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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4571-h.zip b/4571-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e6c189c --- /dev/null +++ b/4571-h.zip diff --git a/4571-h/4571-h.htm b/4571-h/4571-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c815dd2 --- /dev/null +++ b/4571-h/4571-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2263 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Master Sunshine, by Mrs. C. F. Fraser +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Master Sunshine, by Mrs. C. F. Fraser + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Master Sunshine + +Author: Mrs. C. F. Fraser + +Posting Date: August 8, 2009 [EBook #4571] +Release Date: October, 2003 +First Posted: February 11, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MASTER SUNSHINE *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +MASTER SUNSHINE +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +MRS. C. F. FRASER +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS. +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">WHO HE WAS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">THE WANDERER AND HIS WIFE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">THE RAINY DAY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">A SUNDAY WITH FATHER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">BEING A HERO</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">KIND DEEDS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">A HAPPY ENDING</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHO HE WAS. +</H3> + +<P> +Of course his real name was not Master Sunshine. +</P> + +<P> +Who ever heard of a boy with a name like that? +</P> + +<P> +But his mother said that long before he could speak he chose the +name for himself, for even as a baby he was full of a cheery good +humor that was always sparkling out in his winning smiles and his +rippling laugh. He was a good-natured, happy child from the time +that he could toddle about; and he was very young when he began to +give pleasure to his friends by serving them in all the little +ways within his power. +</P> + +<P> +The very golden curls that topped his small head glistened as if +they had caught and imprisoned the glory of the morning sun; and +it really did seem as if a better name could not be found for the +merry, helpful little fellow than Master Sunshine. +</P> + +<P> +His real name was a very different affair—Frederick Alexander +Norton—and his boy friends called him Freddy for short. His +little sister Lucy called him "buzzer" and Suns'ine; and Almira +Jane, the help, who made the brownest and crispest of molasses +cookies, and the most delicious twisted doughnuts, said he was a +"swate angel of light," except at such times as she called him a +"rascalpion." +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine never stopped to argue with Almira Jane when she +called him a "rascalpion." He knew that this was a plain sign that +she was getting "nervous;" and when Almira Jane was nervous, it +was always best for small boys to be out of the way. +</P> + +<P> +A little later, when the kitchen floor had been scrubbed, and the +stove polished like a shiny black mirror, and the bread-dough had +been kneaded and set to rise, he knew he would be a welcome +visitor again. +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps that was one of the many reasons why people loved him so. +He was always considerate. He had the good sense not to keep on +asking questions and offering help when it was best to go quietly +away. Somehow he always felt sure that his turn would come +presently, and that Almira Jane would be sorry she had called him +such a hard name, and would be only too pleased to have him look +over the beans for the bean-pot, and fill the wood-box, and do all +the other little kitchen chores that he delighted in. +</P> + +<P> +There were sure to be pleasant times after one of Almira Jane's +nervous attacks. When she was quite over her flurry and worry, +Daisy, the Maltese cat, would crawl out of her hiding-place under +the stove, and arch her tail, and purr contentedly as she rubbed +her long, graceful body against the table-legs; while Gyp, the pet +dog, would hurry in from the dog-house under the shade of the +orchard-trees, and jump on Almira Jane's shoulder, and she would +be as pleased as possible over his knowing ways. At such times +Master Sunshine was very fond of Almira Jane. +</P> + +<P> +He loved Lucy with a steady affection, too, though she pulled his +curls sometimes until he fairly expected to lose the whole of his +golden locks. She needed a great deal of patient amusement, too, +and she was not very considerate of his belongings. +</P> + +<P> +One day he was very angry, and his hand was lifted in anger +against her. +</P> + +<P> +The trouble was that she had torn in two his favorite picture of +elephants in his animal book. The little girl was quite unaware of +the mischief her chubby fingers had wrought, but she knew very +well by the look of Master Sunshine's overcast face that in some +way she had displeased him. +</P> + +<P> +So, pursing up her lips in a smile not unlike his own sunshiny +one, she lisped, in funny imitation of her mother,— +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind, Suns'ine, little sister's sorry;" and, strange to +say, at her words the angry passion left him, and tears of shame +stood in his blue eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," he said afterwards, in telling the story to his +mother, "I know that Lucy didn't know the sense of what she was +saying, but she did seem to know how to get at the "sensibliness" +of me. Just imagine, mother, how bad we would all have felt if I +had struck my own dear sister that God sent us to take care of!" +</P> + +<P> +And that was so like Master Sunshine. He never willingly gave pain +to any living creature; and although he was sometimes careless and +forgetful, just like other boys, yet he was never known to be +wilfully unkind. +</P> + +<P> +He loved his mother very dearly too, and perhaps it was from her +gentle ways that he had learned to be so thoughtful for others. He +told her all his joys, and all his secrets save one; and he dearly +loved the bedtime hour, when she read to him the stories that he +most admired,—stories of brave deeds were the kind he was always +asking for. But neither of them ever dreamed that the quiet +bedtime hours were teaching him to be a hero. +</P> + +<P> +It did not seem possible that an eight-year-old boy could be a +hero such as one reads of in books. +</P> + +<P> +Of course, he was going to do great things when he was a man. He +meant to make a great fortune, of which half was to be his mother's; +and if she chose to spend it on churches and missionaries and +schools, so much the better. +</P> + +<P> +He was sure she would rather do this than buy herself handsome +dresses and diamond rings and ruby necklaces; and he was quite +certain that, when she wore her gray gown and her gray bonnet, +with the purple violets tucked under the brim, that she was the +most beautiful lady in the world. +</P> + +<P> +His own share of the fortune he planned to spend in many ways. He +promised himself, among other things, that he would put up a +fountain in the village, where tired people and thirsty horses and +cows and dogs and birds would come for a drink. "I'd have a text +on it too," he would say, with his eyes shining with excitement. +"It should be, 'I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink.' And of +course 'I' would mean the Lord; for the Bible tells us how kind he +was to all helpless things, and I think he would be pleased to +have all the animals tended to as well as the thirsty people. I +wish I could be a man now, and they would not have to go thirsty +any longer." +</P> + +<P> +He often told Almira Jane about the fountain too; and she always +said that it was a capital idea. +</P> + +<P> +But it was to his father only that he told his secret. +</P> + +<P> +It was a queer secret, and a very real trouble, too, I can tell +you. +</P> + +<P> +Part of it was that Master Sunshine was just the least bit bow-legged. +</P> + +<P> +Of course there could not be much of a secret about that. Lots of +people knew it quite well. In fact, if you looked carefully at the +well-shaped limbs in the trim blue stockings and neat knicker-bockers, +you could easily see that the legs curved slightly outwards. +</P> + +<P> +But the real secret—the real heart and soul of the matter—was +that being bow-legged was a great, great grief to Master Sunshine. +No one but his father ever knew this—not even his mother, or +Almira Jane, or Lucy. It was too sore a subject to speak of +freely. +</P> + +<P> +It was on the day when he first put on trousers that his troubles +began. It seemed to him that people began then to make such odd +remarks about him; and the strangest thing of all was that they +would seem to quite forget that he heard every word they said, and +that they never seemed to understand how they were hurting his +feelings. +</P> + +<P> +For a time he solved the difficulty in a clever way. He begged his +mother to make him some loose sailor suits with long bagging legs. +</P> + +<P> +They served their purpose well, and so long as they lasted no one +ever spoke of the tender subject that he wished to avoid. But +still he never felt comfortable about them in his mind. +</P> + +<P> +It seemed such a cowardly thing to hide his legs like that, and he +did so want to be manly in all his ways. +</P> + +<P> +So, after a long talk one day with his father, as they sauntered +hand in hand down a shady country road, with Gyp sporting and +playing alongside, he decided to face the trouble bravely, and +wear knickerbockers like other boys of his age. And, instead of +sulking or fretting about what he could not help, he set himself +to making allowances for other people. +</P> + +<P> +"Father says that every one has his trials," he would say to +himself sagely; "and I dare say that most folks have worse trials +than mine. So when Almira Jane is 'nervous,' and Lucy is fretful, +or mother has her bad headaches, I must just remember to be +'specially good to them. Maybe, after all, bow-leggedness isn't +the worst thing to put up with." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WANDERER AND HIS WIFE. +</H3> + +<P> +Master Sunshine was such a busy boy. Sometimes it seemed to him +that the reason he did not get into as much mischief as other boys +of his age was because he really had no time in which to be idle. +</P> + +<P> +There was school each day, to begin with, and lessons to be +prepared, and story-books to read, and the flower-garden to be +cared for, and Gyp to teach new tricks to, and the pets to be +tended and looked after,—in fact, there were more things than I +can tell you of always waiting to be done. +</P> + +<P> +It was nearly one boy's work, for instance, to take care of the +Guinea fowls,—the handsome, mottled hens, that never knew when +they were well off, but were always running away and getting lost. +If it had not been for their shrill, silly cackle, their hiding-places +would never have been found. Master Sunshine pursued them every +time they strayed, and brought them home triumphantly. I think +he loved his sturdy family of Cochin Chinas best; for the great +rooster, with his well-feathered legs and scarlet comb, always +seemed to recognize him as a friend, and the plump hens laid the +most delicious eggs, the exact hue of their own buff plumage. It +was never any trouble to feed and water them, or to let them out +of the hen-yard for a short run. +</P> + +<P> +Every one knew that the Wanderer and his Wife were Master +Sunshine's property. The Wanderer was a great white gander, with a +long neck and a still longer tongue, if one could measure it by +the clatter it made in the world. His Wife was a patient gray +goose, who waddled after him unceasingly, and was always ready to +add her shrill voice to his. +</P> + +<P> +It troubled their young owner not a little that the Wanderer had +to wear a great yoke of light wood about his neck; but after the +bird had twice run away and trampled the gardens of their +neighbors, he could see that it was necessary. +</P> + +<P> +Almira Jane put the matter very clearly before him. "I don't think +he does like his collar much, and it ain't really ornamental," +said she; "but it is kinder to the neighbors to have him wear a +yoke so that he cannot squeeze between the pickets in the fences +to destroy the gardens." +</P> + +<P> +"But the goose may do the same mischief," interrupted Master +Sunshine anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +Almira Jane shook her head wisely. +</P> + +<P> +"The poor silly thing will never think of it by herself," she +answered. "All she does is to follow her mate; and if we keep him +out of trouble, she will be all right, I promise you." +</P> + +<P> +It always made Almira Jane laugh when she thought of the day when +Master Sunshine brought the Wanderers home. Master Sunshine had +gone to old Mrs. Sorefoot, who lived down the road, to get a +setting of Leghorn eggs. The old lady, whose life was being made +miserable by the clamor of the pair of geese which a grandchild +had brought her the week before as a particularly choice gift, +told Master Sunshine that, if he would but take them away, they +should be his property. +</P> + +<P> +The little fellow was more delighted than I can tell you. He had +always wanted to own geese, and this was such a good chance. And +he made up his mind on the instant that as soon as he got them +home, he would remove the queer-looking collar from the gander's +neck. +</P> + +<P> +Then he set out for home, oh, so proudly! +</P> + +<P> +On one arm he carried carefully the basket of eggs; under the +other was the gray goose, with her legs securely tied. Behind him, +led, or rather dragged, by a stout cord passed through the opening +in the yoke, came the white gander, who was quite able by +spreading his powerful wings to contest every step of the way. +Poor Master Sunshine! What a time he did have, and how very hot +and excited he was before he reached home! +</P> + +<P> +Almira Jane saw him coming, and flew to meet him. Never in her +life had she seen such a strange sight. The little fellow set the +basket of eggs gently on the ground, laid the struggling goose on +her side, and made the Wanderer fast to a fence-post, before he +could answer her many questions. +</P> + +<P> +Then he mopped his forehead with his small handkerchief, and drew +a deep sigh of relief. +</P> + +<P> +"O Almira Jane! it has been the worst time," he said. "If you'll +just look at my stockings, I am afraid you will see that there is +lots of darning to be done." +</P> + +<P> +Almira Jane surveyed the calves of his plump legs wonderingly. +Sure enough, there were dozens of little round holes through which +the pink skin was showing. There were even little stains of blood +on the ravelled yarn. +</P> + +<P> +"The old gander has nipped my legs with his sharp bill, and butted +me with his yoke, and pulled on the string so I could scarcely +keep my feet. The gray goose has flapped me with her wings +whenever she got the chance; and in getting them safely here, I +nearly fell a dozen times, and broke the whole setting of eggs," +he said excitedly. +</P> + +<P> +Almira Jane looked admiringly at him. "You ain't got much +strength, but you got considerable grit," she said proudly. +</P> + +<P> +"But they didn't know how inconvenient it was for me," added the +boy more calmly. "When they see how kind we are to them, I think +they will be sorry about the way they treated me." +</P> + +<P> +Almira Jane looked at the gander critically, and cut the string +that bound the gray goose's legs, before she made any reply. +</P> + +<P> +"They need their wings clipped," she said. "That is the kindest +thing we can do for them." +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine looked both surprised and grieved. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, Sunshine," she continued, "geese are wild birds still, +though generations and generations of our grandfathers tried to +tame them, yet they are not wild enough to look after themselves. +When they stray away from their homes they have not wit enough +either to find food which is suitable to them, or to hide +themselves from dogs or wild animals who delight to worry them; so +the best thing we can do is to fit them for the life we want them +to lead." +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine nodded thoughtfully. He had great faith in Almira +Jane's knowledge, and the good sense of her arguments always +satisfied his judgment. +</P> + +<P> +It was not until he had gone in the house, and was well out of +hearing, that Almira Jane began to laugh; and such a clear, +ringing, downright, hearty laugh it was, the old Wanderer bumped +his yoke against the fence to show his approval, and the gray +goose joined in with high, shrill screams of delight. It really +seemed as if they were trying to tell Almira Jane what they +thought of their journey along the road with their new master. +</P> + +<P> +There were not many houses near the pretty white cottage in which +Master Sunshine lived. The Hill-top school, of which he was a +pupil, was quite a half-mile away; and Tommy Dane, who lived just +across the street from his home, used to walk there with him every +day. Master Sunshine was very fond of Tommy, though his little +friend had some ways that he did not wholly like. +</P> + +<P> +The only other boy near-by was Billy Butler, a poor, half-witted +idiot, who lived with his family in a tiny cottage under the side +of a hill. Master Sunshine was very pitiful of Billy's sad lot, +and many an apple and slice of bread did he share with him. +</P> + +<P> +Not far away was the beautiful summer house of Mr. Patterson, a +city banker. The lawns and flower-beds there were always beautiful +to see; and the great house with its many bay windows and broad +verandas always seemed like a palace to Master Sunshine. But best +of all he loved the great stable where a prancing silver horse was +always riding on the weather vane. +</P> + +<P> +It was at the stable that he saw his friend Jacob, who was quite +as wonderful in his knowledge of animals as Almira Jane. +</P> + +<P> +It took a great deal of Master Sunshine's time just to repeat +Jacob's stories to Almira Jane; and he noticed that whenever he +began to tell Jacob about what Almira Jane said—Almira Jane was +brought up on a Nova Scotia farm and knew everything about +animals—his listener would stamp on the barn floor to show his +approval, and would listen to every word. +</P> + +<P> +The great stable was a very pleasant place these spring days. The +horses were all so well groomed, their stalls were all so +perfectly clean, and, in the barn beyond, the cows looked round +from their place with such friendly eyes, Master Sunshine used to +wish that every one in the village would come to admire the place +and to talk with Jacob. He was sure that everyone who talked to +Jacob would be kind to animals ever after. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RAINY DAY. +</H3> + +<P> +The sky was all leaden and overcast when Master Sunshine woke up +one morning. The fast-falling rain-drops were so big and so close +together that it almost seemed as if some great sky-ocean was +pouring down upon the earth. It was too wet for him to go to +school, and he had to make up his mind to enjoy a quiet day in-doors. +</P> + +<P> +Almira Jane put on her waterproof and rubbers, and attended to the +hens and the geese; and in order to pay her back for doing his +work, Master Sunshine polished the silver spoons and forks with +whitening, and rubbed them with a chamois-skin until they fairly +gleamed. Then after he had tidied up the wood-shed, and cut paper +in a fancy pattern for the dresser shelves, he decided that he was +a bit tired of doing things, and he curled up in the big crimson +arm-chair by the dining-room window with a new story-book. +</P> + +<P> +Presently Lucy's voice arose in a fretful wail. +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine, I am sorry to say, shut his ears to her pitiful +cry. He was so comfortable and cosey and the story-book was so +interesting. +</P> + +<P> +The wail became louder and louder. It was evident that Lucy was on +her way down-stairs. In a moment she was in the room by his side, +and by this time her wail had grown to a terrified scream. +</P> + +<P> +"O Suns'ine! take zem kitty off!" she begged. +</P> + +<P> +Truly enough his little sister was in great trouble. But a minute +before Spry, the kitten, had strayed away from the mother-cat, and +Lucy and she had got into mischief already. +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine made haste to lift the kitten from Lucy's +shoulder, where it had taken refuge; and he was very sorry to see +that the sharp claws of the little paws had made their marks on +her plump neck. +</P> + +<P> +"Kiss it p'ease, and make it well," begged Lucy tearfully as she +climbed on his knee; while the kitten, after looking nervously +around, sought refuge in Master Sunshine's coat-pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"Lucy was dwessin' kitty in dollie's clothes, and it went 'spitz!' +and runned up her shoulder," wept Lucy. +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine kissed the smarting neck, and cuddled the pet in +his arms. +</P> + +<P> +"Buzzer will slap kitty for biting sister wiz its finder nails," +she begged. +</P> + +<P> +"Brother will show sister how to be kind to kitty," he answered, +as he drew the trembling ball of fur from its hiding-place, and +stroked it with a tender hand. "Spry is not a dolly, and does not +like to wear dollie's clothes. Lucy will rub her under her chin +just above the white star on her breast, and she will sing a +pretty cat-song to show how happy she is, and brother will show +Lucy how to lift kitty by the loose skin about her neck. Lucy must +play she is mother-cat whenever she plays with Spry." +</P> + +<P> +And at the prospect of such a new and delightful game Lucy dried +her eyes, and called him her "dee, dee Suns'ine." +</P> + +<P> +And then, what do you suppose? Why, she just laid her tear-stained +face up against his shoulder, and opened her rosy mouth in a great +yawn, and dropped quietly off to sleep. +</P> + +<P> +But Master Sunshine's thoughts were not quite so care-free as +Lucy's. "Next time I must be a better brother," he said to +himself; and when his mother came to carry the baby to her crib, +he would not let her give him a word of praise. "I am too ashamed +to tell you why, mother," he said; "but after this I mean to take +better care of my little sister." +</P> + +<P> +The rain kept falling steadily, and after dinner, when mamma had +gone to lie down, and Almira Jane was washing up the dishes, +Master Sunshine was drumming on the window-pane, and wondering +what he should do the whole long afternoon. Just then Tommy Dane +came running up towards the house, and behind him scampered a dog, +very like Gyp, who, when he heard the familiar bark, put his paws +on the window-sill, and wagged his tail with delight; while Daisy, +meowing to Spry to follow her, fled hastily up the kitchen +stairway. +</P> + +<P> +"Mother said I might bring Tim over and have you teach him tricks +this afternoon," announced Tommy, shaking the rain off his coat. +</P> + +<P> +"Tim is not a smart dog, like your Gyp. He does not seem to be +able to think. I almost wish I had taken Gyp when I had the +chance." +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine and Tommy had got their dogs from the same litter +of puppies, and Tommy had had the first choice. +</P> + +<P> +"Tim is such a cross, snappy dog," continued Tommy. "He makes me +angry every time I try to teach him anything." +</P> + +<P> +"May be it is because you are angry that he is cross and snappy," +said Almira Jane, half under her breath. +</P> + +<P> +Of course Master Sunshine was very proud to exhibit Gyp. He loved +to have his pet look up at him with trusting brown eyes; and when +Gyp sprang on his knee, and put his paws affectionately about his +master's neck, it always seemed as if he were not quite a dog, but +something very like a dear human friend. Gyp had such winning ways +too. He would stand on his hind legs and beg, or he would seat +himself on a chair, and hold out a paw to shake hands with, in the +most knowing manner; and all of these accomplishments he owed to +his little master's patient teaching. +</P> + +<P> +Almira Jane was through washing the dishes now; and as she took +the broom in hand to begin sweeping out the kitchen, Tim gave a +frightened growl, and fled to the dining-room. +</P> + +<P> +Almira Jane grew very red in the face as she said, "That dog can +think well enough, and tell his thoughts too. It is plain to me +that some one has used a broom to ill-treat the poor, helpless +creature with." +</P> + +<P> +Almira Jane looked very hard at Tommy as she spoke; but Tommy +threw back his head as if he did not much care what she said, and +followed his dog into the dining-room. "Let's keep away from that +girl," he said coaxingly; "it seems to me she is very interfering." +</P> + +<P> +"She taught me how to teach Gyp," said Master Sunshine politely; +"and she is very wise about animals. You'll be fond of her, too, +when you understand her ways. She only gets 'nervous,' like she +was now, when she is very busy and hurried, or when she thinks +people have been unkind. I'm sure she did not mean that you had +beaten your Tim with a broom." +</P> + +<P> +Tommy hung his head. +</P> + +<P> +"But I did," he said, almost in a whisper; "he would not shake +hands, as I wanted him to, so I took up the broom and gave him a +blow with it. I thought no one saw me do it, and I never imagined +Tim would tell." +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine was very much shocked. He had not believed that +his friend would be guilty of such a deed. "Tommy," he said +gravely, "if you are unkind to Tim he will never look at you as if +he loved you, and that is the nicest thing about having a dog." +</P> + +<P> +"I got him a pound of raw meat from the butcher's to make up for +it," said Tommy, half sulkily. +</P> + +<P> +"But that wasn't kind, either, though you meant it to be so," +cried Master Sunshine; "Tim is too young a dog to have so much +meat at one time. He needs to have his meals regularly, just like +you and me. Too much fresh meat will make him very cross. Perhaps +that is part of the reason why he snaps at you." +</P> + +<P> +Tommy was much interested. "I wonder why I never knew that +before?" he cried. "After this I will see about his meals myself. +I always thought that if you gave a dog a bone now and then he +would get along all right." +</P> + +<P> +By this time Master Sunshine was busy with Tim, propping him on +his hind legs, and rewarding him each time he held himself erect +for a second with a kind word or a pat on the head; and when at +last Tim balanced himself for a whole half-minute, his teacher +flew to the kitchen for a lump of sugar, which the dog crunched +with great enjoyment between his sharp white teeth. +</P> + +<P> +It was quite dark before they noticed how the time was going. The +clock was just striking six when Almira Jane put her head in at +the dining-room door. +</P> + +<P> +"Mrs. Dane is calling for Tommy," she announced; "and before he +goes I must give you each a bit of lunch." And whipping open the +oven door with a corner of her apron, she drew out a couple of +puffy apple turnovers, all fragrant with cinnamon and gummy with +sugar, and sizzling with hot apple-juice. Tommy glanced slyly at +her as he bit into his dainty. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Almira Jane has nice ways, even if her eyes are sharp," he +said to Master Sunshine as he bade him good-by. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A SUNDAY WITH FATHER. +</H3> + +<P> +What a welcome day Sunday was to Master Sunshine! +</P> + +<P> +To be sure he did not always enjoy going to church, for sometimes +the sermon seemed long and tiresome; but there was always the +singing to look forward to, and the breaking up of the congregation +after the benediction had been said. It was always so pleasant then, +for the ladies in their pretty gowns and the men in their black +Sunday coats exchanged kindly greetings with one another; and Master +Sunshine, in his best blue blouse, with golden anchors embroidered +on the shoulders, would follow sedately with his family, and shake +hands with the minister, and nod to his boy and girl acquaintances +in a very grown-up manner. +</P> + +<P> +Though there were many things about the service that he could not +understand, yet it always pleased him to think that so many people +had come together to do honor to God. It seemed so like the Old +Testament times, when the people went up to Jerusalem to worship +the Lord. +</P> + +<P> +Sunday-school took up another hour of the day, and the lessons +there were always easy to understand. Miss Bell, his young +teacher, had always pictures to show them of the places they read +about; and there were texts and hymns to recite, and the class +missionary box to put pennies in. +</P> + +<P> +But what Master Sunshine looked forward to most of all was the +Sunday afternoon walk with his father. Usually they would ramble +off to the woods or to some quiet by-road, and talk over all the +doings of the week. And if Master Sunshine had done anything that +was mean or selfish, he was sure to tell about it then. +</P> + +<P> +"Any boy can be good on Sunday, when his father is with him," +explained Master Sunshine; "it's on the week-days, when there +isn't a man round, that he is most apt to get into trouble. And I +tell you the worst about me, father, so you won't think I'm a +better boy than I really am." +</P> + +<P> +It was always so comforting to talk things over, even if he had +been doing wrong; for he was always sure of understanding and +sympathy and good advice. +</P> + +<P> +"I often wish every boy and his father were chums like us," he +said once. "Now, when Tommy Dane gets in trouble, he is always +afraid to go to his father, and his mother is too busy to be +bothered; so he just has to go to some of the school-boys. Of +course, they don't know much better than he does; and their advice +is just as apt as not to be wrong, and poor Tommy finds himself in +worse trouble than ever. +</P> + +<P> +"Only last week he burst the class foot-ball by standing on it, +and the boys said he must buy another. He had no money; but they +told him to sell something of his own, and use the money to buy +another ball. So he sent the silver mug that his aunt gave him +when he was a baby, up to town, and it sold for enough to buy a +new ball. Then the teacher wanted to know how it was that the boys +happened to have so much money, and Mrs. Dane missed the silver +mug. Mr. Dane came to the school and took Tommy home, and he was, +oh, so angry with him! He said, 'he was disgraced because his son +was a thief,'" and Master Sunshine's tone grew very indignant. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, father, that if Tommy had only gone to some one like you +at the first, there would have been no trouble at all." +</P> + +<P> +"And what do you think I would have advised in such a case?" asked +Mr. Norton, much interested in the little tale. +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine looked at him wonderingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, father," he said, "don't you remember about me breaking the +great pane of glass in the schoolhouse window? You lent me the +money to pay for having it put in, and I had to give you my +allowance for ever so long until I made it all up." +</P> + +<P> +"But would Tommy's father have done as much for him?" questioned +Mr. Norton. +</P> + +<P> +"If they were chums like you and me I am sure he would," answered +Master Sunshine promptly. +</P> + +<P> +"And do you think Tommy did right to sell his mug?" asked Mr. +Norton, much interested as to what his son would say. +</P> + +<P> +"The mug was his own, so I don't think it was stealing to take +it," said Master Sunshine slowly; "but of course it was not right +for him to take it away without letting his people know. There are +lots of things in our house that were given to me, and are mine to +use and have; but they are not mine to sell and give away like my +toys and tops. You never told me so, but I always knew there were +two ways of owning things." +</P> + +<P> +"We have no flowers for mother yet," said Mr. Norton, dismissing +the subject as he rose from the rock on which they had been +resting. "I wonder what we can find for her to-day." +</P> + +<P> +How well they knew where to look, and how many happy exclamations +came from Master Sunshine as they discovered a clump of ferns just +unfolding from the green balls in which Dame Nature had securely +packed them. +</P> + +<P> +In a marshy spot, a host of white violets sent up their dainty +perfume; and close by the bed of a tiny brook, a scarlet trilium +showed its velvety petals. A sunny hillside was covered with deep +purple violets, while under the roadside there were trails of +winter-berry vines still green and fresh in spite of the snows +that had lain on them; and here and there were the satiny blossoms +of the glossy-leaved pigeon-berry. +</P> + +<P> +A pair of keel-tailed blackbirds were building in a tall tree +overhead; and the sweet, clear notes of one of them delighted +Master Sunshine until he heard the mate answering back with a +harsh, scraping noise not unlike a dull saw making its way through +a log of knotted wood. A robin gave a mellow chirp; and the +Peabody bird was filling the air with its sweet, sad strain. +</P> + +<P> +It was always very hard to leave the woods and fields at such +times. They were so full of life and brightness, and there always +seemed a special Sunday calm about. +</P> + +<P> +But there were the home people to consider. Lucy would be awake +now from her afternoon nap, and would be longing for her romp with +her "fazzer man;" and mother would be so delighted with her +flowers, and Master Sunshine would be needed to help arrange them; +while Almira Jane was sure to be wondering what was keeping "the +folks" so late. The Sunday tea would be ready for them too—and a +specially good tea it always was. There would be slices of cold +meat spread on a platter of parsley; and the thinnest slices of +bread-and-butter on the best bread-plates, and frosted cake; and, +most likely, peach or strawberry preserves from the jam-cupboard. +</P> + +<P> +Almira Jane was sure to be in good humor too; for there was little +work to do on Sunday, and she seldom got a chance to be "nervous" +on the day of rest, and like as not Jacob would walk home with her +after evening church; while in the cosey sitting-room mother would +play on the piano, and Master Sunshine and his father would join +in singing their favorite hymns. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BEING A HERO. +</H3> + +<P> +"There'll be no rain to-day," said Almira Jane as Master Sunshine +slipped off gayly to school next morning. "Your geese are sure to +be good weather-prophets, and I notice that they are dressing +their feathers and diving comfortably in the little duck-pond." +</P> + +<P> +"And what would they be doing if it were going to rain?" inquired +Master Sunshine. +</P> + +<P> +"Geese always get noisy and fidgety before storms," answered +Almira Jane. "That was partly what was the matter with the +Wanderer and his Wife the day you brought them here. They were +doing their best to tell you that there was trouble in the air." +</P> + +<P> +"There is a great lot of sense, after all, even in creatures that +people think are foolish," thought Master Sunshine to himself as +he set off. Then he turned to wave his hand to his mother, who +threw a kiss at him from an upper window as he disappeared down +the road. +</P> + +<P> +Tommy and he strolled along, swinging their school satchels as +they went. Presently a sound came to them on the still, morning +air, something like a frightened yet angry sob, then a noise as of +distant laughter. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder what the boys are up to to-day," said Tommy, with a +lively look of interest. +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine said nothing, but broke from a walk into a smart +run. He was just a bit afraid that his friend, the half-witted +boy, was in trouble. +</P> + +<P> +Sure enough! when they had turned the sharp bend in the road, they +came to the scene of the mischief. And then, somehow, all Master +Sunshine's smiles vanished, and a sad, troubled expression fell on +his face. +</P> + +<P> +A group of schoolboys were teasing Billy Butler, by calling him +mocking names, and even by throwing balls of soft mud at him; +while poor Billy was growing white with rage and was gesticulating +wildly. +</P> + +<P> +It was not the first time that the schoolboys had made a butt of +poor Billy; and Master Sunshine wished, oh, so much! that he were +not quite so young and small. He was sure that these big boys +would not stop their rude play for him. +</P> + +<P> +Tommy was by his side now, and the boys were calling to them to +join the crowd. Tommy looked rather undecided. He knew well enough +that the boys were doing wrong, but he feared they would laugh at +him unless he took part too; but Master Sunshine could not stand +the sight. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, Dick, make the boys stop teasing Billy," cried he, going up +to the big boy who was leading in the rude sport. "He has never +done you any harm." +</P> + +<P> +Dick looked angrily around. "Listen to bow-legged Norton," he +answered rudely. +</P> + +<P> +"Run along," jeered another; "you better go and play with the a-b-c +boys at the schoolhouse." +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine could not bear to be teased; but neither had he +the heart to turn away when Billy's eyes were following him so +piteously. His mind was quite made up now, and his temper was +rising fast. +</P> + +<P> +"If you can do without me, you can do without Billy too," he said +firmly, making his way through the group. "You can call me any +names you like, and throw mud if you want to; but I'm not going to +leave Billy till he can go safely home." +</P> + +<P> +The boys looked at one another in amazement. Here was Fred Norton +dictating to them what they should and should not do,—a little +chap who had scarcely been a year at school. +</P> + +<P> +For a moment they were too surprised to make any objection; and +Master Sunshine had actually elbowed his way through the crowd, +and, with Billy by the hand, was making his way back towards home +before they realized what was happening. +</P> + +<P> +Then a rude lad threw a great handful of mud that spattered on +Master Sunshine's back, and another cried, "Look at his bow-legs." +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine looked back at his tormentors, for the taunt was +harder to bear than the mud itself. The boys were quick to see +this, and a half dozen of them at once joined in the teasing +chorus: "Did you ever see such legs? Before I'd have crooked legs +like that?" +</P> + +<P> +And then his first tormentor would set in with the taunt of "Bow-legged +Norton! bow-legged Norton!" +</P> + +<P> +But somehow the fun was quite gone out of it now. A number of the +better-minded boys had left the group, and were walking quietly +along. Tommy was talking vigorously to them. +</P> + +<P> +"Fred Norton is all right," he exclaimed; "he's as manly and +honest as he can be. He can't bear to see anything ill-treated, +not even a dog; and it is just like him to take Billy's part." +</P> + +<P> +"He made me feel small somehow," said Ralph, the largest boy of +all. "I suppose I could have stopped the row if I'd thought, but I +was afraid the fellows would be angry at me for spoiling their +sport. I'll not let them tease him any more, though;" and at a +sharp word from him the boys ceased their rude fun. +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine was quite late for school that morning, and when +he did arrive he was so flushed in the face, and so muddy in his +dress, that Mr. Sinclair the teacher guessed that something was +amiss; and a few quiet questions at recess brought out part of the +story from Tommy, who was but too delighted to sing his friend's +praises. +</P> + +<P> +That afternoon when lessons were over, Mr. Sinclair gathered his +pupils about him. "Boys," he said, "something that happened to-day +makes me afraid that some of you do not know what manliness means; +and, if there is a boy among you who does not wish to grow into a +manly man, I would like him to leave the schoolroom now." +</P> + +<P> +Tommy Dane turned around and looked very hard at Dick, who had +been the chief of Billy's persecutors; but the boy, though looking +very shame-faced, made no effort to move. +</P> + +<P> +"Some of you," continued the master, "have been making Billy +Butler very unhappy. Do you think the boy has too much pleasure in +his life?" +</P> + +<P> +Every boy there made a picture to himself of Billy's life, and +wondered what the master could mean. Billy's home was the worst in +the village, his parents were often unkind to him, his clothes +were always in rags, he had no friends to play with, no one ever +thought of asking him to a party or a picnic or even to play +quietly in the back yard. He had never even had a chum. +</P> + +<P> +The teacher read their thoughts very easily. "Then," said he, "if +he has no pleasures, why do you not try giving him a few instead +of making his life a burden. A manly boy tries to do what good he +can to his fellow-creatures, and it seems that the manliest boy +among you is one of the youngest pupils." +</P> + +<P> +The boys looked at Master Sunshine as he spoke, for they knew that +his words could have but one meaning. Some of them smiled as they +did so; but Dick looked away again quickly, as if there was +something in the sight that he could not bear. +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine was sound asleep. His head, all a glitter with its +yellow curls, was cradled on his arm. There were bits of the dried +mud still clinging to the back of his coat. Even the boys who +smiled were deeply touched. They remembered then what a very +little boy he was, and they did not wonder that the excitement of +the morning and the work of the day had quite exhausted him. +</P> + +<P> +There was something like a tear in Dick's hard gray eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Boys," continued the teacher, "tell me what is your idea of a +hero." +</P> + +<P> +"A man who does what is right whether he likes to or not," said +Ralph, who was feeling much ashamed of his share in the morning's +doings. +</P> + +<P> +"A man who defends the weak," said Tommy proudly. The teacher +nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"You are both right," said he; "and I hope from this out to have +not one, but a whole roomful of heroes." +</P> + +<P> +When the breaking-up of school aroused Master Sunshine, he rubbed +his eyes open and stared about wonderingly. He could not think +what had made him do such a silly thing as to go to sleep in +school. +</P> + +<P> +The boys crowded around him as he said good-by to Mr. Sinclair and +started for home. Tommy grabbed his books, another lad gave him a +little penknife with a tortoise-shell handle, and a third offered +him a great, shiny, winter apple. +</P> + +<P> +These delicate attentions were so unexpected that Master Sunshine +was quite bewildered, and he was even more puzzled and perhaps a +little frightened, when Dick caught him up upon his shoulder, and +carried him home in state. +</P> + +<P> +It was all so new and so unexpected, and he was so tired, that he +did not ask why it was that the boys, led by Mr. Sinclair, gave +three rousing cheers for the "hero of Hill-top school" just as he +and his bearer went out of the school gate. +</P> + +<P> +He half dozed again, even on his high perch; and it was not until +the shrill voices of the Wanderer and his Wife warned him, that he +realized that he was home at last and that another rainstorm was +drawing near. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +KIND DEEDS. +</H3> + +<P> +On Friday afternoons Mr. Sinclair usually gave his pupils a very +pleasant hour just before closing. Of late he had been reading +aloud "Beautiful Joe," and all had been interested in the story of +the intelligent dog. +</P> + +<P> +Tommy Dane listened intently to every word, and was quick to put +in practice every kind suggestion; while Master Sunshine smiled +his approval of the familiar tale, for his own copy of the book +was much thumbed from constant reading. He felt very happy to +think that so many boys who had pets were learning how to take +care of them properly. But he was quite as surprised as the rest +of the lads when, at the close of the reading that week, Mr. +Sinclair leaned over his desk and said, "Boys, I am not going to +read to you next Friday afternoon." +</P> + +<P> +A little murmur of disappointment ran around the room. "Instead," +he continued, smiling down at their troubled faces, "I want you to +entertain me. The book we have been reading teaches us kindness to +animals, and I should like to hear from each one of you of some +thoughtful act that has made the lives of the dependent creatures +about you a little happier." +</P> + +<P> +"I know plenty of people who drive their horses too hard, and half +starve them into the bargain," interrupted one of the boys. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Sinclair raised his hand. "I am sorry to say that I know of a +few such people myself," he answered; "but we are not talking +about them now. There are many people who are kind to their +four-legged servants and pets, and I want you to learn by their +example. Each one is to tell in his own words of some kind deed +that he has a personal knowledge of, and after that we will see +what is to be done." +</P> + +<P> +You can imagine how busy the boys were all that week. They asked +questions by the thousands of all their friends. They prowled +about barns and henneries and rabbit hutches until the people in +the village woke up to the idea that the boys of Hill-top school +were taking a lively interest in the welfare of all animals. +</P> + +<P> +"Give my horses an extra ration of oats and rub them down well, +Jacob," said Banker Patterson, with a twinkle in his eye. "I +wouldn't like to be reported for cruelty to animals, and I notice +that young Tommy Dane and that yellow-headed Norton are eying my +turnout very curiously." Jacob chuckled over the joke, for he well +knew that the banker's horses were the best attended to in the +village. +</P> + +<P> +"They say," said Jacob, "that Master Sunshine, as they call that +Norton boy, is at the bottom of the whole business;" and thereupon +he told the story to his employer of how the brave little fellow +had protected Billy Butler. +</P> + +<P> +"A fine boy that and a promising one," said Mr. Patterson +cordially; "but surely," he added, with a slight frown, "he did +not tell you of it himself?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not he," laughed Jacob; "but Tommy Dane has been full of it ever +since; and Almira Jane, the help over at the cottage, has told me +too. I guess it is owing to her good sense as much as anything +else that he's turned out so well." +</P> + +<P> +And perhaps it was as well that Jacob did not see the merry +twinkle in the banker's eye at his words. It was surprising how +much Mr. Patterson knew of what went on in the village. +</P> + +<P> +One thing was sure. None of the boys' pets suffered during that +week. They had never thought so much of them before; and presently +Friday afternoon came, and Mr. Sinclair, leaning back comfortably +in his chair, was asking for their stories. +</P> + +<P> +He began with Master Sunshine, because he was the youngest of all; +and the little fellow explained how he had learned during the week +that heavy hens like his Cochin Chinas should be given low roosts +because it was such an effort for them to lift their unwieldy +bodies. +</P> + +<P> +"Mine have all been made low now," he added eagerly; "and Almira +Jane says that it is a good common sense-ical idea." +</P> + +<P> +They all smiled a little over the way he brought in Almira Jane's +name and her funny word. But they had come to have such respect +for the manly little fellow that no one laughed aloud. +</P> + +<P> +Then Tommy told how Jacob had taught him to be kind to a pretty +colt which his father was bringing up. +</P> + +<P> +"I always thought it was fun to play with it. I often teased it +just to make it kick out with its front feet," he said; "but I +know now that that sort of teasing, though it does not hurt the +colt at the time, teaches it the habit of kicking. A kicking horse +is almost worse than no horse at all." +</P> + +<P> +"The thing I know about happened last winter," said his seat-mate. +"There was plenty of snow and ice about, but nothing for the birds +to drink; so my sister used to put a saucer of water on the +window-ledge each morning. The birds would come from a long way +off to get a sip from it, and they were always glad to pick up a +few crumbs she strewed for them." +</P> + +<P> +"Mine is a bird story too," said an observant-looking boy; "but +the kindness was done by birds, instead of by people. Last week +when a bill-poster was pasting up some advertisements on our barn, +a sparrow perched on the edge of the bucket, and got his feet and +the tips of his wing-feathers all covered with paste." +</P> + +<P> +"I meant to catch him and try to tame him, but the bill-poster +said to wait and see what happened next; and sure enough, two +other sparrows came and flew in circles above his head, and +chirped to him as if they were talking over what could be done. At +last he managed to loosen his claws from the paste, and to move +his wings ever so little. The birds, one on each side of him, +helped him to the trough by the side of the road, and he splashed +in the water until the paste was quite washed off." +</P> + +<P> +"And what did this very curious sight make you think of?" said Mr. +Sinclair, suddenly leaning over his desk, and looking at the lad. +</P> + +<P> +The boy colored deeply as he said, "It made me think of my string +of birds' eggs at home, and my collection of birds' nests. I +promised myself then that I would never, never do anything to +injure birds again. I thought that if they knew enough to be kind +to each other I ought to know enough to be kind to them." +</P> + +<P> +It seemed as if there were no end to the good deeds of which the +lads had taken note. +</P> + +<P> +One had seen an old man digging burdock-roots from the corner of a +sheep-field; and, when he offered his help, had learned how +troublesome the burdock-burrs were to all woolly or hairy animals. +</P> + +<P> +Another had much to say of a lamb-creep that had been arranged so +as to give the young lambs a fair share of food. The older sheep +too often pushed the young ones aside when feeding-time came, and +their owner had built a little fold, into which only the small +lambs could enter, where a portion of the food was always placed. +All the lambs in his flock were plump and thriving, while in his +neighbor's pastures, where the lambs were left to fight for +themselves, they were thin, miserable-looking creatures. +</P> + +<P> +Some told of how thoughtful people kept water always where the pet +dogs could get it; and others of the care that should be given to +canaries and to goldfish; and the happy hour was nearly over when +Mr. Norton said, "Now, Dick, you have told us nothing. Before we +break up school for to-day I would like to hear what you have to +say." +</P> + +<P> +Dick shook his head but his teacher knew that he had been +listening intently to all that went on, and was very hopeful that +at last he had found a way to the heart of his scholar. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me tell for him, please," interrupted Master Sunshine. "He's +been doing kind things all the week for poor Billy Butler. He dug +him a garden last Saturday night, and has filled it with plants +from his own garden." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said the teacher, well pleased at the report. "Dick, I think +you have done best of all;" and the boys thumped on the floor with +their heavy boots, and banged the covers of the desks, to show +their appreciation of the good deed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A HAPPY ENDING. +</H3> + +<P> +Just as Mr. Sinclair laid his hand on the bell to give the signal +for dismissal, a handsome carriage drove to the door. The boys all +stared out of the window at the unusual sight. Banker Patterson +was helping a lady to alight, and the lady was none other than +Almira Jane. Jacob was smiling down from the driver's seat at the +queer couple. +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine rubbed his eyes in bewilderment. What could Almira +Jane be doing there? and what could be in that great basket that +Jacob was handing down to her? It looked very much like the great +picnic-basket that hung in the kitchen pantry! +</P> + +<P> +And now it was the banker's turn to be loaded up. Jacob gave him +several heavy parcels, and finally jumped from his perch and +carrying very carefully an odd-shaped package, led the way to the +school door. Billy Butler was standing not far off. He had no fear +of the schoolboys now, and sometimes came to the gate when school +was dismissed to nod to each one he knew, and to say the names +over in his hoarse voice. Jacob called out to him in a friendly +tone, and the boy followed him to the school steps. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Sinclair was as much surprised as his pupils at the arrival of +his visitors; but he hastily gave them seats, and was about to +call for classes again, when Mr. Patterson said in his big round +voice,— +</P> + +<P> +"Young people, I have not come here to examine your progress in +your studies, but to tell you how delighted I am with the work you +have been at this week. I have never felt so proud of the Hill-top +schoolboys before, and I want to ask you to keep on as you have +begun. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid I have not always been as thoughtful for my animal +friends as I could wish; but, watching a little neighbor of mine +whose pets require a great deal of care, and whose master is +devoted to them, has made me think a little more of the matter." +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine smiled over at Tommy as much as to say, "Do you +hear him praising you?" for the little fellow did not even dream +that it was his love for his pets and his brave conduct towards +Billy Butler which had brought about this visit. +</P> + +<P> +"If you boys," continued the banker, "will study the needs of all +the animals about us, and keep on talking about all the kind deeds +you learn of, we shall soon have a model village, where every +horse and cow, and lamb and dog and cat, will be comfortably +looked after. +</P> + +<P> +"I have heard that your good teacher, Mr. Sinclair, has been +wishing for a school library for you," he continued, "so I have +to-day brought my contribution towards it." And as the banker +spoke he untied the great bundles of handsomely bound natural +history books enriched with many beautiful colored pictures, and a +number of volumes of stories of animals. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure," he added, "that the more you know about our animal +friends the more interested you will be in their welfare. I have +learned with a great deal of interest that one of you is planning +to erect a drinking-fountain in the village when he is a man. Now, +suppose, instead of waiting till that somewhat distant day, that +we make a bargain. If you will endeavor for a whole year to make +the lives of all helpless creatures happy, I will for my part +promise to put up a fountain where men and horses and dogs and +birds may have a refreshing drink. But remember, I will not do +this until I am sure that you have done your part faithfully. This +is a miniature copy of the fountain I am willing to erect." +</P> + +<P> +At a word from him Jacob quickly threw the covering from the +package which he had placed on the desk, and the boys exclaimed +with delight at the beautiful model of a fountain which was +displayed. +</P> + +<P> +They surrounded it in an instant, and were quick to admire every +detail—the great horse with his shaggy mane on top, the tiny mug +hung at the faucets for wayfarers, the wide trough for horses and +cows, and the four little basins for dogs and birds. +</P> + +<P> +"This is the model of the fountain you are to earn," said their +new friend pleasantly. "You may keep it in your schoolroom as a +reminder." +</P> + +<P> +Just didn't these boys cheer. The schoolhouse fairly shook with +the noise and tumult they made. They gathered like bees about +their friend to promise him that they would earn the fountain +faithfully, and to thank him a dozen times over for the beautiful +books. +</P> + +<P> +At this, Almira Jane, who had been listening with a happy smile to +the little speech, suddenly threw off the cover of her basket; and +there, lying on white napkins, were layers of the crispest +doughnuts and dozens of molasses cookies of her most delicious +make. +</P> + +<P> +The boys needed no invitation to fall to, for the sight of the +dainties was quite enough; and Dick took care that Billy, whose +hungry eyes were looking in at the door, should have a share as +well. +</P> + +<P> +A few minutes later all the fun was over. Almira Jane, waving her +empty basket to rid it of the crumbs, climbed into the carriage; +and at Mr. Patterson's request Master Sunshine and Tommy accepted +his place, while he remained for a quiet talk with Mr. Sinclair. +The rest of the boys sauntered happily home, with a pleasant word +each for Billy, who by this time was so amazed at the good fortune +that had befallen him that he could find no words in which to +express his feelings. +</P> + +<P> +But that was not all, I can tell you. The boys were full of the +new idea; and strange as it may seem, the more kind things they +saw done, the more they were anxious to do themselves, and nearly +all the objectionable pastimes they had formerly engaged in were +laid aside. No one ever went fishing just for the pleasure of +throwing the panting, struggling fish on the grass; no one ever +tormented frogs, or pulled the wings off the poor flies nowadays. +</P> + +<P> +The boys of the Hill-top school had taken all living things under +their protection, and you may be sure that they put down all kinds +of thoughtless cruelty. +</P> + +<P> +It was just a year from the day on which they made their bargain +with Mr. Patterson that the fountain was set up. It was shrouded +in a great flag until it should be finally unveiled. +</P> + +<P> +It was a great day in the village, I can tell you. Never before +had the Hill-top schoolboys been so looked up to. The fountain was +their gift to the village. They had earned it faithfully and well. +They were all there, drawn up in a circle about the fountain,—Ralph +and Dick and Tommy and Master Sunshine, and all the other pupils +of the school. Close by were gathered their relatives and friends; +for the formal unveiling was felt to be a most important matter, +and the whole village had turned out to witness the ceremony. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Norton was looking very pleased and happy over some words +that Mr. Patterson said quietly in her ear, while Lucy, now a baby +no longer, cried out from her post on her father's shoulder, "It's +dee Suns'ine's fountain, it's dee Suns'ine's fountain;" and Almira +Jane dressed in her best bib and tucker, and Jacob dressed in his +Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes, looked across at each other very +kindly. +</P> + +<P> +Presently Mr. Patterson in a few words told of the events that had +led to the erection of the fountain, and Mr. Sinclair called on +Master Frederick Norton to pull down the great flag that veiled +the fountain from view. A cry of admiration went up from the crowd +as the fountain, a most beautiful work of art, burst on their +view. +</P> + +<P> +At a second signal from Mr. Sinclair, plenteous streams of +sparkling water gushed into the troughs and basins, while the boys +of the Hill-top school burst into a song which their teacher had +especially prepared for the occasion. +</P> + +<P> +Gyp and Tim meantime, who had followed their young masters from +home, suddenly realized what all the disturbance was about, and +with one accord they made their way through the crowd, and began +to lap up water from the dog-basins with as little concern as if +they had been used to these luxuries all their lives. +</P> + +<P> +Master Sunshine's eyes were with his pet, you may be sure; and +suddenly he stopped singing right in the middle of a verse, and +gazed in wonder at the words which were carved low down at the +base of the fountain, "I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink." +</P> + +<P> +"How could Mr. Patterson know the very text I liked best of all?" +he said to himself. And he pondered over it all that day. In the +evening, after he had tended to his Cochin Chinas and captured the +Guinea hens in the very act of stealing away, and had seen that +the Wanderer and his Wife were under shelter, a light suddenly +broke on him. +</P> + +<P> +"O Almira Jane, I believe it was you who told!" he exclaimed as he +burst into the kitchen; and although she never would admit it, I +think she did. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Master Sunshine, by Mrs. C. F. Fraser + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MASTER SUNSHINE *** + +***** This file should be named 4571-h.htm or 4571-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/5/7/4571/ + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. 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Fraser + +Posting Date: August 8, 2009 [EBook #4571] +Release Date: October, 2003 +First Posted: February 11, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MASTER SUNSHINE *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + +MASTER SUNSHINE + + +BY + +MRS. C. F. FRASER + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + I. WHO HE WAS + II. THE WANDERER AND HIS WIFE + III. THE RAINY DAY + IV. A SUNDAY WITH FATHER + V. BEING A HERO + VI. KIND DEEDS + VII. A HAPPY ENDING + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +WHO HE WAS. + + +Of course his real name was not Master Sunshine. + +Who ever heard of a boy with a name like that? + +But his mother said that long before he could speak he chose the +name for himself, for even as a baby he was full of a cheery good +humor that was always sparkling out in his winning smiles and his +rippling laugh. He was a good-natured, happy child from the time +that he could toddle about; and he was very young when he began to +give pleasure to his friends by serving them in all the little +ways within his power. + +The very golden curls that topped his small head glistened as if +they had caught and imprisoned the glory of the morning sun; and +it really did seem as if a better name could not be found for the +merry, helpful little fellow than Master Sunshine. + +His real name was a very different affair--Frederick Alexander +Norton--and his boy friends called him Freddy for short. His +little sister Lucy called him "buzzer" and Suns'ine; and Almira +Jane, the help, who made the brownest and crispest of molasses +cookies, and the most delicious twisted doughnuts, said he was a +"swate angel of light," except at such times as she called him a +"rascalpion." + +Master Sunshine never stopped to argue with Almira Jane when she +called him a "rascalpion." He knew that this was a plain sign that +she was getting "nervous;" and when Almira Jane was nervous, it +was always best for small boys to be out of the way. + +A little later, when the kitchen floor had been scrubbed, and the +stove polished like a shiny black mirror, and the bread-dough had +been kneaded and set to rise, he knew he would be a welcome +visitor again. + +Perhaps that was one of the many reasons why people loved him so. +He was always considerate. He had the good sense not to keep on +asking questions and offering help when it was best to go quietly +away. Somehow he always felt sure that his turn would come +presently, and that Almira Jane would be sorry she had called him +such a hard name, and would be only too pleased to have him look +over the beans for the bean-pot, and fill the wood-box, and do all +the other little kitchen chores that he delighted in. + +There were sure to be pleasant times after one of Almira Jane's +nervous attacks. When she was quite over her flurry and worry, +Daisy, the Maltese cat, would crawl out of her hiding-place under +the stove, and arch her tail, and purr contentedly as she rubbed +her long, graceful body against the table-legs; while Gyp, the pet +dog, would hurry in from the dog-house under the shade of the +orchard-trees, and jump on Almira Jane's shoulder, and she would +be as pleased as possible over his knowing ways. At such times +Master Sunshine was very fond of Almira Jane. + +He loved Lucy with a steady affection, too, though she pulled his +curls sometimes until he fairly expected to lose the whole of his +golden locks. She needed a great deal of patient amusement, too, +and she was not very considerate of his belongings. + +One day he was very angry, and his hand was lifted in anger +against her. + +The trouble was that she had torn in two his favorite picture of +elephants in his animal book. The little girl was quite unaware of +the mischief her chubby fingers had wrought, but she knew very +well by the look of Master Sunshine's overcast face that in some +way she had displeased him. + +So, pursing up her lips in a smile not unlike his own sunshiny +one, she lisped, in funny imitation of her mother,-- + +"Never mind, Suns'ine, little sister's sorry;" and, strange to +say, at her words the angry passion left him, and tears of shame +stood in his blue eyes. + +"Of course," he said afterwards, in telling the story to his +mother, "I know that Lucy didn't know the sense of what she was +saying, but she did seem to know how to get at the "sensibliness" +of me. Just imagine, mother, how bad we would all have felt if I +had struck my own dear sister that God sent us to take care of!" + +And that was so like Master Sunshine. He never willingly gave pain +to any living creature; and although he was sometimes careless and +forgetful, just like other boys, yet he was never known to be +wilfully unkind. + +He loved his mother very dearly too, and perhaps it was from her +gentle ways that he had learned to be so thoughtful for others. He +told her all his joys, and all his secrets save one; and he dearly +loved the bedtime hour, when she read to him the stories that he +most admired,--stories of brave deeds were the kind he was always +asking for. But neither of them ever dreamed that the quiet +bedtime hours were teaching him to be a hero. + +It did not seem possible that an eight-year-old boy could be a +hero such as one reads of in books. + +Of course, he was going to do great things when he was a man. He +meant to make a great fortune, of which half was to be his mother's; +and if she chose to spend it on churches and missionaries and +schools, so much the better. + +He was sure she would rather do this than buy herself handsome +dresses and diamond rings and ruby necklaces; and he was quite +certain that, when she wore her gray gown and her gray bonnet, +with the purple violets tucked under the brim, that she was the +most beautiful lady in the world. + +His own share of the fortune he planned to spend in many ways. He +promised himself, among other things, that he would put up a +fountain in the village, where tired people and thirsty horses and +cows and dogs and birds would come for a drink. "I'd have a text +on it too," he would say, with his eyes shining with excitement. +"It should be, 'I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink.' And of +course 'I' would mean the Lord; for the Bible tells us how kind he +was to all helpless things, and I think he would be pleased to +have all the animals tended to as well as the thirsty people. I +wish I could be a man now, and they would not have to go thirsty +any longer." + +He often told Almira Jane about the fountain too; and she always +said that it was a capital idea. + +But it was to his father only that he told his secret. + +It was a queer secret, and a very real trouble, too, I can tell +you. + +Part of it was that Master Sunshine was just the least bit bow-legged. + +Of course there could not be much of a secret about that. Lots of +people knew it quite well. In fact, if you looked carefully at the +well-shaped limbs in the trim blue stockings and neat knicker-bockers, +you could easily see that the legs curved slightly outwards. + +But the real secret--the real heart and soul of the matter--was +that being bow-legged was a great, great grief to Master Sunshine. +No one but his father ever knew this--not even his mother, or +Almira Jane, or Lucy. It was too sore a subject to speak of +freely. + +It was on the day when he first put on trousers that his troubles +began. It seemed to him that people began then to make such odd +remarks about him; and the strangest thing of all was that they +would seem to quite forget that he heard every word they said, and +that they never seemed to understand how they were hurting his +feelings. + +For a time he solved the difficulty in a clever way. He begged his +mother to make him some loose sailor suits with long bagging legs. + +They served their purpose well, and so long as they lasted no one +ever spoke of the tender subject that he wished to avoid. But +still he never felt comfortable about them in his mind. + +It seemed such a cowardly thing to hide his legs like that, and he +did so want to be manly in all his ways. + +So, after a long talk one day with his father, as they sauntered +hand in hand down a shady country road, with Gyp sporting and +playing alongside, he decided to face the trouble bravely, and +wear knickerbockers like other boys of his age. And, instead of +sulking or fretting about what he could not help, he set himself +to making allowances for other people. + +"Father says that every one has his trials," he would say to +himself sagely; "and I dare say that most folks have worse trials +than mine. So when Almira Jane is 'nervous,' and Lucy is fretful, +or mother has her bad headaches, I must just remember to be +'specially good to them. Maybe, after all, bow-leggedness isn't +the worst thing to put up with." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE WANDERER AND HIS WIFE. + + +Master Sunshine was such a busy boy. Sometimes it seemed to him +that the reason he did not get into as much mischief as other boys +of his age was because he really had no time in which to be idle. + +There was school each day, to begin with, and lessons to be +prepared, and story-books to read, and the flower-garden to be +cared for, and Gyp to teach new tricks to, and the pets to be +tended and looked after,--in fact, there were more things than I +can tell you of always waiting to be done. + +It was nearly one boy's work, for instance, to take care of the +Guinea fowls,--the handsome, mottled hens, that never knew when +they were well off, but were always running away and getting lost. +If it had not been for their shrill, silly cackle, their hiding-places +would never have been found. Master Sunshine pursued them every +time they strayed, and brought them home triumphantly. I think +he loved his sturdy family of Cochin Chinas best; for the great +rooster, with his well-feathered legs and scarlet comb, always +seemed to recognize him as a friend, and the plump hens laid the +most delicious eggs, the exact hue of their own buff plumage. It +was never any trouble to feed and water them, or to let them out +of the hen-yard for a short run. + +Every one knew that the Wanderer and his Wife were Master +Sunshine's property. The Wanderer was a great white gander, with a +long neck and a still longer tongue, if one could measure it by +the clatter it made in the world. His Wife was a patient gray +goose, who waddled after him unceasingly, and was always ready to +add her shrill voice to his. + +It troubled their young owner not a little that the Wanderer had +to wear a great yoke of light wood about his neck; but after the +bird had twice run away and trampled the gardens of their +neighbors, he could see that it was necessary. + +Almira Jane put the matter very clearly before him. "I don't think +he does like his collar much, and it ain't really ornamental," +said she; "but it is kinder to the neighbors to have him wear a +yoke so that he cannot squeeze between the pickets in the fences +to destroy the gardens." + +"But the goose may do the same mischief," interrupted Master +Sunshine anxiously. + +Almira Jane shook her head wisely. + +"The poor silly thing will never think of it by herself," she +answered. "All she does is to follow her mate; and if we keep him +out of trouble, she will be all right, I promise you." + +It always made Almira Jane laugh when she thought of the day when +Master Sunshine brought the Wanderers home. Master Sunshine had +gone to old Mrs. Sorefoot, who lived down the road, to get a +setting of Leghorn eggs. The old lady, whose life was being made +miserable by the clamor of the pair of geese which a grandchild +had brought her the week before as a particularly choice gift, +told Master Sunshine that, if he would but take them away, they +should be his property. + +The little fellow was more delighted than I can tell you. He had +always wanted to own geese, and this was such a good chance. And +he made up his mind on the instant that as soon as he got them +home, he would remove the queer-looking collar from the gander's +neck. + +Then he set out for home, oh, so proudly! + +On one arm he carried carefully the basket of eggs; under the +other was the gray goose, with her legs securely tied. Behind him, +led, or rather dragged, by a stout cord passed through the opening +in the yoke, came the white gander, who was quite able by +spreading his powerful wings to contest every step of the way. +Poor Master Sunshine! What a time he did have, and how very hot +and excited he was before he reached home! + +Almira Jane saw him coming, and flew to meet him. Never in her +life had she seen such a strange sight. The little fellow set the +basket of eggs gently on the ground, laid the struggling goose on +her side, and made the Wanderer fast to a fence-post, before he +could answer her many questions. + +Then he mopped his forehead with his small handkerchief, and drew +a deep sigh of relief. + +"O Almira Jane! it has been the worst time," he said. "If you'll +just look at my stockings, I am afraid you will see that there is +lots of darning to be done." + +Almira Jane surveyed the calves of his plump legs wonderingly. +Sure enough, there were dozens of little round holes through which +the pink skin was showing. There were even little stains of blood +on the ravelled yarn. + +"The old gander has nipped my legs with his sharp bill, and butted +me with his yoke, and pulled on the string so I could scarcely +keep my feet. The gray goose has flapped me with her wings +whenever she got the chance; and in getting them safely here, I +nearly fell a dozen times, and broke the whole setting of eggs," +he said excitedly. + +Almira Jane looked admiringly at him. "You ain't got much +strength, but you got considerable grit," she said proudly. + +"But they didn't know how inconvenient it was for me," added the +boy more calmly. "When they see how kind we are to them, I think +they will be sorry about the way they treated me." + +Almira Jane looked at the gander critically, and cut the string +that bound the gray goose's legs, before she made any reply. + +"They need their wings clipped," she said. "That is the kindest +thing we can do for them." + +Master Sunshine looked both surprised and grieved. + +"You see, Sunshine," she continued, "geese are wild birds still, +though generations and generations of our grandfathers tried to +tame them, yet they are not wild enough to look after themselves. +When they stray away from their homes they have not wit enough +either to find food which is suitable to them, or to hide +themselves from dogs or wild animals who delight to worry them; so +the best thing we can do is to fit them for the life we want them +to lead." + +Master Sunshine nodded thoughtfully. He had great faith in Almira +Jane's knowledge, and the good sense of her arguments always +satisfied his judgment. + +It was not until he had gone in the house, and was well out of +hearing, that Almira Jane began to laugh; and such a clear, +ringing, downright, hearty laugh it was, the old Wanderer bumped +his yoke against the fence to show his approval, and the gray +goose joined in with high, shrill screams of delight. It really +seemed as if they were trying to tell Almira Jane what they +thought of their journey along the road with their new master. + +There were not many houses near the pretty white cottage in which +Master Sunshine lived. The Hill-top school, of which he was a +pupil, was quite a half-mile away; and Tommy Dane, who lived just +across the street from his home, used to walk there with him every +day. Master Sunshine was very fond of Tommy, though his little +friend had some ways that he did not wholly like. + +The only other boy near-by was Billy Butler, a poor, half-witted +idiot, who lived with his family in a tiny cottage under the side +of a hill. Master Sunshine was very pitiful of Billy's sad lot, +and many an apple and slice of bread did he share with him. + +Not far away was the beautiful summer house of Mr. Patterson, a +city banker. The lawns and flower-beds there were always beautiful +to see; and the great house with its many bay windows and broad +verandas always seemed like a palace to Master Sunshine. But best +of all he loved the great stable where a prancing silver horse was +always riding on the weather vane. + +It was at the stable that he saw his friend Jacob, who was quite +as wonderful in his knowledge of animals as Almira Jane. + +It took a great deal of Master Sunshine's time just to repeat +Jacob's stories to Almira Jane; and he noticed that whenever he +began to tell Jacob about what Almira Jane said--Almira Jane was +brought up on a Nova Scotia farm and knew everything about +animals--his listener would stamp on the barn floor to show his +approval, and would listen to every word. + +The great stable was a very pleasant place these spring days. The +horses were all so well groomed, their stalls were all so +perfectly clean, and, in the barn beyond, the cows looked round +from their place with such friendly eyes, Master Sunshine used to +wish that every one in the village would come to admire the place +and to talk with Jacob. He was sure that everyone who talked to +Jacob would be kind to animals ever after. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE RAINY DAY. + + +The sky was all leaden and overcast when Master Sunshine woke up +one morning. The fast-falling rain-drops were so big and so close +together that it almost seemed as if some great sky-ocean was +pouring down upon the earth. It was too wet for him to go to +school, and he had to make up his mind to enjoy a quiet day in-doors. + +Almira Jane put on her waterproof and rubbers, and attended to the +hens and the geese; and in order to pay her back for doing his +work, Master Sunshine polished the silver spoons and forks with +whitening, and rubbed them with a chamois-skin until they fairly +gleamed. Then after he had tidied up the wood-shed, and cut paper +in a fancy pattern for the dresser shelves, he decided that he was +a bit tired of doing things, and he curled up in the big crimson +arm-chair by the dining-room window with a new story-book. + +Presently Lucy's voice arose in a fretful wail. + +Master Sunshine, I am sorry to say, shut his ears to her pitiful +cry. He was so comfortable and cosey and the story-book was so +interesting. + +The wail became louder and louder. It was evident that Lucy was on +her way down-stairs. In a moment she was in the room by his side, +and by this time her wail had grown to a terrified scream. + +"O Suns'ine! take zem kitty off!" she begged. + +Truly enough his little sister was in great trouble. But a minute +before Spry, the kitten, had strayed away from the mother-cat, and +Lucy and she had got into mischief already. + +Master Sunshine made haste to lift the kitten from Lucy's +shoulder, where it had taken refuge; and he was very sorry to see +that the sharp claws of the little paws had made their marks on +her plump neck. + +"Kiss it p'ease, and make it well," begged Lucy tearfully as she +climbed on his knee; while the kitten, after looking nervously +around, sought refuge in Master Sunshine's coat-pocket. + +"Lucy was dwessin' kitty in dollie's clothes, and it went 'spitz!' +and runned up her shoulder," wept Lucy. + +Master Sunshine kissed the smarting neck, and cuddled the pet in +his arms. + +"Buzzer will slap kitty for biting sister wiz its finder nails," +she begged. + +"Brother will show sister how to be kind to kitty," he answered, +as he drew the trembling ball of fur from its hiding-place, and +stroked it with a tender hand. "Spry is not a dolly, and does not +like to wear dollie's clothes. Lucy will rub her under her chin +just above the white star on her breast, and she will sing a +pretty cat-song to show how happy she is, and brother will show +Lucy how to lift kitty by the loose skin about her neck. Lucy must +play she is mother-cat whenever she plays with Spry." + +And at the prospect of such a new and delightful game Lucy dried +her eyes, and called him her "dee, dee Suns'ine." + +And then, what do you suppose? Why, she just laid her tear-stained +face up against his shoulder, and opened her rosy mouth in a great +yawn, and dropped quietly off to sleep. + +But Master Sunshine's thoughts were not quite so care-free as +Lucy's. "Next time I must be a better brother," he said to +himself; and when his mother came to carry the baby to her crib, +he would not let her give him a word of praise. "I am too ashamed +to tell you why, mother," he said; "but after this I mean to take +better care of my little sister." + +The rain kept falling steadily, and after dinner, when mamma had +gone to lie down, and Almira Jane was washing up the dishes, +Master Sunshine was drumming on the window-pane, and wondering +what he should do the whole long afternoon. Just then Tommy Dane +came running up towards the house, and behind him scampered a dog, +very like Gyp, who, when he heard the familiar bark, put his paws +on the window-sill, and wagged his tail with delight; while Daisy, +meowing to Spry to follow her, fled hastily up the kitchen +stairway. + +"Mother said I might bring Tim over and have you teach him tricks +this afternoon," announced Tommy, shaking the rain off his coat. + +"Tim is not a smart dog, like your Gyp. He does not seem to be +able to think. I almost wish I had taken Gyp when I had the +chance." + +Master Sunshine and Tommy had got their dogs from the same litter +of puppies, and Tommy had had the first choice. + +"Tim is such a cross, snappy dog," continued Tommy. "He makes me +angry every time I try to teach him anything." + +"May be it is because you are angry that he is cross and snappy," +said Almira Jane, half under her breath. + +Of course Master Sunshine was very proud to exhibit Gyp. He loved +to have his pet look up at him with trusting brown eyes; and when +Gyp sprang on his knee, and put his paws affectionately about his +master's neck, it always seemed as if he were not quite a dog, but +something very like a dear human friend. Gyp had such winning ways +too. He would stand on his hind legs and beg, or he would seat +himself on a chair, and hold out a paw to shake hands with, in the +most knowing manner; and all of these accomplishments he owed to +his little master's patient teaching. + +Almira Jane was through washing the dishes now; and as she took +the broom in hand to begin sweeping out the kitchen, Tim gave a +frightened growl, and fled to the dining-room. + +Almira Jane grew very red in the face as she said, "That dog can +think well enough, and tell his thoughts too. It is plain to me +that some one has used a broom to ill-treat the poor, helpless +creature with." + +Almira Jane looked very hard at Tommy as she spoke; but Tommy +threw back his head as if he did not much care what she said, and +followed his dog into the dining-room. "Let's keep away from that +girl," he said coaxingly; "it seems to me she is very interfering." + +"She taught me how to teach Gyp," said Master Sunshine politely; +"and she is very wise about animals. You'll be fond of her, too, +when you understand her ways. She only gets 'nervous,' like she +was now, when she is very busy and hurried, or when she thinks +people have been unkind. I'm sure she did not mean that you had +beaten your Tim with a broom." + +Tommy hung his head. + +"But I did," he said, almost in a whisper; "he would not shake +hands, as I wanted him to, so I took up the broom and gave him a +blow with it. I thought no one saw me do it, and I never imagined +Tim would tell." + +Master Sunshine was very much shocked. He had not believed that +his friend would be guilty of such a deed. "Tommy," he said +gravely, "if you are unkind to Tim he will never look at you as if +he loved you, and that is the nicest thing about having a dog." + +"I got him a pound of raw meat from the butcher's to make up for +it," said Tommy, half sulkily. + +"But that wasn't kind, either, though you meant it to be so," +cried Master Sunshine; "Tim is too young a dog to have so much +meat at one time. He needs to have his meals regularly, just like +you and me. Too much fresh meat will make him very cross. Perhaps +that is part of the reason why he snaps at you." + +Tommy was much interested. "I wonder why I never knew that +before?" he cried. "After this I will see about his meals myself. +I always thought that if you gave a dog a bone now and then he +would get along all right." + +By this time Master Sunshine was busy with Tim, propping him on +his hind legs, and rewarding him each time he held himself erect +for a second with a kind word or a pat on the head; and when at +last Tim balanced himself for a whole half-minute, his teacher +flew to the kitchen for a lump of sugar, which the dog crunched +with great enjoyment between his sharp white teeth. + +It was quite dark before they noticed how the time was going. The +clock was just striking six when Almira Jane put her head in at +the dining-room door. + +"Mrs. Dane is calling for Tommy," she announced; "and before he +goes I must give you each a bit of lunch." And whipping open the +oven door with a corner of her apron, she drew out a couple of +puffy apple turnovers, all fragrant with cinnamon and gummy with +sugar, and sizzling with hot apple-juice. Tommy glanced slyly at +her as he bit into his dainty. + +"Your Almira Jane has nice ways, even if her eyes are sharp," he +said to Master Sunshine as he bade him good-by. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A SUNDAY WITH FATHER. + + +What a welcome day Sunday was to Master Sunshine! + +To be sure he did not always enjoy going to church, for sometimes +the sermon seemed long and tiresome; but there was always the +singing to look forward to, and the breaking up of the congregation +after the benediction had been said. It was always so pleasant then, +for the ladies in their pretty gowns and the men in their black +Sunday coats exchanged kindly greetings with one another; and Master +Sunshine, in his best blue blouse, with golden anchors embroidered +on the shoulders, would follow sedately with his family, and shake +hands with the minister, and nod to his boy and girl acquaintances +in a very grown-up manner. + +Though there were many things about the service that he could not +understand, yet it always pleased him to think that so many people +had come together to do honor to God. It seemed so like the Old +Testament times, when the people went up to Jerusalem to worship +the Lord. + +Sunday-school took up another hour of the day, and the lessons +there were always easy to understand. Miss Bell, his young +teacher, had always pictures to show them of the places they read +about; and there were texts and hymns to recite, and the class +missionary box to put pennies in. + +But what Master Sunshine looked forward to most of all was the +Sunday afternoon walk with his father. Usually they would ramble +off to the woods or to some quiet by-road, and talk over all the +doings of the week. And if Master Sunshine had done anything that +was mean or selfish, he was sure to tell about it then. + +"Any boy can be good on Sunday, when his father is with him," +explained Master Sunshine; "it's on the week-days, when there +isn't a man round, that he is most apt to get into trouble. And I +tell you the worst about me, father, so you won't think I'm a +better boy than I really am." + +It was always so comforting to talk things over, even if he had +been doing wrong; for he was always sure of understanding and +sympathy and good advice. + +"I often wish every boy and his father were chums like us," he +said once. "Now, when Tommy Dane gets in trouble, he is always +afraid to go to his father, and his mother is too busy to be +bothered; so he just has to go to some of the school-boys. Of +course, they don't know much better than he does; and their advice +is just as apt as not to be wrong, and poor Tommy finds himself in +worse trouble than ever. + +"Only last week he burst the class foot-ball by standing on it, +and the boys said he must buy another. He had no money; but they +told him to sell something of his own, and use the money to buy +another ball. So he sent the silver mug that his aunt gave him +when he was a baby, up to town, and it sold for enough to buy a +new ball. Then the teacher wanted to know how it was that the boys +happened to have so much money, and Mrs. Dane missed the silver +mug. Mr. Dane came to the school and took Tommy home, and he was, +oh, so angry with him! He said, 'he was disgraced because his son +was a thief,'" and Master Sunshine's tone grew very indignant. + +"You see, father, that if Tommy had only gone to some one like you +at the first, there would have been no trouble at all." + +"And what do you think I would have advised in such a case?" asked +Mr. Norton, much interested in the little tale. + +Master Sunshine looked at him wonderingly. + +"Why, father," he said, "don't you remember about me breaking the +great pane of glass in the schoolhouse window? You lent me the +money to pay for having it put in, and I had to give you my +allowance for ever so long until I made it all up." + +"But would Tommy's father have done as much for him?" questioned +Mr. Norton. + +"If they were chums like you and me I am sure he would," answered +Master Sunshine promptly. + +"And do you think Tommy did right to sell his mug?" asked Mr. +Norton, much interested as to what his son would say. + +"The mug was his own, so I don't think it was stealing to take +it," said Master Sunshine slowly; "but of course it was not right +for him to take it away without letting his people know. There are +lots of things in our house that were given to me, and are mine to +use and have; but they are not mine to sell and give away like my +toys and tops. You never told me so, but I always knew there were +two ways of owning things." + +"We have no flowers for mother yet," said Mr. Norton, dismissing +the subject as he rose from the rock on which they had been +resting. "I wonder what we can find for her to-day." + +How well they knew where to look, and how many happy exclamations +came from Master Sunshine as they discovered a clump of ferns just +unfolding from the green balls in which Dame Nature had securely +packed them. + +In a marshy spot, a host of white violets sent up their dainty +perfume; and close by the bed of a tiny brook, a scarlet trilium +showed its velvety petals. A sunny hillside was covered with deep +purple violets, while under the roadside there were trails of +winter-berry vines still green and fresh in spite of the snows +that had lain on them; and here and there were the satiny blossoms +of the glossy-leaved pigeon-berry. + +A pair of keel-tailed blackbirds were building in a tall tree +overhead; and the sweet, clear notes of one of them delighted +Master Sunshine until he heard the mate answering back with a +harsh, scraping noise not unlike a dull saw making its way through +a log of knotted wood. A robin gave a mellow chirp; and the +Peabody bird was filling the air with its sweet, sad strain. + +It was always very hard to leave the woods and fields at such +times. They were so full of life and brightness, and there always +seemed a special Sunday calm about. + +But there were the home people to consider. Lucy would be awake +now from her afternoon nap, and would be longing for her romp with +her "fazzer man;" and mother would be so delighted with her +flowers, and Master Sunshine would be needed to help arrange them; +while Almira Jane was sure to be wondering what was keeping "the +folks" so late. The Sunday tea would be ready for them too--and a +specially good tea it always was. There would be slices of cold +meat spread on a platter of parsley; and the thinnest slices of +bread-and-butter on the best bread-plates, and frosted cake; and, +most likely, peach or strawberry preserves from the jam-cupboard. + +Almira Jane was sure to be in good humor too; for there was little +work to do on Sunday, and she seldom got a chance to be "nervous" +on the day of rest, and like as not Jacob would walk home with her +after evening church; while in the cosey sitting-room mother would +play on the piano, and Master Sunshine and his father would join +in singing their favorite hymns. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +BEING A HERO. + + +"There'll be no rain to-day," said Almira Jane as Master Sunshine +slipped off gayly to school next morning. "Your geese are sure to +be good weather-prophets, and I notice that they are dressing +their feathers and diving comfortably in the little duck-pond." + +"And what would they be doing if it were going to rain?" inquired +Master Sunshine. + +"Geese always get noisy and fidgety before storms," answered +Almira Jane. "That was partly what was the matter with the +Wanderer and his Wife the day you brought them here. They were +doing their best to tell you that there was trouble in the air." + +"There is a great lot of sense, after all, even in creatures that +people think are foolish," thought Master Sunshine to himself as +he set off. Then he turned to wave his hand to his mother, who +threw a kiss at him from an upper window as he disappeared down +the road. + +Tommy and he strolled along, swinging their school satchels as +they went. Presently a sound came to them on the still, morning +air, something like a frightened yet angry sob, then a noise as of +distant laughter. + +"I wonder what the boys are up to to-day," said Tommy, with a +lively look of interest. + +Master Sunshine said nothing, but broke from a walk into a smart +run. He was just a bit afraid that his friend, the half-witted +boy, was in trouble. + +Sure enough! when they had turned the sharp bend in the road, they +came to the scene of the mischief. And then, somehow, all Master +Sunshine's smiles vanished, and a sad, troubled expression fell on +his face. + +A group of schoolboys were teasing Billy Butler, by calling him +mocking names, and even by throwing balls of soft mud at him; +while poor Billy was growing white with rage and was gesticulating +wildly. + +It was not the first time that the schoolboys had made a butt of +poor Billy; and Master Sunshine wished, oh, so much! that he were +not quite so young and small. He was sure that these big boys +would not stop their rude play for him. + +Tommy was by his side now, and the boys were calling to them to +join the crowd. Tommy looked rather undecided. He knew well enough +that the boys were doing wrong, but he feared they would laugh at +him unless he took part too; but Master Sunshine could not stand +the sight. + +"Come, Dick, make the boys stop teasing Billy," cried he, going up +to the big boy who was leading in the rude sport. "He has never +done you any harm." + +Dick looked angrily around. "Listen to bow-legged Norton," he +answered rudely. + +"Run along," jeered another; "you better go and play with the a-b-c +boys at the schoolhouse." + +Master Sunshine could not bear to be teased; but neither had he +the heart to turn away when Billy's eyes were following him so +piteously. His mind was quite made up now, and his temper was +rising fast. + +"If you can do without me, you can do without Billy too," he said +firmly, making his way through the group. "You can call me any +names you like, and throw mud if you want to; but I'm not going to +leave Billy till he can go safely home." + +The boys looked at one another in amazement. Here was Fred Norton +dictating to them what they should and should not do,--a little +chap who had scarcely been a year at school. + +For a moment they were too surprised to make any objection; and +Master Sunshine had actually elbowed his way through the crowd, +and, with Billy by the hand, was making his way back towards home +before they realized what was happening. + +Then a rude lad threw a great handful of mud that spattered on +Master Sunshine's back, and another cried, "Look at his bow-legs." + +Master Sunshine looked back at his tormentors, for the taunt was +harder to bear than the mud itself. The boys were quick to see +this, and a half dozen of them at once joined in the teasing +chorus: "Did you ever see such legs? Before I'd have crooked legs +like that?" + +And then his first tormentor would set in with the taunt of "Bow-legged +Norton! bow-legged Norton!" + +But somehow the fun was quite gone out of it now. A number of the +better-minded boys had left the group, and were walking quietly +along. Tommy was talking vigorously to them. + +"Fred Norton is all right," he exclaimed; "he's as manly and +honest as he can be. He can't bear to see anything ill-treated, +not even a dog; and it is just like him to take Billy's part." + +"He made me feel small somehow," said Ralph, the largest boy of +all. "I suppose I could have stopped the row if I'd thought, but I +was afraid the fellows would be angry at me for spoiling their +sport. I'll not let them tease him any more, though;" and at a +sharp word from him the boys ceased their rude fun. + +Master Sunshine was quite late for school that morning, and when +he did arrive he was so flushed in the face, and so muddy in his +dress, that Mr. Sinclair the teacher guessed that something was +amiss; and a few quiet questions at recess brought out part of the +story from Tommy, who was but too delighted to sing his friend's +praises. + +That afternoon when lessons were over, Mr. Sinclair gathered his +pupils about him. "Boys," he said, "something that happened to-day +makes me afraid that some of you do not know what manliness means; +and, if there is a boy among you who does not wish to grow into a +manly man, I would like him to leave the schoolroom now." + +Tommy Dane turned around and looked very hard at Dick, who had +been the chief of Billy's persecutors; but the boy, though looking +very shame-faced, made no effort to move. + +"Some of you," continued the master, "have been making Billy +Butler very unhappy. Do you think the boy has too much pleasure in +his life?" + +Every boy there made a picture to himself of Billy's life, and +wondered what the master could mean. Billy's home was the worst in +the village, his parents were often unkind to him, his clothes +were always in rags, he had no friends to play with, no one ever +thought of asking him to a party or a picnic or even to play +quietly in the back yard. He had never even had a chum. + +The teacher read their thoughts very easily. "Then," said he, "if +he has no pleasures, why do you not try giving him a few instead +of making his life a burden. A manly boy tries to do what good he +can to his fellow-creatures, and it seems that the manliest boy +among you is one of the youngest pupils." + +The boys looked at Master Sunshine as he spoke, for they knew that +his words could have but one meaning. Some of them smiled as they +did so; but Dick looked away again quickly, as if there was +something in the sight that he could not bear. + +Master Sunshine was sound asleep. His head, all a glitter with its +yellow curls, was cradled on his arm. There were bits of the dried +mud still clinging to the back of his coat. Even the boys who +smiled were deeply touched. They remembered then what a very +little boy he was, and they did not wonder that the excitement of +the morning and the work of the day had quite exhausted him. + +There was something like a tear in Dick's hard gray eyes. + +"Boys," continued the teacher, "tell me what is your idea of a +hero." + +"A man who does what is right whether he likes to or not," said +Ralph, who was feeling much ashamed of his share in the morning's +doings. + +"A man who defends the weak," said Tommy proudly. The teacher +nodded. + +"You are both right," said he; "and I hope from this out to have +not one, but a whole roomful of heroes." + +When the breaking-up of school aroused Master Sunshine, he rubbed +his eyes open and stared about wonderingly. He could not think +what had made him do such a silly thing as to go to sleep in +school. + +The boys crowded around him as he said good-by to Mr. Sinclair and +started for home. Tommy grabbed his books, another lad gave him a +little penknife with a tortoise-shell handle, and a third offered +him a great, shiny, winter apple. + +These delicate attentions were so unexpected that Master Sunshine +was quite bewildered, and he was even more puzzled and perhaps a +little frightened, when Dick caught him up upon his shoulder, and +carried him home in state. + +It was all so new and so unexpected, and he was so tired, that he +did not ask why it was that the boys, led by Mr. Sinclair, gave +three rousing cheers for the "hero of Hill-top school" just as he +and his bearer went out of the school gate. + +He half dozed again, even on his high perch; and it was not until +the shrill voices of the Wanderer and his Wife warned him, that he +realized that he was home at last and that another rainstorm was +drawing near. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +KIND DEEDS. + + +On Friday afternoons Mr. Sinclair usually gave his pupils a very +pleasant hour just before closing. Of late he had been reading +aloud "Beautiful Joe," and all had been interested in the story of +the intelligent dog. + +Tommy Dane listened intently to every word, and was quick to put +in practice every kind suggestion; while Master Sunshine smiled +his approval of the familiar tale, for his own copy of the book +was much thumbed from constant reading. He felt very happy to +think that so many boys who had pets were learning how to take +care of them properly. But he was quite as surprised as the rest +of the lads when, at the close of the reading that week, Mr. +Sinclair leaned over his desk and said, "Boys, I am not going to +read to you next Friday afternoon." + +A little murmur of disappointment ran around the room. "Instead," +he continued, smiling down at their troubled faces, "I want you to +entertain me. The book we have been reading teaches us kindness to +animals, and I should like to hear from each one of you of some +thoughtful act that has made the lives of the dependent creatures +about you a little happier." + +"I know plenty of people who drive their horses too hard, and half +starve them into the bargain," interrupted one of the boys. + +Mr. Sinclair raised his hand. "I am sorry to say that I know of a +few such people myself," he answered; "but we are not talking +about them now. There are many people who are kind to their +four-legged servants and pets, and I want you to learn by their +example. Each one is to tell in his own words of some kind deed +that he has a personal knowledge of, and after that we will see +what is to be done." + +You can imagine how busy the boys were all that week. They asked +questions by the thousands of all their friends. They prowled +about barns and henneries and rabbit hutches until the people in +the village woke up to the idea that the boys of Hill-top school +were taking a lively interest in the welfare of all animals. + +"Give my horses an extra ration of oats and rub them down well, +Jacob," said Banker Patterson, with a twinkle in his eye. "I +wouldn't like to be reported for cruelty to animals, and I notice +that young Tommy Dane and that yellow-headed Norton are eying my +turnout very curiously." Jacob chuckled over the joke, for he well +knew that the banker's horses were the best attended to in the +village. + +"They say," said Jacob, "that Master Sunshine, as they call that +Norton boy, is at the bottom of the whole business;" and thereupon +he told the story to his employer of how the brave little fellow +had protected Billy Butler. + +"A fine boy that and a promising one," said Mr. Patterson +cordially; "but surely," he added, with a slight frown, "he did +not tell you of it himself?" + +"Not he," laughed Jacob; "but Tommy Dane has been full of it ever +since; and Almira Jane, the help over at the cottage, has told me +too. I guess it is owing to her good sense as much as anything +else that he's turned out so well." + +And perhaps it was as well that Jacob did not see the merry +twinkle in the banker's eye at his words. It was surprising how +much Mr. Patterson knew of what went on in the village. + +One thing was sure. None of the boys' pets suffered during that +week. They had never thought so much of them before; and presently +Friday afternoon came, and Mr. Sinclair, leaning back comfortably +in his chair, was asking for their stories. + +He began with Master Sunshine, because he was the youngest of all; +and the little fellow explained how he had learned during the week +that heavy hens like his Cochin Chinas should be given low roosts +because it was such an effort for them to lift their unwieldy +bodies. + +"Mine have all been made low now," he added eagerly; "and Almira +Jane says that it is a good common sense-ical idea." + +They all smiled a little over the way he brought in Almira Jane's +name and her funny word. But they had come to have such respect +for the manly little fellow that no one laughed aloud. + +Then Tommy told how Jacob had taught him to be kind to a pretty +colt which his father was bringing up. + +"I always thought it was fun to play with it. I often teased it +just to make it kick out with its front feet," he said; "but I +know now that that sort of teasing, though it does not hurt the +colt at the time, teaches it the habit of kicking. A kicking horse +is almost worse than no horse at all." + +"The thing I know about happened last winter," said his seat-mate. +"There was plenty of snow and ice about, but nothing for the birds +to drink; so my sister used to put a saucer of water on the +window-ledge each morning. The birds would come from a long way +off to get a sip from it, and they were always glad to pick up a +few crumbs she strewed for them." + +"Mine is a bird story too," said an observant-looking boy; "but +the kindness was done by birds, instead of by people. Last week +when a bill-poster was pasting up some advertisements on our barn, +a sparrow perched on the edge of the bucket, and got his feet and +the tips of his wing-feathers all covered with paste." + +"I meant to catch him and try to tame him, but the bill-poster +said to wait and see what happened next; and sure enough, two +other sparrows came and flew in circles above his head, and +chirped to him as if they were talking over what could be done. At +last he managed to loosen his claws from the paste, and to move +his wings ever so little. The birds, one on each side of him, +helped him to the trough by the side of the road, and he splashed +in the water until the paste was quite washed off." + +"And what did this very curious sight make you think of?" said Mr. +Sinclair, suddenly leaning over his desk, and looking at the lad. + +The boy colored deeply as he said, "It made me think of my string +of birds' eggs at home, and my collection of birds' nests. I +promised myself then that I would never, never do anything to +injure birds again. I thought that if they knew enough to be kind +to each other I ought to know enough to be kind to them." + +It seemed as if there were no end to the good deeds of which the +lads had taken note. + +One had seen an old man digging burdock-roots from the corner of a +sheep-field; and, when he offered his help, had learned how +troublesome the burdock-burrs were to all woolly or hairy animals. + +Another had much to say of a lamb-creep that had been arranged so +as to give the young lambs a fair share of food. The older sheep +too often pushed the young ones aside when feeding-time came, and +their owner had built a little fold, into which only the small +lambs could enter, where a portion of the food was always placed. +All the lambs in his flock were plump and thriving, while in his +neighbor's pastures, where the lambs were left to fight for +themselves, they were thin, miserable-looking creatures. + +Some told of how thoughtful people kept water always where the pet +dogs could get it; and others of the care that should be given to +canaries and to goldfish; and the happy hour was nearly over when +Mr. Norton said, "Now, Dick, you have told us nothing. Before we +break up school for to-day I would like to hear what you have to +say." + +Dick shook his head but his teacher knew that he had been +listening intently to all that went on, and was very hopeful that +at last he had found a way to the heart of his scholar. + +"Let me tell for him, please," interrupted Master Sunshine. "He's +been doing kind things all the week for poor Billy Butler. He dug +him a garden last Saturday night, and has filled it with plants +from his own garden." + +"Ah!" said the teacher, well pleased at the report. "Dick, I think +you have done best of all;" and the boys thumped on the floor with +their heavy boots, and banged the covers of the desks, to show +their appreciation of the good deed. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A HAPPY ENDING. + + +Just as Mr. Sinclair laid his hand on the bell to give the signal +for dismissal, a handsome carriage drove to the door. The boys all +stared out of the window at the unusual sight. Banker Patterson +was helping a lady to alight, and the lady was none other than +Almira Jane. Jacob was smiling down from the driver's seat at the +queer couple. + +Master Sunshine rubbed his eyes in bewilderment. What could Almira +Jane be doing there? and what could be in that great basket that +Jacob was handing down to her? It looked very much like the great +picnic-basket that hung in the kitchen pantry! + +And now it was the banker's turn to be loaded up. Jacob gave him +several heavy parcels, and finally jumped from his perch and +carrying very carefully an odd-shaped package, led the way to the +school door. Billy Butler was standing not far off. He had no fear +of the schoolboys now, and sometimes came to the gate when school +was dismissed to nod to each one he knew, and to say the names +over in his hoarse voice. Jacob called out to him in a friendly +tone, and the boy followed him to the school steps. + +Mr. Sinclair was as much surprised as his pupils at the arrival of +his visitors; but he hastily gave them seats, and was about to +call for classes again, when Mr. Patterson said in his big round +voice,-- + +"Young people, I have not come here to examine your progress in +your studies, but to tell you how delighted I am with the work you +have been at this week. I have never felt so proud of the Hill-top +schoolboys before, and I want to ask you to keep on as you have +begun. + +"I'm afraid I have not always been as thoughtful for my animal +friends as I could wish; but, watching a little neighbor of mine +whose pets require a great deal of care, and whose master is +devoted to them, has made me think a little more of the matter." + +Master Sunshine smiled over at Tommy as much as to say, "Do you +hear him praising you?" for the little fellow did not even dream +that it was his love for his pets and his brave conduct towards +Billy Butler which had brought about this visit. + +"If you boys," continued the banker, "will study the needs of all +the animals about us, and keep on talking about all the kind deeds +you learn of, we shall soon have a model village, where every +horse and cow, and lamb and dog and cat, will be comfortably +looked after. + +"I have heard that your good teacher, Mr. Sinclair, has been +wishing for a school library for you," he continued, "so I have +to-day brought my contribution towards it." And as the banker +spoke he untied the great bundles of handsomely bound natural +history books enriched with many beautiful colored pictures, and a +number of volumes of stories of animals. + +"I am sure," he added, "that the more you know about our animal +friends the more interested you will be in their welfare. I have +learned with a great deal of interest that one of you is planning +to erect a drinking-fountain in the village when he is a man. Now, +suppose, instead of waiting till that somewhat distant day, that +we make a bargain. If you will endeavor for a whole year to make +the lives of all helpless creatures happy, I will for my part +promise to put up a fountain where men and horses and dogs and +birds may have a refreshing drink. But remember, I will not do +this until I am sure that you have done your part faithfully. This +is a miniature copy of the fountain I am willing to erect." + +At a word from him Jacob quickly threw the covering from the +package which he had placed on the desk, and the boys exclaimed +with delight at the beautiful model of a fountain which was +displayed. + +They surrounded it in an instant, and were quick to admire every +detail--the great horse with his shaggy mane on top, the tiny mug +hung at the faucets for wayfarers, the wide trough for horses and +cows, and the four little basins for dogs and birds. + +"This is the model of the fountain you are to earn," said their +new friend pleasantly. "You may keep it in your schoolroom as a +reminder." + +Just didn't these boys cheer. The schoolhouse fairly shook with +the noise and tumult they made. They gathered like bees about +their friend to promise him that they would earn the fountain +faithfully, and to thank him a dozen times over for the beautiful +books. + +At this, Almira Jane, who had been listening with a happy smile to +the little speech, suddenly threw off the cover of her basket; and +there, lying on white napkins, were layers of the crispest +doughnuts and dozens of molasses cookies of her most delicious +make. + +The boys needed no invitation to fall to, for the sight of the +dainties was quite enough; and Dick took care that Billy, whose +hungry eyes were looking in at the door, should have a share as +well. + +A few minutes later all the fun was over. Almira Jane, waving her +empty basket to rid it of the crumbs, climbed into the carriage; +and at Mr. Patterson's request Master Sunshine and Tommy accepted +his place, while he remained for a quiet talk with Mr. Sinclair. +The rest of the boys sauntered happily home, with a pleasant word +each for Billy, who by this time was so amazed at the good fortune +that had befallen him that he could find no words in which to +express his feelings. + +But that was not all, I can tell you. The boys were full of the +new idea; and strange as it may seem, the more kind things they +saw done, the more they were anxious to do themselves, and nearly +all the objectionable pastimes they had formerly engaged in were +laid aside. No one ever went fishing just for the pleasure of +throwing the panting, struggling fish on the grass; no one ever +tormented frogs, or pulled the wings off the poor flies nowadays. + +The boys of the Hill-top school had taken all living things under +their protection, and you may be sure that they put down all kinds +of thoughtless cruelty. + +It was just a year from the day on which they made their bargain +with Mr. Patterson that the fountain was set up. It was shrouded +in a great flag until it should be finally unveiled. + +It was a great day in the village, I can tell you. Never before +had the Hill-top schoolboys been so looked up to. The fountain was +their gift to the village. They had earned it faithfully and well. +They were all there, drawn up in a circle about the fountain,--Ralph +and Dick and Tommy and Master Sunshine, and all the other pupils +of the school. Close by were gathered their relatives and friends; +for the formal unveiling was felt to be a most important matter, +and the whole village had turned out to witness the ceremony. + +Mrs. Norton was looking very pleased and happy over some words +that Mr. Patterson said quietly in her ear, while Lucy, now a baby +no longer, cried out from her post on her father's shoulder, "It's +dee Suns'ine's fountain, it's dee Suns'ine's fountain;" and Almira +Jane dressed in her best bib and tucker, and Jacob dressed in his +Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes, looked across at each other very +kindly. + +Presently Mr. Patterson in a few words told of the events that had +led to the erection of the fountain, and Mr. Sinclair called on +Master Frederick Norton to pull down the great flag that veiled +the fountain from view. A cry of admiration went up from the crowd +as the fountain, a most beautiful work of art, burst on their +view. + +At a second signal from Mr. Sinclair, plenteous streams of +sparkling water gushed into the troughs and basins, while the boys +of the Hill-top school burst into a song which their teacher had +especially prepared for the occasion. + +Gyp and Tim meantime, who had followed their young masters from +home, suddenly realized what all the disturbance was about, and +with one accord they made their way through the crowd, and began +to lap up water from the dog-basins with as little concern as if +they had been used to these luxuries all their lives. + +Master Sunshine's eyes were with his pet, you may be sure; and +suddenly he stopped singing right in the middle of a verse, and +gazed in wonder at the words which were carved low down at the +base of the fountain, "I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink." + +"How could Mr. Patterson know the very text I liked best of all?" +he said to himself. And he pondered over it all that day. In the +evening, after he had tended to his Cochin Chinas and captured the +Guinea hens in the very act of stealing away, and had seen that +the Wanderer and his Wife were under shelter, a light suddenly +broke on him. + +"O Almira Jane, I believe it was you who told!" he exclaimed as he +burst into the kitchen; and although she never would admit it, I +think she did. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Master Sunshine, by Mrs. C. F. Fraser + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MASTER SUNSHINE *** + +***** This file should be named 4571.txt or 4571.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/5/7/4571/ + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. 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Fraser + +Release Date: October, 2003 [Etext #4571] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 11, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Master Sunshine +by Mrs. C. F. Fraser +******This file should be named msuns10.txt or msuns10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, msuns11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, msuns10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep etexts in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +The "legal small print" and other information about this book may +be found at the end of this file. Please read this important +information, as it gives you specific rights and tells you about +restrictions in how the file may be used. + + +********************************************************************* +Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +MASTER SUNSHINE + +BY MRS. C. F. FRASER + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + I. WHO HE WAS + II. THE WANDERER AND HIS WIFE + III. THE RAINY DAY + IV. A SUNDAY WITH FATHER + V. BEING A HERO + VI. KIND DEEDS + VII. A HAPPY ENDING + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +WHO HE WAS. + + +Of course his real name was not Master Sunshine. + +Who ever heard of a boy with a name like that? + +But his mother said that long before he could speak he chose the +name for himself, for even as a baby he was full of a cheery good +humor that was always sparkling out in his winning smiles and his +rippling laugh. He was a good-natured, happy child from the time +that he could toddle about; and he was very young when he began to +give pleasure to his friends by serving them in all the little +ways within his power. + +The very golden curls that topped his small head glistened as if +they had caught and imprisoned the glory of the morning sun; and +it really did seem as if a better name could not be found for the +merry, helpful little fellow than Master Sunshine. + +His real name was a very different affair--Frederick Alexander +Norton--and his boy friends called him Freddy for short. His +little sister Lucy called him "buzzer" and Suns'ine; and Almira +Jane, the help, who made the brownest and crispest of molasses +cookies, and the most delicious twisted doughnuts, said he was a +"swate angel of light," except at such times as she called him a +"rascalpion." + +Master Sunshine never stopped to argue with Almira Jane when she +called him a "rascalpion." He knew that this was a plain sign that +she was getting "nervous;" and when Almira Jane was nervous, it +was always best for small boys to be out of the way. + +A little later, when the kitchen floor had been scrubbed, and the +stove polished like a shiny black mirror, and the bread-dough had +been kneaded and set to rise, he knew he would be a welcome +visitor again. + +Perhaps that was one of the many reasons why people loved him so. +He was always considerate. He had the good sense not to keep on +asking questions and offering help when it was best to go quietly +away. Somehow he always felt sure that his turn would come +presently, and that Almira Jane would be sorry she had called him +such a hard name, and would be only too pleased to have him look +over the beans for the bean-pot, and fill the wood-box, and do all +the other little kitchen chores that he delighted in. + +There were sure to be pleasant times after one of Almira Jane's +nervous attacks. When she was quite over her flurry and worry, +Daisy, the Maltese cat, would crawl out of her hiding-place under +the stove, and arch her tail, and purr contentedly as she rubbed +her long, graceful body against the table-legs; while Gyp, the pet +dog, would hurry in from the dog-house under the shade of the +orchard-trees, and jump on Almira Jane's shoulder, and she would +be as pleased as possible over his knowing ways. At such times +Master Sunshine was very fond of Almira Jane. + +He loved Lucy with a steady affection, too, though she pulled his +curls sometimes until he fairly expected to lose the whole of his +golden locks. She needed a great deal of patient amusement, too, +and she was not very considerate of his belongings. + +One day he was very angry, and his hand was lifted in anger +against her. + +The trouble was that she had torn in two his favorite picture of +elephants in his animal book. The little girl was quite unaware of +the mischief her chubby fingers had wrought, but she knew very +well by the look of Master Sunshine's overcast face that in some +way she had displeased him. + +So, pursing up her lips in a smile not unlike his own sunshiny +one, she lisped, in funny imitation of her mother,-- + +"Never mind, Suns'ine, little sister's sorry;" and, strange to +say, at her words the angry passion left him, and tears of shame +stood in his blue eyes. + +"Of course," he said afterwards, in telling the story to his +mother, "I know that Lucy didn't know the sense of what she was +saying, but she did seem to know how to get at the "sensibliness" +of me. Just imagine, mother, how bad we would all have felt if I +had struck my own dear sister that God sent us to take care of!" + +And that was so like Master Sunshine. He never willingly gave pain +to any living creature; and although he was sometimes careless and +forgetful, just like other boys, yet he was never known to be +wilfully unkind. + +He loved his mother very dearly too, and perhaps it was from her +gentle ways that he had learned to be so thoughtful for others. He +told her all his joys, and all his secrets save one; and he dearly +loved the bedtime hour, when she read to him the stories that he +most admired,--stories of brave deeds were the kind he was always +asking for. But neither of them ever dreamed that the quiet +bedtime hours were teaching him to be a hero. + +It did not seem possible that an eight-year-old boy could be a +hero such as one reads of in books. + +Of course, he was going to do great things when he was a man. He +meant to make a great fortune, of which half was to be his +mother's; and if she chose to spend it on churches and +missionaries and schools, so much the better. + +He was sure she would rather do this than buy herself handsome +dresses and diamond rings and ruby necklaces; and he was quite +certain that, when she wore her gray gown and her gray bonnet, +with the purple violets tucked under the brim, that she was the +most beautiful lady in the world. + +His own share of the fortune he planned to spend in many ways. He +promised himself, among other things, that he would put up a +fountain in the village, where tired people and thirsty horses and +cows and dogs and birds would come for a drink. "I'd have a text +on it too," he would say, with his eyes shining with excitement. +"It should be, 'I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink.' And of +course 'I' would mean the Lord; for the Bible tells us how kind he +was to all helpless things, and I think he would be pleased to +have all the animals tended to as well as the thirsty people. I +wish I could be a man now, and they would not have to go thirsty +any longer." + +He often told Almira Jane about the fountain too; and she always +said that it was a capital idea. + +But it was to his father only that he told his secret. + +It was a queer secret, and a very real trouble, too, I can tell +you. + +Part of it was that Master Sunshine was just the least bit bow- +legged. + +Of course there could not be much of a secret about that. Lots of +people knew it quite well. In fact, if you looked carefully at the +well-shaped limbs in the trim blue stockings and neat knicker- +bockers, you could easily see that the legs curved slightly +outwards. + +But the real secret--the real heart and soul of the matter--was +that being bow-legged was a great, great grief to Master Sunshine. +No one but his father ever knew this--not even his mother, or +Almira Jane, or Lucy. It was too sore a subject to speak of +freely. + +It was on the day when he first put on trousers that his troubles +began. It seemed to him that people began then to make such odd +remarks about him; and the strangest thing of all was that they +would seem to quite forget that he heard every word they said, and +that they never seemed to understand how they were hurting his +feelings. + +For a time he solved the difficulty in a clever way. He begged his +mother to make him some loose sailor suits with long bagging legs. + +They served their purpose well, and so long as they lasted no one +ever spoke of the tender subject that he wished to avoid. But +still he never felt comfortable about them in his mind. + +It seemed such a cowardly thing to hide his legs like that, and he +did so want to be manly in all his ways. + +So, after a long talk one day with his father, as they sauntered +hand in hand down a shady country road, with Gyp sporting and +playing alongside, he decided to face the trouble bravely, and +wear knickerbockers like other boys of his age. And, instead of +sulking or fretting about what he could not help, he set himself +to making allowances for other people. + +"Father says that every one has his trials," he would say to +himself sagely; "and I dare say that most folks have worse trials +than mine. So when Almira Jane is 'nervous,' and Lucy is fretful, +or mother has her bad headaches, I must just remember to be +'specially good to them. Maybe, after all, bow-leggedness isn't +the worst thing to put up with." + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE WANDERER AND HIS WIFE. + + +Master Sunshine was such a busy boy. Sometimes it seemed to him +that the reason he did not get into as much mischief as other boys +of his age was because he really had no time in which to be idle. + +There was school each day, to begin with, and lessons to be +prepared, and story-books to read, and the flower-garden to be +cared for, and Gyp to teach new tricks to, and the pets to be +tended and looked after,--in fact, there were more things than I +can tell you of always waiting to be done. + +It was nearly one boy's work, for instance, to take care of the +Guinea fowls,--the handsome, mottled hens, that never knew when +they were well off, but were always running away and getting lost. +If it had not been for their shrill, silly cackle, their hiding- +places would never have been found. Master Sunshine pursued them +every time they strayed, and brought them home triumphantly. I +think he loved his sturdy family of Cochin Chinas best; for the +great rooster, with his well-feathered legs and scarlet comb, +always seemed to recognize him as a friend, and the plump hens +laid the most delicious eggs, the exact hue of their own buff +plumage. It was never any trouble to feed and water them, or to +let them out of the hen-yard for a short run. + +Every one knew that the Wanderer and his Wife were Master +Sunshine's property. The Wanderer was a great white gander, with a +long neck and a still longer tongue, if one could measure it by +the clatter it made in the world. His Wife was a patient gray +goose, who waddled after him unceasingly, and was always ready to +add her shrill voice to his. + +It troubled their young owner not a little that the Wanderer had +to wear a great yoke of light wood about his neck; but after the +bird had twice run away and trampled the gardens of their +neighbors, he could see that it was necessary. + +Almira Jane put the matter very clearly before him. "I don't think +he does like his collar much, and it ain't really ornamental," +said she; "but it is kinder to the neighbors to have him wear a +yoke so that he cannot squeeze between the pickets in the fences +to destroy the gardens." + +"But the goose may do the same mischief," interrupted Master +Sunshine anxiously. + +Almira Jane shook her head wisely. + +"The poor silly thing will never think of it by herself," she +answered. "All she does is to follow her mate; and if we keep him +out of trouble, she will be all right, I promise you." + +It always made Almira Jane laugh when she thought of the day when +Master Sunshine brought the Wanderers home. Master Sunshine had +gone to old Mrs. Sorefoot, who lived down the road, to get a +setting of Leghorn eggs. The old lady, whose life was being made +miserable by the clamor of the pair of geese which a grandchild +had brought her the week before as a particularly choice gift, +told Master Sunshine that, if he would but take them away, they +should be his property. + +The little fellow was more delighted than I can tell you. He had +always wanted to own geese, and this was such a good chance. And +he made up his mind on the instant that as soon as he got them +home, he would remove the queer-looking collar from the gander's +neck. + +Then he set out for home, oh, so proudly! + +On one arm he carried carefully the basket of eggs; under the +other was the gray goose, with her legs securely tied. Behind him, +led, or rather dragged, by a stout cord passed through the opening +in the yoke, came the white gander, who was quite able by +spreading his powerful wings to contest every step of the way. +Poor Master Sunshine! What a time he did have, and how very hot +and excited he was before he reached home! + +Almira Jane saw him coming, and flew to meet him. Never in her +life had she seen such a strange sight. The little fellow set the +basket of eggs gently on the ground, laid the struggling goose on +her side, and made the Wanderer fast to a fence-post, before he +could answer her many questions. + +Then he mopped his forehead with his small handkerchief, and drew +a deep sigh of relief. + +"O Almira Jane! it has been the worst time," he said. "If you'll +just look at my stockings, I am afraid you will see that there is +lots of darning to be done." + +Almira Jane surveyed the calves of his plump legs wonderingly. +Sure enough, there were dozens of little round holes through which +the pink skin was showing. There were even little stains of blood +on the ravelled yarn. + +"The old gander has nipped my legs with his sharp bill, and butted +me with his yoke, and pulled on the string so I could scarcely +keep my feet. The gray goose has flapped me with her wings +whenever she got the chance; and in getting them safely here, I +nearly fell a dozen times, and broke the whole setting of eggs," +he said excitedly. + +Almira Jane looked admiringly at him. "You ain't got much +strength, but you got considerable grit," she said proudly. + +"But they didn't know how inconvenient it was for me," added the +boy more calmly. "When they see how kind we are to them, I think +they will be sorry about the way they treated me." + +Almira Jane looked at the gander critically, and cut the string +that bound the gray goose's legs, before she made any reply. + +"They need their wings clipped," she said. "That is the kindest +thing we can do for them." + +Master Sunshine looked both surprised and grieved. + +"You see, Sunshine," she continued, "geese are wild birds still, +though generations and generations of our grandfathers tried to +tame them, yet they are not wild enough to look after themselves. +When they stray away from their homes they have not wit enough +either to find food which is suitable to them, or to hide +themselves from dogs or wild animals who delight to worry them; so +the best thing we can do is to fit them for the life we want them +to lead." + +Master Sunshine nodded thoughtfully. He had great faith in Almira +Jane's knowledge, and the good sense of her arguments always +satisfied his judgment. + +It was not until he had gone in the house, and was well out of +hearing, that Almira Jane began to laugh; and such a clear, +ringing, downright, hearty laugh it was, the old Wanderer bumped +his yoke against the fence to show his approval, and the gray +goose joined in with high, shrill screams of delight. It really +seemed as if they were trying to tell Almira Jane what they +thought of their journey along the road with their new master. + +There were not many houses near the pretty white cottage in which +Master Sunshine lived. The Hill-top school, of which he was a +pupil, was quite a half-mile away; and Tommy Dane, who lived just +across the street from his home, used to walk there with him every +day. Master Sunshine was very fond of Tommy, though his little +friend had some ways that he did not wholly like. + +The only other boy near-by was Billy Butler, a poor, half-witted +idiot, who lived with his family in a tiny cottage under the side +of a hill. Master Sunshine was very pitiful of Billy's sad lot, +and many an apple and slice of bread did he share with him. + +Not far away was the beautiful summer house of Mr. Patterson, a +city banker. The lawns and flower-beds there were always beautiful +to see; and the great house with its many bay windows and broad +verandas always seemed like a palace to Master Sunshine. But best +of all he loved the great stable where a prancing silver horse was +always riding on the weather vane. + +It was at the stable that he saw his friend Jacob, who was quite +as wonderful in his knowledge of animals as Almira Jane. + +It took a great deal of Master Sunshine's time just to repeat +Jacob's stories to Almira Jane; and he noticed that whenever he +began to tell Jacob about what Almira Jane said--Almira Jane was +brought up on a Nova Scotia farm and knew everything about +animals--his listener would stamp on the barn floor to show his +approval, and would listen to every word. + +The great stable was a very pleasant place these spring days. The +horses were all so well groomed, their stalls were all so +perfectly clean, and, in the barn beyond, the cows looked round +from their place with such friendly eyes, Master Sunshine used to +wish that every one in the village would come to admire the place +and to talk with Jacob. He was sure that everyone who talked to +Jacob would be kind to animals ever after. + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE RAINY DAY. + + +The sky was all leaden and overcast when Master Sunshine woke up +one morning. The fast-falling rain-drops were so big and so close +together that it almost seemed as if some great sky-ocean was +pouring down upon the earth. It was too wet for him to go to +school, and he had to make up his mind to enjoy a quiet day in- +doors. + +Almira Jane put on her waterproof and rubbers, and attended to the +hens and the geese; and in order to pay her back for doing his +work, Master Sunshine polished the silver spoons and forks with +whitening, and rubbed them with a chamois-skin until they fairly +gleamed. Then after he had tidied up the wood-shed, and cut paper +in a fancy pattern for the dresser shelves, he decided that he was +a bit tired of doing things, and he curled up in the big crimson +arm-chair by the dining-room window with a new story-book. + +Presently Lucy's voice arose in a fretful wail. + +Master Sunshine, I am sorry to say, shut his ears to her pitiful +cry. He was so comfortable and cosey and the story-book was so +interesting. + +The wail became louder and louder. It was evident that Lucy was on +her way down-stairs. In a moment she was in the room by his side, +and by this time her wail had grown to a terrified scream. + +"O Suns'ine! take zem kitty off!" she begged. + +Truly enough his little sister was in great trouble. But a minute +before Spry, the kitten, had strayed away from the mother-cat, and +Lucy and she had got into mischief already. + +Master Sunshine made haste to lift the kitten from Lucy's +shoulder, where it had taken refuge; and he was very sorry to see +that the sharp claws of the little paws had made their marks on +her plump neck. + +"Kiss it p'ease, and make it well," begged Lucy tearfully as she +climbed on his knee; while the kitten, after looking nervously +around, sought refuge in Master Sunshine's coat-pocket. + +"Lucy was dwessin' kitty in dollie's clothes, and it went 'spitz!' +and runned up her shoulder," wept Lucy. + +Master Sunshine kissed the smarting neck, and cuddled the pet in +his arms. + +"Buzzer will slap kitty for biting sister wiz its finder nails," +she begged. + +"Brother will show sister how to be kind to kitty," he answered, +as he drew the trembling ball of fur from its hiding-place, and +stroked it with a tender hand. "Spry is not a dolly, and does not +like to wear dollie's clothes. Lucy will rub her under her chin +just above the white star on her breast, and she will sing a +pretty cat-song to show how happy she is, and brother will show +Lucy how to lift kitty by the loose skin about her neck. Lucy must +play she is mother-cat whenever she plays with Spry." + +And at the prospect of such a new and delightful game Lucy dried +her eyes, and called him her "dee, dee Suns'ine." + +And then, what do you suppose? Why, she just laid her tear-stained +face up against his shoulder, and opened her rosy mouth in a great +yawn, and dropped quietly off to sleep. + +But Master Sunshine's thoughts were not quite so care-free as +Lucy's. "Next time I must be a better brother," he said to +himself; and when his mother came to carry the baby to her crib, +he would not let her give him a word of praise. "I am too ashamed +to tell you why, mother," he said; "but after this I mean to take +better care of my little sister." + +The rain kept falling steadily, and after dinner, when mamma had +gone to lie down, and Almira Jane was washing up the dishes, +Master Sunshine was drumming on the window-pane, and wondering +what he should do the whole long afternoon. Just then Tommy Dane +came running up towards the house, and behind him scampered a dog, +very like Gyp, who, when he heard the familiar bark, put his paws +on the window-sill, and wagged his tail with delight; while Daisy, +meowing to Spry to follow her, fled hastily up the kitchen +stairway. + +"Mother said I might bring Tim over and have you teach him tricks +this afternoon," announced Tommy, shaking the rain off his coat. + +"Tim is not a smart dog, like your Gyp. He does not seem to be +able to think. I almost wish I had taken Gyp when I had the +chance." + +Master Sunshine and Tommy had got their dogs from the same litter +of puppies, and Tommy had had the first choice. + +"Tim is such a cross, snappy dog," continued Tommy. "He makes me +angry every time I try to teach him anything." + +"May be it is because you are angry that he is cross and snappy," +said Almira Jane, half under her breath. + +Of course Master Sunshine was very proud to exhibit Gyp. He loved +to have his pet look up at him with trusting brown eyes; and when +Gyp sprang on his knee, and put his paws affectionately about his +master's neck, it always seemed as if he were not quite a dog, but +something very like a dear human friend. Gyp had such winning ways +too. He would stand on his hind legs and beg, or he would seat +himself on a chair, and hold out a paw to shake hands with, in the +most knowing manner; and all of these accomplishments he owed to +his little master's patient teaching. + +Almira Jane was through washing the dishes now; and as she took +the broom in hand to begin sweeping out the kitchen, Tim gave a +frightened growl, and fled to the dining-room. + +Almira Jane grew very red in the face as she said, "That dog can +think well enough, and tell his thoughts too. It is plain to me +that some one has used a broom to ill-treat the poor, helpless +creature with." + +Almira Jane looked very hard at Tommy as she spoke; but Tommy +threw back his head as if he did not much care what she said, and +followed his dog into the dining-room. "Let's keep away from that +girl," he said coaxingly; "it seems to me she is very +interfering." + +"She taught me how to teach Gyp," said Master Sunshine politely; +"and she is very wise about animals. You'll be fond of her, too, +when you understand her ways. She only gets 'nervous,' like she +was now, when she is very busy and hurried, or when she thinks +people have been unkind. I'm sure she did not mean that you had +beaten your Tim with a broom." + +Tommy hung his head. + +"But I did," he said, almost in a whisper; "he would not shake +hands, as I wanted him to, so I took up the broom and gave him a +blow with it. I thought no one saw me do it, and I never imagined +Tim would tell." + +Master Sunshine was very much shocked. He had not believed that +his friend would be guilty of such a deed. "Tommy," he said +gravely, "if you are unkind to Tim he will never look at you as if +he loved you, and that is the nicest thing about having a dog." + +"I got him a pound of raw meat from the butcher's to make up for +it," said Tommy, half sulkily. + +"But that wasn't kind, either, though you meant it to be so," +cried Master Sunshine; "Tim is too young a dog to have so much +meat at one time. He needs to have his meals regularly, just like +you and me. Too much fresh meat will make him very cross. Perhaps +that is part of the reason why he snaps at you." + +Tommy was much interested. "I wonder why I never knew that +before?" he cried. "After this I will see about his meals myself. +I always thought that if you gave a dog a bone now and then he +would get along all right." + +By this time Master Sunshine was busy with Tim, propping him on +his hind legs, and rewarding him each time he held himself erect +for a second with a kind word or a pat on the head; and when at +last Tim balanced himself for a whole half-minute, his teacher +flew to the kitchen for a lump of sugar, which the dog crunched +with great enjoyment between his sharp white teeth. + +It was quite dark before they noticed how the time was going. The +clock was just striking six when Almira Jane put her head in at +the dining-room door. + +"Mrs. Dane is calling for Tommy," she announced; "and before he +goes I must give you each a bit of lunch." And whipping open the +oven door with a corner of her apron, she drew out a couple of +puffy apple turnovers, all fragrant with cinnamon and gummy with +sugar, and sizzling with hot apple-juice. Tommy glanced slyly at +her as he bit into his dainty. + +"Your Almira Jane has nice ways, even if her eyes are sharp," he +said to Master Sunshine as he bade him good-by. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A SUNDAY WITH FATHER. + + +What a welcome day Sunday was to Master Sunshine! + +To be sure he did not always enjoy going to church, for sometimes +the sermon seemed long and tiresome; but there was always the +singing to look forward to, and the breaking up of the +congregation after the benediction had been said. It was always so +pleasant then, for the ladies in their pretty gowns and the men in +their black Sunday coats exchanged kindly greetings with one +another; and Master Sunshine, in his best blue blouse, with golden +anchors embroidered on the shoulders, would follow sedately with +his family, and shake hands with the minister, and nod to his boy +and girl acquaintances in a very grown-up manner. + +Though there were many things about the service that he could not +understand, yet it always pleased him to think that so many people +had come together to do honor to God. It seemed so like the Old +Testament times, when the people went up to Jerusalem to worship +the Lord. + +Sunday-school took up another hour of the day, and the lessons +there were always easy to understand. Miss Bell, his young +teacher, had always pictures to show them of the places they read +about; and there were texts and hymns to recite, and the class +missionary box to put pennies in. + +But what Master Sunshine looked forward to most of all was the +Sunday afternoon walk with his father. Usually they would ramble +off to the woods or to some quiet by-road, and talk over all the +doings of the week. And if Master Sunshine had done anything that +was mean or selfish, he was sure to tell about it then. + +"Any boy can be good on Sunday, when his father is with him," +explained Master Sunshine; "it's on the week-days, when there +isn't a man round, that he is most apt to get into trouble. And I +tell you the worst about me, father, so you won't think I'm a +better boy than I really am." + +It was always so comforting to talk things over, even if he had +been doing wrong; for he was always sure of understanding and +sympathy and good advice. + +"I often wish every boy and his father were chums like us," he +said once. "Now, when Tommy Dane gets in trouble, he is always +afraid to go to his father, and his mother is too busy to be +bothered; so he just has to go to some of the school-boys. Of +course, they don't know much better than he does; and their advice +is just as apt as not to be wrong, and poor Tommy finds himself in +worse trouble than ever. + +"Only last week he burst the class foot-ball by standing on it, +and the boys said he must buy another. He had no money; but they +told him to sell something of his own, and use the money to buy +another ball. So he sent the silver mug that his aunt gave him +when he was a baby, up to town, and it sold for enough to buy a +new ball. Then the teacher wanted to know how it was that the boys +happened to have so much money, and Mrs. Dane missed the silver +mug. Mr. Dane came to the school and took Tommy home, and he was, +oh, so angry with him! He said, 'he was disgraced because his son +was a thief,'" and Master Sunshine's tone grew very indignant. + +"You see, father, that if Tommy had only gone to some one like you +at the first, there would have been no trouble at all." + +"And what do you think I would have advised in such a case?" asked +Mr. Norton, much interested in the little tale. + +Master Sunshine looked at him wonderingly. + +"Why, father," he said, "don't you remember about me breaking the +great pane of glass in the schoolhouse window? You lent me the +money to pay for having it put in, and I had to give you my +allowance for ever so long until I made it all up." + +"But would Tommy's father have done as much for him?" questioned +Mr. Norton. + +"If they were chums like you and me I am sure he would," answered +Master Sunshine promptly. + +"And do you think Tommy did right to sell his mug?" asked Mr. +Norton, much interested as to what his son would say. + +"The mug was his own, so I don't think it was stealing to take +it," said Master Sunshine slowly; "but of course it was not right +for him to take it away without letting his people know. There are +lots of things in our house that were given to me, and are mine to +use and have; but they are not mine to sell and give away like my +toys and tops. You never told me so, but I always knew there were +two ways of owning things." + +"We have no flowers for mother yet," said Mr. Norton, dismissing +the subject as he rose from the rock on which they had been +resting. "I wonder what we can find for her to-day." + +How well they knew where to look, and how many happy exclamations +came from Master Sunshine as they discovered a clump of ferns just +unfolding from the green balls in which Dame Nature had securely +packed them. + +In a marshy spot, a host of white violets sent up their dainty +perfume; and close by the bed of a tiny brook, a scarlet trilium +showed its velvety petals. A sunny hillside was covered with deep +purple violets, while under the roadside there were trails of +winter-berry vines still green and fresh in spite of the snows +that had lain on them; and here and there were the satiny blossoms +of the glossy-leaved pigeon-berry. + +A pair of keel-tailed blackbirds were building in a tall tree +overhead; and the sweet, clear notes of one of them delighted +Master Sunshine until he heard the mate answering back with a +harsh, scraping noise not unlike a dull saw making its way through +a log of knotted wood. A robin gave a mellow chirp; and the +Peabody bird was filling the air with its sweet, sad strain. + +It was always very hard to leave the woods and fields at such +times. They were so full of life and brightness, and there always +seemed a special Sunday calm about. + +But there were the home people to consider. Lucy would be awake +now from her afternoon nap, and would be longing for her romp with +her "fazzer man;" and mother would be so delighted with her +flowers, and Master Sunshine would be needed to help arrange them; +while Almira Jane was sure to be wondering what was keeping "the +folks" so late. The Sunday tea would be ready for them too--and a +specially good tea it always was. There would be slices of cold +meat spread on a platter of parsley; and the thinnest slices of +bread-and-butter on the best bread-plates, and frosted cake; and, +most likely, peach or strawberry preserves from the jam-cupboard. + +Almira Jane was sure to be in good humor too; for there was little +work to do on Sunday, and she seldom got a chance to be "nervous" +on the day of rest, and like as not Jacob would walk home with her +after evening church; while in the cosey sitting-room mother would +play on the piano, and Master Sunshine and his father would join +in singing their favorite hymns. + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +BEING A HERO. + + +"There'll be no rain to-day," said Almira Jane as Master Sunshine +slipped off gayly to school next morning. "Your geese are sure to +be good weather-prophets, and I notice that they are dressing +their feathers and diving comfortably in the little duck-pond." + +"And what would they be doing if it were going to rain?" inquired +Master Sunshine. + +"Geese always get noisy and fidgety before storms," answered +Almira Jane. "That was partly what was the matter with the +Wanderer and his Wife the day you brought them here. They were +doing their best to tell you that there was trouble in the air." + +"There is a great lot of sense, after all, even in creatures that +people think are foolish," thought Master Sunshine to himself as +he set off. Then he turned to wave his hand to his mother, who +threw a kiss at him from an upper window as he disappeared down +the road. + +Tommy and he strolled along, swinging their school satchels as +they went. Presently a sound came to them on the still, morning +air, something like a frightened yet angry sob, then a noise as of +distant laughter. + +"I wonder what the boys are up to to-day," said Tommy, with a +lively look of interest. + +Master Sunshine said nothing, but broke from a walk into a smart +run. He was just a bit afraid that his friend, the half-witted +boy, was in trouble. + +Sure enough! when they had turned the sharp bend in the road, they +came to the scene of the mischief. And then, somehow, all Master +Sunshine's smiles vanished, and a sad, troubled expression fell on +his face. + +A group of schoolboys were teasing Billy Butler, by calling him +mocking names, and even by throwing balls of soft mud at him; +while poor Billy was growing white with rage and was gesticulating +wildly. + +It was not the first time that the schoolboys had made a butt of +poor Billy; and Master Sunshine wished, oh, so much! that he were +not quite so young and small. He was sure that these big boys +would not stop their rude play for him. + +Tommy was by his side now, and the boys were calling to them to +join the crowd. Tommy looked rather undecided. He knew well enough +that the boys were doing wrong, but he feared they would laugh at +him unless he took part too; but Master Sunshine could not stand +the sight. + +"Come, Dick, make the boys stop teasing Billy," cried he, going up +to the big boy who was leading in the rude sport. "He has never +done you any harm." + +Dick looked angrily around. "Listen to bow-legged Norton," he +answered rudely. + +"Run along," jeered another; "you better go and play with the a-b-c +boys at the schoolhouse." + +Master Sunshine could not bear to be teased; but neither had he +the heart to turn away when Billy's eyes were following him so +piteously. His mind was quite made up now, and his temper was +rising fast. + +"If you can do without me, you can do without Billy too," he said +firmly, making his way through the group. "You can call me any +names you like, and throw mud if you want to; but I'm not going to +leave Billy till he can go safely home." + +The boys looked at one another in amazement. Here was Fred Norton +dictating to them what they should and should not do,--a little +chap who had scarcely been a year at school. + +For a moment they were too surprised to make any objection; and +Master Sunshine had actually elbowed his way through the crowd, +and, with Billy by the hand, was making his way back towards home +before they realized what was happening. + +Then a rude lad threw a great handful of mud that spattered on +Master Sunshine's back, and another cried, "Look at his bow-legs." + +Master Sunshine looked back at his tormentors, for the taunt was +harder to bear than the mud itself. The boys were quick to see +this, and a half dozen of them at once joined in the teasing +chorus: "Did you ever see such legs? Before I'd have crooked legs +like that?" + +And then his first tormentor would set in with the taunt of "Bow- +legged Norton! bow-legged Norton!" + +But somehow the fun was quite gone out of it now. A number of the +better-minded boys had left the group, and were walking quietly +along. Tommy was talking vigorously to them. + +"Fred Norton is all right," he exclaimed; "he's as manly and +honest as he can be. He can't bear to see anything ill-treated, +not even a dog; and it is just like him to take Billy's part." + +"He made me feel small somehow," said Ralph, the largest boy of +all. "I suppose I could have stopped the row if I'd thought, but I +was afraid the fellows would be angry at me for spoiling their +sport. I'll not let them tease him any more, though;" and at a +sharp word from him the boys ceased their rude fun. + +Master Sunshine was quite late for school that morning, and when +he did arrive he was so flushed in the face, and so muddy in his +dress, that Mr. Sinclair the teacher guessed that something was +amiss; and a few quiet questions at recess brought out part of the +story from Tommy, who was but too delighted to sing his friend's +praises. + +That afternoon when lessons were over, Mr. Sinclair gathered his +pupils about him. "Boys," he said, "something that happened to-day +makes me afraid that some of you do not know what manliness means; +and, if there is a boy among you who does not wish to grow into a +manly man, I would like him to leave the schoolroom now." + +Tommy Dane turned around and looked very hard at Dick, who had +been the chief of Billy's persecutors; but the boy, though looking +very shame-faced, made no effort to move. + +"Some of you," continued the master, "have been making Billy +Butler very unhappy. Do you think the boy has too much pleasure in +his life?" + +Every boy there made a picture to himself of Billy's life, and +wondered what the master could mean. Billy's home was the worst in +the village, his parents were often unkind to him, his clothes +were always in rags, he had no friends to play with, no one ever +thought of asking him to a party or a picnic or even to play +quietly in the back yard. He had never even had a chum. + +The teacher read their thoughts very easily. "Then," said he, "if +he has no pleasures, why do you not try giving him a few instead +of making his life a burden. A manly boy tries to do what good he +can to his fellow-creatures, and it seems that the manliest boy +among you is one of the youngest pupils." + +The boys looked at Master Sunshine as he spoke, for they knew that +his words could have but one meaning. Some of them smiled as they +did so; but Dick looked away again quickly, as if there was +something in the sight that he could not bear. + +Master Sunshine was sound asleep. His head, all a glitter with its +yellow curls, was cradled on his arm. There were bits of the dried +mud still clinging to the back of his coat. Even the boys who +smiled were deeply touched. They remembered then what a very +little boy he was, and they did not wonder that the excitement of +the morning and the work of the day had quite exhausted him. + +There was something like a tear in Dick's hard gray eyes. + +"Boys," continued the teacher, "tell me what is your idea of a +hero." + +"A man who does what is right whether he likes to or not," said +Ralph, who was feeling much ashamed of his share in the morning's +doings. + +"A man who defends the weak," said Tommy proudly. The teacher +nodded. + +"You are both right," said he; "and I hope from this out to have +not one, but a whole roomful of heroes." + +When the breaking-up of school aroused Master Sunshine, he rubbed +his eyes open and stared about wonderingly. He could not think +what had made him do such a silly thing as to go to sleep in +school. + +The boys crowded around him as he said good-by to Mr. Sinclair and +started for home. Tommy grabbed his books, another lad gave him a +little penknife with a tortoise-shell handle, and a third offered +him a great, shiny, winter apple. + +These delicate attentions were so unexpected that Master Sunshine +was quite bewildered, and he was even more puzzled and perhaps a +little frightened, when Dick caught him up upon his shoulder, and +carried him home in state. + +It was all so new and so unexpected, and he was so tired, that he +did not ask why it was that the boys, led by Mr. Sinclair, gave +three rousing cheers for the "hero of Hill-top school" just as he +and his bearer went out of the school gate. + +He half dozed again, even on his high perch; and it was not until +the shrill voices of the Wanderer and his Wife warned him, that he +realized that he was home at last and that another rainstorm was +drawing near. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +KIND DEEDS. + + +On Friday afternoons Mr. Sinclair usually gave his pupils a very +pleasant hour just before closing. Of late he had been reading +aloud "Beautiful Joe," and all had been interested in the story of +the intelligent dog. + +Tommy Dane listened intently to every word, and was quick to put +in practice every kind suggestion; while Master Sunshine smiled +his approval of the familiar tale, for his own copy of the book +was much thumbed from constant reading. He felt very happy to +think that so many boys who had pets were learning how to take +care of them properly. But he was quite as surprised as the rest +of the lads when, at the close of the reading that week, Mr. +Sinclair leaned over his desk and said, "Boys, I am not going to +read to you next Friday afternoon." + +A little murmur of disappointment ran around the room. "Instead," +he continued, smiling down at their troubled faces, "I want you to +entertain me. The book we have been reading teaches us kindness to +animals, and I should like to hear from each one of you of some +thoughtful act that has made the lives of the dependent creatures +about you a little happier." + +"I know plenty of people who drive their horses too hard, and half +starve them into the bargain," interrupted one of the boys. + +Mr. Sinclair raised his hand. "I am sorry to say that I know of a +few such people myself," he answered; "but we are not talking +about them now. There are many people who are kind to their four- +legged servants and pets, and I want you to learn by their +example. Each one is to tell in his own words of some kind deed +that he has a personal knowledge of, and after that we will see +what is to be done." + +You can imagine how busy the boys were all that week. They asked +questions by the thousands of all their friends. They prowled +about barns and henneries and rabbit hutches until the people in +the village woke up to the idea that the boys of Hill-top school +were taking a lively interest in the welfare of all animals. + +"Give my horses an extra ration of oats and rub them down well, +Jacob," said Banker Patterson, with a twinkle in his eye. "I +wouldn't like to be reported for cruelty to animals, and I notice +that young Tommy Dane and that yellow-headed Norton are eying my +turnout very curiously." Jacob chuckled over the joke, for he well +knew that the banker's horses were the best attended to in the +village. + +"They say," said Jacob, "that Master Sunshine, as they call that +Norton boy, is at the bottom of the whole business;" and thereupon +he told the story to his employer of how the brave little fellow +had protected Billy Butler. + +"A fine boy that and a promising one," said Mr. Patterson +cordially; "but surely," he added, with a slight frown, "he did +not tell you of it himself?" + +"Not he," laughed Jacob; "but Tommy Dane has been full of it ever +since; and Almira Jane, the help over at the cottage, has told me +too. I guess it is owing to her good sense as much as anything +else that he's turned out so well." + +And perhaps it was as well that Jacob did not see the merry +twinkle in the banker's eye at his words. It was surprising how +much Mr. Patterson knew of what went on in the village. + +One thing was sure. None of the boys' pets suffered during that +week. They had never thought so much of them before; and presently +Friday afternoon came, and Mr. Sinclair, leaning back comfortably +in his chair, was asking for their stories. + +He began with Master Sunshine, because he was the youngest of all; +and the little fellow explained how he had learned during the week +that heavy hens like his Cochin Chinas should be given low roosts +because it was such an effort for them to lift their unwieldy +bodies. + +"Mine have all been made low now," he added eagerly; "and Almira +Jane says that it is a good common sense-ical idea." + +They all smiled a little over the way he brought in Almira Jane's +name and her funny word. But they had come to have such respect +for the manly little fellow that no one laughed aloud. + +Then Tommy told how Jacob had taught him to be kind to a pretty +colt which his father was bringing up. + +"I always thought it was fun to play with it. I often teased it +just to make it kick out with its front feet," he said; "but I +know now that that sort of teasing, though it does not hurt the +colt at the time, teaches it the habit of kicking. A kicking horse +is almost worse than no horse at all." + +"The thing I know about happened last winter," said his seat-mate. +"There was plenty of snow and ice about, but nothing for the birds +to drink; so my sister used to put a saucer of water on the +window-ledge each morning. The birds would come from a long way +off to get a sip from it, and they were always glad to pick up a +few crumbs she strewed for them." + +"Mine is a bird story too," said an observant-looking boy; "but +the kindness was done by birds, instead of by people. Last week +when a bill-poster was pasting up some advertisements on our barn, +a sparrow perched on the edge of the bucket, and got his feet and +the tips of his wing-feathers all covered with paste." + +"I meant to catch him and try to tame him, but the bill-poster +said to wait and see what happened next; and sure enough, two +other sparrows came and flew in circles above his head, and +chirped to him as if they were talking over what could be done. At +last he managed to loosen his claws from the paste, and to move +his wings ever so little. The birds, one on each side of him, +helped him to the trough by the side of the road, and he splashed +in the water until the paste was quite washed off." + +"And what did this very curious sight make you think of?" said Mr. +Sinclair, suddenly leaning over his desk, and looking at the lad. + +The boy colored deeply as he said, "It made me think of my string +of birds' eggs at home, and my collection of birds' nests. I +promised myself then that I would never, never do anything to +injure birds again. I thought that if they knew enough to be kind +to each other I ought to know enough to be kind to them." + +It seemed as if there were no end to the good deeds of which the +lads had taken note. + +One had seen an old man digging burdock-roots from the corner of a +sheep-field; and, when he offered his help, had learned how +troublesome the burdock-burrs were to all woolly or hairy animals. + +Another had much to say of a lamb-creep that had been arranged so +as to give the young lambs a fair share of food. The older sheep +too often pushed the young ones aside when feeding-time came, and +their owner had built a little fold, into which only the small +lambs could enter, where a portion of the food was always placed. +All the lambs in his flock were plump and thriving, while in his +neighbor's pastures, where the lambs were left to fight for +themselves, they were thin, miserable-looking creatures. + +Some told of how thoughtful people kept water always where the pet +dogs could get it; and others of the care that should be given to +canaries and to goldfish; and the happy hour was nearly over when +Mr. Norton said, "Now, Dick, you have told us nothing. Before we +break up school for to-day I would like to hear what you have to +say." + +Dick shook his head but his teacher knew that he had been +listening intently to all that went on, and was very hopeful that +at last he had found a way to the heart of his scholar. + +"Let me tell for him, please," interrupted Master Sunshine. "He's +been doing kind things all the week for poor Billy Butler. He dug +him a garden last Saturday night, and has filled it with plants +from his own garden." + +"Ah!" said the teacher, well pleased at the report. "Dick, I think +you have done best of all;" and the boys thumped on the floor with +their heavy boots, and banged the covers of the desks, to show +their appreciation of the good deed. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A HAPPY ENDING. + + +Just as Mr. Sinclair laid his hand on the bell to give the signal +for dismissal, a handsome carriage drove to the door. The boys all +stared out of the window at the unusual sight. Banker Patterson +was helping a lady to alight, and the lady was none other than +Almira Jane. Jacob was smiling down from the driver's seat at the +queer couple. + +Master Sunshine rubbed his eyes in bewilderment. What could Almira +Jane be doing there? and what could be in that great basket that +Jacob was handing down to her? It looked very much like the great +picnic-basket that hung in the kitchen pantry! + +And now it was the banker's turn to be loaded up. Jacob gave him +several heavy parcels, and finally jumped from his perch and +carrying very carefully an odd-shaped package, led the way to the +school door. Billy Butler was standing not far off. He had no fear +of the schoolboys now, and sometimes came to the gate when school +was dismissed to nod to each one he knew, and to say the names +over in his hoarse voice. Jacob called out to him in a friendly +tone, and the boy followed him to the school steps. + +Mr. Sinclair was as much surprised as his pupils at the arrival of +his visitors; but he hastily gave them seats, and was about to +call for classes again, when Mr. Patterson said in his big round +voice,-- + +"Young people, I have not come here to examine your progress in +your studies, but to tell you how delighted I am with the work you +have been at this week. I have never felt so proud of the Hill-top +schoolboys before, and I want to ask you to keep on as you have +begun. + +"I'm afraid I have not always been as thoughtful for my animal +friends as I could wish; but, watching a little neighbor of mine +whose pets require a great deal of care, and whose master is +devoted to them, has made me think a little more of the matter." + +Master Sunshine smiled over at Tommy as much as to say, "Do you +hear him praising you?" for the little fellow did not even dream +that it was his love for his pets and his brave conduct towards +Billy Butler which had brought about this visit. + +"If you boys," continued the banker, "will study the needs of all +the animals about us, and keep on talking about all the kind deeds +you learn of, we shall soon have a model village, where every +horse and cow, and lamb and dog and cat, will be comfortably +looked after. + +"I have heard that your good teacher, Mr. Sinclair, has been +wishing for a school library for you," he continued, "so I have +to-day brought my contribution towards it." And as the banker +spoke he untied the great bundles of handsomely bound natural +history books enriched with many beautiful colored pictures, and a +number of volumes of stories of animals. + +"I am sure," he added, "that the more you know about our animal +friends the more interested you will be in their welfare. I have +learned with a great deal of interest that one of you is planning +to erect a drinking-fountain in the village when he is a man. Now, +suppose, instead of waiting till that somewhat distant day, that +we make a bargain. If you will endeavor for a whole year to make +the lives of all helpless creatures happy, I will for my part +promise to put up a fountain where men and horses and dogs and +birds may have a refreshing drink. But remember, I will not do +this until I am sure that you have done your part faithfully. This +is a miniature copy of the fountain I am willing to erect." + +At a word from him Jacob quickly threw the covering from the +package which he had placed on the desk, and the boys exclaimed +with delight at the beautiful model of a fountain which was +displayed. + +They surrounded it in an instant, and were quick to admire every +detail--the great horse with his shaggy mane on top, the tiny mug +hung at the faucets for wayfarers, the wide trough for horses and +cows, and the four little basins for dogs and birds. + +"This is the model of the fountain you are to earn," said their +new friend pleasantly. "You may keep it in your schoolroom as a +reminder." + +Just didn't these boys cheer. The schoolhouse fairly shook with +the noise and tumult they made. They gathered like bees about +their friend to promise him that they would earn the fountain +faithfully, and to thank him a dozen times over for the beautiful +books. + +At this, Almira Jane, who had been listening with a happy smile to +the little speech, suddenly threw off the cover of her basket; and +there, lying on white napkins, were layers of the crispest +doughnuts and dozens of molasses cookies of her most delicious +make. + +The boys needed no invitation to fall to, for the sight of the +dainties was quite enough; and Dick took care that Billy, whose +hungry eyes were looking in at the door, should have a share as +well. + +A few minutes later all the fun was over. Almira Jane, waving her +empty basket to rid it of the crumbs, climbed into the carriage; +and at Mr. Patterson's request Master Sunshine and Tommy accepted +his place, while he remained for a quiet talk with Mr. Sinclair. +The rest of the boys sauntered happily home, with a pleasant word +each for Billy, who by this time was so amazed at the good fortune +that had befallen him that he could find no words in which to +express his feelings. + +But that was not all, I can tell you. The boys were full of the +new idea; and strange as it may seem, the more kind things they +saw done, the more they were anxious to do themselves, and nearly +all the objectionable pastimes they had formerly engaged in were +laid aside. No one ever went fishing just for the pleasure of +throwing the panting, struggling fish on the grass; no one ever +tormented frogs, or pulled the wings off the poor flies nowadays. + +The boys of the Hill-top school had taken all living things under +their protection, and you may be sure that they put down all kinds +of thoughtless cruelty. + +It was just a year from the day on which they made their bargain +with Mr. Patterson that the fountain was set up. It was shrouded +in a great flag until it should be finally unveiled. + +It was a great day in the village, I can tell you. Never before +had the Hill-top schoolboys been so looked up to. The fountain was +their gift to the village. They had earned it faithfully and well. +They were all there, drawn up in a circle about the fountain,-- +Ralph and Dick and Tommy and Master Sunshine, and all the other +pupils of the school. Close by were gathered their relatives and +friends; for the formal unveiling was felt to be a most important +matter, and the whole village had turned out to witness the +ceremony. + +Mrs. Norton was looking very pleased and happy over some words +that Mr. Patterson said quietly in her ear, while Lucy, now a baby +no longer, cried out from her post on her father's shoulder, "It's +dee Suns'ine's fountain, it's dee Suns'ine's fountain;" and Almira +Jane dressed in her best bib and tucker, and Jacob dressed in his +Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes, looked across at each other very +kindly. + +Presently Mr. Patterson in a few words told of the events that had +led to the erection of the fountain, and Mr. Sinclair called on +Master Frederick Norton to pull down the great flag that veiled +the fountain from view. A cry of admiration went up from the crowd +as the fountain, a most beautiful work of art, burst on their +view. + +At a second signal from Mr. Sinclair, plenteous streams of +sparkling water gushed into the troughs and basins, while the boys +of the Hill-top school burst into a song which their teacher had +especially prepared for the occasion. + +Gyp and Tim meantime, who had followed their young masters from +home, suddenly realized what all the disturbance was about, and +with one accord they made their way through the crowd, and began +to lap up water from the dog-basins with as little concern as if +they had been used to these luxuries all their lives. + +Master Sunshine's eyes were with his pet, you may be sure; and +suddenly he stopped singing right in the middle of a verse, and +gazed in wonder at the words which were carved low down at the +base of the fountain, "I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink." + +"How could Mr. Patterson know the very text I liked best of all?" +he said to himself. And he pondered over it all that day. In the +evening, after he had tended to his Cochin Chinas and captured the +Guinea hens in the very act of stealing away, and had seen that +the Wanderer and his Wife were under shelter, a light suddenly +broke on him. + +"O Almira Jane, I believe it was you who told!" he exclaimed as he +burst into the kitchen; and although she never would admit it, I +think she did. +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Master Sunshine +by Mrs. C. F. 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