"I hope not; and when you come to think about it, I am sure you will
see that it is not fair for you to do my work poorly if I am to pay you
for it."
"Must it all come out, mamma?" asked Maggie, as her mother took the
work from her hand.
"I am afraid so, dear. See there, those stitches would not hold at all.
I think we will take half of one side of a towel for each day's task.
That will finish them in time, and you will soon tire of the work if
you try to hurry through it in this way."
"Mamma," said Bessie, as her mother handed back the towel to Maggie to
make a fresh beginning, "could not I learn to sew?"
"Yes, I think you are old enough to begin, if you will be patient."
"Oh, yes, mamma, I will be patient to learn, if you will be patient to
teach me."
There was not much doubt about that, so the dear kind mother found a
little piece of work and fixed it for Bessie. But she had no thimble
of her own, and for that day had to use an old one of Maggie's with a
piece of paper wrapped round her finger to make it stay in its place.
Mamma promised to buy her one that very day, and after this, whenever
Maggie hemmed her towels, Bessie would sit beside her learning to put
in stiches that grew neater and neater every day.
[Illustration: decorative]
[Illustration: decorative]