Page:Stories told to a child.djvu/120

 said the mistress of the shop, 'to go crawling home in this bitter wind, with nothing on but that thin frock.' 'Come,' said Can, 'I'm not very clever, but, at least, I know how to tie a child's shawl so as not to throw her down.' So she made the little girl hold out her arms, and drawing the garment closely round her, knotted it securely at her back. 'Now, then.' she said, having inquired where she lived, 'I am going your way, so I can help you to carry your basket."

Can and the child then went out together, while Could, having reached his comfortable home, sat down before the fire and made a great many reflections; he made reflections on baths and -wash-houses, and wished he could advance their interests; he made reflections on model prisons and penitentiaries, and wished he could improve them; he made reflections on the progress of civilization, on the necessity for some better mode of educating the masses; he thought of the progress of the human mind, and made grand projects in his benevolent head whereby all the true interests of the race might be advanced, and he wished he could carry them into practice; he reflected on poverty, and made castles in the air as to how he might mitigate its severity, and then having in imagination made many people happy, he felt that a benevolent disposition was a great blessing, and fell asleep over the fire.

Can only made two things. When she had helped to carry the child's basket, she kindly made her sick mother's bed, and then she went home and made a pudding.

Rh