man'? Read the following story, and decide what it is that makes the gentleman. 2. One afternoon, last spring, there had been a sudden gust of wind, and a slight shower of rain. But the clouds soon passed away. The sun shone out brightly, and the rain-drops sparkled like diamonds upon the trees of Boston Common. 3. The Boston boys love the Common; and well they may; for where could they find a more glorious play-ground? During the shower, the boys had taken shelter under the trees: as soon as it was passed, they resumed their amuse ments. 4. On one of the crossings, or walks, appeared a small, plainly-dressed old woman, with a cane in one hand, and a large green umbrella in the other. She was bent with age and infirmity, and walked slowly. 5. The green umbrella was open, and turned up in the most comical manner. The wind had suddenly reversed it, without the consent or knowledge of the old lady, and she now held it in one hand, like a huge flower with a long stalk. 6. "Hurrah! hurrah!" cried one of the boys, pointing to the umbrella. "Mammoth cabbages for sale! Mammoth cabbages!" 7. The whole rabble of boys joined in the cry, and ran hooting after the poor old woman. She looked at them with grave wonder, and endeav ored to hasten her tottering footsteps. 8. They still pursued her, and at length began pelting with pebbles the up-standing umbrella; some crying "Mammoth cabbages," and others "New-fashioned sun-shades." 9. She turned again, and said, with tears in her eyes, "What have I done, my little lads, that you should thus trouble me'?" 10. "It is a shame," said a neatly-dressed, finelooking boy, who rushed through the crowd to the rescues of the poor old woman. 11. "Madam," said he, "your umbrella was turned by the wind. Will you allow me to close it for you?" 12. "I thank you," she replied. "Then that is what those boys are hooting at! Well, it does look funny," added she, as she looked at the cause of their merriment. The kind-hearted boy endeavored to turn down the umbrella, but it was no easy task; the whalebones seemed obstinately bent on standing upright. 13. The boys now changed the object of their attack, and the pebbles rattled like hail upon the manly fellow who was struggling to relieve the poor woman from her awkward predicament." 14. "You are a mean fellow, to spoil our fun," said they; "but you can't come it: cabbage leaves will grow upward." 15. He, however, at length succeeded, and, closing the troublesome umbrella, handed it to the old woman with a polite bow. 16. "Thank you, thank you, a thousand thanks, sir," said she; "and I should like to know your name, that I may repay you whenever I can find an opportunity." 17. "By no means," replied he. "I am happy to have rendered you this trifling service;" and he walked away. 18. "Well," said she, "whoever you are, your father and mother have reason to be proud of you, for you are a gentleman-a perfect gentleman." 19. And so he was a gentleman; and I wish I could tell you his name, that you may see if my prophecy1 does not prove true. 20. "Manners make the man," you may often have written in very legible characters in your copy-books. They certainly do go very far toward making the gentleman. But a true gentleman must have a good heart also. a RE-SUMED', began again. e GRAVE, serious. EN-DEAV'-ORED, tried; attempted. RES'-CUE, aid; relief; deliverance. h PRE-DIC-A-MENT, unfortunate condition. PROPH'-E-CY, declaration of something to come. J LEG-I-BLE, plain; readable. [LESSON LIX. very happily illustrates the character of the true gentleman. It was not only not gentlemanly for the boys to annoy a poor old woman for sport, but it was cruel, and wicked in them. The boy who braved the derision and resentment of his comrades by going to the rescue of the old lady, was a gentleman, not merely because he did a courteous act, but because he did it from kind feelings and good motives. It is impossible for a bad man, or a bad boy, to be a gentleman.] LESSON LX. THE MUSIC OF INSECTS. 1. The evening after we had been talking about the crickets,* we were all sitting around the table, Aunt Mary knitting, and Lucy and Minnie engaged with their sewing. Willie, having closed his book, * See page 95. had been for some time gazing into the fire, as if in deep thought, when he abruptly broke the silence by turning to Uncle John, and asking, "Uncle John, do not the katydids sing?" 2. Before Uncle John had time to reply, Lucy took it upon herself to answer: "Why, yes', Willie', the katydids sing nearly every summer night', and all through the pleasant evenings of autumn. Don't you remember that the trees around the house seemed to be full of them'; and that when one called out 'Katy did,' another would sing back 'Katy didn't'?' And don't you remember the story about Miss Katy and her lover, which Uncle John read to us one evening, after we had been listening to the song of the katydid' ?" 3. "But Uncle John told us the cricket does not sing'," said Willie, "but only rubs his wings together', to make that chirping noise which we thought was his song. Uncle John', does the katydid make its song in the same way'?" 4. “Yes, yes, in just the same way. The katydid is no singer', but only a fiddler', just as the cricket is. And, what is strange, it is Mr. Katydid that does all the fiddling; but whether Miss Katydid does the dancing', or not', I don't know'. Willie', did you ever catch a katydid, and examine it' ?” 5. "Yes," said Willie, "I caught two of them on a cherry-tree one day last summer. They were about an inch and a half long, of a pale green color, and they looked very much like grasshoppers. Our man Henry told me they were katydids: but I never could catch one in the evening; for, as soon as I touched the tree on which one was singing-I mean fiddling-it would stop, and I could not find it." 6. "If you had caught the one that plays the tune of 'katydid',' you might have seen, at the base of each outer wing, a hard, glassy portion of the wing, shaped somewhat like a half moon.* It is by rubbing these together, by a saw-like motion of the wings, that the insect makes the noise you hear." 7. "I suppose, then," said Minnie, "that the lady katydids have to keep silence', and listen to the music of their mates. How hard it must be always to listen, and never to talk or sing at all-or, perhaps I should say, never to fiddle` at all.” 8. "Uncle John," said Lucy, "I am almost sorry you told us how the cricket and the katydid make their songs-no, not songs-for a song is what is sung. It is very puzzling not to know how to speak of the noise which the katydid makes. What shall we call it, Uncle John' ?" 9. "I suppose you must call it a song, for that is the name which all the writers give to all such noises of insects, however they are made.” 10. "Do all insects make their noises, or songs, in the same way as the cricket and the katydid'?" asked Willie'. 11. "Not in exactly the same way. All the grasshoppers rub their outer wings, or wing-covers, together; but the locust rubs the inside of its thighs against its wings." 12. "I remember, one time last summer," said * See the picture of the male katydid, page 137. |