y observed, that "if those children were
shut up in a dark room alone, with nothing to do, they would still find
some way of being mischievous, and of deserving to be punished."

"Harry!" said Major Graham one day, "you remind me of a monkey which
belonged to the colonel of our regiment formerly. He was famous for
contriving to play all sorts of pranks when no one supposed them to be
possible, and I recollect once having a valuable French clock, which the
malicious creature seemed particularly determined to break. Many a time
I caught him in the fact, and saved my beautiful clock; but one day,
being suddenly summoned out of the room, I hastily fastened his chain to
a table, so that he could not possibly, even at the full extent of his
paw, so much as touch the glass case. I observed him impatiently
watching my departure, and felt a misgiving that he expected to get the
better of me; so after shutting the door, I took a peep through the
key-hole, and what do you think Jack had done, Harry? for, next to Mr.
Monkey himself, you are certainly the cleverest contriver of mischief I
know."

"What did he do?" asked Harry eagerly; "did he throw a stone at the
clock?"

"No! but his leg was several inches longer than his arm, so having
turned his tail towards his object, he stretched out his hind-paw, and
before I could rush back, my splendid alabaster clock had been upset and
broken to shivers."

Laura soon became quite as mischievous as Harry, which is very
surprising, as she was a whole year older, and had been twice as often
scolded by Mrs. Crabtree. Neither of these children intended any harm,
for they were only heedless lively romps, who would not for twenty
worlds have told a lie, or done a shabby thing, or taken what did not
belong to them. They were not greedy either, and would not on any
account have resembled Peter Grey, who was at the same school with
Frank, and who spent all his own pocket-money, and borrowed a great deal
of other people's, to squander at the pastry-cook's, saying, he wished
it were possible to eat three dinners, and two breakfasts, and five
suppers every day.

Harry was not a cruel boy either; he never lashed his pony, beat his
dog, pinched his sister, or killed any butterflies, though he often
chased them for fun, and one day he even defended a wasp, at the risk of
being stung, when Mrs. Crabtree intended to kill it.

"Nasty, useless vermin!" said she angrily, "What business have they in
the