XLI. OUTSIDE AND INSIDE 245 XLII. WHERE THEY LIVE 252 XLIII. HOW THEY BEHAVE 257 XLIV. FRY AND SCHOOL 262 XLV. SCALES AND TEETH 267 XLVI. BIG AND LITTLE BROTHERS 274 [Illustration: “NOTHING LEFT HIM.”] SEA-SIDE AND WAY-SIDE. LESSON I. THE GREAT MOTHER. “What are you doing?” I asked a boy to-day. “Only digging in the dirt,” he said. “And what is that in your little cart?” “Nothing but dirt.” “And what is this that you call dirt?” He did not reply. An older boy, who had read more, said: “Dirt is the top crust of the ball, called the earth, on which we live.” “Very good. Now my lad, what is dirt worth?” The boy who was digging said: “Ho! Dirt is worth nothing.” “Suppose that I could take away from you all that you get from the earth. What would you have left?” “Many things,” said the little boy. “Well,” said the older boy, “we should have no fruit, nor vegetables, for these come from the ground. We should have no bread. Wheat grows from the ground. No sugar, for sugar is made of beets and sugar-cane.” “And,” I said, “you would have no milk, butter, or cheese. For the cows must eat grass and other plants, from which to make milk.” “That is so,” said the big boy. “And, since it is so, you may say we should have no meat. The animals must eat plants, of some kind, or they could not live and grow.” The boy who was digging now looked at the dirt with more respect. “So you would lose all your food. For food is animal or vegetable, and so comes from the dirt. Let us see about your clothes. You would lose all cotton and linen clothes. For cotton and flax grow out of the ground. You would lose all silk, woollen, and leather, clothes. The silk-worms, sheep, and other animals feed on plants that grow in the dirt. You must lose your straw hats also. Straw is the stem of a plant.” “I should have my house,” said the boy who was digging. “Let us see about that. Your house is made of stone, brick, or wood, plaster, paint. All these things come from the earth. Bricks are clay, burned. Wood grew in the ground as trees. Plaster is lime, sand, and so on; these come from the earth. The paint is made of oil and ground minerals. We get these minerals from the earth. If I could take from you all you have from the earth, you would have no house, nor food, nor clothes. You must go and sit out-of-doors, in a very sad state.” “At least,” said the boy, “I should have my little iron shovel, and my little iron cart.” “No, you would not,” said the big boy. “Iron is dug out of the earth. You would have no stove, no knives, no such things as pots, and pans, to cook in! Ha! ha! ha!” “I have a box full of pennies,” said the small boy, “and dimes, and gold dollars; I would buy more things.”