"Good morning, children!" said the minister; and he kindly shook hands with both.
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"I have something here for little Edward," he said. Then he took from his pocket a sheet of paper on which some verses were written.
"See! It is a little speech that I have written for him. The teacher will soon ask him to speak a piece at school, and I am sure that he can learn this easily and speak it well"
Edward took the paper and thanked the kind minister.
"Mother will help him learn it," said his sister.
"Yes, I will try to learn it," said Edward.
"Do so, my child," said the Minister; "and I hope that when you grow up you will become a wise man and a great orator."
Then the two children hurried on to school.
The speech was not hard to learn, and Edward soon knew every word of it. When the time came for him to speak, his mother and the minister were both there to hear him.