[Illustration]
“I just wish I could be let alone for a while,” said Elmer Green. “I am
tired, and I don’t want to do anything for any body.”
“Tired” was another name for “cross,” and to tell you the truth this was
one of Elmer’s real cross days. He got up cross, and he would stay cross
for some time. He always did. It was of no use to try to please him. It
could not be done. So he took a book and went off by himself, but was
not gone long before he came back for his top. He spun that for a while;
then he got out his toys; then he counted his marbles; then he thought
he would pick some cherries, but there was no one to go with him, and
there was no fun in going alone.
What should he do? He wanted to be amused, and didn’t know how to amuse
himself.
Presently he came into the room where his mother was, and stood around
hoping she would ask him to do something for her. But she did not. She
had a great deal to do, and needed help, but she would not call on
Elmer. It made him feel as if he was of no use to any one.
“Mother,” he said at last, “what can I do?”
“Please yourself,” was the quick reply.
That was what Elmer had been trying to do, but with poor success. He
hung his head, and felt as cross as a bear. As he sat in a corner, his
mother took up the pail to go out to the well. Elmer seized the pail out
of her hand and drew the water. He began to feel better. Then he looked
around to see what else he could do. He did not wait to be asked. The
more he did, the more he felt like doing. He had found out that it was
not nice to be let alone; and he also found out that he pleased himself
most by trying to please others.