of the good boys, with Little King Pippin at their head, ran as
fast as they could, to try who should get into the school first; but
George Graceless and his companions, being on the other side of the
church, saw nothing of their running into school, and their minds were
so taken up with play, that they never heard the clock strike, and
continued playing so long till they were afraid to go in; so at last
they agreed to play truant, and they all went together a bird's nesting.
The first nest they found was a poor little Robin Redbreast's, which one
of them, whose name was Harry Harmless, and who was not so hard-heated
as the rest, (indeed his chief fault was keeping company with these
wicked boys,) persuaded them not to destroy; for, says he, a Robin
Redbreast is such a pretty innocent bird, that I can't find in my heart
to do it any harm, and it was that good-natured bird that covered over
the poor little Children in the Wood with leaves, when they were starved
to death: Pooh, says George Graceless and Tom Tiger, what signifies
talking such stuff as that, and down they pulled the poor Robin's eggs,
nest and all, and left the pretty little bird making such piteous moans,
as would have melted a heart of stone; but they turned a deaf ear to his
tender cries, and went on destroying every nest they could find, without
paying any distinction to the most innocent of the feathered race: at
last they came to a turtle dove's nest, which was on the top of a great
high tree that hung over a deep river; George Graceless, always the most
forward to undertake any dangerous or mischievous exploit, directly
pulled off his coat and waistcoat, and climbed up the tree, but just as
he got to the top, and was stretching out his wicked hand to take away
the turtle dove's eggs, crack goes the limb, and down he fell into the
river! oh save me, save me, I shall be drowned; oh, that I had attended
to the good advice of Little King Pippin, cried he, and with these
words, down he went to the bottom, and was never seen more. The rest of
his companions began now to see the folly and wickedness of neglecting
their books for idle mischief, and heartily repented that they had not
stayed at school instead of playing truant; but dreading to appear
before their master, both on account of their own naughty behaviour, and
the melancholy accident which had happened to George Graceless, they
strolled about from one field to another, till it was quite dark, and
t