LITTLE FRANK'S FLOWER-garden.

4I

STITCH she would throw the whole piece down, and say that it was too hard for her to do. Her mistress used to tell her that it was of no use for her to sit down and sigh because her work was so difficult, but to do her best to overcome the difficulty. We never know what we can do till we try.

Emma thought a good deal about this, and one day when she tried hard to do her work, she was surprised how soon it was done. She made up her mind to conquer this failing, and she succeeded so well, that when her work was inspected with that of the other girls she obtained the third prize in the school.

EXERCISE.

What rule should we make about working and playing? How do children act in the playground who are idle in school? What failings in a boy's or girl's character hinders him or her from getting on with their learning?

LITTLE Frank Myring always came to school with a CHEERFUL face. He was not like some boys, who take no pleasure in their lessons, and learn them because they are OBLIGED

He always spent a certain portion of each evening in learning his lessons. This was one thing which gave him a cheerful face next morning. Another was the energy with which he joined in the outdoor EXERCISES. In the summer he spent a great deal of his leisure time in his flower-garden.

Perhaps you would like to know a little about this flower-garden. Well, you should have seen it before Frank had it. It did not look much like a flowergarden then.

It was a waste patch of ground which his father had taken no notice of, but which he said Frank might have for himself.

You may think how pleased he was to have a garden which he could call his own and do what he liked with.

So he bought a little spade, and a rake, and a hoe, and set to work to get it in order to grow something.

I have called it a flower-garden because in it he had more flowers than anything else. But the fact was, he divided it into two parts-a flower-garden and a kitchen-garden, as he called it.

It puzzled him very much at first to know what to plant, and when to plant the many little things which he wanted to grow; but, by looking at other gardens, and seeing what was done in them, he soon found out these little matters.

In the morning, before school, there was Frank, as busy as he could be, pulling up the weeds and planting some fresh flower which he had bought, or which had been given to him.

In his flower-garden he had, in their seasons, sweetpea, sweet-william, pansies, and, round the borders, a kind of daisy which he called " buttons."

When the weather was dry, these, of course, wanted water; and then he was to be seen with the water-can, going from one plant to another, SPRINKLING them all over. This made them look fresh and smell nicely.

Of course in his kitchen-garden he could not grow much; but there were a few potatoes, peas, and cabbages.

Frank's schoolfellows came very often to visit his garden; then he would give them cabbage-leaves for their tame rabbits, and John Clarke, when he came, always begged a flower on leaving to put in the buttonhole of his coat; he thought it looked so smart.

But the chief use of this garden I have yet to tell.

LITTLE FRANK'S FLOWERr-garden.

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It caused Frank, in the first place, to make INQUIRIES about the kinds of plants and their growth. By-andby the knowledge of these things so pleased him that he began to read books about them, and to take more notice of them himself. He saw the seed, after it had been put in the ground some time, come up a little plant, and this plant grow larger and larger, till it bore fruit and seeds itself. Then it would die, and another plant spring up from its seeds.

He made short notes in a book of what he saw, and drew rough pictures of the plants, the leaves, the fruit, and the flowers. As he grew older, his knowledge of these things became very great and of much use to him.

And he was more pleased to do these things when he heard that it was in this way that Sir Joseph Paxton was led on, from one thing to another, till at last he made the plan of the beautiful CRYSTAL Palace of 1851.

Then Frank heard of the Queen's gardens at Kew, and was DELIGHTED when he first saw them.

Indeed, after many years of toil and trouble-for he did not attain his object all at once-Frank became a great man in the art of gardening. He wrote a clever book on the subject, and he was often heard to say that the first step in his way to success was the interest which he felt in his own little garden at home.

Many a time when he went home on a visit, would he look at the little flower-garden which he had thought so much of in his youth. Even then he would do something to make it look neat and pretty, and many a choice flower might have been seen on the little bit of ground under the wall, which was always known when he was a boy as 66 Frank's flower-garden."

The success of Frank had another good effect. A lady who lived near gave a small PORTION of a field which she had for the boys of the village school to make into little gardens. They had each, in the first class of big boys, a plot of the same size; and, in a book, they put down what the seeds cost them, and how much they got for the fruit and other produce

when they sold it. Then the lady would look at these books once a year, and often notice their gardens. She would then give a prize to the one who had done the best.

Though you cannot all have gardens, nor all become clever GARDENERS like Frank, you can learn from his case to be OBSERVERS. You can carefully notice the works of Nature and study them, and then you will become useful if not great men.

EXERCISE.

What made Frank cheerful? How did he divide his garden? What was the chief use of Frank's garden? How was he encouraged in his work? What may we learn from the case of Frank? What effect had his perseverance on others:

A RAT which had lived for some time in a narrow hole of a ship, found that his life was being sought, and that he must escape.

He did not like to leave his snug little corner, so he stayed so long that one day he had a very narrow chance of being caught.

He thought to himself, I will go abroad in a ship of my own. I will not stay here, in danger every moment of my life being taken. I will look out for a nice little ship just large enough for myself.

So he WANDERED one evening, when it was dark, along the sea-shore.

After looking about for some time, he at last saw a

THE RAT AND HIS SHIP.

45

small wooden BOWL, which, by accident had been left on the beach.

He got inside this bowl, and it seemed just the size for his purpose, though his tail APPEARED above the side, but that did not much matter.

Now and then he would look round to see if any one was coming to fetch his ship.

After a while the tide came in, and the bowl floated gently on the top of the waves.

Shortly after, the tide went back, and the little ship was washed out to sea.

"Oh, how BEAUTIFUL!" thought he, "what a nice journey I shall have; and what pretty things I shall see in foreign lands! Besides, this ship sails so nicely, and I have it all to myself. No one can interfere with me now."

He had not gone far before a TREMENDOUS wave burst over the bowl and dashed it under the water, overturning it, and throwing out Mr. Rat.

There he was STRUGGLING in the water, and being tossed about by the waves. Now and then he would sink between the waves as if he was lost, and indeed, he would soon have been drowned, but that he observed a floating rafter of wood, and swam to it.

This afforded him a refuge and brought him safely to shore, but he was both hungry and wet.

You see that this foolish rat took this journey without thinking whether his bowl-which, no doubt, looked to him as large as a ship-could stand against the waves of the sea.

But we can see how he failed; and we should learn from his case never to begin anything till we have first CONSIDERED the DIFFICULTIES and size of the

UNDERTAKING.

If we do not we shall have to seek shelter in our failure upon any chance that may happen.

EXERCISE.

Where had the rat lived? What did he take for his ship? What befel him on the water? How was he saved? What ought he to have done before attempting such a journey? What may we learn from his case?