nable to get, and
it was the same all through the house. When mother had pleaded for a
new paper for the drawing-room, father had said--

"Not just yet, I'm afraid, dear. There are so many necessities which
must be met." That was the worst of it; there never was money enough
for the nice ornamental things which were so much more interesting than
stodgy old usefuls!

Betty sighed again, and shrugged her shoulders impatiently. The
Pampered Pet had finished her toilet by this time; she crossed the room
and stood by the window for a moment, a slim pink figure in the soft
pink light.

"Horrid, horrid thing!" cried Betty fretfully. "How I do--" And then at
the very moment of repeating her protestations of dislike, Pam's serious
childish face rose before her sight, and she heard the sweet shrill
voice saying once again--

"I suppose that's what they call `envy, hatred, and malice.'" ...

"She's right, quite right," Betty acknowledged to herself. "It _is_, or
just as near it as is possible for a girl to get who is surrounded by
good influences. How hateful it sounds! I did feel ashamed of myself.
I'm the eldest girl, and I ought to set a good example. If I were quiet
and gentle and resigned, they would all look up to me, and Miles
wouldn't snub me any more. I'll turn over a new leaf from this very
hour, and remember my blessings, and never grumble any more, or be
cross, or snappy, and be glad, absolutely glad, when other people are
better off than myself. After all, I'm seventeen. It's time I was
growing resigned. I won't envy anybody any more."

Betty jumped up from her seat, lighted her candles, and began to make
her modest toilet for dinner with an air of satisfied finality. It was
characteristic of her that she was never satisfied with half-measures,
and was always supremely confident of her ability to carry out new
resolutions. The determination to become a perfect character was taken
as easily as if it had been a choice between a couple of ribbons, and
she put on her quietest blouse, and parted her hair in the middle,
brushing it smoothly over her ears, with an artistic satisfaction in
dressing for a part. The resolution held good exactly a quarter of an
hour, at the expiration of which time Jack and Jill dashed suddenly out
of the schoolroom as their elder sister was pursuing a staid course
downstairs, when Jill promptly seized hold of her silk sleeves with
sticky fingers, and Jack exclaimed, "I sa