bringing Fanny up to
be very industrious, both with her sewing and knitting, and
Mr. Hamilton taught Frank to weed the garden, and saw wood, and gather
chips; and the children were as busy as bees, when at work, and as
happy as birds, when at play.

I have told you that Frank seldom played with any one beside his
sister; but sometimes when she was busy, after his work was dune, he
would cross over a corner of the orchard, to a little brown house that
stood near by, to play with a boy that lived there, with his mother.
Mrs. Mills was a widow; but Jack was very rough and wild, and Frank's
grandmother did not like to have him go there often.

One day Jack called to him from the orchard, and Frank, who had just
finished his work, ran over to meet him.

"Look here," said Jack, "see what I've got," and he held out his cap,
which was nearly half full of bird's eggs. Frank looked at them with
surprise.

"You certainly couldn't have been so wicked as to rob the birds' nests
of all those," said Frank.

"Couldn't I?" said Jack, and he gave a long, low whistle; "may be
_you_ never did nothing of the kind."

"I never took eggs away from a bird in my life," said Frank; but he
held his head down, for he thought of the little bird he had taken
only a few weeks before. So he told Jack about it, and how sorry he
had felt ever since; but Jack laughed at him, and said:

"Ah, you are nothing but a chicken-hearted fellow, any way; if you
wasn't always tied to your sister, you might come with us fellows, and
have some fun. Me, and Joe Miller, and Sam White, is going down the
meadows, to hunt for more this afternoon, and if you'll come, we'll
give you some."

"No, indeed; I wouldn't go for any thing; and I do wish you would let
the poor birds be. Just think how badly you'd feel if you was a bird,
and had a nice little nest of your own, to find your eggs all stolen."

"Ho, ho," laughed Jack, "here's a young parson, preaching to me, who
wasn't too good to help himself to a bird, a few weeks ago, when the
old ones did all they could to keep him away from the nest. Why didn't
you think then how you'd feel if you'd been the bird?--ha?"

Frank did not answer; but he thought that he had suffered sufficiently
for his thoughtlessness, without being taunted with it. He tried to
persuade Jack not to rob any more birds' nests; but Jack only laughed
at him, and told him to run home to his sister, like a good little
boy. Frank was the oldest,