i.

once upon a time, a mother loved her little boy so well that she made the mistake of offending one of his good fairies. this was the fairy of carefulness.

the mother made the mistake of trying to do everything for her little son. she even put his toys away when he was tired of playing.

after the boy grew older and went to school, she did many of his lessons for him. his daily[10] marks in arithmetic were good, for much of his work was done by his mother at home. of course his teacher did not know this for the boy copied his mother’s work.

now, just as you would expect, this made the boy very careless. but he was really a bright boy, and even though he did not do well, he managed to pass his examinations.

“if you would only be more careful,” his teachers would say, “you would have the highest marks.”

when his mother saw his reports, she would say: “oh, isn’t this too bad, son; i know you will have better marks next time.”

so, when the boy became a man he did everything in the same careless manner, forgetting that other people would not excuse him as his mother had done.

now the good fairy of carefulness was very much offended at the way in which the mother spoiled her little son. so she said to herself, “i must, i must teach that boy a lesson!”

fairy on left; bably with ball on right

ii.

when he was little, this boy was very fond of playing at building bridges. after he was grown up, he became a builder of real bridges.

[11]

at first, he built only small bridges over the brooks and little streams, but one day an order was given him to build an important bridge over a large river.

just as you might guess, this pleased the man very much, and he was glad to begin the work at once.

soon his men were busy, putting in the piers for the new bridge, and he was hurrying them as fast as he could, in order to get the bridge built on time.

every day he sat in a rowboat calling to his men. they were about to begin work on the middle pier when the foreman of the workers came to him.

“mr. builder,” he said, “i think we shall have to wait for more material if we go down to the right depth for this pier.”

“nonsense, man,” said the builder, “we have no time to wait. there is a pretty good bottom under that place. don’t go so deep. get along with the material you have.”

“but, sir,—” began the man.

“do as i tell you,” ordered the builder.

“all right, sir,” replied the foreman; “you may order that done, but one of the other men will have to do the job.”

[12]

“very well,” was the angry reply of the builder, “jim nevermind will take your place.”

the foreman slowly drew on his jacket. “somebody will pay for such carelessness,” he muttered. “i hope it will not be—” but the rest of the sentence was drowned by the orders of the new foreman.

iii.

in a very short time the bridge was finished and the inspector came to look it over.

“it looks all right,” he said. “are you sure the piers are sound? i haven’t time to examine them, but i know that a man who has built as many bridges as you, would make them right.”

“i am glad you are pleased, sir,” replied the builder.

“you have certainly made record time,” continued the inspector, “and i shall carry back a good report.”

“thank you very much,” said the builder; but his pleasure was somewhat spoiled because of the shallow pier.

“it is all nonsense,” he thought, “to be so particular; besides, the current in that river is so slow that there is no danger.” and it seemed true, for three years later, the bridge appeared[13] to be as firm and strong as when it was first built.

iv.

but one day in the early part of the fourth year there came a great flood. the slow-moving current became a raging torrent, sweeping everything in its way and blocking large timbers and trees against the bridge.

it so happened that a party of young people were riding along in a big hay wagon drawn by four beautiful bay horses. when they came to the bridge the driver stopped.

“shall we cross?” he asked.

“oh, yes,” the children shouted, “it will be fun.”

“it looks safe enough,” said one of the two grown people who were with them. so with a “gee-up, boys,” to the horses, the driver started across the bridge.

just—ah, you know, don’t you? just as they reached the middle pier, there came a creak and a rumble, a moment’s swaying, and a crash. the bridge had caved in, and the hay wagon, full of terror-stricken children, together with the frightened horses, was swept into the water.

“don’t jump!” shouted the driver to the[14] children, trying to guide the swimming horses shoreward; but that was impossible.

for a full minute, which seemed like hours, they were swept onward. then,—maybe the good fairy of carefulness had planned it—they rested on a little island the top of which was just covered with water.

the white-faced driver counted the children, “all here! thank god!” he said.

the little folks cried and hugged each other, and called aloud for their mothers and fathers.

they had to stay there all night, cold and frightened and hungry. that was dreadful enough, but it was nothing compared with the fear that the water might rise higher still.

but slowly and steadily it went down, and by early morning all of the little island was uncovered. all the party were then quickly rescued with boats.

v.

the builder started, as the heading in the evening paper caught his eye—“terrible bridge accident—who is to blame?”

“why, why, it’s the bridge of the shallow pier!” he exclaimed. “people will find out that i am the one to blame!”

[15]

“shall i run away?” he wondered, and sat for hours with his head in his hands.

suddenly he threw back his shoulders and said aloud, “no, i will not run away. i will stay and do what i can to make the bridge right and never neglect my duty again!”

do you wonder that the good fairy of carefulness, and thoroughness, smiled and whispered, “i wish he could have learned his lesson more easily!”

memory gem

if a task is once begun

never leave it till it’s done;

be the labor great or small

do it well, or not at all.

—ph?be cary.

questions

the careless little boy had a very easy time both at home and at school, didn’t he?

but, what kind of man did he grow to be?

[16]

it did not seem as if just one shallow pier would matter, did it?

but if he had been honest and thorough in his work when he was little, do you think he would have been content to be paid for such a carelessly built bridge?

how do you suppose he felt when he heard about the accident?

can you remember some time when you felt like being careless, but decided to do your very best?