1.“Fred，I think I left my spectacles upstairs，”said grandpapa.
“Oh dear，”began Fred，who always disliked going up and down stairs，unless he wanted something for himself and could not get any one to fetch it for him.But before he finished his sentence，little Lillie had laid her work on the sofa，and，saying，“I’ll get them，grandpapa，”she was on her way upstairs.
2.“Fred，you forgot to put your tools away，”said mamma a little later.
“Oh dear！it‘s such a bother to put everything away，”fretted Fred.“Can’t I leave them where they are till to-morrow，for I shall want them again？”
“No；I want them put away at once，”said mamma，in so firm a tone that Fred knew he must obey.
3.“Oh dear！I never can jearn this long lesson，”he grumbled that evening when he sat down to prepare his lesson for the next day.“It‘s such a lot of work to do.”
Dr.Morton had dropped in for a chat with Fred’s father，and he looked up as he heard the boy‘s impatient remark.
4.“What do you think I have been doing to-day，Fred？”
“I don’t know，”said Fred.“Breaking a little girl‘s arm.”
“Don’t you mean mending it，doctor？”asked Fred，thinking the doctor had made a mistake.
5.“No；I broke it，”answered the doctor.“Some time ago this little girl broke her arm，and it was very badly set，and has been so stiff ever since that she could notuse it.
6.”She makes lace very cleverly，and the money she has earned has been a great help to the family；but since her arm was hurt she has not been able to work at all.We decidedto-day that the only way to help the child would be to break her arm again and reset it.“7.”I think I would rather never be able to work at all than have that done to me，“exclaimed Fred.
“Why，that‘s a pity，”remarked the doctor，“for I think you have a bone which must be broken very soon if you are to become an active man.I have been intending to mentionit to you for some time.”
8.Fred turned pale.He was not at all fond of bearing pain.
“Where is the bone？”he asked in a frightened tone.“Will you have to break it？”
“No；I can’t very well break it for you，”answered the doctor.“You can break it yourself better than any one can do it for you.It is called the lazy bone.”
9.“Oh，is that what you mean？”asked Fred，smiling at the doctor‘s words.
“Yes，my boy，that is the bone I mean，and it is a bone you ought to break very soon if you are ever to be of any use in the world.It will take a pretty strong pull to break it，for it is one of the toughest bones I know anything about；but you can break it if you make the effort，and the sooner you set about it，the easier it will be.Will you try at once？”
10.“Yes，doctor，I will，”promised Fred manfully，while his face flushed with shame at the thought that he had already earned the characterof a lazy boy.
