Here is a lady showing her husband, how she has taught little Lizzie to
go alone. Lizzie is only fourteen months old, and can walk across the
room alone. She does not walk but runs. It is amusing to see her. She
will crawl to the side of the room, then stand up, and after balancing
herself for a moment, she will run towards her mother. See how delighted
they all seem. The father is pleased, to see his little girl walk, for
then, he can soon take her out with him in his walks. You know that it
is said we must all "creep before we walk," well, I will illustrate this
for you by a nice story. "Many centuries ago, there reigned over Thebes,
Laius and Iocasta. Laius was one day killed on the road as he was airing
himself in his chariot. Shortly after, a terrible plague broke out in
Thebes, and the Sphinx ravaged all the neighborhood. The Sphinx gave out
that the plague would cease and his ravages be ended, when this riddle
was solved:--'What animal walks on four feet in the morning, two at noon
day, and three in the evening.' None of the wise men could solve it, and
so their misfortune continued. At length, Iocasta the Queen, said that
whoever could solve the riddle, should be king and have her hand in
marriage. One Oedipsus hearing of the offer, and having been insulted in
Corinth, went to Thebes, and thus rendered the solution of the riddle.
'The animal,' he said, 'was man. In his infancy, the morning of life, he
walks on hands and feet: at manhood, the noon-day of life, he walks on
his feet alone: in old age, the evening of life, he walks with a stick.'
Oedipsus was married to Iocasta and reigned as King."
[Illustration: The Ill Natured Girl.]