Chapter XIII: The Right Way

Edward still behaved rather rudely--still "acted like a young colt." "What a pity!" Fanny said to herself. "Mamma will be mortified, if she ever hears about it. Well, I must try again, and see what I can do with the little fellow this time."

So she called Eddy out into the yard in front of the house, and there, where nobody else but him could hear her, she said,

"Eddy, I want to tell you a little story."

"Well," said Edward, "I want to hear a little story."

"Once there was a little boy," the sister said, commencing her story, "that had a sister who was kind to him. His sister took good care of her brother. She tried to do so, at any rate. When this little boy was abroad, playing with his cousins, he was rude. He would not mind his sister. He was a good deal younger than she was, and one would suppose that he ought to have listened to her, when she talked to him. But he did not. He was just as rude as ever; and his sister was afraid that, when his mamma heard of his conduct, she would feel ashamed of her son. What do you think of that boy, Eddy?"

"Sister," said the little fellow, "I am a very naughty boy. But I am sorry I behaved so. I will try to do better, if you will forgive me."

And so, you see, the wild, rattle-headed boy, who was so full of fun, that he could hardly hold in, and who was so wild that Fanny thought it was best to check him with a curb bit, something as she would a young colt, was completely tamed by this soft, gentle language. My young friend, don't you think there's great power in such words? I do, and I advise you, when you are dealing with such a "young colt" as Eddy was, to try the plan that Fanny tried last, and see if it don't succeed better than anything else?

Use gentle words, for who can tell
The blessings they impart!
How oft they fall as manna fell,
On some nigh-fainting heart!

"In lonely wilds by light-winged birds
Rare seeds have oft been sown;
And hope has sprung from gentle words,
Where only grief had grown."