26 ECLECTIC SERIES.






THIRD READER. 27

LESSON VII.



THE TRUANT.
1. James Brown was ten years old when his parents sent
him to school. It was not far from his home, and therefore
they sent him by himself.
2. But, instead of going to school, he was in the habit of
playing truant. He would go into the fields, or spend his time
with idle boys.
3. But this was not all. When he went home, he would
falsely tell his mother that he had been to school, and had
said his lessons very well.
4. One fine morning, his mother told James to make haste
home from school, for she wished, after he had come back,
to take him to his aunt's.
5. But, instead of minding her, he went off to the water,
where there were some boats. There he met plenty of idle