"What is it shines so very bright,That quick dispels the dusky night?It is the sun, the sun,Shedding around its cheerful light—-It is the sun, the sun."
"What is it shines so very bright,That quick dispels the dusky night?It is the sun, the sun,Shedding around its cheerful light—-It is the sun, the sun."
Presently she looked round again, and saw her Mamma sleeping. She said in her soft little voice—"Mamma, Mamma, good morning, dear Mamma."
But her Mamma did not wake up. Then she crept over her to where her Papa was sleeping, and said—
"Papa, Papa, good morning, dear Papa."
But her Papa was too fast asleep to hear her. So she gave her Papa a little kiss on the end of his nose, and laid gently down between them.
In a few minutes, her Papa woke up, and said—
"Why! what little monkey is this in the bed?" which made Annie laugh very much. She then jumped out of bed, and put on her stockings and shoes herself, as all little boys and girls of five years old ought, and put on her clothes; and her Mamma, who was now awake, fastened them, and brushed her hair nicely, and washed her face and hands. After that, she said some little prayers, that her Mamma had taught her—and then ran down stairs, singing as gay as a lark, and dancing as light as a fairy.
After breakfast, her Mamma got her school basket, (it was a cunning little basket,) and put in it a nice slice of bread and butter, and a peach, and gave her a little bouquet of flowers to present to her teacher, whom little Annie loved dearly; and then her Mamma said, "Good bye, my darling," and Annie made her such a funny little curtsey, that she nearly tumbled over, and off she went to school with her Papa, who always saw her safe to the door.
Annie staid in school from nine o'clock until two. When she came home, her Mother kissed her, and said—
"Have you been a good little girl in school to-day?"
"I think I have," said Annie; "Miss Harriet said that I was very diligent. What is diligent, Mamma?"
"To be diligent, my dear," answered her Mamma, "means to study your lesson all the time, without thinking of play, or any thing else, until you know it perfectly."
Annie said she was glad it meant such good things, and added, "Mamma, will you play I am a lady, coming to see you, if you are not too busy?"
Her Mamma said she would. So Annie got her two dollys. One was a very pretty wax doll, with eyes that could open and shut. Her name was Emily; and the other was not wax, but was larger. Her name was Augusta. She put on their hats and visites, and dressed herself in an old hat, with a green veil, and came near her Mamma, and made believe ring a bell, and said, "Ting a ling, ting a ling."
"Come in," said her Mamma.
Little Annie shook hands with her Mamma, and said, "How do you do, Mrs. Browne?"
"Thank you, I am very well," said her Mamma. "Take a seat, my dear Mrs. Frisby," that was Annie's name. "How are your children, Mrs. Frisby?"
"Oh! they are very sick," answered Annie;"one has the toothache, and the other has a little square hole in the back of her head, and it has made her head ache."
"Dear me, Mrs. Frisby," said her Mamma, "I am very sorry to hear it; you ought to go to the doctor with them."
Then Annie pretended to go to the doctor, and she took out of the drawer a little bit of sugar for medicine. She eat the medicine up herself, and said that it had done the dollys a great deal of good. In this pleasant way she amused herself until dinner time.
After dinner, her Papa and Mamma took her to Union Park, as it was pleasant; and there Annie jumped the rope with other little girls, or rolled a great hoop. She could roll the hoop very well.
Then she came skipping home, and had her tea; and after that her Mother undressed her and heard her say her prayers, and kissed her for good night; and she jumped into bed, and in amoment was fast asleep. Don't you think Annie was a happy little girl?Ithink she was, for all her days passed in this pleasant manner. Some other time, perhaps, I will tell you more about little Annie Browne.
Laura and Fanny came one Saturday to spend the day with their Grandmamma. The moment they got into the house, little Laura ran to the book-case, to get a book to read; and Fanny asked for a needle and thread, and began to sew up a corner of the red cloth that was on the work-table.
Both these little girls were very fond of coming to see their Grandmamma, and she liked to have them come; for they gave her no trouble, and were very good and polite to every body.
Pretty soon Laura said, "Oh, dear! this is not a very interesting book, I am tired of reading it. I wonder where Aunt Fanny is. I believeI will go find her, and get her to tell me a story."
"A story!" said Fanny, "then I will go too." So she stuck her needle in her work, and they both ran out of the room.
They found their Aunt Fanny in the next room. She was sitting at her writing-desk, writing a letter.
"Oh, Auntie!" said Laura, coming up to the desk, "how much you have written; I am sure you must be tired. Suppose you stop a little while, and rest yourself by telling us a story."
Her Aunt laughed, and said that was a very clever way of getting a story out of her, and asked the children what kind of a story they would like.
"I like a fairy tale," said little Fanny.
"And I like a ghost story," said Laura. "I think a ghost story is great fun, for I never believe a word of it."
"But you know I never tell ghost stories," replied her Aunt; "they are very silly things.I will tell you a story about three bears, which I read a long while ago. I do not remember it exactly, but I think I can make it do for you."
"Oh, yes! yes!" cried the children, "three bears!—that will be funny I know."
So their kind Aunt laid down her pen, and took little Fanny upon her lap, and told Laura to get a bench and sit by her side, and commenced her story.[A]
[A]This story should be read aloud. When the reader comes to the "great big bear," or to any thing he says or does, he (the reader) should read in a loud gruff voice; all about the "middling sized bear," in the ordinary voice; and all about the "tiny bit of a bear," in a high small squeaking voice.
[A]This story should be read aloud. When the reader comes to the "great big bear," or to any thing he says or does, he (the reader) should read in a loud gruff voice; all about the "middling sized bear," in the ordinary voice; and all about the "tiny bit of a bear," in a high small squeaking voice.
"Once upon a time there were three bears, that lived in a thick wood. One was a GREAT BIG BEAR, one amiddling sized bear, and the thirda tiny bit of a bear. The GREAT BIG BEAR lived in a GREAT BIG HOUSE; themiddling sized bearlived in amiddling sized house; and thetiny bit of a bearlived ina little speck of a house; and the houses were close together.
"Well, one day the bears went off to take a walk; and, while they were gone, a little ragged dirty old woman came through the wood. All at once, she spied the three houses; so she hobbled up to see who lived in them. First she went into the great big bear's house, and there she saw a great big bowl of porridge on the table. She tasted it. It was a great deal too hot. Then she came out of the house, and went into the middling sized bear's house, and there she saw a middling sized bowl of porridge. So she tasted it, and found it was a little to hot. She came out, and went into the tiny bit of a bear's house, and there she saw a little mite of a bowl of porridge. She tasted it, and it was just right, so the little ragged dirty old woman eat it all up. Then she went up stairs and laid down on the tiny bit of a bear's bed, and was very soon fast asleep.
"By and by, the bears came home. The great big bear went into his house, and looked on the table. Then he said, in a tremendous voice—
"'Somebody has been at my bowl of porridge.'
"The middling sized bear went into his house, and, looking on the table, he said in a middling sized voice—
"'Somebody has been at my bowl of porridge.'
"Then the tiny bit of a bear went into his house, and, looking on the table, he said, in a little squeaking voice—
"'Somebody has been at my bowl of porridge, and eat it all up.'
"Oh, how angry he was. He went to the door, and called the other bears, and they all three went up stairs together, to search for the thief; and there they found the thief, in the shape of the little ragged dirty old woman thatwas fast asleep, and snoring like a trumpeter, on the bed. The great big bear went and stood at the head of the bed; the middling sized bear went and stood at the middle of the bed; and the tiny bit of a bear went and stood at the foot of the bed. Then the great big bear said—
"'Who is this in the bed?'
"The middling sized bear said—
"'It looks like a dirty old woman.'
"'And there's some of my porridge sticking on her lips,' said the tiny bit of a bear. As he said this, the old woman awoke, and opened her eyes.
"When she saw the bears, she was frightened almost out of her wits; so she started up, and jumped right out of the window, that was close to the bed, and ran off with all her might and main. Then the bears tumbled down stairs head over heels, pell-mell, and rushed out of the house, to catch her and eat her up; but they were so fat, they could not run as fast as shecould; so the little ragged dirty old woman got off, all out of breath, but safe and sound."
"What did the tiny bit of a bear do for his dinner?" asked Fanny.
"He had to suck his paws, I suppose," answered her Aunt; "but I do not know, for that was the end of the story."
The children had laughed very much at this story, because their Aunt had told it to them in a way that made it very amusing. They thanked her, and said they hoped she would tell it to them again, the next Saturday. She promised she would, and told them to run off, as she wanted to finish her letter. So the little girls went off, and spent the rest of the day in various ways, taking care not to be troublesome or noisy; and when they went home, they told their Mother, as well as they could, the funny story of the three bears.
Emma was one day sitting by the fire, on a little bench. She was trying to cut a mouse out of a piece of paper. She had a pair of scissors, with round ends. Her Mother had given her these scissors for her own, because they were safer for her to use than scissors with pointed ends.
Presently her Mother said, "Come here to me, Emma."
"Wait a minute, Mother," said Emma.
"Do you know," said her Mother, "that it was naughty for you to say that?"
"Why, you can wait alittleminute," said Emma; "I am very busy. Don't you see that I am making a mouse?"
"Emma," replied her Mother, "do you knowthat I ought to punish you, because you do not mind?"
"I am coming right away," cried Emma, dropping her scissors and her paper mouse, and running up to her Mother.
Her Mother took her up on her lap, and said, "My little girl, this willneverdo. You must learn to come at once when you are called; youmustobey quickly. If you continue in this very naughty habit of not minding until you are told to do a thing two or three times, you will grow up a very disagreeable girl, and nobody will love you."
Emma looked up mournfully into her Mother's face, and said, "Mother, I will try to do better."
She was a good-tempered child, and was seldom cross or sullen; but she had this one bad habit, and it was a very bad habit indeed—she waited to be told twice, and sometimes oftener, and many times she made her kind Mother very unhappy.
For a few days after this Emma remembered what her Mother had said to her, and always came the first time she was called. She came pleasantly, for it is very important to mind pleasantly, and did every thing she was told to do right away, and her Mother loved her dearly, and hoped she was quite cured of her naughty ways.
But I am very sorry to have to say that a time came when Emma entirely forgot her promise. You shall hear how it happened.
One morning Emma's Mother said to her, "Emma, it is time for you to get up, and put on your stockings and shoes."
Emma did not move. She lay with her eyes wide open, watching a fly on the wall, that was scrubbing his thin wings with his hind legs.
"Did you hear me, Emma? Put on your stockings and shoes."
Emma got up very slowly. She put one foot out of bed, and then looked again at the fly. This time he was scrubbing his face with his forelegs. So she sat there, and said to herself, "I wonder how that funny little fly can stay upon the wall. I can't walk up the wall as the fly can. What a little round black head he has got."
"Emma!" said her Mother, and this time she spoke in a very severe tone.
Emma started, and put her other foot out of bed, and took up one of her stockings.
Her Mother got out of her bed, which was close to Emma's crib, and began to dress herself. When she was dressed, she looked round, and saw Emma, with one stocking half on, and the other rolled up in a little ball, which she was throwing up in the air.
Her Mother was angry with her. She went up to her, and took her stocking away from her, and told her to get into bed again, for if she would not dress herself when her Mother bid her, she should be punished by being made to lie in bed. She shut up the window shutters, and took all the books out of the room, and telling Emmanot to get up until she gave her leave, she went down stairs to breakfast.
Now children don't like to be put to bed in the daytime; at least I have never heard of anyone that did; and Emma was soon tired of lying in bed, in a dark room, wide awake, with nothing to do, and no pleasant thoughts, for she could think of nothing but her naughty behavior. So this was a very severe punishment, and she began to cry, and wish she had minded quickly, and then she would have been down stairs, where the sun was shining brightly into the windows. She would have been sitting in her chair, with her dear little kitten in her lap, and a nice bowl of bread and milk for her breakfast. She always saved a little milk in the bottom of the bowl for Daisy her kitten, and after she had done, she would give the rest to Daisy. So you see that Emma lost a great deal by not minding quickly and what was worse than all, she had displeased her Mother and made her unhappy.
Oh, how weary she got. How she longed to get up. She did not dare to disobey her Mother, and she lay in her crib a long, long time, and thought she never could be so naughty again.
At last her Mother came in the room. She opened the shutters, and said, "Emma, you may get up and put on your stockings and shoes."
Emma jumped up quickly, and had them on in two minutes, and then she took off her night-gown and put on her day clothes, which hung over the back of the chair by her crib, and went to her Mother to have them fastened, for she could not fasten them herself. Her Mother fastened her clothes, and then taking her little girl's hand, she said, "My dear little Emma, you have made me feel very unhappy this morning. I do not like to punish you, but it is my duty to try to cure you of all your naughty ways, and it is your duty to try to overcome them. If you do not, some day you may meet with some terrible misfortune, like that which happened to a boy I usedto know when I was young. I will tell it to you. This boy, like you, grieved his parents often, by not minding quickly; and he suffered for it in a way that he will never forget, as long as he lives. He was one day standing on the steps of the house where he lived, and I was standing at the window of the house opposite, where I lived. I was watching some men that were on the top of this boy's house, fixing the roof. The roof was covered with loose pieces of slate, and nails, and rubbish.
"Presently one of the men on the roof cried out, 'Go in, little boy; go in.' But the boy was looking at a kite that some other boys had in the street, and he did not choose to go in. The man thought that he had minded what he told him, and without looking again, he tumbled down a great heap of slates and rubbish. The house was quite high, and a large and sharp piece of slate came down very swiftly, and struck the boy on the side of his head, and cut off nearly the wholeof his ear. In a moment the blood poured down his neck and over his clothes, and I thought he would bleed to death. Oh Emma! what a dreadful punishment for not minding quickly!
"For a long time he went about with his head bound up, and when he got well again the side of his face looked very bad indeed, for where his ear had been there was a dreadful scar that never went away. Now he is a man, and he often tells children how he got this dreadful scar, and all because he did not mind quickly."
The tears had rolled down Emma's face, while her Mother was telling her this story. When she had finished it, Emma put her arms around her mother's neck, and told her that indeed she would try to obey at once, and be a good little girl, so that her dear Mother would never be unhappy about her again.
Her Mother kissed her, and took her down stairs, and gave her some breakfast, and all this day, and ever after, she did try very hard to begood. Whenever she felt herself going about any thing slowly, the thought of the poor boy who had lost his ear would come into her mind, and she would jump up at once, when her Mother called her, and do whatever she wanted her to do, pleasantly and quickly.
"Presently their mother opened the door.""Presently their mother opened the door."
"Well, Susan," said her Father one day, as she came home from school, "I am glad to see you; I wish to inform you that two young gentlemen arrived here to-day."
"What are their names, Father?" asked Susan.
"I do not know," answered her Father—"I do not believe they have got any names. They are very small—so small, that at this moment they are both asleep in the great chair."
"Both asleep in the great chair?" cried Susan, astonished at what her Father had said. "I do believe you have been buying two little monkeys."
"No, I have not," said her Father, laughing.
"Now come with me, and I will show you these strangers, and then see if you will say they are monkeys."
Susan went with her Father. He took her hand, and led her into her Mother's room. The room was dark, and her Mother was lying in the bed. Susan was afraid that she was sick. She went to her and said—
"Dear Mother, are you sick? You look very pale."
Her Mother kissed her, and said, "I am very weak, my dear child; but do you not want to see your little brothers?"
"Brothers?—where?" cried Susan. "Have I a brother?"
"Two of them," said her Father. "Come here, Susan, here they both are, fast asleep."
Susan went up to the great easy chair, and in the seat of it she saw, all tucked up warm, two little round fat faces lying close together. Their noses nearly touched each other, and they looked funny enough.
"Well, Susan," said her Father, "do you like the monkeys?"
"Oh Father!" answered the little girl, clasping her hands, "I am so glad—I am so happy! They are exactly alike—how I shall love them, the dear little toads."
"Toads," said her Father, laughing; "they don't look a bit like toads."
"Well, I said that because I loved them so," replied Susan, "just as you sometimes call me your little mouse."
For two weeks, the little twins slept together in the great chair, and there was no end to Susan's wonder and delight. Her Mother had to tie a bit of red silk around the wrist of one of them, to tell them apart. They grew very fast, and were the dearest little fellows in the world, they had such bright merry black eyes, and were always ready to have a frolic with Susan. As they grew up, they were so good, and so pretty, that every body loved them, and a great manypeople came to see them. I forgot to tell you that one was named George and the other James.
One day, when the twins were three years old, they were left alone in the breakfast room. The things on the breakfast table had been cleared away, except a bowl nearly full of sugar, which was standing on the table.
Presently the little fellows spied the bowl of sugar. "George," said James, "if you will help me with this chair, I will give you some sugar."
So both the boys took hold of the heavy chair, and dragged it to the table. Then James helped George to climb upon it, and from that he scrambled up on the table. He walked across, to where the sugar was, and sat down on the table, and took the sugar bowl in his lap.
"Now you get the bench," said George.
So James got the bench, and put it close to the side of the table where George was, and stood upon it.
You should have seen how their merry black eyes sparkled, at the fine feast they were going to have. They did not think that they were doing wrong, for their Mother had often given them a little sugar.
So George took the spoon that was in the sugar, and helped James to a spoonful, and then took one himself. He was very particular to give James exactly as many spoonfuls as he took himself.
They were having such a delightful time, that, for some moments, they did not speak a single word. George began first—
"This is nice," said George.
"I like sugar," said James.
"It is so sweet," said George.
"And so good," said James.
"We will eat it all up," said George.
"We won't leave a bit," said James.
"It is most all gone," said George.
"There is hardly any left," said James.
All this time they were talking, George had been stuffing his brother and himself with the sugar.
Just then their Mother opened the door. She had opened it softly, and the little boys had not heard her. When she saw them so busy—with their round faces stuck all over with crumbs of sugar, and George sitting on the table, dealing it out so fairly—she could not keep from laughing.
The twins heard her laugh, so they laughed too; and George cried out—"Mother, this sugar is nice—I like it."
"And so do I," said James.
Their Mother lifted George from the table, and told them they must not do so again, for so much sugar would make them sick. She washed their faces, and sent them to play in the garden. There was a fine large garden at the back of the house, where they could play without danger.
Three years after this, the twins were sentto school, where they soon became great favorites, because they were amiable, and good, and always willing to do as they were told. They looked so exactly alike, and were dressed so exactly alike, that often very funny mistakes were made. I will tell you something that happened, that was not funny, but it will show you how hard it was to tell which was George, and which was James.
One day, the teacher gave the twins a spelling lesson, and told them that they must know it perfectly that morning.
Now George, for the first time, was naughty, and instead of learning the lesson, he was making elephants and giraffes on his slate; but James studied his lesson, and soon knew it. Presently the teacher said, "James, do you know your lesson?"
"Yes, sir," said James. He went up to the desk and said it very well.
"You know it perfectly," said his teacher; "you are a good boy. Now go to your seat."
In a few moments he said, "George, come and say your lesson."
But George did not know a word of it; and James whispered to him, "I don't want you to be punished, brother; I will go for you and say it again."
So James went and repeated his lesson. The teacher thought of course it was George; he said, "Very well indeed, George; you know it just as well as James: you arebothgood boys."
When George heard this praise, which he did not deserve, he was troubled. He had been taught never to deceive. He did not think at first how wrong he had been;now, he saw plainly, that it was very wrong; that he and his brother had beenactinga lie.
He whispered to James, "Brother, I can't bear to cheat, so I will go right away and tell the teacher."
So he went directly up to the desk, and said, "Sir, I have not yet said my lesson."
"Why, yes you have," replied the teacher, "I have just heard you say it."
"No, sir, if you please," said George, "I do not know it at all. James said it twice, to save me from being punished."
"Well, George," replied his teacher, "I am very glad you have told me this. I never should have found it out. But your conscience told you that you were doing wrong; and I am thankful you have listened to its warnings, and made up your mind at once, to be an honest boy. I will not punish you, or James, for I am sure neither of you will do so again."
The little boys promised him they never would—and they never did. They grew up honest and good.
Some other day, I will tell you more about them.
Once on a time, there were two little boys. William was five years old, and Johnny was not quite three. The weather was very warm, and these little boys got very weak, and looked so pale and sick, that the doctor said their parents had better take them to Newport, and let them bathe in the surf. So their Mother packed up their clothes, and some books, for she did not wish them to be idle; and, one pleasant afternoon, they all went on board of the steamboat that was going to Newport.
The little boys were very much amused at all they saw. There were a good many other boys in the boat, and William and Johnny looked very hard at them, and wished they knew what their names were, and whether they had a Noah's Ark and Velocipede like theirs.
"Oh! dear mamma, come and kiss me 'fore I die.""Oh! dear mamma, come and kiss me 'fore I die."
After they had had their supper, their Mamma put them to bed in a berth. I suppose you all know what a berth is. It is a narrow bed, fastened to the side of the cabin. Sometimes there are three, one above the other; and sometimes two. These little boys got into one of the under ones, so that, if they rolled out, they would not be as likely to hurt themselves. They thought it was very funny to be squeezed up in such a little bed. William counted twenty babies in the cabin. Some of these babies cried a great deal; yet, for all that, the boys were fast asleep in a very few minutes, and slept very soundly all night.
The next morning, their Mamma came to their berth and said, "Come, William—come, Johnny, it is time to get up—for we are at Newport, and must go on shore as quickly as we can."
"Are you going to put me into the water now?" said Johnny, beginning to look very much frightened, for Johnny was afraid of the water.
"Oh, Johnny, don't be so foolish," cried William: "why, I should like to go in head over heels. Mamma, don't they duck us?"
"I believe they do," replied his Mother.
William now begged his Mother to let him go out of the cabin, as he was all dressed. She said he might stand just outside of the door, and, if he saw his Father, he might go to him, but he must never run about the boat alone.
In a few minutes they all went on shore, and got into a carriage, and were driven up to the Hotel.
After breakfast, William and Johnny walked down to the smooth and beautiful beach with their parents, where a great many people, some of them children, were bathing. They seemed to like it very much; and it really did look veryinviting, for the sun made the water sparkle like diamonds, and the waves seemed dancing and leaping, and looked as if they longed to give every body a good splashing.
William was delighted. He could hardly wait for his Father to undress and put on his bathing clothes, he was in such a great hurry to be ducked; and when his Father took him and plunged him under the water, although he gasped for breath, he laughed, and kicked, and splashed the water at his Father, and cried, "Duck me again, duck me again, Papa," and he looked so pleased, that some other children, with their parents, came to where he was, and they all had a grand frolic together.
Little Johnny laughed too, as he stood on the dry ground; but, when his Father said, "Come, Johnny, now it is your turn," he made a terrible face, and cried "Dear Papa, dear Mamma, please let me go home. I shall never see you again if you put me in that great bigwater." But his Mamma said he must go in, because it would do him a great deal of good, and she undressed him, and put him into his Father's arms.
Johnny now began to scream as loud as he could, and cried out, "Mamma, Mamma, I want to go back to you." But his Father did not mind him a bit, and holding him by his arms, he plunged him under the water.
The poor little fellow came up gasping and panting, and sobbed out, "Oh! my dear Mamma, come and kiss me 'fore I die."
Every body laughed—for there was no danger—except his kind Mother. A tear stared to her eye, for she knew her dear little son really thought he was dying, and would never see her again. But in a little while he felt better, and, after his Mother had taken him, and had rubbed him all over and dressed him, and he had run up and down the beach with William and the other children, he felt such a nice warm glow all over him, that he forgot all about his fright.
Pretty soon he said, "Mamma, I am so hungry—I am as hungry as a little bear."
"That is because you have been in the water," replied his Mother.
"Are the fishes always hungry?—does the water make them hungry too?" said Johnny.
"I believe they are always ready to eat," replied his Mother; "you know that they are caught by bait. This bait is a bit of a clam or a little worm, put upon a sharp hook. The fish snap at the bait, and the hook catches them in the mouth. Come, little hungry fish," added his Mother, "and I will give you something to eat; but I will not put it on a hook to hurt you."
The next day the little boys went into the water again, and, although Johnny made up a doleful face, he did not think he should die this time; and, when he saw the other children laughing and splashing each other, and crying "Duck me again—what fun we are having," hetried to like it too, and after a little while did begin to like it; for, when childrentryto overcome their foolish fears, they will almost always succeed, and be rewarded as Johnny was, by the pleasure they enjoy, and the happiness they give to their parents.
After a few days, Johnny got to be so brave, that he was the first to run down to the beach and jump into his Father's arms, and he cried louder than any, "Duck me again," and splashed every body that came near him; and both William and Johnny got so strong, and ate so heartily, and had such great red cheeks, that when they went home to New-York, a few weeks after, their friends hardly knew them, and Johnny never again had any foolish fears about going into the water.
"Mother," said Frederick Stanley, "is it not wrong to treat servants unkindly?"
"What makes you ask that question?" answered his Mother. "What can have put that into your head?"
"Nothing—I don't know," replied he, looking at his sister Kate, who was sitting near him, working a pair of slippers.
Mrs. Stanley saw that there was something on their mind, so she laid down her book, and tried to draw it out. She began:
"What is the reason that your little Scottish friend Jessie has not been here lately? I thought that you, Kate, could not take a walk, with anypleasure, without her, and Fred has become quite a beau, since her arrival. I am afraid you have done or said something to offend her."
"Fred," said Kate,—who was two years younger than her brother, and much smaller, and had a great respect for him,—"Fred, do you tell Mother."
Fred gave his pantaloons a little pull, shook the hair away from his face, half laughed, and did not speak a word; but Kate, like a real little woman, could not keep the secret a moment longer. "We have had a quarrel, Mother; that's all!"
"'A quarrel! that's all!'" said her Mother. "That's a great deal too much; but whatdidyou find to quarrel about?"
"Why, Mother," answered Fred, getting over his bashfulness, now that the secret was out, "it was all about treating those who were beneath us with kindness."
"Well done!" exclaimed his Mother. "Let us hear what you had to say upon the subject."
"I said it was a shame to abuse those who were poorer than we were; that in God's eyes all were equal. I could not bear to hear Jessie say that she had her own servant at home, and when this servant did any thing to displease her she would pinch and slap her. I told her she was a downright wicked girl."
"Oh, shocking! shocking!" said Mrs. Stanley. "And my sweet little Kate, did you too stand up for kindness to servants?"
"I did all I could, dear Mother," she replied, "but Fred did the most."
"Well, tell me, what else did you say."
"I told her," said Fred, hesitating a little, "that here in our own country, we said 'if you please' and 'thank you,' when a servant did any thing for us, and that she had better go back to Scotland, and not stay another day in a place where she was deprived of the pleasure of pinching people."
"Oh, Frederick! Frederick! how could a boyof your politeness be so rude to a young lady? That was a great mistake."
Frederick looked mortified, and Kate hung her head. "But what happened after that?" asked Mrs. Stanley.
"Oh, she was so angry that she went away, and we have not seen her since. I am very sorry; but it can't be helped now."
"No," said Kate, "we can't help it now."
"But, my dear children," said their Mother, "I think you owe Jessie an apology."
"I have no objection," said Fred, after reflecting a moment, "if you think I have been so very impolite; but it will do no good."
"Well," said Mrs. Stanley, "it must be done. Perhaps I can assist you in making up the quarrel. Next Thursday, you know, is the first of May. You shall have a little party, and Jessie shall be Queen of May. That will be certain to please her."
"Jessie! Queen!" exclaimed Kate. "Youcan't, Mother, you can't. Jessie will not come; I am sure she will not come. I do not believe she will ever speak to us again."
"I tell you she will come," said her Mother; "and she will be Queen. I will manage it for you."
"Ah, well, Mother," said Fred, looking at his sister, "you don't know Jessie as well as we do. She won't forgive us so easily."
Company now came in, and the children went to their studies. In the afternoon Mrs. Stanley sent a polite invitation to Jessie and her parents to pass the next Thursday evening at her house, and as they were sitting at the tea-table, the answer was returned.
"There," said Mrs. Stanley, "one point is gained; they will all come."
"They may come," said Frederick, "but she won't be civil to us, I know."
The next day was spent in preparing the crown, throne, and flowers, &c., and Frederick set himself to work to learn by heart some lines his Mother had written for the occasion.
Thursday evening arrived, and the children, though afraid of Jessie's cold looks, were in good spirits. Kate came into the parlor, and found Fred before a large glass, making his speech, and practising the most graceful bows and gestures.
"Goodness!" she exclaimed, "how light and beautiful the room looks! Oh, Fred, I hope we shall have a pleasant time."
The arrival of the company now interrupted them, and when nearly all had come, Mrs. Stanley told her plan with regard to Jessie; and this important matter was just settled, when that young lady and her parents entered.
Jessie, not knowing the honor awaiting her, was very stiff and grave in her salutations. Her large dark eyes were turned away from Fred and Kate, yet an expression about her pretty mouth seemed to say,
"I am not so very angry as you think."
"Shelookslike a Queen, don't she?" whispered Fred to his sister.
"She is stiff enough, at any rate," said Kate.
"I wonder who she will choose for her King?" said Fred.
"I am sure I don't know," answered Kate, looking round. "I suppose the biggest boy."
"Dear me!" said Fred, "I forget that I must go out until it is time for the Address," and he left the room, to await his Mother's signal.
Refreshments were now handed round the room, and many a sly glance was cast upon the unconscious Jessie, who was still looking very grave, and almost cross, till, at a hint from his Mother, Fred made his appearance, and with blushing face, but firm voice, pronounced the following lines: