“If you ever intend to write a good composition, you will have to work longer than an hour,” said Tiny. “You will have to read things that will help you, and you must exercise great care. Moreover, you must not postpone your work until the last minute.”
Tiny, with great difficulty, read Shifty’s composition, which was as follows:
one saturday Afternoon in may
“the first may Holiday was beautiful! the sun shined bright. birds twittered and sung sweetly the flowers were in bloom. nature was happy. warm weather had came. mister beaver and me went for a stroll. how our hearts thrilled with Joy? We stopped by the Creek. us animals like the water
the clear sparkling waves passed by us. hark sweet music comes from the brook and the forest they cried.
come into the woods mister beaver i said, are you afraid of the tall trees.
i will set here says he. a Beaver don’t wander into the Thicket, he prefers the Creek. daisys and violets may be pretty but spatter-docks is prettier, you can go if you wish, and I will stay here.
i replied that Woodchucks squirrels rabbits and many other animals preferred the wild flowers. i ran to the bushes. o how cool they seemed. they were green and fragrant with blossoms, the leaves of the trees were bigger than their’s but they wasn’t more beautiful. i wandered for a hour through the woods. i seen a birds’ nest and many interesting things, a active guinea hen was hiding among the Ferns with her brood
a few deers were laying behind a pile of brush, they run when i approached. i could heer wild geeses’ cries. every animal of the forest were moving about. in each glade was a hundred live creatures. i went back to the brook, mister beaver was waiting for me.
“did you have a pleasant time he asked lazily?”
the forest is grand i cried joyously. the animals of the forest are rejoicing while you are setting by this brook with a long face.
“What is wrong with it?” inquired Shifty, when the red squirrel had finished reading. “I am sure that it is as well written as the others, for I am a good speller and have learned not to use bad grammar.”
“Everything is wrong with it,” said Tiny, frankly, although he was too polite to make fun of Shifty’s ignorance.
At that moment Billy Beaver began thumping with his long tail.
“Read it over very carefully many times, and perhaps you may be able to find your mistakes,” said Tiny, as he hastened out into the sunlit air.
From the top of the bower over the platform a chorus of goldfinches, swallows, robins, and wrens began singing “Hail to Spring.” At the same time Miss Hare, followed by the graduating class, came out of the schoolroom, and, with great dignity, made her way to the platform. Miss Hare seated herself upon a mossy cushion, while the graduating class sat near her, forming a semicircle. The graduates were Susie Goose, Sammy Rabbit, Winkie Weasel, Puss Snowball, Rover Canine, Reynard Redfox, and Tiny Redsquirrel.
At the close of the song, which was followed by loud cries of applause, Mr. Owl, who sat upon a branch in front of the platform, said that the class would proceed to deliver their compositions. He added that a prize would be given to the one who had the best theme, and that Miss Hare, Mother Goose, and he would be judges.