I am as old as Washington
I may be like him then."

--_Written for Dew Drops by Helen M. Richardson._




A SCHOOLROOM SWEEP.


The girls at Dorothy's school--the little ones as well as the big
ones--had to do something that very few schoolgirls have to do nowadays,
and that is to sweep the schoolroom--a large room that had to be swept
every day after the closing hour.

Do you think that you would like such a task? Well, some of the big
girls at Dorothy's school didn't like it either; but little Dorothy and
most of her little mates thought it was a great honor, and they liked
to have their turn come to sweep.

Dorothy had not been to school for quite one year, and the teacher had
never appointed her to be one of the sweepers. Dorothy wondered why. She
swept the porches at home, and mother said she did it well, too. She did
so want to sweep the schoolroom when Amy Brown did, for there were
always two of the small girls, each sweeping half of the room.

Day after day the teacher called the names of those who were to perform
the task. Day after day Dorothy listened with a fast-beating heart and
was disappointed.