32. Story-Telling
JACK AND JILL [C]
"Clear the lulla!" was the general cry on a bright December afternoon. All the boys and girls of Harmony village were out enjoying the first good snow of the season. Up and down three long coasts they went as fast as legs and sleds could carry them. One smooth path led into the meadow. One swept across the pond, where skaters were darting about like waterbugs. The third, from the very top of the steep hill, ended abruptly at a rail fence near the road. There was a group of lads and lasses sitting or leaning on this fence to rest after an exciting race.
[C] Copyright by Little, Brown and Company.
Down came a gay red sled. It carried a boy who seemed all smile and sunshine, so white were his teeth, so golden was his hair, so bright and happy his whole air. Behind him clung a little gypsy of a girl. She had black eyes and hair, cheeks as red as her hood, and a face full of fun and sparkle.
"It's just splendid! Now, one more, Jack!" cried the little girl, excited by the cheers of a sleighing party that passed them.
"All right, Jill," answered he, and they started back up the hill.
Proud of his skill, Jack made up his mind that this last "go" should be the best one of the afternoon. But they started off, talking so busily that Jill forgot to hold tight and Jack to steer carefully. No one knows how it happened. They did not land in the soft drift of snow or stop before they reached the fence. Instead, there was a great crash against the bars, a dreadful plunge off the steep bank beyond, and, before any one could see what was happening, a sudden scattering of girl, boy, sled, fence, earth, and snow, all about the road. There were two cries, and then silence.
Down rushed boys and girls, ready to laugh or cry, as the case might be. They found Jack sitting up, looking about him with a queer, dazed expression, while an ugly cut on the forehead was bleeding. This sobered the boys and frightened the girls half out of their wits.
"He's killed! He's killed!" wailed one of the girls, hiding her face and beginning to cry.
"No, I'm not. I'll be all right when I get my breath. Where's Jill?" asked Jack stoutly, though still too giddy to see straight.—Louisa M. Alcott, "Jack and Jill" (Adapted)
Oral Exercise. 1. Make believe that you are the Jack or the Jill in the story. Play that the accident has just happened. You are lying in the snow. Your classmates are standing around you wondering whether you are alive or dead. Slowly you sit up. What do they do and say? Let some of your classmates do and say these things. What do you say? What happens next? Play the story up to the time when the doctor looks you over and says that you will have to stay in bed a long time.[42]
2. Again make believe that you are Jack or Jill. Play that the accident happened some time ago. Tell your classmates about that afternoon's coasting and how it ended. Could you walk home that day? Did the other children lay you both on sleds and slowly draw you to your homes? What did your mother do and say when she saw you coming? Did they put you to bed at once and run for the doctor? What did the doctor do and say?
3. Do you own a sled? Tell the class about this sled. Tell about going coasting on it.
4. What can one do with a sled besides go coasting? What was the best fun you ever had with your sled? Where were you? What did you do? After you have told the class about the fun you had, you may make one or two pictures about it with colored crayons. Perhaps the following list will help you to remember some good times you have had: