CHAPTER II.
THE LITTLE BONDIES.
There were three of them. Alice, Maggie, and James were their names, and they were generally well-behaved and kind to each other. This they were taught to be by their parents.
Alice was ten years old and went to school. So did Maggie, who was three years younger. But James, who was only four years old, was too young to go to school, though he had learned a few of his letters from his sisters.
If I should say that these three little Bondies loved to play, you would not think it strange, would you? Play! Why, I should not like to see children that did not love to play. I should think they were sick, or else had lost some of their senses.
I have seen children that did not love to work or to study, but I never yet saw one that did not love to play. I should as soon expect to see a squirrel that couldn't jump, or a bird that couldn't fly, or a mouse that couldn't run.
Yes, they loved to play; and I ought to say just here that they were willing to work and to study as far as they could. Alice and Maggie tried hard to get their lessons for school, and even little James would have studied his spelling-book if his father had not thought him too young.