  The little animals of Miss Hare’s school were glad when winter was at an end. They were anxious to get out of doors; and, when the sun shone warmer and the trees began to shoot forth their tender leaves, they felt very happy, indeed. TINY STUDIED HARD, THAT HE MIGHT BE ABLE TO GRADUATE WITH HIS CLASS IN THE MONTH OF JUNE. Tiny studied hard, that he might be able to graduate with his class in the month of June. He knew that to graduate did not mean to be educated. A thorough knowledge of language and good manners were about all that Miss Hare was capable of teaching, for the little creatures of Animal Kingdom did not require as much learning as people of the great business world. Miss Hare told her pupils many times that the schoolroom is simply a place to teach the young how to educate themselves. Tiny, from past experience, had learned that some of the greatest lessons are taught outside the schoolroom. He often thought of the owl prophet, the queen bee, and the City of Ants. One day Miss Hare gave her pupils a lesson in pronouns, or words used for names. These little words were at first troublesome to Tiny, but Miss Hare made him use them over and over again, until he understood them perfectly. In fact, the words I, we, she, they, who, and it, used as subjects of sentences, and me, us, him, her, them, and whom, used as the objects of verbs, became almost as familiar to Tiny as were good Miss Hare’s spectacles. In order to keep her pupils from forgetting what they had learned, Miss Hare taught them the following little song, which they sang over and over again: PRONOUNS. As the subject of a verb, we may use I; Thus, “It was I,” or “I have caught a fly;” And we now will name a few Pronouns used as subjects, too: “It was they,” “It was you,” “It was who?” We may ask, “Who saw the bee upon the rose?” Or, “It was dressed in very modest clothes,” Or, “Who scared the little bee?” “Was it any of us three?” “Was it we?” “Was it she?” “Was it he?” Pronouns may be used as objects, you may see; As, “Good health has kindly favored him and me.” Or, “No matter what we do, Love will make us strong and true;” “I love her,” “I love him,” “I love you.” We may ask, “From whom did owls learn to boast?” Or, “Around whom does the sunshine linger most?” Or, perchance, may cry in glee, “May good fortune come to thee, And to her, and to him, and to me!” While they were singing their evening song, a knock was heard at the door. Miss Hare, who was very cautious, went to the door and called out: “Who is it?” “Hoot, hoot, hoot!” was the response. “To whom am I speaking?” continued the teacher, somewhat embarrassed. “To Mr. Owl, who lives several leagues away,” was the polite reply. “Whom do you wish to see?” asked Miss Hare. “I wish to visit Miss Hare’s school.” SHE OPENED THE DOOR AND ADMITTED THE OWL PROPHET. She opened the door and admitted the owl prophet, whose feathers were smoothed down in perfect condition. “I am very glad to see you,” said the teacher. “It is so seldom you go abroad in the daytime that I am honored to have you visit us.” “Between you and me, I have long been wishing for an opportunity to visit your school,” returned the owl with a bow. “With whom are you living now?” asked Miss Hare, offering him a perch by the side of her desk. “My brother and I are living with the Bat family. I grew tired of my old castle, because it was at the edge of the great forest, and the wind was too strong there. One night he and I were blown from our perches. Mr. and Mrs. Bat took my brother and me to their home. It is very comfortable there, and we owls like comfort, you know.” Mr. Owl then looked over the class with his great, yellow eyes. For the first time, Tiny observed that owls’ eyes do not move in their sockets as the eyes of most creatures do; but that, to make up for that, nature has made it possible for the owl to turn his head almost entirely around to see objects. Miss Hare’s eyes were quite different from those of Mr. “Will you remain awhile with my pupils and me?” asked Miss Hare. “Thank you; I’ll stay a few minutes, if I don’t get too sleepy,” said Mr. Owl. When his eyes fell upon Tiny, the little squirrel made a polite bow; but the owl prophet stared at him without speaking a word. He evidently did not remember the squirrel. “What has become of Chatty Chipmunk?” he finally asked, after Miss Hare had again sat down at her desk. “He left school some time ago,” said Miss Hare, in a pained voice. “Why?” “Because it was necessary to punish him. He was very saucy. Once he ridiculed an animal because she had long ears.” “Whom did he ridicule?” “Me.” “I am sorry for that,” said the owl prophet. “Who punished him?” “I.” “It served him right, and I am glad he left school,” said the owl, flapping his wings in approval. “It makes no difference to either you or me.” “Certainly, not,” replied Miss Hare. “He is to blame, not I. The public must blame him, not me.” “I hope that I never shall bring you another such unworthy pupil,” said the owl. “You brought me one of the best pupils I ever had,” said Miss Hare, pointing towards Tiny. “He is the little creature here on the front seat.” Mr. Owl stared at Tiny; and the little animal bowed politely, very much embarrassed. MR. OWL STARED AT TINY AND THE LITTLE ANIMAL BOWED POLITELY. “Can it be he!” exclaimed the owl. “How you have grown, Tiny! Are you really the squirrel whom I found but a few months ago?” “Yes, I am the squirrel who was lost,” replied Tiny. “You told me how to get back to Squirreltown, and taught me many things. I am grateful to you, sir.” Mr. Owl seemed greatly pleased, but he checked Tiny’s polite thanks by saying: “You look much like Chatty Chipmunk.” “Yes, but he is smaller than I,” replied Tiny with another bow. For a few minutes Miss Hare and Mr. Owl talked concerning the school. It was evident to Tiny that Mr. Owl was one of the trustees and that he was doing a great deal to make the school successful, as all trustees should do. At last he turned to the class and said: “You must all study very hard; for soon the days will get warmer; then you will have spring fever. I want each of the graduating class to write a composition to be recited on the last day of school. A prize will be given to the pupil who writes the best one. He that wins the prize will be a very happy creature. Him that wins I will give another prize of even greater value.” The scholars were made very happy by this announcement of Mr. Owl; and, while he was preparing to leave, they all rose from their seats and stood in respectful silence until Miss Hare sat down again. Then they began to study harder than ever before. |
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