It was time for the Child to have lessons. The father gave him a sheet of paper, smooth and white; a pencil, and a ruler.
man handing ruler to son

“Write as well as you can,” he said, “and be sure you keep the lines straight!”

The Child admired the ruler very much. “I willdecoration94decoration put it up on the wall,” he said, “where I can see it always.”

So he put it up on the wall, and the sunbeams sparkled on it.

“It must be pure gold,” said the Child; “there is nothing else so beautiful in the world.” And then he began his task.

By and by the lesson time was over, and the father came to see what had been done.

The Child showed him the paper on which he had written his task. Up and down went the lines, her............