I am afraid they might never learn to read until they had boys and girls of their own whom they wanted to be better off than, because of their ignorance, they had been themselves.

But it worked well in Willie's case, who was neither lazy nor idle.

And it must not be supposed that he was left without any education at all.

For one thing, his father and mother used to talk very freely before him--much more so than most parents do in the presence of their children; and nothing serves better for teaching than the conversation of good and thoughtful people.

While they talked, Willie would sit listening intently, trying to understand what he heard; and although it not unfrequently took very strange shapes in his little mind, because at times he understood neither the words nor the things the words represented, yet there was much that he did understand and make a good use of.