`All day, sweet Jamie Doon
`His little back is crooked,
```Yet he sings a merry tune.=
``For light of heart is Jamie,
```Poor cripple though he be;
``He is cheerful as the sunshine,
```Or the birdies on the tree.=
``What makes you so contented,
```My little Jamie boy?"
``Asks a thoughtful lady, kindly,
```When she carries him a toy.=
``I have so many blessings,"
```Said gentle Jamie Doon,
``I watch the flowers, and birdies
```Oft sing for me a tune.=
``Then the children come to see me,
```And every one is kind;
``It might be worse you see, Miss,
``If I were deaf and blind."=
``Ah, gentle little Jamie!
```Count blessings day by day;
``It might be worse, indeed, lad,
```So smile and sing away.=
[Illustration: 0052]
Jamie had once been a very active boy and a good scholar, but his back
was injured by a blow given him by a thoughtless playmate, and ever
since he has been a great sufferer. It is a dreadful thing to injure
any one for life, and boys cannot be too careful when playing with each
other. I am sorry to say that the little boy who hurt Jamie does not
seem to care for the terrible ruin he has wrought; perhaps he has not
been taught at home to think kindly and tenderly of others.