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One bright day when the flowers were in bloom, we had a picnic in the woods. Every little boy or girl who lived nearby was invited. Betty wrote the invitations, and Bobby carried them to the children.

We met early in the morning near the schoolhouse. We wandered out across the fields into the woods. Finally we came to a pretty little brook which flowed over a high cliff. What fun we had in the shade of a large oak near the brook,

eating all the good things we had brought and playing games! We played tag, pussy-wants-a-corner, and hide-and-seek until the sun was low, and then we started home.

On the way home

Oral Exercise

Who wants to finish the story about our picnic in the woods?

Did you ever have a picnic in the woods? Tell the class about the time you went on a picnic trip in the woods or in the park.

Tell us some of the things which you think boys and girls would want to do on a picnic trip.

Tell us the things that are not mentioned in the story.

Do you think they would try to catch fish in the little brook?

Do you think they made a swing and had fun swinging?

Tell us about the things you see in the picture. Tell us a story about the thing you see in the picture that is most interesting.

What games should you like to play while you were out in the woods on a picnic trip?

Did they see squirrels in the woods? Tell us about all the things you think they saw on this trip.

Who can tell us most in three minutes about what you think would happen on a picnic trip? Who can tell us most in two minutes?

THE FIRST CIRCUS

A Picnic Story

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See if you can find in the list below, the word that goes in each blank space.

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John and I lived on a farm, and we had never been to a circus until one July day when John was ten and I was eight.

Father and mother took us in the car, and we reached the city about one o'clock. We left the car on a quiet side street and walked to the big white tent.

"Let's go to the animals first," said father after he bought our tickets at a big red wagon.

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Then we tried to get into the tent. Every one was crowding and hurrying, and it was very hard for us to keep together. Once a big man crowded in between mother and me, and I could hardly get back to her. But at last we got inside.

"John, you must keep watch of Mary to see that she doesn't get lost in the crowd," said Mother.

"Oh, see the two big elephants with chains on their feet!" I cried to John. "And see the little baby elephant!"

"They don't have to chain the baby elephant," said John pretending to know more about it than I.

"Here is a bag of peanuts," said father. "Do you want to give some to the elephants?"

THE FIRST CIRCUS

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"I do," said John bravely, but the elephants looked so big that I was afraid to go near them.

"See how they like the peanuts!" cried John as he gave some to the two big elephants. "See how they reach out their trunks for more!"

"Give some to the baby elephant!" I called to John.

"He likes peanuts as well as the big ones," said John. "He won't hurt you. Come and give him some yourself."

I got behind John and reached out a handful to the baby elephant, but I couldn't help jumping when he touched my hand with his trunk.

"Oh, see, here's a lion!" exclaimed John. "I like the big lion the best of all the animals."

Just then the big lion roared, and the noise was so terrible that I couldn't help screaming with fright. But John only laughed at me.

"Look at that giraffe!" said John. "I never supposed any animal could have such a long neck."

I told John that the giraffe's ears were so little and so high up that I could hardly see them.

"Ha, see the zebra with its white stripes!" said John with a laugh. "I could turn my mule colt into a zebra if father would let me put enough white paint on it."

John said he should like to ride on the camels with their big humps, but father said they would not be as easy to ride as the horses on the farm because camels rock when they walk.

The hyenas were restless, in their cage, and I asked the keeper what was the matter with them. He said they always paced back and forth, back and forth, like that.

When we had seen everything in the menagerie, we went into the circus tent.

"Ho! ho!" laughed John as soon as we came in sight of the ring, "see the clown driving the trained pig!"

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