e unto the mullein stalk
That in our course we met!
THIRD READER. 187
10. At two o'clock the roll we called,
And till the close of day,
With fearless hearts, though tired limbs,
We fought the mimic fray,--
Till the supper bell, from out the dell,
Bade us march, march away.
LESSON LXXI.
HOW WILLIE GOT OUT OF THE SHAFT.
1. Willie's aunt sent him for a birthday present a little
writing book. There was a place in the book for a pencil.
Willie thought a great deal of this little book, and always
kept it in his pocket.
2. One day, his mother was very busy, and he called his
dog, and said, "Come, Caper, let us have a play."
188 ECLECTIC SERIES.
3. When Willie's mother missed him, she went to the door
and looked out, and could not see him anywhere; but she
knew that Caper was with him, and thought they would
come back before long.
4. She waited an, hour, and still they did not come. When
she came to the gate by the road, she met Mr. Lee, and told
him how long Willie had been gone. Mr. Lee thought he
must have gone to sleep under the trees. So they went to all
the trees under which Willie was in the habit of playing, but
he was nowhere to be found.
5. By this time the sun had gone down. The news that
Willie was lost soon spread over the neighborhood, and all
the men and women turned out to hunt. They hunted all
night.
6. The next morning the neighbors were gathered round,
and all were trying to think what to do next, when Caper
came bounding into the room. There was a string tied round
his neck, and a bit of paper tied to it.
7. Willie's father, Mr. Lee, took the paper, and saw that it
was a letter from Willie. He read it aloud. It said, "O father!
come to me. I am in the big hole in the pasture."
THIRD READER. 189
8. Everybody ran at once to the far corner of the pasture;
and there was Willie, alive and well, in the shaft. Oh, how
glad he was when his father caught him in his arms, and
lifted him out!
9. Now I will tell you how Willie came to be in the shaft.
He and Caper went to the pasture field, and came to the edge
of the shaft and sat down. In bending over
190 ECLECTIC SERIES.
to see how deep it was, he lost his balance, and fell in. He
tried very hard to get out, but could not.
10. When the good little dog saw that his master was in
the shaft, he would not leave him, but ran round and round,
reaching down and trying to pull him out. But while Caper
was pulling Willie by the
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