GOODY TWO-SHOES 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 hisgood fortune seemed to desert him. Year after year his crops failed, hissheep died off, and he was obliged to borrow money to pay his rent andthe wages of those who worked on the farm. At last he had to sell his farm, but even this did not bring him inmoney 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 moremoney than he could possibly use. But they were both very greedy andcovetous, and particularly hard on those who owed them anything. FarmerGraspall abused Farmer Meanwell and called him all sorts of dreadfulnames; but the rich Sir Thomas Gripe was more cruel still, and wantedthe poor debtor shut up in jail. So poor Farmer Meanwell had to hasten from the place where he had livedfor 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 childrenwith him. But though he was free from Gripe and Graspall he was not freefrom trouble and care. He soon fell ill, and when he found himself unable to get food andclothes for his family, he grew worse and worse and soon died. His wife could not bear the loss of her husband, whom she loved sodearly, 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 HeavenlyFather. They trotted around hand in hand, and the poorer they became the morethey clung to each other. Poor, ragged, and hungry enough they were! Tommy had two shoes, but Margery went barefoot. They had nothing to eatbut the berries that grew in the woods, and the scraps they could getfrom the poor people in the village, and at night they slept in barns orunder hay-stacks. Their rich relations were too proud to notice them. But Mr. Smith, theclergyman of the village where the children were born, was not that sortof a man. A rich relation came to visit him--a kind-heartedgentleman--and the clergyman told him all about Tommy and Margery. Thekind gentleman pitied them, and ordered Margery a pair of shoes and gaveMr. Smith money to buy her some clothes, which she needed sadly. As forTommy he said he would take him off to sea with him and make him asailor. After a few days, the gentleman said he must go to London andwould take Tommy with him, and sad was the parting between the twochildren. Poor Margery was very lonely indeed, without her brother, and might havecried herself sick but for the new shoes that were brought home to her. [Illustration: The Orphans] They turned her thoughts from her grief; and as soon as she had putthem on she ran in to Mrs. Smith and cried out: "Two shoes, ma'am, twoshoes!" These words she repeated to every one she met, and thus it wasshe got the name of Goody Two Shoes. [Illustration: Two Shoes, Ma'am. Two Shoes. ] Little Margery had seen how good and wise Mr. Smith was, and thought itwas because of his great learning; and she wanted, above all things, tolearn to read. At last she made up her mind to ask Mr. Smith to teachher when he had a moment to spare. He readily agreed to do this, andMargery read to him an hour every day, and spent much time with herbooks. 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 lettersof the alphabet, and carried these with her when she went from house tohouse. When she came to Billy Wilson's she threw down the letters all ina 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 wereseveral children waiting for her. As soon as the little girl came inthey all crowded around her, and were eager to begin their lessons atonce. Then she threw the letters down and said to the boy next her, "What didyou 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 thewords Apple and Pie were united, and stood thus: APPLE PIE. Now it happened one evening that Goody Two Shoes was going home ratherlate. She had made a longer round than usual, and everybody had kept herwaiting, so that night came on before her day's work was done. Rightglad was she to set out for her own home, and she walked alongcontentedly through the fields, and lanes, and roads, enjoying the quietevening. The evening was not cool, however, but close and sultry, andbetokened a storm. Presently a drop fell on Goody's face. What shouldshe 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 findshelter, and Goody Two Shoes gathered her skirts about her and took toher heels, and ran as if somebody was after her. The owner of the barnhad died lately, and the property was to be sold, and there was a lot ofloose 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 resther weary limbs, and quite out of breath with her long run; and justthen down rattled the rain, the thunder roared, the lightning flashed, and the old barn trembled, and so did Goody Two Shoes. [Illustration: The spelling Lesson] She had not been there long before she heard footsteps, and three mencame into the barn for shelter. The hay was piled up between her andthem, so that they could not see her, and, thinking they were alone, they spoke quite loudly. [Illustration: Plotting to rob Squire Trueman] They were plotting to rob Squire Trueman, who lived in the great housein Margery's village, and were to break in and steal all they could thatvery night. This was quite enough for Goody Two Shoes. She waited fornothing, but dashed out of the barn, and ran through rain and mud tillshe came to the Squire's house. He was at dinner with some friends, and any one else but Goody wouldhave found it difficult to gain admission to him. But she was well knownto the servants, and was so kind and obliging, that even the big fatbutler could not refuse to do her bidding, and went and told the squirethat Goody Two Shoes wished very much to see him. So the squire asked his friends to excuse him for a moment, and came outand 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 murderedthis 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 toldhis friends the news he had heard. They all said they would stay andhelp him take the thieves. So the lights were put out, to make it appearas if all the people in the house were in bed, and servants and all kepta close watch both inside and outside. Sure enough, at about one o'clock in the morning the three men camecreeping, creeping up to the house with a dark lantern, and the tools tobreak in with. Before they were aware, six men sprang out on them, andheld them fast. The thieves struggled in vain to get away. They werelocked in an out-house until daylight, when a cart came and took themoff to jail. They were afterward sent out of the country, where they had to work inchains on the roads; and it is said that one of them behaved so wellthat he was pardoned, and went to live at Australia, where he became arich man. The other two went from bad to worse, and it is likely that they came tosome dreadful end. For sin never goes unpunished. But to return to Goody Two Shoes. One day as she was walking through thevillage she saw some wicked boys with a raven, at which they were goingto throw stones. To stop this cruel sport she gave the boys a penny forthe 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 taughthim to spell, and to read, and he was so fond of playing with the largeletters, that the children called them "Ralph's Alphabet. " Some days after Goody had met with the raven, she was passing through afield, when she saw some naughty boys who had taken a pigeon, and tied astring to its legs in order to let it fly and draw it back again whenthey pleased. Goody could not bear to see anything tortured like that, so she boughtthe pigeon from the boys and taught him how to spell and read. But hecould not talk. And as Ralph, the raven, took the large letters, Peter, the pigeon, took care of the small ones. [Illustration: Goody warns the Squire] Mrs. Williams, who lived in Margery's village, kept school, and taughtlittle ones their A B C's. She was now old and feeble, and wanted togive up this important trust. [Illustration: Brother and Sister] This being known to Sir William Dove, he asked Mrs. Williams to examineGoody Two Shoes and see if she was not clever enough for the office. This was done, and Mrs. Williams reported that little Margery was thebest 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 reportmade them think highly of Miss MARGERY, as we must now call her. So Margery Meanwell was now a schoolmistress, and a capital one shemade. The children all loved her, for she was never weary of makingplans for their happiness. The room in which she taught was large and lofty, and there was plentyof 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 every onewas obliged to get up to find a letter, or spell a word, when it cametheir turn. This exercise not only kept the children in good health, but fixed theletters firmly in their minds. The neighbors were very good to her, and one of them made her a presentof a little skylark, whose early morning song told the lazy boys andgirls that it was time they were out of bed. Some time after this a poor lamb lost its dam, and the farmer beingabout to kill it, she bought it of him, and brought it home to play withthe children. Soon after this a present was made to Miss Margery of a dog, and as hewas always in good humor, and always jumping about, the children gavehim the name of Jumper. It was his duty to guard the door, and no onecould go out or come in without leave from his mistress. Margery was so wise and good that some foolish people accused her ofbeing 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 CharlesJones was so pleased with her, that he offered her a large sum of moneyto take care of his family, and educate his daughter. At first sherefused, but afterwards went and behaved so well, and was so kind andtender, that Sir Charles would not permit her to leave the house, andsoon after made her an offer of marriage. The neighbors came in crowds to the wedding, and all were glad that onewho had been such a good girl, and had grown up such a good woman, wasto 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 hesaid he wished to speak privately. Sir Charles stood motionless with surprise, and the bride fainted awayin the stranger's arms. For this richly-dressed gentleman turned out tobe little Tommy Meanwell, who had just come from sea, where he had madea large fortune. Sir Charles and Lady Jones lived very happily together, and the greatlady did not forget the children, but was just as good to them as shehad 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 theneighborhood where she lived, and was known as GOODY TWO SHOES. [Illustration]