me, I ran after her. My foot tripped, and I fell, and spilled all
the milk."
"Why didn't you tell me so, Kate?"
"I didn't dare to tell you; I was afraid you would scold at me, as
you did for spoiling the peony."
Kate felt a little better now that she had confessed her fault, and
she was able to look her parents in the face.
"Why, Kate, if you had only told me, I should not have scolded you.
You may have been careless, but it was all the fault of Fanny
Flynn."
"No, mother; I was careless. I forgot all about the milk, I was so
angry."
"And so the poor children had no supper, after all," added Mr.
Lamb.
"O father! It was what you said about them that made me feel so
bad. I am sure I shall never be so very wicked again. Let me carry
them some milk now."
"What are you talking about? It is after ten o'clock, my child."
"No matter, father; I am not afraid to go in the dark, if I can
only carry them their supper."
"No, no, Kate. I will carry them the milk, though it is rather
late, and probably they are all asleep by this time."
"But will you forgive me, father and mother?"
"Freely, my child; you have suffered severely already for your
fault, and I hope it will be a lesson to you which will last as
long as you live," said her father.
"It will," said Kate, earnestly.
Both her parents kissed her, in token of their forgiveness; and Mr.
Lamb put on his coat, while Mrs. Lamb went to the cellar for a pail
of milk, with which he soon left the house on his errand of
kindness and charity.
[Illustration: Kate a better girl.]
Kate felt a great deal better then, and before her father returned,
she was fast asleep. Mr. Lamb found the poor woman still up. The
children had had bread and water, but no milk, for their supper,
and she was very glad to have some for them when they waked up in
the night. And she was very grateful to Mr. Lamb for thinking of
her at that hour, and thanked God for giving her such kind and
thoughtful friends.
From that time, Kate was a better girl, and tried hard to reform
her life and character. She tried so hard, and succeeded so well,
that she very soon lost the name of "Careless Kate."
Mr. Lamb went to see Fanny Flynn's parents the next day, and they
promised to punish her for her conduct. After that Kate did not
provoke her, and they never had any more trouble.
Now my readers have seen that Kate's fault led her into falsehood
and deception, which are worse than carelessness; and I hope they
will all learn to be careful and truthful.
NOTHING TO DO.
NOTHING TO DO.
"My kitty is purring
Upon the hearth rug
Rolled up in a bundle
Just like a great bug.
I wonder what kitty
Is thinking about;
What makes her so happy
I cannot find out.
"She has no hard lessons
To bother her brain,
No spelling and reading
To study in vain;
She ought to be happy
With nothing to do
But play all the morning--
And I should be, too."
Thus Nellie kept thinking,
And spoke out her thought.
The words which she uttered
Her mother's ear caught.
"You wish to be idle
Like kitty, dear, there,
And play all the morning,
Or sleep in your chair?"
"I don't like my lessons;
I think 'tis a pity
I can't be as happy
As dear little kitty.
That ugly old spelling
I never can learn!
O, into a kitty
I wish I could turn!"
"I am not a fairy,"
Her mother replied;
"To me all the power
Of magic's denied;
But you may be idle
From morning till night,
And see if 'do nothing'
Will set your case right."
"O, shall I do nothing
But play all day long,
And sing with my kitty
A holiday song?
How happy, and merry,
And joyous 'twill be
To have no hard lessons--
From study be free!"
"Do what will best please you;
Be idle all day;
Recite no more lessons;
Do nothing but play."
Then Nellie, rejoicing,
Flew out of the room;
Played _hide_, _horse_, and _dolly_,
And rode on the broom.
But long before dinner
Poor Nell had "played out,"
And studied, and studied,
And wandered about,
To find some new pleasure,
Some game, or some play,
To use up the hours,
And end that long day;--
And long before evening
Was cross as a bear--
Just like the McFlimsey
With "nothing to wear."
And tired of nothing,
And tired of play,
No day was so tedious
As that idle day.
"O mother! my lessons
I think I will get,
And then I can play
As I never played yet.
I do not feel happy
With nothing to do;
I cannot endure it
Another day through."
"I thought so, my Nellie;
To make your play sweet
You must work, and be useful
To those whom you meet.
The idle are never
So happy as they
Who work for themselves
Or for others each day."
DOLLY AND I.
[Illustration: Mrs. Green took the doll.--Page 146.]
DOLLY AND I.
I.
Do you know what envy means? I hope you have never felt it, for it
is a very wicked feeling. It is being sorry when another has any
good thing. Perhaps you will know better what the word means when
you have read my story; and I hope it will help you to keep the
feeling away from your own heart.
Not far from Mr. Lee's house, in Riverdale, lived a man by the name
of Green. He was the agent of one of the factories in the village.
Mr. Green had two little girls and three sons. The boys have
nothing to do with my story, and for that reason I shall not say a
great deal about them.
Katy, Mr. Green's older daughter, was ten years old. She was a
pretty good girl, but she did not like to have others get good
things, when she did not have any herself. If any person gave one
of her brothers an apple, or an orange, she seemed to think she
ought to have it.
When she was a baby, she used to cry for everything she saw, and
would give her parents no peace till they gave it to her. I am
sorry to say they were sometimes very weak on this point, and gave
her things which she ought not to have had, just to quiet her.
Her father and mother hoped, when she grew older, she would not
want everything that belonged to her brothers. If Charles had a
plaything, Katy wanted it, and would cry till she got it. Very
often, just to make her stop crying, her mother made poor Charley
give up the thing.
But as Katy grew older, she seemed to want everything that others
had just as much as ever. She was now ten years old, and still she
did not like to see others have anything which she could not have.
It is true she did not always say so, but she felt it just as much,
and was very apt to be cross and sullen towards those whom she
envied.
Nellie Green was not at all like her sister. She was only eight
years old, but there was not a bit of envy in her. She would give a
part, and often the whole, of her apples, oranges, candy, and
playthings to her sister, and to her brothers. She liked to see
them happy, and when Charley ate an apple, it tasted just as good
to her as though she were eating it herself.
She was not selfish. She would always divide her good things with
her friends. Did you ever see a little boy or a little girl eating
an apple or some candy, and another little boy or girl standing by,
and looking just as if he wanted some?
Nellie always gave her friends a part, and then she not only
enjoyed what she ate herself, but she enjoyed what they ate. This
is the way to make apples, oranges, and candy taste good.
One New Year's Day, Katy's aunt, after whom she was named, sent her
a beautiful wax doll. It was a very pretty doll, and the little
girl was the happiest child in Riverdale when the welcome present
reached her.
There was another little girl in Riverdale who was almost if not
quite as happy; and that was Nellie, her sister. It is true, the
doll was not for her; she did not own any of it, and Katy would
hardly let her touch it; but for all this, Nellie was pleased to
see her sister so happy.
The dolly's name was Lady Jane; for Katy thought, as she was a very
fine doll, she ought to have a very fine name. So, when she spoke
to the doll,--and she talked a great deal with her,--she always
called her Lady Jane. The two little girls had five or six other
dolls, but none of them were anything near such fine ladies as Lady
Jane. Their heads were made of porcelain, or rubber, or
composition, and they had grown so old that they were really ugly.
Miss Lucy, who had a rubber head, looked as though she "had been
through the wars." Her nose was worn out, so that she had a great
hole in the end of it. I suppose, if she had wanted to sneeze, this
hole would have been very handy; but Miss Lucy was a very proper
young lady, and never sneezed in company. If she ever sneezed when
alone, of course there was no one present to know anything about
it.
There was another hole right in the top of her head, so that if she
had had any brains, they would certainly have leaked out; but as
Miss Lucy was not a strong-minded woman, I suppose she had no use
for brains.
One of the family of dolls was a little black girl, whose name was
Dinah. She had seen hard service in her day, and did not look as
though she would last much longer.
Miss Fanny had once been a fine lady, but times had gone hard with
her, and her fine clothes were both ragged and dirty. But hard
times were not so very bad, for she wore the same smile as when her
clothes had been new and nice.
Miss Mary was a poor cripple. By a sad accident she had broken one
of her legs. Katy placed her on a table one day, and either
because the height from the floor made her dizzy, or because she
was laid too near the edge, she had tumbled off, and one leg was so
badly broken that neither a wooden nor a cork one could be fastened
in its place.
Therefore Miss Mary could not walk about the room, and never went
anywhere, except when she was carried. But she was not half so
badly off as Miss Susie, who had broken her neck, and lost off her
head. The head was tied on with a string, but it kept falling off
while the family were at play; but Miss Susie did not seem to mind
it at all.
She got along a great deal better without her head than you or I
could without ours. Indeed, she wore the same smile upon her face
whether the head was on or off--which teaches us that we ought
always to be cheerful in misfortune.
Besides these fine young ladies there were two or three rag babies;
but as you could not tell by the looks of them what they were
thinking about, I will not say anything about them. They had no
virtues worth telling; they never ate soup with a fork, or gave
money to the poor.
Some of my readers may not think much of this family of dollies,
but I am sure Katy and Nellie had fine times with them. They used
to spend hours together with them, and the dollies used to do
everything that anybody could do.
Miss Fanny used to visit a great deal, in spite of her dirty,
ragged clothes; so did Miss Lucy, with two holes in her head, and
Miss Mary, with her broken leg, and Miss Susie, with her broken
neck. All of them used to go a-visiting, except Miss Dinah, and
she, being a black girl, had to do the sweeping and tend the door.
These ladies were all of them so bashful that they would not speak
in company, and Katy and Nellie had to do all the talking for them.
But they used to "make believe" the dollies talked, and this did
just as well. They used to say just such things as the ladies did
who called on Mrs. Green, and never left without being urged to
stay longer, and also to call again; which they always promised to
do.
On the whole, they were very wonderful dollies; at least they were
until Lady Jane came, and she was such a fine lady, with her white
silk dress and her _real_ hair, that none of them could shine after
that.
[Illustration: Miss Fanny and others.]
II.
One day Flora Lee came to see Nellie Green, and to spend the
afternoon with her.
It was in the month of November, and the weather was too cold to
permit them to play in the garden; so they said they would have a
good time in the house.
Katy Green had to go away, and could not play with them. Nellie was
very sorry for this, for she not only liked to have her sister with
her, but she also wanted the company of Lady Jane.
She told Flora how sorry she was, and they agreed that it was too
bad Katy had to go away, for she was older than they, and could
help them a great deal in their plays. Besides, they wanted one
fine lady among the dollies, for they had a certain play which
required just such a person.
"I wish I had brought Miss Dolly with me. I guess she is fine
enough," said Flora.
"I wish you had," replied Nellie; "but as you have not, we can't
help it now. I dare say Miss Fanny will do."
"I'll tell you what you can do, Nellie."
"What?"
"You can just ask Katy," said Nellie, at last.
"Why not? She will let you have her. Of _course_ she will let you
have her," added Flora, warmly.
"I don't think she will. You know we might break her neck, or lose
off her legs or arms; or we might dirty her white silk dress."
"But we will be very careful. Let us go and ask her. It won't do
any harm to ask her, you know. She can't do any more than refuse."
Nellie did not like to be refused, and she tried to prevent Flora
from going any farther in the matter. She was sorry to have it
appear that her sister was selfish, and she thought more of this
than she did of being refused.
Flora said so much that at last she thought Katy might let her have
the doll, and they ran downstairs to the sitting room, to have the
matter settled.
"Will you lend us your dolly, Katy?" asked Nellie, and the tones of
her voice showed how doubtful she was of the result of the
question.
"What dolly do you mean?" asked Katy.
"Your wax dolly--Lady Jane."
"I am very sure I shall not," replied Katy.
"We will be very careful of her," added Flora. "We won't let her
be hurt a bit--you may depend on that."
"I'm not going to let you have my dolly to break and spoil--I'm
sure I shall not," said Katy, who even seemed to be angry because
she was asked.
"But don't I say we won't hurt it a bit?" continued Flora. "And
when you come over to my house, you shall have my dolly just as
long as you want her; and her house too, and all the chairs and
tables and things."
"I don't want them."
"Do please to let us have Lady Jane," teased Nellie. "We want her
ever so much; and I know she won't get broken or dirty. Please to
lend her to us, Katy."
"I shan't do any such thing; so it's no use to tease me. Why don't
you play with your own dollies? I won't lend Lady Jane--that's
flat."
Nellie felt so bad she could not help crying,--not because she
could not have the doll, but because her sister was so harsh and
unkind. She would not have cared so much if Flora had not been
there, for she did not like to have her see her sister behave in
this manner.
Poor Flora wanted to cry, too, when she saw how badly Nellie felt;
but she tried to be brave, and placed her arm round her friend's
neck, as if to let her know that she would be kind to her.
"Come, Nellie, let's go upstairs again. We won't say anything more
about it," said Flora; and she led her out of the room.
"Now you won't like Katy, after this," replied Nellie.
"O, yes, I will."
"Katy would have lent us the dolly, only Aunt Jane gave it to her,
and she is afraid it will be broken. If it hadn't been for this,
she would have lent us Lady Jane--I know she would," added Nellie,
wiping away her tears.
"I dare say she would; but we won't think anything more about it.
And when I come over again, sometime, I will bring her something,
just to show her that I don't feel hard towards her."
"What a dear, good girl you are, Flora! I was afraid you would hate
her after what she said."
"O, dear, no, I should hope not. My mother tells me I must love
those who don't do what I want them to; and I try to do so; but it
is very hard sometimes. I wish you had a wax doll, Nellie. You
ought to have one, you are such a good girl, and love your sister
so much, even when she is not kind to you."
"I wish I had one; it would be so nice to have one like Lady Jane.
I should be so happy; but then if only one of us can have one, I
would rather Katy had it than have it myself."
"You are not a bit selfish, Nellie. Do you know what _selfish_
means? I do."
"I guess I do. It means when you have an apple or any candy to
refuse to give a part to your sister."
"Yes, or to anybody that happens to be with you. Candy is good, but
don't you like to see others eat it almost as well as you do to eat
it yourself?"
"Well, yes, I think I do."
"Then you know just what I mean, and I guess we'll play 'visiting'
now."
"So we will; and Miss Fanny shall be the great lady, and Dinah
shall be her servant."
"Yes, and this shall be her house," said Nellie, as she placed Miss
Fanny in a large arm chair which they were to "make believe" was
her elegant mansion.
"You shall stay here, and I will bring Miss Mary to visit Miss
Fanny."
Flora bounded over to the other side of the room, which was
supposed to be the home of the other dolls, and Miss Mary, in spite
of her broken leg, was soon on her way to visit the fine lady.
"Ting, a ling, a ling!" said Flora, which meant that the caller had
rung the bell, and Dinah appeared at the door.
"Is Miss Fanny at home?" asked Flora, speaking for the lady with
the broken leg.
"No, marm, she is not," replied Nellie, who had to speak for Dinah,
because, though her mouth was very large, she could not speak for
herself.
"What an awful fib!" cried Flora. "There she is; don't I see her
through the door?"
"But that's just the way some of the fine folks do," replied
Nellie, laughing at Flora's earnestness.
[Illustration: The Christmas present.]
"It is an awful story, and I wouldn't say it even in fun."
Nellie said she would not say it again, only she wanted to have
Miss Fanny do just as the big folks did. And so they played all
the afternoon, though Lady Jane did not honor them with her
company. All the dollies paid lots of visits; and Flora went home.
[Illustration: Katy unhappy.]
III.
When Flora reached home she told her mother what a nice time she
had, and what splendid visits Miss Lucy and Miss Mary and Miss
Susie had made to Miss Fanny.
She could not help telling her mother what a good girl Nellie was,
and how she loved her sister, even when she was unkind and spoke
pettishly to her.
Then she told her how much she wished Nellie had a wax doll, with
real hair, and a white silk dress. Mrs. Lee thought such a good
girl ought to have one, and the very next time she went to the
city, she bought the prettiest wax doll she could find for her.
Flora was full of joy when she saw the doll, and learned whom it
was for. She was a great deal happier than if the doll had been
bought for herself; and she wanted to run right over to Mr. Green's
with the beautiful present. She longed to see the eyes of Nellie
sparkle as she saw the doll, and to hear what she would say when
told it was for her. But Mrs. Lee thought they had better keep the
doll till Christmas, and let her find it with her stocking in the
morning.
"But then I shan't see her when she first gets the dolly," said
Flora.
"That is true; but you must write a little note, which shall be
pinned on the doll's dress."
"That will be splendid, mother! And I will go right away and write
the note now."
Flora got a pencil and a piece of paper, and seated herself in the
corner. She worked away for half an hour as busy as a bee, and
then she carried the note to her mother. She was not much of a
writer, having been to school only a year. She could only print the
note.
Flora was very fond of writing notes, and long before she could
make a single letter, she would fill up a piece of paper with
pothooks and spiders' legs, and send them to her mother and Frank.
She did not spell all the words right, but her mother told her how
to correct them, and then she printed the note over again, on a
nice sheet of gilt-edged paper. Thinking my little friends might
want to see this note, I place a copy of it in the book, just
exactly as she wrote it.
[Illustration: Dear Nellie This Dolly Is From Me. I Love You Very
Much And I Wish You A Merry Christmas.
Flora Lee.]
When Christmas morning came, Nellie found the doll in a chair,
close by her stocking. I can't tell you how pleased she was, but
you can all guess. Then she took the note from the dress, and read
it. She was more pleased than ever to find it was from Flora.
She almost cried with joy as she puzzled out the note, and thought
how kind Flora and her mother were to remember her.
"What a dear you are, Miss Dolly!" said she, as she took up the
doll and kissed her, just as though she had been a real live baby.
"You and I shall be first-rate friends, just as long as we live. I
will take such good care of you! Dear me! Why, mother! Only think!"
"What is the matter, Nellie?" asked Mrs. Green, who was almost as
much pleased as her daughter.
"Did you see that?"
"What, child? What do you mean?"
"Did you see those eyes?"
"Yes, I see them."
"Why, just as true as I am alive, she moved them!"
"I think not, my child. She is a very handsome doll, but I don't
think she could move her eyes, if she tried ever so hard."
"But she did; I know she did;" and Nellie took hold of her head to
examine it more closely. As she did so, she bent the body a little.
"There! as true as I live, she moved them again!"
Mrs. Green took the doll, and found that the eyes did really move.
It was funny, but it was true. Mrs. Lee and Flora knew all about
it.
The eyes were made of glass, and there was something inside of the
doll which moved them when the body was bent.
"Let me see," said Katy, who had been looking on in silence all
this time. Nellie gave her the doll at once; and she bent the body
and saw the eyes move twenty times. The happy owner of Miss Dolly
waited with patience till her sister had done with her.
"Why didn't aunt Jane get me one like that, I wonder," said Katy,
when she gave the doll to Nellie.
"I suppose she could not afford to buy one like this, for she is
not so rich as Mrs. Lee."
"But you shall have her to play with just when you want her," said
Nellie.
"Pooh! I don't want your old dolly," snarled Katy. "She isn't half
so good as mine. I would rather have Lady Jane than have her, any
day."
"Why, then, did you wish your aunt Jane had given you one like
this?" asked her mother.
"I don't care for her old dolly! She may keep it for all me,"
replied Katy.
"But it shall be yours just as much as mine, Katy," said Nellie, in
tones so gentle and sweet that her sister ought to have kissed her
for them, and loved her more than she ever loved her before.
But she did not. She was envious. She was sorry the doll had been
given to Nellie--sorry because it was a prettier one than her own.
It was a very wicked feeling. She had some presents of her own, but
her envy spoiled all the pleasure she might have taken in them.
Nellie was almost sorry the doll had been given to her, when she
saw how Katy felt about it. Mrs. Green talked to the envious girl
till she cried, about her conduct. She tried to make her feel how
odious and wicked envy made her.
Whenever Katy saw the new doll, she seemed to be angry with her
sister. Poor Nellie's pleasure was nearly spoiled, and she even
offered to exchange her doll for Katy's, but her mother would not
let her do so.
In a few days, however, she seemed to feel better, and the two
sisters had some good times with their dolls. I say she seemed to
feel better, but she really did not. She did not like it that
Nellie's doll was a finer one than her own.
Yet Nellie was happier, for she thought Katy was cured of her ill
feeling. Then she loved her doll more than ever. She was a cunning
little girl, and she thought so much of her new friend that she
always used to say "Dolly and I."
When her mother asked her where she had been, she would reply,
"Dolly and I have been having a nice time upstairs." "Dolly and I"
used to do ever so many things, and no two little ladies could
ever enjoy themselves more than did Dolly and Nellie.
I am sorry to say that Katy did not like Dolly at all. She could
never forgive her for moving her eyes, because Lady Jane could not
move hers. It is true that, after she saw how silly and wicked her
envy made her appear to others, she tried very hard not to show it.
We may be just as wicked without showing our sin to others, as we
can be when we let the world see just what we are. When we are
wicked, the sin is more in the heart than in the actions.
Men may seem to be very good when they are really very bad, though
people almost always find out such persons. Katy was just as
wicked, just as envious, when her sister thought she was kind and
loving, as she was on that Christmas morning, when the doll was
found in the chamber.
You will be surprised and sorry when you see just how wicked her
envy made her. I shall tell you about it in the next chapter, and I
hope it will lead you to drive any such feeling from your own
hearts.
[Illustration: What Katy did.]
[Illustration: Nellie and Katy in their room.]
IV.
Lady Jane and Miss Dolly were kept in the lower drawer of the
bureau, for they were very fine young ladies, and Mrs. Green wished
to have them kept clean and nice.