Kitty Green was a little girl who lived with her uncle and aunt, in the
country. Her uncle worked in the fields at harvest time; and Kitty liked
to go out into the fields where he was making hay and tumble about in
it. Sometimes her uncle would toss her up on the top of the wagon, when
it was loaded with the sweet, fresh hay, and allow her to have a ride;
and he called her his little harvester.
One afternoon, during the time of wheat harvest, her aunt was very busy,
and she asked Kitty, if she could carry out to her uncle, in the field,
some biscuits and homemade beer. Kitty said she would like to go; and
her aunt put the biscuits and beer into a little basket, and covered
them over with a napkin, and gave the basket to Kitty to carry out to
her uncle. Then she called the dog Cairo to go with Kitty, and she said
to him,
“Now, Cairo, take right good care of your little mistress.”
Cairo came, and wagged his tail, and looked up at Kitty, as much as to
say, Yes, I will take good care of her.
Cairo was very fond of Kitty, and he followed her all about, and when
she went to school, he would often carry her dinner basket all the way
to school. They set off together, Kitty with the basket on her arm, and
Cairo by her side.
Kitty was a great talker, and she chatted to Cairo all the way as they
went. “Cairo,” said Kitty, “you must be a very good dog, and help me to
carry the basket, for I can tell you it is pretty heavy; and you need
not put your nose into it either, and you must not wipe your mouth on
the napkin, for my uncle will not thank you for that.”
Cairo seemed delighted to have his little mistress talk to him, and he
looked up at her, just as if he knew what she was saying. Before Kitty
and Cairo got to the harvest-field, she was very tired; and she put the
basket on the ground while she rested, and then she took a romp with
Cairo. Then she put one side of the handle into Cairo’s mouth, and took
hold of the other side herself, and she said, “Now, Cairo, do help me,
and I will give you a part of my supper to-night. Do, that is a good,
dear Cairo.”
Cairo helped Kitty to carry the basket, and they brought it safely along
to her uncle, who was very glad of the biscuits and beer. Kitty’s uncle
kissed her, and he stroked Cairo, and he said,
“Kind little Kitty, and kind little Cairo, to think of uncle when he was
tired and hungry.”
When he had done eating, he put the empty bottle and the napkin into the
basket, and gave it to Kitty, and told her to walk home as fast as she
could, for a shower was coming up.
Off went Kitty and Cairo, and they trotted along together with the
basket, which was quite light now. Kitty was a heedless little girl, and
she soon forgot what her uncle had told her about the rain coming, and
she loitered along, and stopped to play with Cairo. Presently Kitty was
startled by a loud clap of thunder. Then she saw the bright lightning,
and that was followed by a clap of thunder louder than the first. Kitty
was very much afraid, and she trembled all over. No one had ever told
her that her heavenly Father caused the lightning to cut through the
clouds, and that the thunder was made by the clouds rushing together
again after the lightning had passed through them. Then she felt the
large drops of rain on her neck, and she began to cry; for she did not
think about God sending the rain, to make the grass grow and to give
drink to the thirsty flowers. The rain fell very fast, and Kitty cried
out, “Oh, Cairo, what shall we do?”
Cairo seemed to know that Kitty was in distress, and he took hold of her
dress with his mouth, as if he would pull her along to a pile of
wheat-sheaves, which were bound up in bundles. Kitty crept under them
and sat down.
The faithful dog stayed close by her and tried to comfort her. He put
his paws upon her shoulder and his head close up to her face, as if he
would wipe off her tears. Cairo looked as if he would like to say, My
dear little mistress, how I do pity you, what can I do for you?
[Illustration:
~Third Day.~
Little Kitty Green and her dog Cairo. p. 54.
]
Kitty sat there under the wheat-sheaves a long time, crying, and Cairo
never left her for a moment. He looked up into her face, and rubbed his
nose over her hands and arms, and there he stayed and guarded her as
faithfully as any little sentinel could, until the rain was over.
When the rain was over, he took the basket in his mouth, and trotted
home close by the side of Kitty.
* * * * *
The children were all so much delighted with the story of Kitty’s
affectionate little dog, that they begged Mary to read it twice. Mary
gratified them whenever she could, and she read it again to please them.
When the occupations of the afternoon were finished, Mary said, “It is
time to put up the things:” but no one seemed ready for school to close.
Mary liked to have her scholars think school was a pleasant place, but
she did not allow them to overstay the usual time.
“You know,” said she, “we are to have the Bible-reading yet.”
The work was all gathered together by Harry Linn and Lily Forester; the
books and slates were put into their places, the desks were neatly
arranged, and then, teacher and scholars repaired to the oak tree in the
wood, to have the Bible-reading.
Mary asked them if they remembered what she had read to them yesterday?
Carry Deacon said, “Yes, I remember. You read about Adam and Eve, and
about our heavenly Father sending them away out of the beautiful garden
of Eden where they lived, and that he sent them away because they were
disobedient.”
“And, Mary,” said Eddy Forester, “you told us you would read to us next
time about the way to get back again to God, and the beautiful garden
which you called Paradise.”
Mary read to her little scholars, the first, second and twelfth verses,
in the second chapter in the first epistle of John; the eighth and
twenty-third verses in the third chapter; and the seventh, eighth,
ninth, tenth and eleventh verses in the fourth chapter.
She then told them, that Jesus Christ our Saviour, was sent into the
world, not only to show us the way to God and Paradise, (which is
heaven,) but to fit us to go to that holy and happy place.
She explained to them, that when Adam and Eve had sinned, and our
heavenly Father sent them out of the beautiful garden of Eden, he knew
they could not be happy without him; and he pitied them, and loved them
so much, that he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, from heaven down to
earth, to be their Saviour, and our Saviour, and the Saviour of the
whole world.
Our heavenly Father knows all things, and he knows how wicked the heart
is, and that the wicked one who had tempted Adam and Eve to sin, would
follow the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve wherever they went, and
that he would tempt them to sin too, and to forget Him. And because he
loved them, and us, and everybody, He sent his only begotten and dearly
beloved son to be our Saviour, to die for us and to teach us how to
avoid sin, and how to come to him and love him, and to love one another.
Eddy Forester said, “Mary, does the wicked tempter follow you and me and
everybody?”
“Yes,” said Mary, “and he is always trying to make us sin. He knows,
that if he can prevail upon us to commit sin, we shall be separated from
God. He hates God, and every thing that is good, because, where God is,
he cannot come. The greatest evil that can happen to any of us, is to be
separated from God, by sin.”
“If we stay close to God, the wicked one cannot hurt us, can he, Mary?”
said Eddy.
“No! and if we ask Him, he will put his good Spirit in our hearts, and
then there will be no room for the wicked one. This good Spirit of God,
will guide us to the knowledge of our Saviour, and then we shall like to
read about him in the Bible. You are too young to understand all that
the dear Saviour has done, and suffered for us, to take away our sin and
to make us the children of God; but I want you to think about Him very
often; and by and by, I hope you will know more than you do now.”
“Then will we be our Saviour’s little lambs, Mary,” said Eddy, “the
little lambs that you once read to us about, that he carried in his
arms?”
“Yes,” said Mary; “it is a long journey back to God and to Paradise, and
sometimes there are very rough places to get over; and our Saviour loves
his little lambs so dearly, that he carries them in his arms over all
the rough places, and if we keep close to him, he can bring us safely
into the Paradise of God.”
Mary’s little scholars seemed full of love, and they did not want to go
home, they felt so safe and happy at school; but Mary told them their
fathers and mothers would be waiting for them, and now they must bid one
another good-bye. Carry Deacon said they must have two kisses apiece
from Mary; so she kissed them all twice, and then they went home.
It is good to begin the day with thoughts of God, if we would have his
blessing upon its close.
[Illustration: THE END.]
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=TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE:=
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Perceived typos have been silently corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.