“O-o-h, o-o-h, my hand! my hand!”
“What is the matter, Bessie?”
“Grandmamma, Kitty has scratched me so dreadfully. Cross old thing, I
hate her.”
“Fy, fy, Bessie. Only this morning I heard you say that you loved her
better than anything in the world.”
“Yes, but she was good then. Just listen, grandmamma. I wanted Amanda
Malvina to take a ride, so I just tied Kitty in front of her carriage
for a horse, and what should she do, but kick Amanda out, and when I
gave her a little tap, she clawed me.”
“But, my dear, didn’t you set the example by giving the first blow? Poor
Kitty isn’t a Christian, you know.”
“Am I a Christian, grandmamma?”
“I hope so, little one. Have you forgotten the verse you said at prayers
this morning, about forgiving your enemies, and those that ‘despitefully
use you’?”
Bessie sat very still for five minutes.
“Grandmamma,” said she, “I think I’ll make up with Kitty.”
Half an hour after, grandmamma smiled as she saw through the open window
a perfect picture of a happy family. Bessie, Amanda Malvina, and Kitty,
swinging in the hammock together. War was ended. Peace declared.
[Illustration: A TERRIBLE SCRATCHER.]