CHAMBERS'S GRADUATED READERS. BOOK II. IF YOU WANT A THING DONE, DO IT YOURSELF. kin, people related to you, like | next of kin, the nearest brothers, cousins, and aunts. relatives. a 1. Once upon time, a lark had a nest of young birds in a field of wheat. The summer had been warm and kindly; and the wheat was nearly ripe. 2. One day, the farmer and his son came to look at the crop, and to see if it was ready to cut. 3. 'Well,' said the farmer to his son, 'I think this field of wheat is ripe; so you had better go and ask our friends to come and help us to cut it. I am sure they will be glad to come and lend us a hand.' 4. The young larks were in a great fright when they heard this. So, when their mother came back, they told her what the farmer had said. 5. 'Oh! don't you be afraid,' said the mother; 'the wheat is not going to be cut just yet. If they wait for their friends to come and help them, they will have to wait a little longer.' 6. Next day the farmer and his son came to the field. But they saw no friends there; no one had come to help them to cut the wheat. 7. Then said the farmer to his son: Go and beg our next of kin to come and help us. They are sure to come.' 8. Then the young larks were in great fear again; and again they told their mother what they had heard. 9. 'Never fear,' said the mother; 'the wheat will not be cut just yet. Keep quiet; wait a little; we need not be in any hurry to go.' 10. Next morning, the farmer and his son came again to the field; but no one was there. But now the farmer was angry; and he said to his son: This will never do; we must not put off any longer; we must set to work and cut the wheat ourselves. 11. It will not do to trust to any one. You and I must go to work at once.' 12. Then the old lark said to her young ones: Now it is time for us to go. When a man takes his work into his own hands, it is sure to be done.' EXERCISES.-1. Pronounce and write: | Fear, fright, afraid 2. Mention or write down the names of six things in the lesson. 3. Tell which of the words in section 10 are nouns, and which verbs. 1. Tom had a secret. He kept it all to himself, and would not tell a single person; for then indeed it would have been a secret no longer. Perhaps his mother knew something; but she was silent, and never even spoke to Tom about it. 2. Every day Tom went off to a little workshop that his father had let him work |