of increasing the enjoyment, makes
them miserable. They are drowned in the midst of their pleasures.

[Illustration]

IX.

CAROLINE AND HER KITTEN;

OR, THE PRETTY FACE, WITH A SCAR ON IT.

Caroline Rose was as happy a girl as ever you saw in your life--"as
happy as the days are long"--so her schoolmaster used to say. There
were a great many good points in Caroline's character besides this,
that she was so generally cheerful--for I consider that a good point
in any one's character. She was kind to her companions, obedient,
respectful, and affectionate to her parents; and she seldom got into a
fit of anger, or made a fool of herself by being sulky. One might have
met her frequently, and have supposed that he was well acquainted with
her, and still have loved her very much. Yet there was one thing in
her character which every one, as soon as he saw it, must dislike, and
which sometimes, where she was well known, made her appear exceedingly
unlovely. Shall I tell you what that was? I will do so, so as to put
you on your guard in that particular point. That trait in her
character was _selfishness_. If she ever got anything that she liked,
she used to act as if she were not willing that any one else should
enjoy it with her. Indeed, she appeared to be displeased, if one of
her playmates, as was sometimes the case, did take a great deal of
pleasure in her pretty things.

Her father once brought her home a fine set of tea things, when she
was quite young. Now, should you not suppose that she would like to
have all the girls in the neighborhood come and take tea with her, and
use her pretty new cups and saucers, and spoons and plates? Well, so
should I. But she showed a great deal of selfishness in this
matter--so much, in fact, that she made herself appear ridiculous, as
well as unlovely. She was glad to have the girls come and look at the
tea things, and hear them say that they were very pretty. But that was
as far as her generosity went. She did not ask the girls to sit down
and drink tea with her. Indeed, she did not want her playmates to
handle the cups and saucers. "I'm so afraid you will break them!" said
she. What a foolish and unreasonable girl!

It got to be a sort of proverb in the little village where Caroline
resided, when any one was not very generous, "She's almost as selfish
as Carrie Rose," I don't know whether she knew how she was regarded
among boys and girls of her own age; and I don't know