"I flew away over the fields, and there I saw a little boy, dressed all
in his best clothes, speeding away across the field-path, and I knew
that he was going to a birthday party, and that he was walking quickly
so as to be in time; for there was to be a lovely birthday cake, all
iced over with sugar; and little pieces of silver, called threepenny
pieces, had been scattered through the cake, so of course Edwin wanted
to be there when it was cut up.
"I saw a little girl in the fields, also, walking along the hedges
looking for blackberries, and in trying to reach a branch of the ripe
fruit that grew on the farther side of a ditch, the poor child
overbalanced herself and fell in, uttering a loud scream.
"Edwin heard the scream and said to himself, 'I wonder what that is? I
should like to go and see, but oh, dear! it will perhaps make me late
for the party'. Then the Bad Voice spoke to him, and said, 'Never mind
the scream; hurry on to the party," and Edwin hurried on, but his cheeks
grew hot, and he looked unhappy.
"Soon the child screamed again, and the Good Voice said, 'Help! Edwin,
never mind self,' and with that he turned back, and ran to the place
where the sounds had seemed to come from. He soon saw the little girl,
who was trying to scramble up the steep side of the ditch, and could
not; it needed the help of Edwin's strong hands to give her a good pull,
and bring her safely out. Oh, how glad she was to be on the grass once
more! Edwin wiped her tears away, and told her to run home; then he made
haste to the party with a light, glad heart, and he arrived just as they
were sitting down to tea, so he was in time for the cake after all. But
even if he had =missed= it, he would have been glad that he stayed
behind to help the little girl."
"What a nice boy," said "Thoughtful". "Did he tell the people at the
party what he had done?"
"Oh, =no=," replied "Selfless"; "his mother told him that people should
=never boast= of kind things they had done, for that would spoil it."
"True," said "Thoughtful"; "but what did =you= do, dear "Selfless"? It
is not boasting to tell =me=."
"I only helped Edwin to listen to the Good Voice," replied "Selfless,"
as she looked down on the moss at her feet.
"A good work, too," said "Thoughtful"; "and now, what shall we do
next?"