Elinor was a great anxiety to her mother, for she was always either
tearing her clothes, or forgetting, or losing something--all because she
was so careless. One day at tea Elinor was taking the cup which her
mother had just filled, but as she was not looking at it, nor taking any
care, it tilted over and fell against a tall flower-vase that stood in
the centre of the table. The vase was broken, and the tablecloth deluged
with tea and water--all for want of a little care.
Another day Elinor's mother gave her a shilling, and sent her to the
shop for some fruit, but she lost the money, and returned empty-handed.
Coming home from school one day, she was poking her umbrella about in a
little stream of water that the rain had made along the side of the
road, when the tip of the stick caught in a grate and broke off, so the
umbrella was spoilt. I could tell you many more things about poor
careless Elinor, but these are enough to show how bad it is not to take
care. Sometimes people have taken poison instead of medicine by being
careless, and not noticing the label on the bottle; and sometimes a
train has been wrecked, and lives lost, because the engine-driver was
careless about noticing the signal.
(Blackboard.)
Do not be Careless; it brings Trouble.