ect is to
persuade the young to lay well the foundations of their characters, to
win them to the ways of virtue, and to incite them to good deeds and
noble aims, the attempt is also made to mingle amusing, curious, and
useful information with the moral lessons conveyed. It is hoped that the
volumes will thus be made attractive and agreeable, as well as
instructive, to the youthful reader.

Each volume of the "Aimwell Stories" will be complete and independent of
itself, although a connecting thread will run through the whole series.
The order of the volumes, so far as completed, is as follows:--

I. OSCAR; OR, THE BOY WHO HAD HIS OWN WAY.
II. CLINTON; OR, BOY-LIFE IN THE COUNTRY.
III. ELLA; OR, TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF.
IV. WHISTLER; OR, THE MANLY BOY.
V. MARCUS; OR, THE BOY-TAMER.
VI. JESSIE; OR, TRYING TO BE SOMEBODY.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

A KITCHEN SCENE.

Bridget and her little realm--A troop of rude intruders--An imperious
demand--A flat refusal--Prying investigations--Biddy's displeasure
aroused--Why Oscar could not find the pie--Another squabble, and its
consequences--Studying under difficulties--Shooting peas--Ralph and
George provoked--A piece of Bridget's mind--Mrs. Preston--George's
complaint--Oscar rebuked--A tell-tale--Oscar's brothers and sisters--His
father and mother.

CHAPTER II.

OSCAR IN SCHOOL.

Oscar's school--The divisions and classes--Lively and pleasant
sights--Playing schoolmaster--Carrying the joke too far to be
agreeable--Oscar's indolence in school--Gazing at the blackboard--A
release from study, and an unexpected privilege--Whiling away an
hour--Doing nothing harder work than studying--A half-learned lesson--A
habit of Oscar's--A ridiculous blunder--Absurd mistakes of the British
government about the great lakes--Oscar less pardonable than
they--Another blunder--Difference between guessing and knowing--Oscar
detained after school--His recitation--Good advice--Remembering the
blackboard--Willie Davenport--A pounding promised.

CHAPTER III.

PAYING OFF A GRUDGE.

Whistler--Why Ralph liked him--Why Oscar disliked him--A caution--A
sudden attack--An unexpected rescue--The stranger's advice--A brave
and manly answer--Whistler refuses to expose Oscar's name--The
boys separate--George's report of the scene, and Ralph's
explanation--Oscar's return--His sister's rebuke--His mother's
inquiries--Misrepresentations--Willie exonerated--Forgiving
enemie