, who had found me
aimlessly strolling about a churchyard, round which I had been
accompanying the nurse and the perambulator, until I missed them both, a
short time before.

My parents, who had hitherto been inclined to regard my besetting sin
(for even youngsters of four may have besetting sins) as only a childish
peculiarity, at last began to take note of my dawdling propensities, and
did their best to cure me of them. My father would watch me at my play,
and, when he saw me flagging, encourage me to persevere in whatever I
was about, striving to rouse my emulation by pitting me against my
playmates. For a time this had a good effect; but my father had
something better to do than always preside at our nursery sports, and I
soon relapsed into my old habits.

My mother would talk and tell stories to us; and always, whenever my
attention began to fail, would recall me to order by questions or direct
appeals. This, too, as long as it was fresh, acted well; but I soon got
used to it, and was as bad as ever. Indeed, I was a confirmed dawdler
almost before I was able to think or act for myself.

When I was eight, it was decided to send me and Jim to school--a day
school, near home, presided over by a good lady, and attended by some
dozen other boys. Well, the novelty of the thing pleased me at first,
and I took an interest in my spelling and arithmetic, so that very soon
I was at the top of my class. Of course my father and mother were
delighted. My father patted me on the head, and said, "I knew he could
be diligent, if he chose."

And my mother kissed me, and called me her brave boy; so altogether I
felt very virtuous, and rather pitied Jim, who was six from the top,
though he spent longer over his sums than I did.

But, alas! after the first fortnight, the novelty of Mrs Sparrow's
school wore off. Instead of pegging along briskly to be in time, I
pulled up once or twice on the road to investigate the wonders of a
confectioner's window, or watch the men harness the horses for the
omnibus, till suddenly I would discover I had only five minutes to get
to school in time, and so had to run for my life the rest of the way,
only overtaking Jim on the very doorstep. Gradually my dawdling became
more prolonged, until one day I found myself actually late. Mrs
Sparrow frowned, Jim looked frightened, my own heart beat for terror,
and I heard the awful sentence pronounced, "You must go to the bottom of
the class."