XXXII. CARELESSNESS.
79. The Misfortunes of Elinor.
Elinor was a great anxiety to her mother, for she was always either tearing her clothes, or forgetting, or losing something—all because she was so careless. One day at tea Elinor was taking the cup which her mother had just filled, but as she was not looking at it, nor taking any care, it tilted over and fell against a tall flower-vase that stood in the centre of the table. The vase was broken, and the tablecloth deluged with tea and water—all for want of a little care.
Another day Elinor's mother gave her a shilling, and sent her to the shop for some fruit, but she lost the money, and returned empty-handed.
Coming home from school one day, she was poking her umbrella about in a little stream of water that the rain had made along the side of the road, when the tip of the stick caught in a grate and broke off, so the umbrella was spoilt. I could tell you many more things about poor careless Elinor, but these are enough to show how bad it is not to take care. Sometimes people have taken poison instead of medicine by being careless, and not noticing the label on the bottle; and sometimes a train has been wrecked, and lives lost, because the engine-driver was careless about noticing the signal.
(Blackboard.)
Do not be Careless; it brings Trouble.