Mary lived with her mother in a little house. She often sat by the door
on a long seat, and then would run about the field on the other side of
the road. There was a narrow path in the field, and people used to walk
along it when they came that way from the town. Down at the corner of
the field, near the stile, there were some tall trees, and under the
trees there was a pond. The water in the pond was not very deep, but it
was deep enough to drown a little girl like Mary, so her mother told her
she must never play near the pond, for fear she should slip in.
[Illustration]
While Mary was at play, her mother was at work in the house. For her
mother was poor, and had to work to find them food, and things to wear
to keep them warm. So she could not spare time to look after her little
girl when she was at play.
Mary's mother came home from market one day, and in her basket she had a
little tin can, with a handle, and she gave it to Mary for her own. So
she always drank her milk and her tea out of this can. Now Mary had seen
her mother go down to the pond to fetch a pail of water, and it came
into her head that she would fetch the water in her own little can, to
fill the kettle for tea. So when her mother was busy at work, she got on
a chair, and took her can off the shelf, and away she ran down to the
pond, not saying a word.
Mary went close to the pond with her little can in her hand, to stoop
down and dip it into the water. But the can fell into the water. The
grass at the edge of the pond was muddy and wet, and so, just as she was
going to stoop down, Mary's foot went slip--slip, and she fell into the
water. Poor Mary! she gave one loud scream, and that was all that she
could do.
[Illustration]
Now not far from the spot where Mary fell into the pond, a kind girl
named Jane, who lived close by, was reading a book as she sat under a
tree. She heard a splash in the water, and saw Mary fall into the pond.
She soon threw down her book on the grass, and ran to help the poor
little girl out of the water. She took hold of Mary's frock, and pulled
her out of the pond. Then she took her up in her arms, and ran with her
along the narrow path to the house, for she well knew that the house by
the side of the field was little Mary's home.
Mary's mother met them at the door, and when she saw her little girl,
she began to cry. But kind Jane said, "Do not cry. Your little girl is
not hurt." So they took off Mary's wet frock, and put on her a nice dry
nightgown, and laid her in bed. And her mother made her some warm tea,
and then she went to sleep. When she woke up again, she was quite well.
Jane went back to the field to pick up her book, but Mary's little can
was nowhere to be seen. It was never heard of again; and Mary had to
drink her milk and her tea out of a tea cup, for the little tin can was
quite gone. I do not think she went near the pond again. It was a lesson
to her ever after, to mind and do as her mother told her.