A Terrible Tomboy

ed by thee shall

d by thee shall

served thyself

which thou

the Rose Parlour, with the windows wide open to l

iately after prayers on the ensuing Monday morning. Poor Bobby had neither a retentive memory nor a great disposition to learn. He fidgeted, and kicked the leg of the table, and said

ntreated Lilian. 'Obadiah, J

obby. 'I may as well make up my mind to t

door. 'I thought you might have taken this jar of beef-tea to old Ephraim

ggy, glad of any excuse to interrupt t

doubt he would be pleased if you read to him for a little. He is getting so blind now, poor old man! and it

the Abbey. He was past work now, and lived in one of the village almshouses, subsisting partly on the parish dole and partly on private

l this Sunday afternoon, with the sunlight streaming in through the tiny window, an

s head enveloped in a huge flat oat-cake, tied on with a red cotton p

rt in amazement; 'whatever is the matte

y locks solemnly. 'There ain't nothink like a hot oat-ca

Peggy, wondering privately whether the old man would cons

pocket. Ah, it's a fine thing for the rheumatics, is a potato. But

, Ephraim?' cried Peggy

ing to change the subject now it was growing

hteous Peggy, keeping sternly to the point, and anxious to

culprit evasively, 't

where it is?' sa

rd, and I see'd her wi' it in her hand. Oh, I reads the Bible, I does

miracles and parables and epistles, and-oh! lots o

is rheumatic old bones in a search on the cupboard-top. 'I reckon sometimes 'tis bette

lunteered Peggy, determined to be a ministering ang

; 'there be a drawer full o' books i' the dres

y leaflets, and the parish magazine. Sheets of ballads, which Ephraim had bought as a boy, lay side by side with a tattered copy or two of Zadkiel's prophetic almanac, some advertisements of patent medicines, a recipe for sheep-dip, and a Wesleyan

h the title, 'A Sigh of Sorrow for the Sinners of Zion, breathed

ht to read to him,' she said to herself, as s

were all long, so that Peggy found herself continually reading 'fins' instead of 'sins'; but she did her best, conscie

ot and weary, at the e

Ephraim?' she i

e foine, it be, surel

he child. 'It is so hard to rea

it's pious words, there beant no call to understand 'em, let alone I

ed the boo

nnounced. 'I hope your headache will be we

untiful. My rheumatics be

man's cup and saucer, and set out his tea on the little round table by his side, and finally took her departure, fe

time before tea,' she said to herself, as she came

a higher class we call good breeding. She made quite a picture in her short linsey-woolsey petticoat, with the check apron, her plaid shawl crossed over her cotton bodice, and the frille

d to sit the whole of the day, beating this old tin-and Sunday, too

sweet-williams-loved of the bees-pansies, lupins, and snap-dragons; over the cottage, where the white roses climbed up the thatch to the very chimneys, and where through the open doorway could be seen the neat kitchen, with its red-brick floor, the settle placed by the fireside, the tall grandfather's clock tick

who thought he looked far too nea

e and Willie now, though they'd

s, just to see how the bees were getting on, and they all came rushing out and settled on me. Mr. Howell seized m

aid Mrs. Davis. 'You should never touch them i

death in the house, and tie a piece of c

just now, so I think I might leave them for a few minutes. I have a pot of honey I should like to send to your aunt, miss, if you would

e with me, Willie dear-come

e stolid infant by

but he allowed himself to be led away, staring at his new guardian wi

cks and loose stones which lay under the wall. 'See, we'll make a kitchen and parlour, and put down leaves for a carpet. Here's a little round stone for a tabl

e other side of the wall, and, looking up, she saw the round, reproachful face of Polly Smith

'And making play-houses in Mrs. Davis's garden on Su

t, but she carried it o

d. 'He was going to cry because Gran

pel, and I see her again when I come back, and when I goes to Sunday-school she were

small nose in a distin

d Peggy, who did not like insinuations agai

ave me a prize for sayin' hymns-such a ni

book?' inquired Peggy, who c

rave; and her big brother, what's so unkind to her, gets drowned through goin' boatin' on Sunday,'

ing his thumb to seek the protection o

unday afternoons, with her blinds drawn down, and

a conscious sniff, as if deplori

s very m

the bees and amuse babies on Sun

were to think a good deal about Him. Sometimes we can show our love for Him quite as well by helping others as by reading our Bibles or going to church, though we should not neglect that either. As for shutting ourselves up on Sundays, and thinking i

in bands of crimson, violet and orange, looked like the very gate of heaven, a golden city which y

to herself; 'or Christian and Hopeful on the Delectable Mountains, when they looked through the

e liked to sit and think how the Abbey must have looked in those strange, bygone days when the little steps had led to a dormitory, and the broken pillars h

beetle came droning by, and the bats flew over her head with thei

the house in the gathering twilight. In the Rose Parlour Aunt Helen sat tur

athy. 'It opens so many wounds to re-read the tender words of those who are estrange

et's tear them up and burn

eggy, take my advice, and if you quarrel with anyone, go and fight it out at once, and get it ov