LESSON 72 THE GATE WITHOUT A LATCH

THE GATE WITHOUT A LATCH

1. There was a farmer who had a little gate which opened from his yard into a field. This little gate wanted a latch, and therefore could not be fastened. When he passed through the gate, he was very careful to pull it after him; but other people were not always so mindful.

2. Even with all his care, the wind would often blow it open again after he had closed it. The result was, that the gate was generally either flapping backwards and forwards in the wind or standing wide open.

3. In this way the poultry [1] were always getting out, and the sheep and lambs were always getting in. It took up half the children's time to run after the chickens and drive them back into the yard, and to send the sheep and the lambs back into the field.

4. The farmer's wife was always telling him that he ought to get the latch mended; but he used to say that it would cost sixpence, and that it was not worth while. He said that the children might as well be driving the sheep and the poultry in and out of the yard and the field as be doing nothing. So the gate remained without the latch.

5. One day a fat pig got out of its sty, and, pushing open the gate, ran into the field, and thence wandered into a thick wood. The pig was soon missed, and a hue-and-cry [2] was raised after it. The farmer was in the act of tying up a horse in the stable; but he left it, to run after the pig.

6. His wife was ironing some clothes in the kitchen; and she left her work, to follow her husband. The daughter was stirring some broth over the fire; and she left it, to run after her mother. The farmer's sons and his man joined in the chase after the pig; and away they all went, men and women, pell-mell [3] , to the wood.

7. But the man, making more haste than good speed, sprained his ankle in jumping over a fence. The farmer and his sons were obliged to give up chasing the pig, to carry the man back to the house. The good woman and her daughter also returned to assist the poor man who was hurt.

8. When they got back to the house, they found that the broth had boiled over,—that the dinner was spoiled; and that two shirts, which had been hanging before the fire, were scorched and utterly ruined.

9. The farmer scolded his wife and the girl, for being so careless as not to take the shirts and the broth from the fire before they left the kitchen. He then went to his stable, where he found that the horse, which he had left loose, had kicked a fine colt and broken its leg. The servant was kept in the house for a fortnight, by the hurt to his ankle.

10. Thus, besides the injury done to the farmer's man, the farmer lost two weeks' work from his servant, a fine colt, a fat pig, and his two best shirts, to say nothing of the loss of his dinner—all for the want of a sixpenny latch! In this way were two good old proverbs verified:—

For want of a nail the wheel comes off.

Safe bind, safe find.

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[1] poultry: The birds of the fowl yard.

[2] hue-and-cry: Noisy pursuit.

[3] pell-mell: Quickly, in great haste.