ear
grandmother. It is that that I can't bear, that you should think
so. It was a plan I had made to teach me to be careful, only I know
it was silly--I am always thinking of silly things, but oh,
_believe_ me, I would not make a joke of your teaching me to be
good.--Your own dearest

"MOLLY."

"Poor little soul," said grandmother. "I wish I had not been so hasty
with her. It will be a lesson to me;" and noticing that at this Sylvia
looked up in surprise, she added, "Does it seem strange to you my little
Sylvia, that an old woman like me should talk of having lessons? It is
true all the same--and I hope, do you know, dear?--I hope that up to the
very last of my life I shall have lessons to learn. Or rather I should
say that I shall be able to learn them. That the lessons are there to be
learnt, always and everywhere, we can never doubt."

"But," said Sylvia, and then she hesitated.

"But what, dear?"

"I can't quite say what I mean," said Sylvia. "But it is something like
this--I thought the difference between big people and children was that
the big people _had_ learnt their lessons, and that was why they could
help us with ours. I know what kind of lessons you mean--not _book_
ones--but being kind and good and all things like that."

"Yes," said grandmother, "but to these lessons there is no limit. The
better we have learnt the early ones, the more clearly we see those still
before us, like climbing up mountains and seeing the peaks still rising
in front. And knowing and remembering the difficulties we had long ago
when _we_ first began climbing, we can help and advise the little ones
who in their turn are at the outset of the journey. Only sometimes, as I
did with poor Molly this morning, we forget, we old people who have come
such a long way, how hard the first climbing is, and how easily tired and
discouraged the little tender feet get."

Grandmother gave a little sigh.

"Dear grandmother," said Sylvia, "I am sure _you_ don't forget. But those
people who haven't learnt when they were little, they can't teach others,
grandmother, when they don't know themselves?"

"Ah, no," said grandmother. "And it is not many who have the power or the
determination to learn to-day the lessons they neglected yesterday. We
all feel that, Sylvia, all of us. Only in another way we may get good out
of that too, by warning those who have still plenty of time for all. But
let us see if Molly