THE ROBINS.
O, they are sweet, pretty things!
Flying round with rapid wings.
FLOWERS FOR CHILDREN.
ONE sweet September morning, Alfred’s papa rose early. Silvery mists
rested upon the mountains; but when the sun arose they parted, and
curled upwards. The industrious little spider, who works when we sleep,
had hung fine silk threads over the dewy blades of grass. The sky was
bright, and the air very still.
Mr. Penrose was going to take a ride into the country; and Alfred was to
go with his papa. As they stood by a window, waiting for the carriage,
they heard a strange whirring sound. They looked up into a wild
cherry-tree, that stood at a short distance from the window, and saw so
many robins that they could not count them. The little thieves were
stealing all the cherries. O, how fast they picked and ate! The robins
did not belong there. Other birds built their nests in that tree; but
the robins always built in the mossy and crooked apple-trees, on the
other side of the fence.
At first Alfred was pleased to see the robins enjoy the cherries; but
afterward he thought they ate so many that none would be left for the
little birds who made their home in the shrubbery, and sung for them all
day long.
I think Alfred never had a pleasanter ride than on that day with his
papa. The road was hilly; and a great part of it lay through rich, dark
woods. The smell of the woods was delightful; and beautiful mosses were
spread along the track of their carriage. Now and then, little brooks
ran swiftly along, with a gurgling sound; and gray squirrels leaped
among the branches of the trees.
Mr. Penrose, who always tried to say something that would do his
children good, when he was with them, said to Alfred,
“My son, you may say your text to me this morning, as you did not say it
at the breakfast-table.”
So Alfred repeated the text to his father, which he had learned the
night before. It was this:—
“Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of
cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily, I say unto you, he
shall in no wise lose his reward.” Matthew x, 42.
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