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BOOK SEVEN

THE HERITAGE

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

THE rich man's son inherits lands,

And piles of brick and stone and gold; And he inherits soft white hands,

And tender flesh that fears the cold, Nor dares to wear a garment oldA heritage, it seems to me,

One scarce would wish to hold in fee.

What doth the poor man's son inherit? Stout muscles and a sinewy heart,

A hardy frame, a hardier spirit;

King of two hands, he does his part
In every useful toil and art -

A heritage, it seems to me,

A king might wish to hold in fee.

What doth the poor man's son inherit?

A patience learned of being poor; Courage, if sorrow come, to bear it; A fellow-feeling that is sure

To make the outcast bless his door-
A heritage, it seems to me,

A king might wish to hold in fee.

O rich man's son! there is a toil

That with all others level stands;
Large charity doth never soil,

But only whiten, soft white hands.
This is the best crop from thy lands —
A heritage, it seems to me,

Worth being rich to hold in fee.

O poor man's son! scorn not thy state;
There is worse weariness than thine
In merely being rich and great.

Toil only gives the soul to shine,
And makes rest fragrant and benign-
A heritage, it seems to me,

Worth being poor to hold in fee.

Both, heirs to some six feet of sod,
Are equal in the earth at last;
Both, children of the same dear God,
Prove title to your heirship vast
By record of a well-filled past -

A heritage, it seems to me,
Well worth a life to hold in fee.

hold in fee, to own.

be nign', kindly.

in her'it, receive by right of birth. sin'ew y, tough.

MAGGIE IN TROUBLE

BY GEORGE ELIOT

MAGGIE and Tom came in from the garden with their father and their Uncle Glegg. Maggie had thrown her bonnet off very carelessly, and coming in with her hair rough as well as out of curl, rushed at once to Lucy. The contrast between the cousins was like the contrast between a rough, dark, overgrown puppy and a white kitten. Lucy put up the neatest little rosebud mouth to be kissed; everything about her was neat.

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Heyday!" said Aunt Glegg, with loud emphasis. "Do little boys and girls come into a room without taking notice o' their uncles and aunts? wasn't the way when I was a little girl."

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"Go and speak to your aunts and uncles, my dears," said Mrs. Tulliver. She wanted to whisper to Maggie a command to go and have her hair brushed.

"Well, and how do you do? And I hope you're good children, are you?" said Aunt Glegg in the same loud, emphatic way. "Look up, Tom, look up. Look at me now. Put your hair behind your ears, Maggie, and keep your frock on your shoulder." Aunt Glegg always spoke to them in this loud, emphatic way, as if she considered them deaf.

Well, my dears," said Aunt Pullet, "you grow

wonderfully fast. I doubt they'll outgrow their strength. I think the girl has too much hair. I'd have it thinned and cut shorter, Sister, if I were you; it isn't good for her health. It's that makes . her skin so brown, - don't you think so, Sister Deane ?"

"I can't say, I'm sure, Sister," said Mrs. Deane, shutting her lips close and looking at Maggie.

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No, no," said Mr. Tulliver, "the child's healthy enough; there's nothing ails her. There's red wheat as well as white, for that matter, and some like the dark grain best. But it would be as well if Bessie would have the child's hair cut so it would lie smooth."

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Maggie," said Mrs. Tulliver, beckoning Maggie to her and whispering in her ear, "go and get your hair brushed, do, for shame! I told you not to come in without going to Martha first; you know I did."

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"Tom, come out with me," whispered Maggie, pulling his sleeve as she passed him; and Tom followed willingly enough.

"Come upstairs with me, Tom," she whispered, when they were outside the door. "There's some

thing I want to do before dinner."

"There's no time to play at anything before dinner," said Tom.

Oh, yes, there is time for this. Do come, Tom." Tom followed Maggie upstairs into her mother's

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