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12 THE PRESBYTERL For the Children A RUNAWAY SMILE. One day a little smile Plnvp/l i i limit for n whilp From a room where little smiles should always be; And a little boy said, "Can't," And a little girl said, "Shan't, And a nurse's face was very sad to see. Then that little smile felt sorry To have caused this dreadful worry. So it crept beneath the nursery 'window pane; And come little sulks flew out, And four lips forgot to pout, Kissed instead?and nurse's face grew glad again. Said that little smile: "I never Thought my running off could ever , Make two people look so very, very black; So I think I'd better stay, Or next time 1 run away They really might forget to want nie back.' DOROTHY DEAR. Dorothy Dear was a real little girl; she had another name, but we will call her here just Dorothy Dear. Dorothy Dear was just half-past five when the fall term opened, in the middle of September, and she went to school on the opening day of the term for the first time. She sat in the front seat and tried to do as she was told. Pretty soon a large man came into the room, and the * teacher said, "Children, this is the Truant Officer, and he wishes to say a few words to you." Then the Truant Officer said in a heavy voice, "Little boys and girls are not permitted to be absent from i i T r j r i _ i _i 4.1- _i. . i scnoui. ii i nnu a dov or gin on ine streei uunng school hours, I shall take him or her to the Reform School. And little boys and girls are not permitted to be tardy ; your teacher says that the tardy marks look worse on her book than the absent marks." The teacher nodded that this was true, and then the Truant Officer said: "Now, children, I want you to try very hard not to be absent or tardy. How many will try ?" Up went the little hands, Dorothy's with the rest. And in her little heart she said, "I will try very hard!" Dorothy Dear told her mother about the Truant Officer before she went to sleep that night, and her mother promised to be up bright and early in the morning so that her Dorothy Dear might not be tardy. About three o'clock, while it was very dark, the mother of Dorothy Dear heard a loud cry. "Mamma!" "Yes, what is it, Dorothy Dear?" "Are you'up, mamma?" asked the anxious little voice. "L must not be tardy. "It is not time to pet up yet, Dorothy Dear," said mamma. "Do not be anxious. I will have you ready in time." So Dorothy Dear dropped to sleep again. And every morning Dorothy's mother was awakened before daylight by a voice saying, "Mamma, are you up?" But one morning Dorothy Dear found the big door \N OF THE SOUTH. April 21, 1909. locked when she ran up the school-house steps. She was late! (Jh, how fast the little feet flew homeward I As she entered the house, she gasped, "Mamma, I was late, and 1 ran fast?and he didn't see me 011 the street." "Who didn't sec you on the street? Why didn't you go right in to school, Dorothy dear?" asked Dorothy's mother. "The truant officer didn't see me; and I didn't go in because tardy marks look worse than absent marks," answered the poor, panting little girl. Dorothy's mother kept her at home all day, and at right she called at the school-house to see the teacher. And after that Dorothy Dear had no more trouble. But a new teacher came and Dorothy Dear was promoted. The new teacher gave them "merits" every night if they did not whisper all day long. But before she gave the merits the new teacher called each little girl and each little boy by name, and each one must answer "Yes" or "No." It was very perplexing: to Dor othy Dear to hear a little girl say "No," when she had talked to Dorothy Dear herself during the school hours. So, when the new teacher said, "Dorothy Dear, have you, whispered?" Dorothy Dear answered bravely, "I don't know. So she had no "merit' that night. And te"n merits would get a beautiful picture card! Dorothy Dear talked it all over with her mother after she reached home, in this way: "Ella gave me her pencil, and I took it. Was that whispering?" "No." "Anna made a picture 011 her slate, and I looked at it. Was that whispering?" "No." "Betty said something funny, and I laughed. Was that whispering: . "No." "Then I didn't whisper, mamma, did I?" "Ao," said mamma. The next morning Dorothy Dear went up to the desk and said to the new teacher, "I didn't whisper yesterday." "Why didn't you tell me so?" asked the new teacher, sharply. "1 didn't know it then," said Dorothy Dear. At night the same question came again, and Dorothy Dear answered, "I don't know," and had no merit. Another week began, and the new teacher told Dorothy Dear that hereafter she must know at night whether she had whispered or not. But, when night came, and the question was asked. Dorothy Dear answered. "I don't know"; and this time Dorothy Dear was told quite sternly by the teacher to remain after school. Dorothy Dear sat in her seat and cried aloud in her disgrace; but every time the question was repeated she answered, with sobs, "I don't know!" "'Cause I don't know till I asked you, mamma!" Dorothy Dear said, explaining at home that night. Dorothy Dear's mother had a talk with the new teacher, and 'Dorothy Dear was allowed* to give her report each morning for the day before. , By and by Dorothy Dear was again promoted and another teacher came. Dorothy Dear took her first lesson in ink. The letters did look crooked, and ttte words did not look like her own neat work.