, when alone in my room, in darkness and in silence, I remembered how pale she looked, and how her voice trembled when she said, "Will not my daughter bring a glass of water for her poor sick mother?" I could not sleep. I stole into her chamber to ask forgiveness. She had sunk into an easy slumber, and they told me I must not waken her. I did not tell any one what troubled me, but stole back to my bed, resolved to rise early in the morning, and tell her how sorry I was for my conduct. 6. The sun was shining brightly when I awoke, and, hurrying on my clothes, I hastened to my mother's chamber. She was dead! She never spoke more, never smiled upon me again; and when I touched the hand that used to rest upon my head in blessing, it was so cold that it made me start. I bowed down by her side, and sobbed in the bitterness of my heart. I even wished that I might die, and be buried with her. And old as I now am, I would give worlds, were they mine to give, could my mother but have lived to tell me that she forgave my childish ingratitude. But I can not call her back; and when I stand by her grave, and whenever I think of her manifold kindness, the memory of that reproachful look she gave me will bite like a serpent and sting like an adder. Mrs. Sigourney. QUESTIONS. What is the subject of this piece? What is it designed to teach? By whom is the incident supposed to be narrated? Can you relate it? What should be the prevailing tone of the voice in reading this lesson? (See Introduction, page xix.) Should it be read with a rapid or slow movement? Point out examples of the rising inflection. Of absolute emphasis. LESSON LII. WHAT CONSTITUTES VALUE. 1. Gold and silver are the most convenient metals to use as money, because they take up but little room in proportion to their value. Hence they are called the precious metals. But why should gold and silver be of so much more value than iron? They are not nearly so useful. We should be very badly off without knives, and scissors, and spades, and hatchets; and these could not be made so well from anything as from iron; silver and gold would make very bad tools indeed. 2. To understand this, you must remember that it is not the most useful things that are of the most value. Nothing is more useful than air and water, without which we could not live; yet these are, in most places, of no value, in the proper sense of the word; that is, no one will give anything in exchange for them, because he can have them without. 3. In some places, indeed, water is scarce; and then people are glad to buy it. You may read in Scripture of many quarrels that arose about wells of water; because in some of the Eastern countries water is so scarce that a well is a very important possession. But water is not more useful in those places where people are glad to buy it than it is here, where, by the bounty of Providence, it is plentiful. It is the scarcity that gives it value. 4. Iron, where it is scarce, is also of great value; but in most countries this most useful of all metals, is also, through the goodness of Providence, the most plentiful. Still it is of some value; because it must be dug from the mines, and smelted in furnaces, and wrought into tools, before we can make use of it. If knives and nails were produced by nature ready made, and could be picked up everywhere like pebbles, |