THE LITTLE BOY THAT WAS AFRAID OF THE WATER.
Once on a time, there were two little boys. William was five years old, and Johnny was not quite three. The weather was very warm, and these little boys got very weak, and looked so pale and sick, that the doctor said their parents had better take them to Newport, and let them bathe in the surf. So their Mother packed up their clothes, and some books, for she did not wish them to be idle; and, one pleasant afternoon, they all went on board of the steamboat that was going to Newport.
The little boys were very much amused at all they saw. There were a good many other boys in the boat, and William and Johnny looked very hard at them, and wished they knew what their names were, and whether they had a Noah's Ark and Velocipede like theirs.
"Oh! dear mamma, come and kiss me 'fore I die."
After they had had their supper, their Mamma put them to bed in a berth. I suppose you all know what a berth is. It is a narrow bed, fastened to the side of the cabin. Sometimes there are three, one above the other; and sometimes two. These little boys got into one of the under ones, so that, if they rolled out, they would not be as likely to hurt themselves. They thought it was very funny to be squeezed up in such a little bed. William counted twenty babies in the cabin. Some of these babies cried a great deal; yet, for all that, the boys were fast asleep in a very few minutes, and slept very soundly all night.
The next morning, their Mamma came to their berth and said, "Come, William—come, Johnny, it is time to get up—for we are at Newport, and must go on shore as quickly as we can."
"Are you going to put me into the water now?" said Johnny, beginning to look very much frightened, for Johnny was afraid of the water.
"Oh, Johnny, don't be so foolish," cried William: "why, I should like to go in head over heels. Mamma, don't they duck us?"
"I believe they do," replied his Mother.
William now begged his Mother to let him go out of the cabin, as he was all dressed. She said he might stand just outside of the door, and, if he saw his Father, he might go to him, but he must never run about the boat alone.
In a few minutes they all went on shore, and got into a carriage, and were driven up to the Hotel.
After breakfast, William and Johnny walked down to the smooth and beautiful beach with their parents, where a great many people, some of them children, were bathing. They seemed to like it very much; and it really did look very inviting, for the sun made the water sparkle like diamonds, and the waves seemed dancing and leaping, and looked as if they longed to give every body a good splashing.
William was delighted. He could hardly wait for his Father to undress and put on his bathing clothes, he was in such a great hurry to be ducked; and when his Father took him and plunged him under the water, although he gasped for breath, he laughed, and kicked, and splashed the water at his Father, and cried, "Duck me again, duck me again, Papa," and he looked so pleased, that some other children, with their parents, came to where he was, and they all had a grand frolic together.
Little Johnny laughed too, as he stood on the dry ground; but, when his Father said, "Come, Johnny, now it is your turn," he made a terrible face, and cried "Dear Papa, dear Mamma, please let me go home. I shall never see you again if you put me in that great big water." But his Mamma said he must go in, because it would do him a great deal of good, and she undressed him, and put him into his Father's arms.
Johnny now began to scream as loud as he could, and cried out, "Mamma, Mamma, I want to go back to you." But his Father did not mind him a bit, and holding him by his arms, he plunged him under the water.
The poor little fellow came up gasping and panting, and sobbed out, "Oh! my dear Mamma, come and kiss me 'fore I die."
Every body laughed—for there was no danger—except his kind Mother. A tear stared to her eye, for she knew her dear little son really thought he was dying, and would never see her again. But in a little while he felt better, and, after his Mother had taken him, and had rubbed him all over and dressed him, and he had run up and down the beach with William and the other children, he felt such a nice warm glow all over him, that he forgot all about his fright.
Pretty soon he said, "Mamma, I am so hungry—I am as hungry as a little bear."
"That is because you have been in the water," replied his Mother.
"Are the fishes always hungry?—does the water make them hungry too?" said Johnny.
"I believe they are always ready to eat," replied his Mother; "you know that they are caught by bait. This bait is a bit of a clam or a little worm, put upon a sharp hook. The fish snap at the bait, and the hook catches them in the mouth. Come, little hungry fish," added his Mother, "and I will give you something to eat; but I will not put it on a hook to hurt you."
The next day the little boys went into the water again, and, although Johnny made up a doleful face, he did not think he should die this time; and, when he saw the other children laughing and splashing each other, and crying "Duck me again—what fun we are having," he tried to like it too, and after a little while did begin to like it; for, when children try to overcome their foolish fears, they will almost always succeed, and be rewarded as Johnny was, by the pleasure they enjoy, and the happiness they give to their parents.
After a few days, Johnny got to be so brave, that he was the first to run down to the beach and jump into his Father's arms, and he cried louder than any, "Duck me again," and splashed every body that came near him; and both William and Johnny got so strong, and ate so heartily, and had such great red cheeks, that when they went home to New-York, a few weeks after, their friends hardly knew them, and Johnny never again had any foolish fears about going into the water.