LESSON 14
HENRY, THE BOOTBLACK

WORD LIST

support along belongboots dollar

years manage cornertaught notice

money blacking gentlemen honest quite

buy earned

1. Henry was a kind, good boy. His father was dead, and his mother was very poor. He had a little sister about two years old.

2. He wanted to help his mother, for she could not always earn enough to buy food for her little family.

3. One day, a man gave him a dollar for finding a pocketbook which he had lost.

4. Henry might have kept all the money, for no one saw him when he found it. But his mother had taught him to be honest, and never to keep what did not belong to him.

5. With the dollar he bought a box, three brushes, and some blacking. He then went to the corner of the street, and said to every one whose boots did not look nice, “Black your boots, sir, please? ”

6. He was so polite that gentlemen soon began to notice him, and to let him black their boots. The first day he brought home fifty cents, which he gave to his mother to buy food with.

7. When he gave her the money, she said, as she dropped a tear of joy, “You are a dear, good boy, Henry. I did not know how I could earn enough to buy bread with, but now I think we can manage to get along quite well.”

8. Henry worked all the day, and went to school in the evening. He earned almost enough to support his mother and his little sister.

STUDY GUIDE

A. Sound Work—Can you find the list word(s) with the matching sound?

1. drooping_ _ _ _ _

2. steal_ _ _ _ _ _

3. hovels_ _ _ _ _ _

4. divine_ _ _ _ _ _

5. until _ _ _ _ _ _ _

6. smiling _ _ _ _ _

7. shadow _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

8. dot _ _ _ _ _ _

B. Word Work—When we add an “s” to some words they indicate more than one or become plural. Can you make these words into plurals?

Example: “s” was added to the end of the root word “dog” to indicate there was more than one dog. One “dog” or two “dogs”.

corner _________

year _________

shadow _________

dollar _________

stair _________

boot _________

C. Sentence Work—Replace the word in the sentence that is missing. Use your list words.

1. One day, a man gave him a __________ for finding a pocketbook which he had lost.

2. His mother had ___________ him to be __________, and never to keep what did not ___________ to him.

3. He was so __________ that gentlemen soon began to ___________him.

4. Now I think we can _________ to get along ________ well.

5. He _____________ almost enough to _____________ his mother and his little sister.

D. Game—Unscramble the words. Use the letter in the highlighted spot to find the answer to the question below.

yub _ _ _

ryaes _ _ _ _ _

nemoy _ _ _ _ _

nalog _ _ _ _ _

lldroa _ _ _ _ _ _

What did Henry's mother buy with the money he gave her?

She bought _ _ _ _ _ to feed her family.

Definition Time!

“Blacking” shoes or boots is putting on a black paste to make the shoes or boots look the colour of black. Today, we do not say “blacking”, we say “shoe polish”. For example, “He put shoe polish on his shoes to keep them looking new.”

A “pocketbook” is a wallet, and is used to keep your money in it. For example, “I have money in my pocketbook.”