Graded Literature Readers: Fourth Book. Various

Mr. Lindsey took his departure, shutting the parlor door carefully behind him.

      57. Turning up the collar of his sack over his ears, he emerged from the house, and had barely reached the street-gate when he was recalled by the screams of Violet and Peony and the rapping of a thimbled finger against the parlor window.

      58. "Husband! husband!" cried his wife, showing her horror-stricken face through the window panes. "There is no need of going for the child's parents!"

      "We told you so, father!" screamed Violet and Peony, as he reëntered the parlor. "You would bring her in; and now our poor – dear – beau-ti-ful little snow-sister is thawed!"

      59. And their own sweet little faces were already dissolved in tears; so that their father, seeing what strange things occasionally happen in this everyday world, felt not a little anxious lest his children might be going to thaw, too. In the utmost perplexity, he demanded an explanation of his wife.

      60. She could only reply that, being summoned to the parlor by the cries of Violet and Peony, she found no trace of the little white maiden, unless it were the remains of a heap of snow which, while she was gazing at it, melted quite away upon the hearthrug.

      "And there you see all that is left of it!" added she, pointing to a pool of water in front of the stove.

      61. "Yes, father," said Violet, looking reproachfully at him through her tears, "there is all that is left of our dear little snow-sister!"

      "Naughty father!" cried Peony, stamping his foot, and – I shudder to say – shaking his little fist at the common-sensible man. "We told you how it would be. What for did you bring her in?"

      62. And the stove, through the isinglass of its door, seemed to glare at good Mr. Lindsey, like a red-eyed demon triumphing in the mischief which it had done!

      I. Rŭd´dĭ nĕss: redness. Phiz: face. Săl´lĭed: ran out. Ē̍ mẽrġed´: came out.

      II. Wrôught: worked. Ûr´chĭn: a little boy. Dē̍ lĭb´ẽr ā̍te: slow and careful. Ăc´cū̍ rȧ çy̆: correctness. Ĭm ăġ´ĭ nȧ tĭve: full of fancies.

      III. Ĭn hĕr´ĭt ançe: possession. At´mos phere: air. T̶hĭth´ẽr: to this place. Ăs´pĕct: appearance; look. Cŏm pĕlled´: forced; obliged. Lăg: go slowly. Cŏm prē̍ hĕnd´: understand. Ăs sĕv´ẽr āt ĕd: said earnestly.

      IV. Pilot-cloth sack: a coat made of coarse dark blue cloth, such as pilots wear. Flĭm´s̝y: thin. Bē̍ nĕv´ō̍ lent: kind. Rē̍ lŭc´tant: unwilling.

      V. Pĕs´tĭ lençe: the plague; a deadly disease. Rē̍ mŏn´stranç ĕs̝: objections. Glâre: stare; look fiercely.

      Little, happy, rich, kind, strange, diligent, polite, strong, lifeless, lazy.

      Name words having similar meaning: as, little, small.

      Name words having opposite meaning: as, little, large.

      Speak clearly if you speak at all;

      Carve every word before you let it fall.

HOLMES

      Little by Little

      1. Low on the ground an acorn lies —

      Little by little it mounts to the skies,

      Shadow and shelter for wandering herds,

      Home for a hundred singing birds.

      Little by little the great rocks grew,

      Long, long ago, when the world was new;

      Slowly and silently, stately and free,

      Cities of coral under the sea

      Little by little are builded, while so

      The new years come and the old years go.

      2. Little by little all tasks are done;

      So are the crowns of the faithful won,

      So is heaven in our hearts begun.

      With work and with weeping, with laughter and play,

      Little by little the longest day

      And the longest life are passing away —

      Passing without return, while so

      The new years come and the old years go.

      The House I Live In

      I

      1. This wonderful body of mine is the house in which I live. This house has five gates, through which messages from the outside world can get to me. There is Eye Gate, Ear Gate, Nose Gate, Taste Gate, and Touch Gate. All my knowledge of the things around me comes in through these five gates.

      2. This house of mine has, in its lower story, a kitchen called the stomach. Here the food is cooked, or "digested," as we say, and prepared for being mixed with the blood. In the story above there is a great pump, the heart, which sends the blood through the house to keep it warm and in good repair.

      Then, in the top story, or the head, is the room where the master or mistress of the house lives.

      3. We should learn all we can about this house and what to do to keep it in good order. We should find out what is bad for it and what is good, that we may avoid the one and seek the other. Thus we may hope to grow up strong and healthy men and women. Good health will cheer us and make all our work easy and pleasant.

      4. The first lesson on health that I have to learn is this: I must keep my body clean. Much of the dirt that gathers on the body comes, not from the outside, but from the inside of the body. The skin is full of little pores. These pores are the mouths of tiny pipes, or tubes, millions of which are found in the skin.

      5. You can see them in this picture, which shows a little bit of the skin, cut through from the inside to the outside and very much enlarged.

      It is through these tubes that the body rids itself of many waste substances which would prove very harmful if retained. When their outlets become choked up with dirt, nothing can pass through them. You see, therefore, how necessary it is to keep the skin clean if we wish to have good health.

      6. Once upon a time a great man was coming to visit a certain town. The people went out to meet him, clad in gay and curious dresses so as to do honor to their noble visitor. One little boy was covered all over with thin leaves of gold, so that he might look like a golden boy.

      7. No doubt he looked very pretty, but he became ill and died before the gilding could be removed All the pores of his skin were closed up by the gold; and it soon caused his death.

      8. In Holland there is a village which is said to be the cleanest in the world. The houses, inside and outside, the streets, and everything about the place, are kept neat as a pin. Women wearing clumsy wooden shoes may be seen scrubbing the houses and pavements.

      9. We should be like these Dutch people and keep our wonderful house, the body, clean. It is only by frequently washing the whole body that we can keep in good health.

      Water and soap are all that are needed to keep the skin clean and ready for its work, and every one can get these.