re a poor blind man came groping his way
out with a couple of sticks. 'Good morning to you, gaffer,' said the
boy; 'pray, did you see a little girl come this road, with a basket of
eggs upon her head, dressed in a green gown, with a straw hat upon her
head?' 'God bless you, master,' said the beggar, 'I am so blind that I
can see nothing; I have been blind these twenty years, and they call me
poor old blind Richard.'

"Though this poor man was such an object of charity and compassion, yet
the little boy determined, as usual, to play him some trick; and, as he
was a great liar and deceiver, he spoke to him thus: 'Poor old Richard,
I am heartily sorry for you with all my heart; I am just eating my
breakfast, and if you will sit down by me I will give you part and feed
you myself.' 'Thank you with all my heart,' said the poor man; 'and if
you will give me your hand, I will sit by you with great pleasure, my
dear, good little master!' The little boy then gave him his hand, and,
pretending to direct him, guided him to sit down in a large heap of wet
dung that lay by the road-side. 'There,' said he, 'now you are nicely
seated, and I will feed you.' So, taking a little in his fingers, he was
going to put it into the blind man's mouth; but the man, who now
perceived the trick that had been played him, made a sudden snap at his
fingers, and, getting them between his teeth, bit them so severely that
the wicked boy roared out for mercy, and promised never more to be
guilty of such wickedness. At last the blind man, after he had put him
to very severe pain, consented to let him go, saying as he went, 'Are
you not ashamed, you little scoundrel, to attempt to do hurt to those
who have never injured you, and to want to add to the sufferings of
those who are already sufficiently miserable? Although you escape now,
be assured that, if you do not repent and mend your manners, you will
meet with a severe punishment for your bad behaviour.'

"One would think that this punishment should have cured him entirely of
his mischievous disposition; but, unfortunately, nothing is so difficult
to overcome as bad habits that have been long indulged. He had not gone
far before he saw a lame beggar, that just made a shift to support
himself by means of a couple of sticks. The beggar asked him to give him
something, and the little mischievous boy, pulling out his sixpence,
threw it down just before him, as if he intended to make him a present
of it; but