Just as David Hill started home from school, Ben Smith came out of the Post Office and called, "Halloo! Dave, come and read this letter for me." Ben was a great boy fifteen years old.

David waited till Ben reached him, and then took the open letter. "Why Ben," said he, "this is to your father." "No matter," answered Ben, "he won't be back from Shreveport for a long time, and mother and I can't read writing, so make haste and tell me what is in it."

David began to read very slowly: "My dere sur i have taken the plesher to drop you a fu lines to inform yew that i am In good helth and yeur onkel rote mee that yeu was at the pint of deth with a dezeis of some cine i am in hops--"

"W-h-e-w!" whistled David. This was not very polite in him, but he could hardly be expected to say less. He had just left school at the head of his spelling class, as usual, and was carrying home a neatly filled copy-book, which his teacher told him to show his mother, that she might see how fast he was improving.

"What's the matter?" asked Ben. "Don't you know enough to read it?" "The man didn't know enough to half write it," answered David slightly piqued. "See here, these letters look more like Mexican brands than anything else."

Ben snatched the letter from David and started in quest of some one else to read it to him. David cried after him, "I say, Ben, come to school to-morrow, and I will help you learn your reading lesson, and will show you how to make the hard letters in your copy, and in a week you can write much better than that, and read writing too."

It is to be hoped that Ben went to school the next day, and also for every school day for two years after. In case he failed to do so, and is still continuing once in a while to do a lazy day's riding for some stock owner, and the rest of the time to hang around the grocery and store, he will surely grow up an ignorant and worthless young man, like the no account John Hall who wrote that letter.

It is a very bad sign when boys get angry with their teachers and stay away from school, as Ben was doing. It shows at least that they have not good sense, else they would not be willing to lose an hour in which they ought to be gaining knowledge in order to become useful, respected men.