us to do; we must make the clothes and
preserve the cherries, and I must weed strawberries, and then pick
strawberries, and all the rest. God has given me these things to do,
and I do them for him."
"You do them for yourself, or for grandma, and for the rest of us."
"Yes, but first for Him. Yes, Madge, I do. I do every bit of all these
things in the way that I think will please and honour him best--as far
as I know how."
"Making your dresses!"
"Certainly. Making my dresses so that I may look, as near as I can, as
a servant of Christ in my place ought to look. And taking things in
that way, Madge, you can't think how pleasant they are; nor how all
sorts of little worries fall off. I wish you knew, Madge! If I am hot
and tired in a strawberry bed, and the thought comes, whose servant I
am, and that he has made the sun shine and put me to work in it,--then
it's all right in a minute, and I don't mind any longer."
Madge looked at her, with eyes that were half scornful, half admiring.
"There is just one thing that does tempt me," Lois went on, her eye
going forth to the world outside the window, or to a world more distant
and in tangible, that she looked at without seeing,--"I _do_ sometimes
wish I had time to read and learn."
"Learn!" Madge echoed. "What?"
"Loads of things. I never thought about it much, till I went to New
York last winter; then, seeing people and talking to people that were
different, made me feel how ignorant I was, and what a pleasant thing
it would be to have knowledge--education--yes, and accomplishments. I
have the temptation to wish for that sometimes; but I know it is a
temptation; for if I was intended to have all those things, the way
would have been opened, and it is not, and never was. Just a breath of
longing comes over me now and then for that; not for play, but to make
more of myself; and then I remember that I am exactly where the Lord
wants me to be, and _as_ he chooses for me, and then I am quite content
again."
"You never said so before," the other sister answered, now
sympathizingly.
"No," said Lois, smiling; "why should I? Only just now I thought I
would confess."
"Lois, I have wished for that very thing!"
"Well, maybe it is good to have the wish. If ever a chance comes, we
shall know we are meant to use it; and we won't be slow!"
CHAPTER XI.
SUMMER MOVEMENTS.
All things in the world, so far as the dwellers in Shampuashuh knew,
went their
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