,
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

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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
they would refresh her, yet still looking at them with a
longing eye.
9. "I will eat half, and take the other half to her," said he at
last; and he divided them into two heaps. But each heap
looked so small, that he put them together again.
10. "I will only taste one," thought he; but, as he again
lifted it to his mouth, he saw that he had taken the finest, and
he put it back. "I will keep them all for her,"

THIRD READER. 89
said he, and he covered them up nicely, till he should go
home.
11. When the sun was beginning to sink, George set out
for home. How happy he felt, then, that he had all his
strawberries for his sick mother. The nearer he came to his
home, the less he wished to taste them.
12. Just as he had thrown down his wood, he heard his
mother's faint voice calling him from the next room. "Is that
you, George? I am glad you have come, for I am thirsty, and
am longing for some tea."
13. George ran in to her, and joyfully offered his wild
strawberries. "And