Carelessness is a sad thing. How many troubles flow from it! Look at the picture――and see what has happened! Nancy left her best bonnet in the chair, and the dog, Flirt, has got it. Here’s a pretty kettle of fish! See how the puppy munches the straw-braid, and how he mumbles the boquets of ribbons! Now, who is to blame for all this? Is Flirt to blame?――why, he is only a puppy――a young creature so full of fun and frolic that he hardly knows what to do with himself. But Nancy is a rational creature; she has been told to be careful; she knows that Flirt is a playful rogue, and is very likely to seize upon anything left in his way. Oh, Nancy, Nancy! you scold Flirt, and you box his ears, and lay the ruin of your nice new bonnet to him; but, my dear child, it is you who are in fault. [Illustration] Charity. Charity is a beautiful word, and means many beautiful things. Here, in the picture, is a poor old man; he is lame, and cannot hardly walk. He sits by the way-side and holds out his hat to those who are passing by; and you see that the boy is dropping a piece of money into his hat. Thus the poor old man gets a living. This giving to the poor is called _charity_, or _alms-giving_. It is our duty to give a part of what we have to those who are poor and needy. But there are other kinds of charity, which it is our duty to practise. We should not only give money to the poor, but we should give to all, kind thoughts, kind wishes, kind words. This is a noble species of charity, and while it tends to make others happy, it cultivates sweet peace in our own bosoms. Let all my young friends practise this species of charity. Inquisitive Jack. CHAPTER VI. _Jack visits the bee-hives.――Swarming.――Hiving._ One day Jack was going along by a row of bee-hives, which belonged to his father, when he observed an unusual confusion among the bees of one of them. A great many bees were going in and out at the holes of the hive, buzzing with their wings, and seeming to be in the greatest flurry. Besides this, the bees had collected on the outside of the hive in a great mass, at least an inch deep in one place. Jack had seen the bee-hives so often that he had not thought much about them; but now his attention was fixed. He stopped and began to look at what was going on, particularly among the bees of the hive we have mentioned. “I guess it’s Sunday,” said Jack to himself, “among these creatures, or perhaps it’s election day, and they are going to choose a governor or president. Oh――I recollect――aunt Piper told me once that the bees were governed by a queen; and perhaps they are now going to choose one.”