THE MORAL PICTURE BOOK




[Illustration: THE MORAL PICTURE BOOK: PRAYER]




JOHN COOPER.

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John Cooper was a little boy, whose father and mother lived in a cottage
on one side of a village green. He was his parents' only child, so that
he had no brothers nor sisters to play with. But he had a dog of which
he was very fond, and he used sometimes to play with other children on
the green. Tom Jones was one of the boys that played with John Cooper.
One day he asked John Cooper to go for a long walk with him, instead of
going to school. John at first would not consent, but at last he gave
way and went with Tom, taking Carlo with him.

There was a pretty stream of water that ran along one side of the green,
and then passed through a wood in a winding course. In some places it
was rather broad and deep, and in other places it was shallow, and ran
murmuring over the stones at the bottom. Tom said that it would be very
pleasant to go along the stream, sometimes on one side, and sometimes on
the other, far into the wood, and to look for birds' nests. The sun was
shining very brightly, the trees were in full leaf, the grass was thick