She was her mother's darling, and a very good little girl in most
things. With her yellow hair, big blue eyes and rosy cheeks; in the
pretty blue dress and red sash; nice little slippers on her plump
feet, she made the whole house lively and bright, and sometimes she
made plenty of work for every one in it, too, for she was a terrible
Nelly to scatter playthings. The dolly would be on the chair, her torn
picture-books over the floor, her ball kicking about everywhere, and
her blocks any where.
What could mother do with such a girl? When she would talk to her,
Nelly would promise not to do so any more, and would pick up the dolly
and the pictures, and the ball and the blocks, and her other toys, and
take them to her own corner play-house and fix them all in order, and
be real good for a little while.
But the 'real good' would last only a little while and then out all
would come again, and Little Scatter would have them around just as
before.
That is the way she came to be given that name, and she was old enough
to know she well deserved it, and to be ashamed of it; yet she could
not break off the bad habit.
She had a kind, good mother, who saw that she would have to, in some
way, cure her little daughter of such slovenly habits or else she
would grow up to be a very careless, untidy woman, and the mother was
wise enough to know that it is more easy to correct such matters when
children are young than when they grow older.
She did not want to punish Nelly severely, and so, whenever Little
Scatter had gotten all her toys over the floor, tables, sofa and
chairs, mamma would call her and say:
"Now, Nelly, every thing you have is lying about, it is time for my
Little Scatter to get gathered in close;" and then Miss Nelly would
have to go close to the wall and be shut in by a chair and stand there
until mamma's watch said half an hour had passed. This was very hard
on a little girl that loved to run around so much as Nelly did, and
though she knew she deserved all the punishment, yet she used to beg
very hard and promise, but she always had to stay the full time; then
she would come out, get her mamma's kiss and forgiveness, pick up her
toys and be happy.
It did not take many such punishments before Nelly began to think
before she acted so carelessly, and in a short time she was almost as
neat about such matters as she was sweet and good in every thing else.
If ever there were a few of her things lying about, mamma had only to
call her 'Little Scatter,' to make her remember, and so hard did she
try to correct herself of this bad habit that in a few months she and
those about her almost forgot that she had ever been known by such an
untidy name.