ere to stop ten minutes; and now you have
kept me here till ten o'clock! Only think how dark it is, and what a
long way over to the green. I guess you will be sorry, if you should
hear, in the morning, that I had walked off the bridge into the
mill-brook, or fallen into the cistern on the Green."

"Oh aunt Lissa! as if there wasn't any fence to the bridge, and a cover
on the cistern, with a stone on it. You needn't try to frighten us in
that way."

"Well then, let me go, lest grandmother should feel frightened; but
first you must pay me for telling you a story."

"Well, how much do you ask?"

"Oh, not much; only a kiss from each of you."

"That you may have and welcome, and as many as you please."

"Good night."

INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.

The necessity of cultivating industrious habits in early youth was never
more fully exemplified than in the case of two girls, daughters of the
same mother, who were born in a village about forty miles from the city
of Boston.

[Illustration]

Mary and Sophia had the advantage of a mother who was herself full of
enterprise and energy, and who having been left a widow, and knowing
that the success of her children depended mainly on their own
conduct, strove to bring them up to habits of industry. Sophia, the
younger of the two sisters, inherited much of her mother's tact and
vivacity. When the elder persons of the family were engaged in any
domestic employment, she delighted to watch their movements; and they,
being pleased with this mark of early promise, never failed to instruct
her in the duties of a housewife. She learned rapidly under their
tuition, and as she never thought she knew too much to learn, she
thrived greatly; so that when she became old enough to be married, she
was fully acquainted with all the branches of domestic business. She
knew what implements to use, and she had a dexterous way of using them,
which not only helped to forward the business of the day, but also gave
much pleasure to those persons who saw with what grace and ease she
performed her labor. She married a worthy young man, who never ceased to
admire her, because his house was always in order, his meals were on the
table at the exact hour, and her dress was always arranged with a regard
to neatness and to beauty, and the most perfect cleanliness reigned from
one end of the house to the other.

With regard to her sister Mary, I regret that I have too much reason to
speak otherwise.