Chapter 3

_Write:_ Mercy went out into the cold that she might open the shed door. She wished to let the donkey in. But she could not open it.

Questions: 1. What did Mercy remember about the shed? 2. What did she put on? 3. Where did she go? 4. What was the weather like outside the house? 5. What did she find on trying to open the shed door? 6. What was it that Mercy could not forget?

3. THE OLD SHED.

1. All of a sudden, as Mercy had quite made up her mind to leave Brownie, and was half way across the yard to her own door, a thought struck her.

2. There was an old shed which had once been the stable of a donkey, quite at the far end of the garden.

3. Her father had turned it into a pigsty; but he had left off keeping pigs for some time. It was a clean place, for Peter did not let his pigs live in a dirty sty as some people do.

4. Some dry straw was in it, and some roots stored for the winter. It would be just the place if only she could get Brownie there.

5. In a moment she turned back to hurry again over the heap of snow to the place where the donkey still stood. He could do nothing for himself to make things better.

6. All that he could do was to bear them without any complaint. Poor thing! He was stiff with cold, and seemed not to wish to move. But Mercy knew what was for his good.

7. She meant to do what was best for poor Brownie, whether he knew it or not. So she talked to him, patted him, and coaxed him till at last he let her lead him down to the old shed at the bottom of the garden.

8. "This is lucky for you, Brownie," cried she, feeling very proud at her success. There was a bundle of hay in one corner, of which she shook down a nice soft armful.

9. And then she gave Brownie one good brisk rubbing with some of the straw, to warm them both. She made him a bed of straw too.

10. Brownie was glad to nibble a mouthful while this was being done. Then she took some fine carrots from a shelf, and put them in front of him. Oh, how Brownie did munch those fresh juicy roots!

11. Lastly, she found a bucket of clean water which had not long been drawn from the well, and which had only a thin coating of ice on the top.

12. It had been set in the shed ready for making some mortar, with which father was going to plaster up the cracks in the wall.

13. Brownie seemed almost more glad of the water than of the food. He took a long drink, and turned to thank Mercy with his great deep dark eyes.

14. "Now, poor old fellow, I think you will do," said the child. "I could not bear to leave you out this bitter night, and now I must be getting home, for the snow has soaked through my boots."

15. She stopped fondling and stroking the donkey, but he would follow her, rubbing his soft nose against her hand. "Oh, go back again, do, dear Brownie!" she said.

16. "You really must not come out with me!" Shutting the little gate, which had once been the front door of the pigsty, she ran back to the cottage.

* * * * *

_Write:_ At last the little girl thought of a shed. It was at the end of the garden, and it was a clean place. She put the donkey there and fed him well.

Questions: 1. What thought struck Mercy as she was going back? 2. What sort of shed was it? 3. What did she do for Brownie first? 4. What did she give him to lie on? 5. What did she find for him to eat? 6. What did she give him besides food?

4. A HAPPY CHRISTMAS.

1. But when she came to the back door at which she had come out, Mercy found a great trouble. She lifted the latch, but the door did not open.

2. She gave a pull, a second pull, and then a tug with all her might; but it still held fast. "Why," she thought, "I am as badly off as the donkey. I shall have to go into the pigsty with him!"

3. She had been out much longer than she thought. And while she had been taking care of Brownie her father had turned the big key in the door and gone to bed.

4. What was to be done? It would never do to wake up poor tired father, and bring him out in the cold too. So she stood there trying to puzzle out some plan for getting in.

5. The bright moonlight showed her a way to do it. The cottage was a low one, and just under the window of the room where she and Nelly slept, was a bench.

6. Standing on tiptoe upon this, Mercy found that she could reach the branches of an old vine tree, which grew over the walls of the little house.

7. She could climb up into this, and so get near the bedroom window. It was easy enough to scramble up in summer time, but not so easy now.

8. The boughs were a sheet of ice, and her fingers so cold that they could hardly take hold of them. At last, after many slips and frights, she was safely up.

9. But what would little Nelly think of seeing her sister outside the window, asking to be let in, as their pussy cat often did?

10. She was sound asleep too, and had to be wakened by many hard taps at the glass. First, Nelly felt fear at seeing a face looking in at her.

11. But she soon knew who it was. "Oh Mercy," cried Nelly, "how long you have been! What have you been at? And why did you come back this way?"

12. "Get into bed again, there's a dear," said Mercy, "and I will tell you all about it." Nelly kept awake to listen, as Mercy told her the story.

13. And she could not help clapping her hands to think of how snug poor old Brownie was now. Mercy knelt down to say her prayers before she got into bed.

14. She felt very thankful that she had been able to do one kindness to a creature like that ass which once stood in the stall beside the "new-born King."

15. Next morning, as soon as the house was tidy, Mercy ran out to see the donkey. More snow had fallen in the night, and had filled up all her footmarks, so that she might have thought it all a dream.

16. But just as she reached the pigsty she heard a loud bray, which was Brownie's way of saying "A Merry Christmas" to his friends.

17. "You did quite right, my child," said her father, when Mercy told him of her work the last night. "I think that Smith does not treat him well.

18. "And I will tell you what, children, I am going to-morrow to see Mr. Smith and buy our Brownie back again. I cannot get on without him, I find.

19. "Now that your mother is well again we shall do better, and last week I put by the money for Brownie. So you need never say good-bye to him again."

20. You may be sure that there was a happy Christmas at the cottage for Peter and his wife, and for the children, as well as for poor Brownie.

21. "How very glad I am that I went out to him that night!" said Mercy to her father. "It was not much to do, only it was Christmas Eve, and I thought--"

22. "You thought what?" said her father.

"Only," she said, in a low voice, "I could not forget that Christ let the ox and the ass be with Him in the stable. And I thought that He would not be pleased if we left poor Brownie out in the cold."

* * * * *

_Write:_ Mercy was forced to get in at the window. She got up by the vine tree. Her little sister let her in. Peter said he should buy the donkey back.

Questions: 1. What trouble did Mercy find at her door? 2. How did she get up to the window? 3. What was Nelly doing? 4. What did Peter say when his child told him what she had done for the donkey? 5. What did he say about Mr. Smith? 6. What did he mean to do for Brownie?

THE STORY OF A FLY.

1. ROSE.

1. The first time that I ever used my wings was in flying from behind a red curtain. It was in a warm nice breakfast-room. The master of it was called Mr. Sutton.

2. I settled on a pretty white cap on the head of his wife. She was just making the tea, and her husband was sitting on the other side of the table.

3. "Well," said Mr. Sutton, "when I talk of lazy folks, of course I do not suppose that any person thinks himself idle.

4. "Some people think that so long as they are doing something or other they are busy. I suppose that I am an idle old fellow myself, for spending time in reading the paper.

5. "The right thing to think is, have I been doing what is of any use, eh?" said the old man, pushing up his glasses and looking at his little grandchild.

6. "Have you done a single thing that is of any use this morning, Rose?" Rose hung her head for a moment. Then she lifted her face brightly, and said, "Only one little thing, grandpa."

7. "What was it, dear?"

"I am not quite sure that it was a real good thing," Rose went on, "but I found a poor little butterfly that had fallen into a pool in the garden, where the rain had come.

8. "Its wings were wet, and it could not fly up. So I took it up and put it in the sun on the wall, and soon it was well."

9. Mrs. Sutton looked at Rose in a loving way. "I am quite sure that it was a 'real good thing' if you are not," said the old lady. "And so that was partly why you were late?"

10. "Yes, granny."

"Well, the little butterfly is all the better, though you were the worse for having cold toast. But that is not much to bear for the sake of saving a little life, is it?"

11. And all this time I had been feasting on the sweet white lumps of sugar. No one took any notice of me, and so I went on, till one lump began to grow quite small.

12. "Look, here is a little house-fly!" said Rose. "He is standing quite still on a lump of sugar. What is he doing, granny?"

"He is eating it, dear."

"Can he bite it up?"

13. "Bite it up! No," said Mr. Sutton, putting down his paper and coming up to us. "The fly has no teeth, he has a trunk. He sends down some juice through his trunk on to the sugar.

14 "This juice melts it, and then he sucks it up again."

"How clever!" said Rose. "I wish he would let me touch him." And she put out one finger very softly towards me.

15. Now though I am a brave fly now, I could not bear at that time to see the hand of any person come near me. Though I would perch on the top of it, I did not like to be touched by it.

16. So I flew up in a great hurry, and pitched on some dark stuff which smelt like new hay, and which stood on the side table in a box. Rose did not see where I went. "Oh, how fast he went off!" she said.

* * * * *

_Write:_ Rose saved the life of a butterfly. She found it in a little pool. She set it in the sun to dry its wings. It was a useful thing to do.

Questions: 1. What had Rose found in the garden? 2. What did she do for the little butterfly? 3. How did the fly eat sugar without any teeth? 4. What did Rose wish to do? 5. What did the fly think about being touched? 6. What did he do when he saw the hand of Rose near him?

2. IN THE TEA-CADDY.

1. "Now, granny," said Rose, when the breakfast was done, "I will not forget, to-day at least, to lock up the tea-caddy."

2. So she took up the sugar-basin, fitted it into a little place made for it inside the box where I sat, and, before I had any idea of what she was doing, she shut down the lid.

3. I was now, for the first time, left in the dark. And I began to think what a pleasant thing the sunshine was, and to wonder when I should be let out again.

4. But I must say that I found the sugar a great comfort. I went on eating it as long as I could. If I was to be locked up at all, I could not have been locked into a better place.

5. The sugar-basin was full and there were enough lumps in it to last a fly of my size all his life. But of course one might get tired of it, in time.

6. But I was not tired yet. So I ate and ate, until I began to feel my legs ache and my wings very heavy. Just then I heard a loud noise, and a light broke into my prison.

7. It was Rose turning the key in the lock and lifting the lid of the tea-caddy. "Oh, granny!" cried she, "here is a poor fly that can hardly move."

8. "I am afraid, dear, that the poor fly must thank himself for that," said Mrs. Sutton, looking closely at me. "He has been a little glutton, I fear, and has eaten so much sugar that he can hardly move."

9. "Poor little fellow," said Rose, "I will not hurt him. He shall go out of doors on to the cool grass and get well again.

10. "I dare say that, though he is not quite so pretty as a butterfly, he likes to be alive." So Rose took me up between her finger and thumb as gently as she could, but oh, what great big hands they seemed to me!

11. And my poor sides were pinched black and blue. That is the reason why I cannot bear one of the great hands which belong to men and women to catch hold of me.

12. You see we tiny flies are made so lightly, and we are so small. A mere touch will crush our dainty wings, or break our slender legs, or hurt our eyes.

13. How thankful I am that we have eyes that can see behind and all round us as well as in front!

14. We are able to get away, thanks to these eyes, when we see a great hand coming to catch us. Even a baby's hand seems like that of a giant to us.

15. But dear Rose did her best for me, and put me in a spoon to carry. At the same time I did wish that the sugar had not been quite so nice, and that I had not taken so much of it.

16. The fresh air of the garden, the sunshine, and the flowers did me a great deal of good, after being shut up in the tea-caddy. At night I slept in a lily bell.

* * * * *

_Write:_ The fly was shut into a tea-caddy by mistake. He ate so much sugar that he could hardly fly. Rose put him out of doors to get well.

Questions: 1. What did Rose do after breakfast? 2. What did the fly do inside the tea-caddy? 3. What did Rose say when she opened it again? 4. What did her grandmother say? 5. What did Rose do for the fly? 6. Why does not the fly like to be touched?

3. I FALL INTO THE CREAM.

1. The next morning I flew in at the window. Rose had soon done her breakfast, and she locked up the caddy again, with me outside this time.

2. Though I did not fancy any sweets on that morning, I saw something in a small jug on the table which I thought looked even nicer. It was yellow and rather thick.

3. I went down to see what sort of stuff it was. It could not hurt me, at any rate, to dip one of my feet in, or the tip of my trunk, and see whether cream was better and more wholesome than sugar.

4. I slid with care down the sides of the jug, holding firmly on with the little soles of my feet, which, I am thankful to say, have suckers on them which make it easy for me to run where I like without falling.

5. I tasted cream for the first time In my life. What a happy moment it was! I tasted it a second time, a third, and a fourth time, and after that I became so greedy for more that I lost my balance and in I went plump!

6. At first I kicked about as hard as I could, and tried to keep my wings clear. But they soon got cold, and stuck to my sides.

7. And then I could only go round and round the place, looking with despair at the steep sides of the cream-jug, which seemed far larger and steeper than they had done before my sad mishap.

8. I was growing tired of the struggle, my body began to sink in the cream, and even my eyes were dimmed by it, so that I could hardly see where I was going.

9. Thomas the servant came in to take away the breakfast things, and the jolt he gave the cream-jug in moving it closer to the tea-pot nearly drowned me. I was half dead.

10. But Rose was again my friend, though she did not mean to do what she then did. Rushing into the room to fetch a book which she had left on the window seat, she ran against Thomas, and pushed his elbow.

11. This jerked the cream-jug so that it upset and I was upset with it. I felt myself crawling along in a great white flood over the table-cloth, but still I had land under my feet.

12. "My dear Rose," said Mrs. Sutton, "how often I have begged you not to rush into the room in that rough way. You nearly knocked down Thomas, and see how his sleeve is messed with greasy cream!"

13. "I am very sorry, granny," said Rose, "but I forgot this book, and Miss Bush is waiting."

"I am sorry too," said Mrs. Sutton, "and so is Thomas, I dare say."

* * * * *

_Write:_ The fly wished to taste cream. He fell into the jug and was nearly drowned. Rose pushed the servant, the jug upset, and the fly crawled out.

Questions: 1. What did the fly wish to taste next? 2. What had he on his feet which helped him to walk? 3. What became of him after the fourth sip of cream? 4. Who came into the room to fetch the breakfast things? 5. Who came in next? 6. What happened to the cream-jug and to the fly?

4. SWEET AS HONEY.

1. Rose had to go away, to finish her lessons, and Thomas also went out of the room to get a cloth to wipe up the spilt cream.

2. I was in danger of being swept away by this, but, just as Rose was going out at the door, she saw me still in the midst of the cream.

3. In an instant I found myself nearly drowned again in a spoonful of it, and the next moment I was again placed on the grass of the lawn.

4. Rose had scooped me up in the spoon and carried me there. I really think that she had a liking for me. How thankful I felt to be in the grass!

5. I hid myself under a daisy flower and took a good rest, for I felt very tired after my struggles. A good shower of rain came on, and I was quite glad to hear it patter on the leaves.

6. For I still felt a trifle sticky, and was glad to get my legs moist, so that I might wash myself all the better. At this time the sun was so warm, that I lived out of doors for some days.

7. I think that three days passed before I sat again on the white cap of Mrs. Sutton. But one morning, when she sat at the open window, I thought I should like to pay my old friend a visit.

8. It was breakfast time again. Mr. Sutton was reading the paper through his new glasses, and Rose was busy eating her breakfast.

9. As I had had nothing but a few tastes of dew, and such small meals as were to be had from the flowers, for three days, I was rather hungry.

10. I thought that Rose would spare me a bit of what was on her plate. But, as I was on the way to it, I had to pass a pot of something which had a better smell than what she was then eating.

11. It was honey. It made me forget all about Rose, and her bread and butter. I pitched on the honey-pot, and began to feast as hard as I could.

12. But before I had eaten much, I saw Rose take some and spread it on a piece of bread. At the same moment Mrs. Sutton rose and put the honey into a cupboard.

13. "The flies will get at this, if it is left without a cover," she said. "I cannot think why Thomas has brought it in to table without one."

14. Now I thought this a most unkind speech. They were all eating twenty times as much as I could do in a week at each mouthful. Yet the honey was put into a dark cupboard out of my reach!

* * * * *

_Write:_ The fly was glad to clean his wings and legs. He came back to the room and sat on the cap of the old lady. He was pleased to get some honey.

Questions: 1. What did Rose do for the fly in the cream? 2. What did the fly do in the garden? 3. What did the fly find on the breakfast-table? 4. Where did he pitch next? 5. What did the old lady do with the honey-pot? 6. What did the fly think of what she said?

5. A NEW MISHAP.

1. This vexed me, I must say, so I went and buzzed against the window panes for a little while, to see if that would do me any good.

2. At the end of that time I heard Rose say, "Granny, I do not want this bread and honey now. May I keep it for my lunch?"

3. "Yes, dear," said her granny. It seemed a wonder to me that Rose should wish to leave her bread and honey till some hours later, when she might have had it at once.

4. Mr. Sutton got up and went away to his study. His wife rose too, and she told Rose to put the plate of bread and honey on the sideboard, that Thomas might take it away till lunch time.

5. But Rose forgot to tell Thomas, and he did not seem to see the plate, so there the tempting dish was left all the morning. The sun began to shine upon it, and I sniffed and sniffed many times.

6. At last I left the white cap where I was sitting, and went towards it. I settled upon something far nicer now than either sugar or cream. I sipped and sucked away for some time.

7. At last I thought that I had eaten enough and had better tear myself away before I had taken more than was good for me. But, to my horror, I found that when I tried to lift up my legs I could not stir them!

8. In my other troubles I had at least been able to move a little. I could climb up and down the mountains of sugar, and I could swim about in the ocean of cream.

9. But now I was fixed fast, either to be eaten by Rose without her knowing it, or to die a wretched death in the kitchen if she did not choose to finish me off.

10. I had never thought very much of my out-door cousins, the bees. It seemed to me that they made a great fuss and took a lot of trouble for nothing, in making honey for men and women to take away.

11. How much better to eat it straight from the flowers! And now I thought worse of the bees than ever, because I was sticking fast in their stuff.

12. I tried in vain to drag out one front leg after the other, and next my middle and back legs. It was just as a man would feel if he were stuck in a bog.

13. The sound of the lunch bell went to my heart. The sight of the nice bread and honey, which Rose had left at breakfast, would be sure to make her feel hungry. She very soon saw me!

* * * * *

_Write:_ The fly stood on a plate of bread and honey. He stuck fast and felt as a man might do in a bog. Rose took him out and set him free.

Questions: 1. What did Rose do with her bread and honey? 2. What did the fly do when he smelt it? 3. What happened to him when he settled on the honey? 4. What did he try to do in vain? 5. What did he soon hear? 6. What did Rose very soon see when she came to lunch?

6. THE FLY'S EYE.

1. I feel sure that she did not know me, for she cried out, "Oh, granny! here is a nasty fly on my bread and honey. I dare say that the horrid thing has been crawling all over it!

2. "I wish a spider would come and catch it!" went on Rose, quite crossly, "for I do not like to kill it myself!" And here she gave me a little poke with a fork. But not hard enough to hurt me.

3. "Why, Rose, what is the matter?" said her granny. "I thought that you were fond of the little, busy, useful flies that come to dance and play in the house?"

4. "Well, I cannot see what good they do," said Rose, "getting into the cream and sticking on to the bread and honey." Something had put little Rose out of temper. But I felt sure it would not last long.

5. "I wish he would not get on to my plate," said she, bending down her face to hide it, for she began to feel ashamed. "But I will not hurt him."

6. And she took one of her granny's knitting needles in her hand. I shook with fear when I saw this great spear coming; but Rose used it in a most gentle and kind way.

7. She lifted my body out after setting my legs free, and though I felt strained and tired after it, I left nothing behind me, no, not even any of the brushes and combs on my feet.

8. "I will put him out into the garden," said she. But, as my wings had got no honey on them, I saved her the trouble, by flying away.

9. If Rose had only known half the trouble I had in washing my feet after the honey, she would have been ready to forgive me for tasting her lunch.

10. "I am glad you did not go on feeling cross with the poor little fly, Rose," said Mrs. Sutton. "We should miss them much if we had none, for they help to keep our houses sweet and clean.