Story Lessons on Character-Building (Morals) and Manners Part 3

12. Lulu and the Pretty Coloured Wool.

The little children who went to school long years ago did not have pretty things to play with as you have--no kindergarten b.a.l.l.s with bright colours, nor nice bricks with which to build houses and churches!

There was a little girl named Lulu who went to a dame's school in those far-off days, and most of the time she had to sit knitting a long, grey stocking, though she was only six years old.

Some of the older girls were sewing on canvas with pretty coloured wools, and making (what appeared to little Lulu) most beautiful pictures. How she longed for a length of the pink or blue wool to have for her very own!

The school was in a room upstairs, and at the head of the stair there was a window, with a deep window-sill in front of it. As Lulu came out of the schoolroom one day to take a message for the teacher, and turned to close the door after her, she saw (oh, lovely sight!) that the window-sill was piled up with bundles of the pretty coloured wool that she liked so much. Oh! how she wished for a little of it! And, see, there is some rose-pink wool on the top, cut into lengths ready for the girls to sew with! It is too much for poor little Lulu; she draws out one! two! three lengths of the wool, folds it up hastily, puts it in her pocket, and runs down the stair on the errand she has been sent.

But is she happy? Oh, no! for a little Voice says: "Lulu, you are stealing; the wool is not yours!" For a few minutes the wool rests in her pocket, and then she runs back up the stair; the schoolroom door is still closed as Lulu draws the wool from her pocket, and gently puts it back on the window-sill. Then she takes the message and returns to her place in the schoolroom, and to the knitting of her long stocking, hot and ashamed at the thought of what she has done, but glad in her heart that she listened to the Good Voice, and did not keep the wool.

Had any one seen her? Did any one know about it? Yes, there were loving Eyes watching little Lulu, and the One who looked down was very glad when she listened to the Good Voice. Do you know who it was?

G.o.d our Father sees us all, Boys and girls, and children small; When we listen to His voice, Angels in their songs rejoice.

Have _you_ heard that voice, dear child, Speaking in you, gentle, mild?

Always listen and obey, For it leads you the right way.

(Blackboard.)

Do not Take what is not Yours.

_Note._--To the mother or teacher who can read between the lines, this little story (which is not imaginary, but a true record of fact) bears another meaning. It shows the child's pa.s.sionate love for objects that are pretty, especially coloured objects, and how the withholding of these may open the way to temptation. Let the child's natural desire be gratified, and supply to it freely coloured wools, beads, etc., at the same time teaching the right use of them, according to kindergarten[3] principles.

(TAKING LITTLE THINGS.)

13. Carl and the Lump of Sugar.

There are some people who think that taking =little= things is not stealing. But it =is=.

There was a little boy, named Carl, who began his wrong-doing by taking a piece of sugar. Then he took another piece, and another; but he always did it when his mother was not looking. We always want to hide the doing of wrong--we feel so ashamed.

One day Carl's mother sent him to the shop for something, and he kept a halfpenny out of the change. His mother did not notice it; she never thought her little boy would steal.

So it went on from bad to worse, until one day he stole a shilling from a boy in the school, and was expelled.

As Carl grew older he took larger sums, and you will not be surprised to hear that in the end he was sent to prison, and nearly broke his mother's heart.

14. Lilie and the Scent.

Lilie's cousin had a bottle of scent given to her, and it had such a pleasant smell that one day, when Lilie was alone in the room, she thought she would like a little, so she unscrewed the stopper, and sprinkled a few drops on her handkerchief. I do not suppose her cousin would have been angry if she had known, but Lilie knew the scent was not hers, and she was miserable the moment she had taken it, and had no peace until she confessed the fault, and asked her cousin's forgiveness. I wish Carl had felt like that about the piece of sugar; do not you? Then he would never have taken the larger things, and been sent to prison.

(Blackboard.)

Little Wrongs Lead to Greater Wrongs.

Carl--Sugar--Money--Prison.

15. Copying.

It was the Christmas examination at school, and the boys were all at their desks ready for the questions in arithmetic. Will Jones's desk was next Tom Hardy's, and everybody thought that =one= of these two boys would win the prize.

As soon as the questions had been given out, the boys set to work. Tom did all his sums on a sc.r.a.p of paper first, then he copied them out carefully, and, after handing his paper to the master, left the room.

Unfortunately he left the sc.r.a.p of paper on which he had worked his sums lying on the desk. Will s.n.a.t.c.hed it up, and looked to see if his answers were the same. No! two were different. Tom's would be sure to be right; so he copied the sums from Tom's sc.r.a.p of paper. It was stealing, of course; just as much stealing as if he had taken Tom's pen or knife.

Besides, it is so mean to let some one else do the work and then steal it from them--even the =birds= know that.

Some little birds were building themselves a nest, and to save the trouble of gathering materials, they went and took some twigs and other things from =another bird's nest= that was being built. But when the old birds saw what the little ones had done, they set to work and pulled the nest all to pieces. That was to teach them to go and find their =own= twigs and sticks, and not to steal from others.

Of course Will was not happy. There was a little Voice within that would not let him rest, and when the boys kept talking about the arithmetic prize, and wondering who would get it, he felt as though he would like to go and hide somewhere, he was so ashamed. That is one of the results of wrong-doing, as we said before--it always makes us ashamed.

At last the day came when the master would tell who were the prize-winners. The boys were all sitting at their desks listening as the master read out these words:--

"Tom Hardy and Will Jones have all their sums right, but as Will's paper is the neater of the two, =he= will take the first prize".

The boys clapped their hands, but Will was not glad. The Voice within spoke louder and louder, so loudly that Will was almost afraid some of the other boys would hear it, and his face grew red and hot. At last he determined to obey the Good Voice and tell the truth, so he rose from his seat, walked up to the master, and said: "Please, sir, the prize does not belong to me, for I stole two of my answers from Tom Hardy. I am very sorry."

The master was greatly surprised, but he could see that Will was very sorry and unhappy. He held out his hand to him, and said: "I am glad, Will, that you have been brave enough to confess this. It will make you far happier than the prize would have done, seeing that you had not honestly won it." So the prize went to Tom, and Will was never guilty of copying again; he remembered too well the unhappiness that followed it.

(Blackboard.)

Copying is Stealing.

16. On Finding Things.

When Lulu reached her fifteenth birthday she had a watch given to her.

One afternoon she was walking through a wood, up a steep and rocky path, and when she reached the top she stood for a few moments to rest.

Looking back down the wood she saw a boy coming by the same path, and when about half-way up he stooped down as if to raise something from the ground, but the thought did not occur to Lulu that it might be anything belonging to her.

When she was rested she walked on until she came to a house just outside the wood, where she was to take tea with a friend.

After tea they sat and worked until the sun began to go down. Then Lulu said, "I think I must be going home; I will see what time it is," and she was going to take out her watch, when, alas! she found it was gone.

"Oh, dear!" said she, "what shall I do? How careless of me to put it in my belt; it was a present from my brother!" Then she suddenly remembered standing at the top of the path and seeing the boy pick something up.

"That would be my watch," said she. And so it was.

The boy had followed her up the wood, and had seen her go into the house, but he did not give up the watch. He waited until some bills were posted offering a reward of 1, then he brought the watch and took the sovereign. If he had been an honest boy he would not have waited, but would have given up the watch at once. We ought not to wish any reward for doing what is right. It is quite enough to have the happiness that comes from obeying the Good Voice. We cannot build up a good character without honesty.

Do right because you =love= the right, And not for hope of gain; A conscience pure is rich reward, But doing wrong brings pain.

(Blackboard.)

When you Find Anything, try to Discover the Owner, and give it up at once.

FOOTNOTE:

[3] _Kindergarten Guide_, published by Messrs. Longmans.