ks and
crooked legs. Just look at it!'

"'Oh, dear! you are always mocking me,' whined Arthur. 'One would think
I did it all on purpose. Oh, dear me!'

"At last this lesson came to an end; but the others were no better, and
the poor master went away with his temper sorely tried, sadly
remembering the happy and good little Arthur of the year before.

"In the afternoon, his mother said, in a pleasant tone, 'Come, dear
Arthur, come and take a walk with me; it is such a lovely day; the
robins are singing in the trees; and look, how fast the delicate white
clouds are sailing through the air! Come, dear.'

"'It isn't pleasant! and I can't _bear_ robins,' said Arthur.

"His mother sighed and went alone.

"Left at home, Arthur tried to amuse himself. He got out his puzzle, or
dissected map of the United States; but as ill-tempered people are
never patient or gentle, in a very little while he had cracked South
Carolina nearly in two, snapped off the top of Maryland, broken New York
into three pieces, and made mince-meat of the Union generally, which was
a very shocking thing to do, even on a dissected map; and then, the
cross boy ended by throwing all the States into the black coal-scuttle.

"After this he tried to read; but nothing seemed to amuse him. From
'Robinson Crusoe' he went to the 'Rollo Books,' and from those to
'Nightcaps,' and declared they were all stupid alike, 'a perfect pack of
nonsense!'

"As a last resource, he called Jumbo, his big cat, who was so fond of
Arthur, that he would let him do just what he pleased with him, that
is, as long as his little master was kind; but to-day he pinched his
ears, and pulled his tail, and twitched his whiskers at such a rate,
that poor Jumbo puckered up his face like a pudding-bag, and squalled
like a first-class opera singer.

"'The bad old thing!' exclaimed Arthur. 'I declare, he ought to be
drowned! I'll never play with him again. Scat! scat! get out!' and off
scampered poor Jumbo, and hid himself behind the kitchen door.

"All this time you are wondering his mother did not punish him. Wait a
little. Just read to the end, and then tell me what you think of her
mode of punishment. I shall wish very much to know if you approve of
it.

"One evening, after Arthur had gone to bed, his father and mother had a
long consultation with each other about the best way of curing Arthur's
ill temper; and they agreed upon a plan his mother had thought of during
the day.

"T