Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1892-07-14
GROWING STRAIGHT.

A Lesson Three Little Folks Learned While
Walking with Uncle Robert.
Uncle Robert is the professor Of botany
IN the state university, and "a man of
science" which means he knows great
deal. Aunt Annie says he is also very
absent-minded; for one day he set the
baby on the parlor mantel during a
romp, and came very near leaving her
there.
We love to have Uncle Robert visit
us; for he always takes us long walks
into the woods, and tells us all sorts of
curious things on the way. He has
told us how the leaves are rolled in
their little brown blankets until the
winter is over; and how the stem of the
dandelion is shut together like closed
telescope, causing the leaves 10 grow in
bunch close To the ground: and how
the stem of the May-apple grows under
the ground; how the snow-drops push
their little blossoms through the ground
before the snow is all gone; and how
the sap runs in the trees, just as the
blood circulatcs in our bodies.
Walter and Patty and | always rs on
these trips. Walter is our big brother;
he is thirteen. Papa says he is a qucs-
tion-marlS in knee pants, because he is
always asking questions. Uncle Robert
says he has IAN inquiring mind"
One bright morning we all walked
out TO Bensil's woods, back of the hill.
IL made us laugh to see Uncle Robert
climb the high rail-fence. and tumble
into the grass and weeds
~, ha4 j.
Walter asked, as we came to great
oak, with its trunk bent out of shape.
"Ahl" said Uncle Robert, when that
oak was young sapling a broken limb
or rotten trunk of tree fell across it,
and bent il down until it became the
unshapely thing you see II will never
stand up straight and tall like the other
noble trees about ii. Doyou remember
hearing: AS the twig is bent the tree
inclines?'
yes, spoke up Patty, Il heard papa
say that very thing to mamma when he
was telling her about Jim Burns being
sent to prison for shooting a man.
Poor Jim Burns!" said Uncle Robert;
81 remember when he was boy lie
went To the same school with your IA
ther and myself IIe let bad habits
ruin him then. He drowned his sisters
pet kitten in the creek below their
houses, and he loved to kill birds with
stones from his sling. | have seen him
jerk off smaller boys hat, and toss it
up into a tree. in spite of the little fell
lows tears. He would push two boys
together, and thus cause fight, which
he enjoyed more than anything else
So, instead of growing up straight like
the fine trees, he became bent and out
of shape like this poor crippled oak.
was not surprised to find that the cruel
boy had grown into the more cruel man,
who must spend the rest of his life in
prison. Bad habits are the weights that
spoil characters
We were all thinking of some bad
habit of our own as we walked through
the woods gathering Johnny jump-upS
and spring beauties.
I'm going to let You nurse Rosetta
whenever you want TO, said Patty to
me that night after we had said our
prayers and crawled into bed
Rosetta is Patty's finest doll. and she
never let's any one touch her.
have tried my very best not to
scream und stamp when my hair is
.combed, even though the knots hurt
dreadfully
Walter never calls me "turncd-up-
nose" any more, and he don't pinch my
ears or pull the ribbon off my hair, or
crook his finger at me, as he used to do.
We all want to grow straight. -Belle
). Luckett, in 5. 5. Times,