Now that it had been put into his head,
however, to think what a good thing reading was, all this would apply no
longer. It was a very different thing now.
The other subject which occupied his thoughts was this:
Everybody was so kind to him--so ready to do things for him--and, what
was of far more consequence, to teach him to do them himself; while he,
so far as he could think, did nothing for anybody! That could not be
right; it _could_ not be--for it was not reasonable. Not to mention his
father and mother, there was Mrs Wilson, who had taught him to knit, and
even given him a few lessons in spinning, though that had not come to
much; and here was Hector Macallaster going to teach him to make shoes;
and not one thing that he could think of was he capable of doing in
return! This must be looked into, for things could not be allowed to go
on like that. All at once it struck him that Hector had said, with some
regret in his voice, that though he had plenty of time to think, he had
very little time to read; also that although he could see well enough by
candlelight to work at his trade, he could not see well enough to read.
What a fine thing it would be to learn to read to Hector! It would be
such fun to surprise him too, by all at once reading him something!
The sun was not at his full height when Willie received this
illumination.
Pages:
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67