Copyrighted © 1888
by McLoughlin
Bro's
New-York.
GOODY TWO-SHOES.
Farmer Meanwell was at one time a very rich man. He owned
large fields, and had fine flocks of sheep, and plenty of money. But all at
once his good fortune seemed to desert him. Year after year his crops failed,
his sheep died off, and he was obliged to borrow money to pay his rent and the
wages of those who worked on the farm.
At last he had to sell his farm, but even this did not bring
him in money enough to pay his debts, and he was worse off than ever.
Among those who had lent money to Farmer Meanwell were Sir
Thomas Gripe, and a Farmer named Graspall.
Sir Thomas was a very rich man indeed, and Farmer Graspall
had more money than he could possibly use. But they were both very greedy and
covetous, and particularly hard on those who owed them anything. Farmer
Graspall abused Farmer Meanwell and called him all sorts of dreadful names; but
the rich Sir Thomas Gripe was crueler still and wanted the poor debtor to shut
up in jail.
So poor Farmer Meanwell had to hasten from the place where
he had lived for so many years, in order to get out of the way of these greedy
men.
He went to the next village, taking his wife and his two
little children with him. But though he was free from Gripe and Graspall he was
not free from trouble and care.
He soon fell ill, and when he found himself unable to get
food and clothes for his family, he grew worse and worse and soon died.
His wife could not bear the loss of her husband, whom she
loved so dearly, and in a few days she was dead.
The two orphan children seemed to be left entirely alone in
the world, with no one to look after them, or care for them, but their Heavenly
Father.
They trotted around hand in hand, and the poorer they became
the more they clung to each other. Poor, ragged, and hungry enough they were!
Tommy had two shoes, but Margery went barefoot. They had
nothing to eat but the berries that grew in the woods, and the scraps they
could get from the poor people in the village, and at night they slept in barns
or under haystacks.
Their rich relations were too proud to notice them. But Mr.
Smith, the clergyman of the village where the children were born, was not that
sort of a man. A rich relation came to visit him—a kind-hearted gentleman—and
the clergyman told him all about Tommy and Margery. The kind gentleman pitied them
and ordered Margery a pair of shoes and gave Mr. Smith money to buy her some
clothes, which she needed sadly. As for Tommy he said he would take him off to
sea with him and make him a sailor. After a few days, the gentleman said he
must go to London and would take Tommy with him, and sad was the parting
between the two children.
Poor Margery was very lonely indeed, without her brother,
and might have cried herself sick but for the new shoes that were brought home
to her.
The Orphans
They turned her thoughts from her grief; and as soon as she
had put them on, she ran in to Mrs. Smith and cried out: "Two shoes,
ma'am, two shoes!" These words she repeated to everyone she met, and thus
it was she got the name of Goody Two Shoes.
Two Shoes, Ma'am.
Two Shoes.
Little Margery had seen how good and wise Mr. Smith was, and
thought it was because of his great learning; and she wanted, above all things,
to learn to read. At last she made up her mind to ask Mr. Smith to teach her
when he had a moment to spare. He readily agreed to do this, and Margery read
to him an hour every day, and spent much time with her books.
Then she laid out a plan for teaching others more ignorant
than herself. She cut out of thin pieces of wood ten sets of large and small
letters of the alphabet and carried these with her when she went from house to
house. When she came to Billy Wilson's she threw down the letters all in a
heap, and Billy picked them out and sorted them in lines, thus:
A B C
D E F
G H I
J K,
a b c
d e f
g h i
j k,
and so on until all the letters were in their right places.
From there Goody Two Shoes trotted off to another cottage,
and here were several children waiting for her. As soon as the little girl came
in, they all crowded around her, and were eager to begin their lessons at once.
Then she threw the letters down and said to the boy next
her, "What did you have for dinner to-day?" "Bread,"
answered the little boy. "Well, put down the first letter," said
Goody Two Shoes. Then he put down B, and the next child R, and the next E, and
the next A, and the next D, and there was the whole word—BREAD.
"What did you have for dinner, Polly Driggs?"
"Apple-pie," said Polly; upon which she laid down
the first letter, A, and the next put down a P, and the next another P, and so
on until the words Apple and Pie were united, and stood thus: APPLE PIE.
Now it happened one evening that Goody Two Shoes was going
home rather late. She had made a longer round than usual, and everybody had
kept her waiting, so that night came on before her day's work was done. Right
glad was she to set out for her own home, and she walked along contentedly
through the fields, and lanes, and roads, enjoying the quiet evening. The
evening was not cool, however, but close and sultry, and betokened a storm.
Presently a drop fell on Goody's face. What should she do? If she did not make
haste she would soon be wet to the skin.
Fortunately, there was an old barn down the road, in which
she could find shelter, and Goody Two Shoes gathered her skirts about her and
took to her heels and ran as if somebody was after her. The owner of the barn
had died lately, and the property was to be sold, and there was a lot of loose
hay on the floor which had not yet been taken away.
Goody Two Shoes cuddled down in the soft hay, glad of a
chance to rest her weary limbs, and quite out of breath with her long run; and
just then down rattled the rain, the thunder roared, the lightning flashed, and
the old barn trembled, and so did Goody Two Shoes.
The spelling
Lesson
She had not been there long before she heard footsteps, and
three men came into the barn for shelter. The hay was piled up between her and
them, so that they could not see her, and, thinking they were alone, they spoke
quite loudly.
Plotting to rob
Squire Trueman
They were plotting to rob Squire Trueman, who lived in the
great house in Margery's village, and were to break in and steal all they could
that very night. This was quite enough for Goody Two Shoes. She waited for
nothing, but dashed out of the barn, and ran through rain and mud till she came
to the Squire's house.
He was at dinner with some friends, and anyone else but
Goody would have found it difficult to gain admission to him. But she was well
known to the servants, and was so kind and obliging, that even the big fat
butler could not refuse to do her bidding and went and told the squire that
Goody Two Shoes wished very much to see him.
So, the squire asked his friends to excuse him for a moment,
and came out and said, "Well, Goody Two Shoes, my good girl, what is
it?" "Oh, sir," she replied, "if you do not take care you
will be robbed and murdered this very night!"
Then she told all she had heard the men say while she was in
the barn.
The squire saw there was not a moment to lose, so he went
back and told his friends the news he had heard. They all said they would stay
and help him take the thieves. So, the lights were put out, to make it appear
as if all the people in the house were in bed, and servants and all kept a
close watch both inside and outside.
Sure enough, at about one o'clock in the morning the three
men came creeping, creeping up to the house with a dark lantern, and the tools
to break in with. Before they were aware, six men sprang out on them, and held
them fast. The thieves struggled in vain to get away. They were locked in an
out-house until daylight, when a cart came and took them off to jail.
They were afterward sent out of the country, where they had
to work in chains on the roads; and it is said that one of them behaved so well
that he was pardoned, and went to live at Australia, where he became a rich
man.
The other two went from bad to worse, and it is likely that
they came to some dreadful end. For sin never goes unpunished.
But to return to Goody Two Shoes. One day as she was walking
through the village, she saw some wicked boys with a raven, at which they were
going to throw stones. To stop this cruel sport, she gave the boys a penny for
the raven, and brought the bird home with her. She gave him the name of
"Ralph," and he proved to be a very clever creature indeed. She
taught him to spell, and to read, and he was so fond of playing with the large
letters, that the children called them "Ralph's Alphabet."
Some days after Goody had met with the raven, she was
passing through a field, when she saw some naughty boys who had taken a pigeon,
and tied a string to its legs in order to let it fly and draw it back again
when they pleased.
Goody could not bear to see anything tortured like that, so
she bought the pigeon from the boys and taught him how to spell and read. But
he could not talk. And as Ralph, the raven, took the large letters, Peter, the
pigeon, took care of the small ones.
Goody warns the
Squire
Mrs. Williams, who lived in Margery's village, kept school,
and taught little ones their A B C's. She was now old and feeble, and wanted to
give up this important trust.
Brother and Sister
This being known to Sir William Dove, he asked Mrs. Williams
to examine Goody Two Shoes and see if she was not clever enough for the office.
This was done, and Mrs. Williams reported that little Margery was the best scholar
and had the best heart of any one she had ever examined. All the country had a
great opinion of Mrs. Williams, and this report made them think highly of Miss
MARGERY, as we must now call her.
So, Margery Meanwell was now a schoolmistress, and a capital
one she made. The children all loved her, for she was never weary of making
plans for their happiness.
The room in which she taught was large and lofty, and there
was plenty of fresh air in it; and as she knew that children liked to move
about, she placed her sets of letters all-round the school, so that everyone
was obliged to get up to find a letter, or spell a word, when it came their
turn.
This exercise not only kept the children in good health but
fixed the letters firmly in their minds.
The neighbors were very good to her, and one of them made
her a present of a little skylark, whose early morning song told the lazy boys
and girls that it was time they were out of bed.
Sometime after this a poor lamb lost its dam, and the farmer
being about to kill it, she bought it of him, and brought it home to play with
the children.
Soon after this a present was made to Miss Margery of a dog,
and as he was always in good humor, and always jumping about, the children gave
him the name of Jumper. It was his duty to guard the door, and no one could go
out or come in without leave from his mistress.
Margery was so wise and good that some foolish people
accused her of being a witch, and she was taken to court and tried before the
judge. She soon proved that she was a most sensible woman, and Sir Charles
Jones was so pleased with her, that he offered her a large sum of money to take
care of his family and educate his daughter. At first, she refused, but
afterwards went and behaved so well, and was so kind and tender, that Sir
Charles would not permit her to leave the house, and soon after made her an offer
of marriage.
The neighbors came in crowds to the wedding, and all were
glad that one who had been such a good girl, and had grown up such a good
woman, was to become a grand lady.
Just as the clergyman had opened his book, a gentleman,
richly dressed, ran into the church and cried, "Stop! stop!"
Great alarm was felt, especially by the bride and groom,
with whom he said he wished to speak privately.
Sir Charles stood motionless with surprise, and the bride
fainted away in the stranger's arms. For this richly dressed gentleman turned
out to be little Tommy Meanwell, who had just come from sea, where he had made
a large fortune.
Sir Charles and Lady Jones lived very happily together, and
the great lady did not forget the children, but was just as good to them as she
had always been. She was also kind and good to the poor, and the sick, and a
friend to all who were in distress. Her life was a great blessing, and her
death the greatest calamity that ever took place in the neighborhood where she
lived, and was known as
GOODY TWO-SHOES
GOODY TWO-SHOES
Reviewed by bsm
on
December 22, 2019
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