.
They did not intend to be unkind, but would often make him cry by
rolling him off his sled, pelting him with snowballs, or calling him
nicknames.

Of course, there was no reason for crying, since, although the boys were
rather rough, they never really hurt Johnnie Jones. Indeed, they loved
him, and were only in fun when they teased him. If Johnnie Jones had
been brave enough to laugh at them he would soon have been left in
peace; but as he always cried instead, the boys began to call him
"crybaby."

Johnnie Jones soon formed the bad habit of crying about every little
thing that did not please him, until at last it was difficult to live
with him. His father and mother were greatly distressed, and tried in
every way to help Johnnie Jones. They told him that they were ashamed to
have a cry-baby for a son, but that only made him cry more than ever.

Finally Mother said that something must be done, for Johnnie Jones had
reached the point where he was almost always crying. He would come home
crying from kindergarten, he would come in from play with tears in his
eyes, and worst of all, every few minutes, he would find some excuse for
crying at home.

"I think he must be ill," Mother said to Father, one day, "and I am so
worried that I shall take him to the doctor."

Father agreed, so in the afternoon, Mother and Johnnie Jones paid Dr.
Smith a visit in his office.

Dr. Smith was a great friend of Johnnie Jones's and was sorry to hear of
the crying spells. He examined the little boy very carefully, but could
find nothing wrong with him. Then he said that he was sure Johnnie Jones
was not ill, and that he cried so often just because he had formed a bad
habit.

"It is a very disagreeable habit," he continued, "and I know you want to
overcome it, so I'll write you a prescription for some medicine. Doctors
usually do not prescribe for people unless they are ill, but I think if
you take a spoonful of this medicine every time you cry, you will soon
be cured of the habit. You try it, anyway."

He gave the prescription to Mother, who, after thanking him, left the
office with Johnnie Jones. On the way home they stopped at the
drug-store and bought the medicine, which mother took into the house
with her, while Johnnie Jones ran out to play.

There wasn't a child in that neighborhood who was not fond of Johnnie
Jones, but since he had become a cry-baby none of them cared to play
with him, because he would often spoil the best