Third reader. 85 and throw it against the side of a house, it bounds back to you.”  “Yes, mother,” said he, “and I catch it again.” 10.  “Well,” said his mother, “if I were in the open air, by the side of a hill or a large barn, and should speak very loud, my voice would be sent back, so that I could hear again the very words which I spoke. 11.  “That, my son, is an echo.  When you thought some one was mocking you, it was only the hill before you, echoing, or sending back, your own voice. 12.  “The bad boy, as you thought it was, spoke no more angrily than yourself.  If you had spoken kindly, you would have heard a kind reply. 13.  “Had you spoken in a low, sweet, gentle tone, the voice that came back would have been as low, sweet, and gentle as your own. 14.  “The Bible says, ‘A soft answer turneth away wrath.’  Remember this when you are at play with your school mates. 15.  “If any of them should be offended, and speak in a loud, angry tone, remember the echo, and let your words be soft and kind.”

86 Eclectic series. 16.  “When you come home from school, and find your little brother cross and peevish, speak mildly to him.  You will soon see a smile on his lips, and find that his tones will become mild and sweet. 17.  “Whether you are in the fields or in the woods, at school or at play, at home or abroad, remember, The good and the kind, By kindness their love ever proving, Will dwell with the pure and the loving.”

Lesson XXXIV.

George’s Feast. 1.  George’s mother was very poor.  Instead of having bright, blazing fires in winter, she had nothing to burn but dry sticks, which George picked up from under the trees and hedges. 2.  One fine day in July, she sent George to the woods, which were about two miles from the village in which she lived.  He

Third reader. 87 was to stay there all day, to get as much wood as he could collect. 3.  It was a bright, sunny day, and George worked very hard; so that by the time the

sun was high, he was hot, and wished for a cool place where he might rest and eat his dinner. 4.  While he hunted about the bank he saw among the moss some fine, wild strawberries, which were a bright scarlet with ripeness.

88 Eclectic series. 5.  “How good these will be with my bread and butter!” thought George; and lining his little cap with leaves, he set to work eagerly to gather all he could find, and then seated himself by the brook. 6.  It was a pleasant place, and George felt happy and contented.  He thought how much his mother would like to see him there, and to be there herself, instead of in her dark, close room in the village. 7.  George thought of all this, and just as he was lifting the first strawberry to his mouth, he said to himself, “How much mother would like these;” and he stopped, and put the strawberry back again. 8.  “Shall I save them for her?” said he, thinking how much