himself in the middle of the very troop of boys that he had used so ill in the morning. 28. They all set up a shout as they saw their enemy in their power without his dog, and began punishing him in various ways. Some pulled him by the hair, others pinched him; some whipped his legs with their handkerchiefs, while others covered him with handfulls of dirt. In vain did he attempt to escape, they were still at his heels. 29. At length, while he was in this disagreeable situation, he happened to come up to the same jackass he had seen in the morning, and making a sudden spring jumped upon his back, hoping by this means to escape. The boys immediately renewed their shouts, and the ass, frightened at the noise, began galloping with all his might, and presently bore him from the reach of his enemies. 20. But he had little reason to rejoice at this escape; for he found it impossible to stop the animal, and was every instant afraid of being thrown off, and dashed upon the ground. After he had been thus hurried along a considerable time, the ass on a sudden stopped short at the door of a cottage, and began kicking and prancing with so much fury, that the little boy was presently thrown to the ground, and broke his leg in the fall. 31. His cries immediately brought the family out, among whom was the same little girl he had used so ill in the morning. But she, with the greatest good-nature, seeing him in such a pitiable situation, assisted in bringing him in, and laying him upon the bed. There this unfortunate boy had leisure to recollect himself, and reflect upon his own bad behaviour, which in one day's time had exposed him to such a variety of misfortunes; and he determined with great sincerity, that if ever he recovered from his present accident he would be as careful to take every opportunity of doing good, as he had been before to commit every species of mischief. 32. When the story was ended, Thomas said it was very surprising to see how differently the two little boys fared. The one little boy was good-natured, and therefore every thing he met became his friend, and assisted him in return; the other, who was ill-natured, made every thing his enemy, and therefore he met with nothing but misfortunes and vexations, and nobody seemed to feel any compassion for him, excepting the poor little girl that assisted him at last, which was very kind indeed, considering how ill she had been used. 33. That is very true indeed, said Mr. Barlow; nobody is loved in this world, unless he loves others, and does good to them; and nobody can tell but one time or other he may want the assistance of the meanest and lowest. Therefore every sensible man will behave well to every thing around him; he will behave well, because it is his duty to do it, because every benevolent person feels the greatest pleasure in doing good, and even because it is his own interest to make as many friends as possible. 34. No one can tell, however secure his present situation may appear, how soon it may alter, and he may have occasion for the compassion of those who are now greatly below him. I could show you a story to that purpose, but you have read enough, and therefore you must now go out and use some exercise. Oh! pray, sir, said Thomas, do let me hear the story. I think I could read longer without being tired. No, said Mr. Barlow; every thing has its turn. To-morrow you shall read, but now we must work in the garden. 35. Then, pray sir, said Thomas, may I ask a favour of you? Surely, answered Mr. Barlow: if it is proper for you to have, it will give me pleasure to grant it. Why then, said Thomas, Henry and I are going to build a house. 36. Mr. B. To build a house! Well, and have you laid in a sufficient quantity of bricks and mortar? No, no, said Thomas, smiling, Henry and I can build houses without brick and mortar. Mr. B. What are they to be made of then, cards? Dear sir, answered Thomas, do you think we are such little children as to want card houses? No, we are going to build real houses, fit for people to live in. 37. And then you know, if ever we should be thrown upon a desert coast, as the poor men were, we shall be able to supply ourselves with necessaries, till some ship comes to take us away. Mr. B. And if no ship should come, what then? T. Why then we must stay there all our lives, I am afraid. Mr. B. If you wish to prepare yourself against that event, I think you are much in the right, for nobody knows what may happen to him in this world. What is it then you want, to make your house? 38. T. The first thing we want, sir, is wood and a hatchet. Mr. B. Wood you shall have in plenty ;-but did you ever use a hatchet? T. No, sir. Mr. B. Then I am afraid to let you have one, because it is a very dangerous tool; and if you are not expert in the use of it, you may wound yourself severely. But if you will let me know what you want, I, who am more strong and expert, will take the hatchet, and cut down the wood for you. Thank you, sir, said Thomas; you are very good to me indeed. 39. And away Henry and he ran to the copse at the bottom of the garden. Mr. Barlow went to work, and presently, by Henry's direction, cut down several poles about as thick as a man's wrist, and about eight feet long: these he sharpened at the end, in order to run into the ground; and so diligent were the two little boys at the business, that in a very short time they had transported them all to the bottom of the garden, and Thomas entirely forgot he was a gentleman, and worked with the greatest eagerness. 40. Now, said Mr. Barlow, where will you fix your house? Here, answered Thomas, I think, just at the bottom of this hill, because it will be warm and sheltered. So Henry took the stakes, and began to thrust them into the ground at about the distance of a foot; and in this manner he enclosed a piece of ground, which was about ten feet long and eight feet wide, leaving an opening in the middle of Ethree feet wide for a door. 41. After this was done, they gathered up the brushwood that was cut off, and by Henry's direction they interwove it between the poles, in such a manner as to form a compact kind of fence. This labour, as may be imagined, occupied them several days: however they worked at it very hard every day; and every day the work advanced, which filled Thomas' heart with so much pleasure, that he thought himself the happiest little boy in the universe. 42. The summer had now completely passed away, while Thomas was receiving these improvements at the house of Mr. Barlow. In the course of this time, both his body and mind had acquired additional vigour; for he was neither so fretful and humoursome, nor so easily affected by the vicissitudes of the season. SECTION VI, Henry and Thomas overtaken in a snow storm, while taking a walk in the woods. 1. SOME time in the winter when the snow was a great deal worn away, though the frost and cold continued, the two little boys went out to take a walk. Insensibly they wandered so far that they scarcely knew their way, and therefore resolved to return as speedily as possible. But, unfortunately, in passing through a wood, they entirely missed the track and lost themselves. 2. To add to their distress, the wind began to blow most bitterly from the north, and a violent shower of snow coming on, obliged them to seek the thickest shelter they could find. There happened fortunately to be near an aged oak, whose inside, gradually decaying, was worn away by time, and afforded an ample opening to shelter them from the storm. Into this the two little boys crept safe, and endeavoured to keep each other warm, while the snow and sleet fell all around, and gradually covered the earth. 3. Thomas, who had been little used to hardship, bore it for some time with fortitude, and without uttering a complaint. At length hunger and fear took entire possession of his soul, and turning to Henry with watery eyes and a mournful voice, he asked him what they should do. Do! said Henry, we must wait here I think, till the weather clears up a little, and then we will endeavour to find the way home. 4. T. But what if the weather should not clear up at all? 5. H. In that case we must either endeavour to find our way through the snow, or stay here, where we are so conveniently sheltered. 6. T. But oh! what a dreadful thing it is to be here all alone in this dreary wood! And then I am so hungry, and so cold: Oh! that we had but a little fire to warm us? 7. H. I have heard that shipwrecked persons, when they have been cast away upon a desert coast, have made a fire to warm themselves by rubbing two pieces of wood together till they caught fire: or, here is a better thing, I have a large knife in my pocket, and if I could but find a piece of flint, I could easily strike fire with the back of it. As the snow had completely covered every track, and the daylight began to fail, they wandered at random through a vast and pathless wood. 8. At every step which Thomas took, he sunk almost to his knees in snow, the wind was bleak and cold, and it was with difficulty that Henry could prevail upon him to continue his journey. At length, however, as they thus pursued their way, with much toil, they came to some lighted embers which either some labourers, or some wandering passengers had lately quitted, and which were yet unextinguished. See, said Henry, with joy, see what a lucky chance is this! Here is a fire ready lighted for us, which needs only the assistance of a little wood to make it burn. 9. Henry then collected all the dry pieces he could find, and piled them upon the embers, which in a few moments began to blaze, and diffused a cheerful warmth. Thomas then began to warm and chafe his almost frozen limbs over the fire with infinite delight; at length he could not help observing to Henry, that he never could have believed that a few dried sticks could have been of so much consequence to him. 10. Ah! answered Henry, you have been brought up in such a manner that you never knew what it was to want any thing. But that is not the case with thousands and millions of people. I have seen hundreds of poor children who have neither bread to eat, fire to warm, nor clothes to cover them. Only think, then, what a disagreeable situation they must be in; yet they are so accustomed to hardship, that they do not cry in a year as much as you have done within this quarter of an hour. 11. Why, answered Thomas, a little disconcerted at the observation of his crying, it cannot be expected that gentlemen should be able to bear all these inconveniences as well as the poor. Why not? answered Henry. Is not a gentleman as much a man as the poor can be? And, if he is a man, should he not accustom himself to endure every thing that his fellow-creatures do? 12. T. That is very true-But he will have all the conveniences of life provided for him, victuals to eat, a good warm bed, and fire to warm him. 13. H. But he is not sure of having all these things as long as he lives-Besides, I have often observed the gentlemen and ladies in our neighbourhood, riding about in coaches, and covered from head to foot, yet shaking with the least breath of air as if they all had agues;—while the children of the poor ran about barefooted upon the ice, and diverted themselves with making snowballs. 14. T. That is indeed true, for I have seen my mother's visiters sitting by a good fire, and complaining of cold, while the labourers out of doors were stripped to their shirts at work, and never minded it in the least. 15. H. Then I should think that exercise, by which a person can warm himself when he pleases, is better than all |