AUNT LIZZIE'S STORY; 


OR HEEDLESS HARRY.



THE nephews and nieces, were spending the day at Aunt Lizzie's. We had played, "Hunt the slipper" and "Blind man's buff," till we were tired. Just then Aunt Lizzie came into the room.

"Now," exclaimed Charlie, "let's get Aunt Lizzie to tell us a story. Her stories are better than play, any time." 

"Yes; a story, a story, Aunt Lizzie," cried a dozen voices. "Very well, children, I think that I can tell you a story you have never heard, of a little boy who went to school in Niles, when I was teaching there. He was one of the most heedless boys I ever saw. His schoolmates called him 'Harry Heedless.' He was one of those persons who never look where they are going, and who are therefore all the time going into trouble and getting others into trouble with them. He never meant to do this, but he did it, and the results were just the same as if he had meant it. A blow struck by accident will blacken an eye just as soon as would an intentional blow.

"Harry was always sorry when he made trouble for others; this ought to be said to his credit. But then his sorrow did not put matters where they were before his heedlessness caused the trouble. "Harry never went into the house or out of it with any regard for the ears or feelings of other people. His usual plan was to push the door open with a bang, and rush through the hall, or up and down stairs as if the house were on fire. If he wanted his mother and he generally did want her he hallooed at the top of his voice 

'M o o ther! Where are you? 'Of course this was sure to wake the baby and start it crying, and in the midst of the din Harry usually started out of the house again, first throwing his strap of school books down on the floor, and then slamming the front door after him.

"Harry got into all sorts of scrapes by his heedlessness. Once while rushing through the hall he ran against the hired girl, who was carrying a waiter with several glasses of water on it, to some visitors in the parlor. The glasses fell to the floor with a crash and broke into pieces, while the water and broken glass went over the carpet.

"Another time, while running through the street in his usual headlong way, he ran against a ladder on which was a man painting a house. Just at that moment the man was lifting the pot of paint to fasten it on a higher round of the ladder. 

The shock nearly threw him from the ladder and caused him to drop the pot of paint, which emptied its contents on Harry, completely covering him from head to foot with the disagreeable mess.

"Poor Harry was a sight to see; and he did not hear the last of this adventure for a long time. The boys made all manner of fun of him.

"Do you know anybody like Harry, children? Does such a boy or girl live in your town? Would you see his likeness if you looked into a glass? "