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THE CROWN OF SUCCESS
[Illustration: The sparkling crown was placed on her brow. _Page 213._]
THE CROWN OF SUCCESS
by
A. L. O. E.
Thomas Nelson and Sons
London, Edinburgh, Dublin
and New York
_CONTENTS._
_I. The Dame's departure_, 7
_II. Mr. Learning at breakfast_, 12
_III. The Cottages of Head_, 16
_IV. Plain-work and Fancy-work_, 22
_V. Mr. Alphabet_, 29
_VI. Mr. Reading's fine shop_, 35
_VII. The Ladder of Spelling_, 41
_VIII. Breaking down_, 47
_IX. Mr. Learning's visit_, 55
_X. Dick's mishap_, 63
_XI. Miss Folly_, 69
_XII. A visit to Arithmetic_, 77
_XIII. The wonderful Boy_, 81
_XIV. The Thief of Time_, 90
_XV. Duty and Affection_, 95
_XVI. Grammar's Bazaar_, 102
_XVII. Pride and Folly_, 110
_XVIII. The Carpet of History_, 119
_XIX. Hammering in Dates_, 125
_XX. The pursued Bird_, 131
_XXI. Plans and Plots_, 136
_XXII. The Cockatoo, Parade_, 143
_XXIII. The Cage of Ambition_, 152
_XXIV. A visit to Mr. Chemistry_, 159
_XXV. A Lesson_, 167
_XXVI. Hearing the Truth_, 177
_XXVII. A Brave Effort_, 185
_XXVIII. Expectation_, 190
_XXIX. Empty and Furnished_, 196
_XXX. Fruits of Needlework_, 204
_XXXI. The Crown of Success_, 212
_LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS._
_The sparkling crown was placed on her brow_, _Frontispiece_
_Nelly could hardly see the stepping-stones through
the thick leaves of the plant which she bore_, 27
_Miss folly went jabbering on: "Just try that bonnet
on your head,"_ 73
_Dick, Lubin, Matty, and Nelly paying their first visit
to Grammar's Bazaar_, 103
THE CROWN OF SUCCESS.
CHAPTER I.
THE DAME'S DEPARTURE.
A merry life had Dame Desley and her four children led in their rural
home. The sound of their cheerful voices, the patter of their little
feet, the laugh, the shout, and the song, had been heard from morning
till night. I will not stop to tell of all the daisy-chains and
cowslip-balls made by the children under the big elm-tree that grew on
their mother's lawn; or how they gathered ripe blackberries in autumn;
or in the glowing days of summer played about the hay-cocks, and buried
one another in the hay. Their lives were thoughtless and gay, like those
of the sparrows in the garden, or the merry little squirrels in the
wood.
But a time came at last when these careless days must end. Dame Desley
had to take a long journey--she would be absent for many a month--and on
the evening before her departure she called her four children around
her.
"My dear children," she said, "I must leave you; I must give you up for
a while to the care of another. But I have chosen a guardian for you who
is worthy of all your respect. Mr. Learning is coming to see you
to-morrow, just an hour before I start; and I hope that he will find you
all good and obedient children during my absence. Whatever he may bid
you do, do for the love of me, and when you attend to Mr. Learning,
think that you are pleasing your mother."
When the four children were alone together, just before going to rest,
they began eagerly to talk over what Dame Desley had told them.
"I wonder whether I shall like this Mr. Learning," said Dick, a merry,
intelligent boy, with bright eyes that were always twinkling with fun.
None of his age could excel him in racing or running; he could climb a
tree like a squirrel, and clear a haycock with a bound. He loved the
free careless life which he had led in his mother's home, but still he
wished for one more full of adventure and excitement.
"I'm quite sure that I shall not like Mr. Learning," cried Matty; "for
I have seen him two or three times, and I did not fancy his looks at
all. He is as solemn and as grave as an owl; he wears spectacles, and
has a very long nose, and his back is as stiff as a poker." Matty was a
pretty little girl, with blue eyes, and golden curls hanging down her
neck, but she had a conceited air, which spoiled her looks to my mind.
"I wish that we could stay where we are, and go on as we always have
done, without being plagued by Mr. Learning at all," cried Lubin, with a
weary yawn. Such a fat little fellow as he was, just the shape of a
roly-poly pudding, with cheeks as red as the apples that grew on the
trees in the orchard.
"But mother spoke kindly of him," said Nelly, a pale lame child who sat
in the corner of the room, stringing buttercups and daisies; "if she
likes him, should not we try to like him, and not set our hearts against
what mother thinks for our good."
"Perhaps Mr. Learning's company may be pleasant for a change!" cried
Dick. "I hear that he gives lots of presents to his friends, and makes
them both rich and great. It would be a stupid thing, after all, to
spend all one's life in gathering wild-flowers, or kicking up one's
heels in the hay. I mean to be famous one day, and they say there's no
way of being so without the help of old Learning. There's Mr. Sharp
that lives at the hall; his beautiful house and grounds, his carriages,
horses and dogs, all came from Mr. Learning. I've heard of people who,
when they were boys, were so poor that they hardly had bread to eat,
whom Mr. Learning took under his care, and now they've lots of good
things of every sort and kind. Sometimes they're asked to dine with the
Lord Mayor of London, where they feast upon turtle and champagne--"
Fat little Lubin opened wide both his eyes and mouth on hearing of this.
"And sometimes," continued Dick, "they are actually invited to court,
being high in the favour of the Queen."
"I should like to go to court," said Matty, "and wear fine feathers and
lace. But I wonder if Mr. Learning will think of doing such grand things
for us."
"We will see!" cried the merry Dick; "I'm resolved to get on in the
world!" and he turned head over heels at once, as a beginning to his
onward progress.
"My children, it is time to go to rest," said the voice of Dame Desley
at the door. "Remember to be up in good time in the morning, for my
worthy friend Mr. Learning is to breakfast with me to-morrow."
Off went the children to bed. Dick lay awake for some time, thinking
over what was before him, and when his merry eyes closed at last in
sleep, the subject haunted him still. He dreamed that he was climbing up
a little hillock, made of nothing but books of all the colours of the
rainbow--purple, and orange, and blue--and each book that he looked at
had his name as its author in big gilt letters on the back. On the top
of the hillock stood Mr. Learning, holding a finely-bound volume in one
hand, while he held out the other to Dick to help him on in his
climbing. Very proud and very joyful was the little boy in his dream as
he clambered higher and higher, and thought what a famous figure he was
going to make in the world! But what was his delight when Mr. Learning
placed the well-bound book in his hand, and on opening it he found that
all its leaves were made of five-pound notes!
"Why, I shall be as rich as Croesus, and as famous as all the seven
wise men of Greece put together!" cried Dick, cutting a caper at the top
of his hillock in such a transport of joy, that he knocked over the
whole pile of books, just as if it had been a house made of cards, and
came down flat on his face with such a bang, that it startled him out of
his dream.