{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_23536/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_23536","id":"gutenberg_23536","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23536","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian literature for children","Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction","Family -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"Produced by Irma Spehar, Markus Brenner and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                           HATTY AND MARCUS;\n\n                                  OR,\n\n                    First Steps in the Better Path.\n\n                                  BY\n                            AUNT FRIENDLY,\n\n         AUTHOR OF \"KATE DARLY; OR, 'IT WILL ALL COME RIGHT.'\"\n\n                               NEW YORK:\n                         ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH,\n                           No. 683 BROADWAY.\n                                 1859.\n\n\n\nEntered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by\n\nANSON D. F. RANDOLPH,\n\nIn the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for\nthe Southern District of New York.\n\nEDWARD O. JENKINS,\nPrinter & Stereotyper,\nNo. 26 Frankfort Street.\n\n\n\n[Illustration: AUNT BARBARA.]\n\n\n\n\nHATTY AND MARCUS.\n\n\n\n\nI.\n\n\nHatty Lee had been on a visit to her grandmother, and now she was coming\nhome.\n\nMrs. Lee had hard work that morning to keep her young people in order,\nfor Hatty was a favorite with her brothers and sister, and they were\nwild with delight at the idea of seeing her again.\n\nHatty was only ten years of age, and Marcus, her brother, thought\nbecause he was two years older he was almost a man, and quite able to\ngive Hatty advice on all subjects. He pretended a great contempt for\ngirls, but the fact was he had missed his little playmate sorely, and\nwas full of glee at the thought of her return. He showed his pleasure\nin a noisy way that made the house not very comfortable for any one\nelse.\n\nOld Aunt Barbara had twice put her head out of her bed-room door, to\ntell him he was the \"roughest, rudest boy in the world, and would drive\nher crazy if he did not behave himself;\" but Marcus still ran up stairs,\njumping up three steps at a time, with his heavy shoes, and sliding down\nthe balusters, hallooing as he went, as if he were riding a race in an\nopen meadow.\n\nMeggy, a mischievous little girl of six, joined her shouts with those of\nMarcus, while Harry, her next brother, was busy collecting all his new\nplaythings in the hall, that he might show them to \"sister Hatty\" as\nsoon as she arrived.\n\nAs drums and trumpets were among his favorite toys, they of course had\nto be brought out, and thoroughly tried to prove that they were in\nperfect order.\n\nWhile all this tumult was going on in the hall, Mrs. Lee was vainly\ntrying to hush the continual cries of her little baby, who, though only\nfive weeks old, seemed to have remarkably strong lungs for its age, and\nto promise to resemble the rest of the family in his willingness to use\nthem.\n\nMrs. Lee was not very strong, and she was getting quite worn out with\nthe screams of the baby, when old Aunt Barbara came stepping into the\nnursery, and declared that she was certain if she could take the child a\nmoment, she could quiet it.\n\nAunt Barbara put the baby on her lap, and began to say to it some of the\nqueer old rhymes she had heard in her childhood, seventy years ago. It\nis not likely that the baby understood aunt Barbara's funny stories, and\nwanted to listen,--but this is certain, it stopped crying, and soon\nclosed its eyes and fell into a sweet sleep.\n\nWhen there was silence in the nursery, the noise in the hall sounded all\nthe louder. Mrs. Lee stepped to the door quickly, as if she were going\nto speak severely to the children, but something within her whispered\nthat they had no idea of the pain their frolic was giving, and that it\nwas joy about their sister's return that made them so unusually full of\nglee. When Mrs. Lee reached the head of the stairs, her face had a sweet\nmotherly expression, and before she spoke, she could not help smiling\nto see little Harry blowing away at his trumpet with all his might, and\nmarching up and down the hall as if he were a fat little soldier on\nparade, while they jumped up and down, and screamed with delight, to see\nhow fast Marcus could move on his smooth-backed horse.\n\nMrs. Lee knew that in their present state of mind it would be next to\nimpossible to keep the children perfectly quiet, and she resolved to\nemploy them about something, that they might not waste their energy in\nmaking a noise.\n\nMarcus heard somebody at the head of the stairs, and he looked up with\nan expression of provoking mischief, as if ready to receive another\nscolding from aunt Barbara. When he saw his mother's kind, pale face\nbending towards him, he felt a little ashamed of the thoughtlessness\nwhich had made him forget that her weak head might have suffered from\nwhat he called his \"fun.\"\n\n\"Well, Mother,\" he said looking up cheerfully, \"how soon do you think\nHatty will come?\"\n\n\"Not for an hour yet, my son,\" said the mother, kindly; \"and, meanwhile,\nI have something for you to do. I want you to sweep the pavement, from\nthe door-step to the gate, that it may look neat and tidy to Hatty when\nshe comes home.\"\n\n\"Here, Meg, you go get me a broom, and I'll set to work in a twinkling,\"\nsaid Marcus, jumping down from the balusters, with a deafening stamp of\nhis heavy shoes.\n\nThe sound seemed to touch every nerve in Mrs. Lee's head, and she drew\nher eyebrows together with an expression of pain; but she only said,\nquietly--\"I must have a pair of slippers for you to wear in the house,\nMarcus, and then you can take off your shoes, when you come in, as your\nfather does.\"\n\n\"O that will be first-rate,\" said Marcus, with delight. \"I should like\ndog's-heads for the pattern; won't you begin them to-day, Mother?\"\n\n\"I will make them as soon as I can,\" said the mother, with a languid\nsmile.\n\nMeg now came running along the hall, carrying the broom by the brush\nend, while the handle went \"knock, knock,\" along the floor, keeping time\nto the skipping motion with which she generally moved.\n\nMarcus seized the broom, and began to flourish it this way and that\nway, across the wide pavement, as if he meant to be rapid, if not\nparticularly thorough, in his work.\n\n\"Now, Harry,\" said Mrs. Lee, quietly, \"mother wants you to make a nice\nfence with your blocks all round your playthings. Meg will get them for\nyou.\"\n\nFrom a closet under the stairs Meg soon dragged out a box in which were\nHarry's stores of blocks,--playthings of which he never tired, and which\nnever wore out.\n\nThe little fellow set to work very patiently; and then Mrs. Lee said,\n\"Come, Meg, I will take you with me.\" Meg gave her hand to her mother,\nand skipped up the stairs, ready to take in good part anything that\nshould happen.\n\nMrs. Lee led her to a small room at the end of the hall, and said, \"Now\nlisten to me, my little darling. You are to sleep in here with Hatty,\nand she is to help you dress, and to be very kind to you. I want you to\nbe very careful not to hurt any of Hatty's things, and to mind her, when\nI am not with you. If you do as I say, you will be sure to get on well.\"\n\nMeg gave a little jump, and perched herself on the edge of the bed, as\nshe said, \"O how nice, Mother! I am so glad. It is a great deal\npleasanter than being in the old nursery with Jane.\"\n\n\"Don't sit on the bed, Meggy,\" said Mrs. Lee, helping the little thing\ngently down--and smoothing the tumbled place she had made on the clean\ncounterpane; \"You know Hatty likes to keep her bed very nicely.\"\n\n\"Hatty can't lock the door now--and say, 'You can't come in, Meg.' It is\nmy room, too, now,\" said Meg, \"and I shall have a right to come in.\"\n\n\"I hope my little girls will get on very pleasantly together,\" said Mrs.\nLee, gently. \"Jesus' little children never quarrel, never speak bad,\nangry words.\"\n\n\"Well, I won't, Mother, if I can help it,\" said Meg, and she put up her\nmouth to be kissed, as if that mother's kiss could ensure her doing\nright.\n\nWhile this conversation was going on up stairs, Marcus had stopped in\nthe midst of his work, and was actually still, for a moment, while his\nface bore the marks of deep thought.\n\nMarcus did not feel altogether comfortable about the way he had spoken\nto Aunt Barbara that morning; he knew he had done wrong, and that\nbrought to his mind a letter his mother had received from Hatty during\nher absence. Hatty had written that she was very sorry for all the\nnaughty things she had ever done, and that she had made up her mind to\nbe one of Jesus' little children, and that she believed He had forgiven\nher for all the past, and would help her to be a better girl. She sent\nmuch love to her brothers and sisters, and said she wanted them to\nforget every unkind word she had ever spoken to them, for she was very\nsorry, and never meant to do so again.\n\nEver since Hatty could speak, her mother had been teaching her about her\nHeavenly Father, and trying to make her love Him and wish to serve Him.\nThe little girl had always listened patiently, but Mrs. Lee had never\nbeen satisfied that Hatty had made her choice to be among the lambs of\nJesus' flock, who love to hear their Shepherd's voice, and try to follow\nHim. This letter, therefore, written in the frankness and simplicity of\nchildhood, had brought joy to the mother's heart. She believed that the\nlove of Christ had taken root in the soul of her child, and that by\nGod's grace it would grow and strengthen, and in time bear such fruit as\nangels love to see.\n\nMrs. Lee had not only given the message Hatty sent to her brothers and\nsister, but she had read her letter to them, praying silently that by\nHatty's example they might be led to choose God for their guardian and\nguide.\n\nMarcus had listened intently, and had been moved more than he cared to\nshow. When his mother laid the letter down, he said bluntly, \"I have\nnothing laid up against Hatty,\" and abruptly left the room.\n\nNow as he stood on the pavement leaning upon the broom, he was thinking\nof Hatty and her new resolution, and wondering if he should ever make up\nhis mind to do right. Of one thing he was sure, doing wrong gave him no\npleasure. He had been too well taught to be able to commit any sin,\nwithout being reminded of it by his conscience, but to obey that\nconscience was another thing.\n\nMarcus could not help fancying that he should see some great change in\nHatty, that she would look differently, speak differently,--and he made\nup his mind not to be at all pleased with her if she affected any new,\nserious ways. This was but a momentary feeling, for Marcus really loved\nhis sister, and in the depths of his heart he rejoiced that she had\nchosen the best portion, the only blessing that will last forever and\never.\n\n\n\n\nII.\n\n\nMarcus spent so much time in meditating about Hatty and her new\nresolution, that he had but just finished his task, when the carriage,\nso anxiously desired, drove up to the door, and out jumped Mr. Lee,\nfollowed in another moment by Hatty.\n\nMarcus threw down his broom, and sprang forward, and before he thought\nhe had kissed Hatty several times. Marcus was not much in favor of\nkissing,--he thought it was \"girlish;\" but now he was so really glad, he\ndid not think what he was about.\n\nWhile Mr. Lee was attending to the removal of his carpet-bag, Hatty's\nlittle trunk, and sundry baskets and packages with which the carriage\nwas loaded, Marcus and Hatty walked up the wide pavement together.\n\n\"You are a good sweeper, Marcus,\" said Hatty, looking at the clean\nbricks upon which they were stepping.\n\nMarcus did not answer; he was gazing straight into Hatty's face to see\nif she were really altered. He could see no change, save that a few\nfreckles about her nose disfigured her uncommonly fair skin, and told of\nthe life in the open air she had lately led. Her red hair had not grown\na shade darker during her absence, although it was brushed a little\nsmoother than usual. Her bright, reddish brown eyes had their own lively\nexpression, and her mouth seemed as ready as ever to smile, until all\nabout it the tiny dimples came like little pin-pricks in her fair skin.\n\nHatty's face was not changed, certainly; and instead of having the grave\nmanner that Marcus expected, she was all joy at her return, and seemed\nto have forgotten that she meant to be any better than any one else.\n\nHatty had not forgotten her new resolutions, and if Marcus could have\nseen into her heart at the moment she stepped from the carriage, he\nwould have read a prayer that she might be able to live among her dear\nbrothers and sister like one of the lambs of the flock of Christ.\n\nMeg and Harry had heard the sound of the carriage wheels, and were on\nthe door-step to receive Hatty. They first almost smothered her with\nkisses; then Meg untied her bonnet strings with rough kindness, and\nHarry seized her little travelling bag, as if it were his especial\nproperty.\n\nHatty was a particular little soul, and the way Meg took hold of the new\nblue satin ribbons of her leghorn flat, hurt her as much as if Meg had\ngiven her one of the twisting little pinches she knew so well how to\ninflict. Hatty was going to twitch away, but instead of the twitch came\na bright blush on her cheek, that she should have so soon been near\nbeing out of patience, when again among the little ones at home. As a\nkind of punishment to herself, she let Meg lay aside her bonnet, and\nsuffered Harry to run off with her pretty travelling bag, without saying\na word.\n\n\"Where's Mother?\" asked Hatty, eagerly, passing along the hall, and\ngoing directly up stairs.\n\n\"Here, here, my child,\" said the mother, as she met her on the landing,\nand folded her affectionately in her arms.\n\nVery pleasant it was to Hatty to receive that mother's tender kiss, but\ndearer still were the words which were, breathed in her ear: \"God bless\nyou, my darling, you are dearer to me than ever.\"\n\nHatty understood her mother's earnest words, and she could have echoed\nthem, \"you are dearer to me than ever.\" That was exactly what she felt.\nThe mother who had talked to her of the blessed Jesus, and taught her\nHis words and ways, was dearer than ever, now that she had resolved to\nfollow Him.\n\nIn silence Hatty and her mother ascended the short flight of stairs that\nled to the upper hall; then the little girl asked eagerly--\"But where is\nthe baby? I have not seen him yet--or Aunt Barbara, either.\"\n\n\"So you did think of Aunt Barbara. I didn't know but you had forgotten\nme entirely, you were so taken up with your grandma,\" said the old lady,\ncoming slowly out of the nursery.\n\n\"No, indeed, I had not forgotten you,\" said Hatty, and she kissed her\naffectionately.\n\nHatty had not forgotten Aunt Barbara; she had had painful reasons for\nremembering her. The unfortunate, disrespectful words she had spoken to\nthe old lady, had risen up to her again and again, and made her pray\nwith double earnestness to be forgiven for Jesus' sake.\n\nAunt Barbara led the way to the nursery, and there on the bed lay the\nbaby, the pet of the house.\n\n\"O what a dear, tiny little creature!\" said Hatty, bending over it, with\na look half wonder and half affection. \"I never saw such a little baby\nbefore; that is, I don't remember Harry very well, when he was so\nyoung,\" she added, for Hatty was trying to be truthful, even about\ntrifles.\n\n\"Harry was twice as big at the same age,\" said Aunt Barbara. \"He always\nwas a bouncer.\"\n\nHatty stooped down to kiss the wee mouth of the sleeping baby, but Aunt\nBarbara pushed her roughly back, and said impatiently: \"Don't, child!\ndon't, you'll wake him.\"\n\n\"Mamma does not say I mustn't!\" sprang to Hatty's lips, for she was\nsadly quick-tempered, but again a blush of shame took the place of\nhasty words.\n\n\"He will wake soon,\" said Mrs. Lee, quickly but quietly, \"and then,\nHatty, you can hold him in your arms; he is not much heavier than your\ndolly, Susan.\"\n\n\"Thank you, Mother. I should like that,\" said Hatty; she felt that her\nmother had wished to speak quickly to keep her from wrong words, and she\nwas grateful for the kindness that would help her to do right.\n\n\"Now, Hatty, you had better come to your room, and take off your\nthings.\"\n\n\"To _our_ room,\" said Meg, with a saucy, mischievous look.\n\nHatty turned towards her mother with a sudden glance of inquiry.\n\n\"Yes,\" said Mrs. Lee, \"you are to have Meg for a room-mate.\" Hatty's\nface flushed, and Mrs. Lee hastened to add, \"I thought you would like to\nhelp me, and you can do so best by taking Meg with you, and having a\nlittle charge over her.\"\n\nHatty looked very soberly, as she answered, \"I _should_ like to help\nyou, Mother.\"\n\nMrs. Lee opened the two lower drawers of the bureau, and said, \"you see\nI have put some of Meg's clothes here; when you need any more you can\ncome to me for them.\"\n\n\"But, Mother, where are all my presents, and my pretty things? That is\ntoo bad! I have always kept them so nicely in those drawers!\" said\nHatty, hastily.\n\nMrs. Lee did not speak for a moment; she opened a door leading into a\nlarge lighted closet, and then said, \"Here, my darling, you will have a\nplace for all you want to keep particularly nice; see, I have put your\npresents in this drawer, and your books are there above, on the shelf. I\nhave put a little table here for your Bible, and you must not forget to\n'enter into your closet,' to pray to Him who seeth in secret.\"\n\n\"O, Mother, you are so very kind and I am so very hasty,\" exclaimed\nHatty; \"I will not forget to do as you say, for indeed I need it. You\nwill have to be very patient with me, Mother, for I am afraid I shall\nhave hard work to keep my resolutions.\"\n\n\"Trust in God for help to struggle against your faults, and in the end\nyou will conquer,\" said the mother, with an affectionate kiss, and then\nshe left her little daughter alone.\n\nHatty had led an easy, quiet life with her grandmother for the last\nthree months, and had had but little temptation to give way to her hasty\ntemper. Now she began to realize that it would be quite another thing,\nwhere at almost every moment she was called on to give up her own will\nand pleasure for that of others; but she was not disheartened. God has\npromised to give his strength to those who really wish to serve Him, and\non this promise little Hatty relied. In her closet she knelt and asked\nthe blessing of Heaven on her poor efforts, and she rose cheerful and\nhappy.\n\n\n\n\nIII.\n\n\nWhen Hatty had arranged her clothes once more neatly in her own room,\nshe began to wonder what had become of Marcus, and she concluded to go\nin search of him; she met him in the hall. He seemed much excited, and\nsaid, \"O Hatty, what beautiful bantams! I have put them in a barrel, and\ncarried all the packages grandma sent, to the kitchen, and now I want to\nknow where we shall keep them?\"\n\nHatty was not quite pleased that Marcus should take the bantams so\nimmediately under his protection, though she had brought them as a\npresent to him. She checked the feeling of annoyance, and said\npleasantly, \"They are yours, Marcus, so you can plan for them as you\nthink best; but perhaps you could manage to make a coop, as you do not\ngo to school to-day.\"\n\nMarcus was delighted with the presents, and resolved to set to work\nimmediately to get the pets into comfortable quarters before Sunday.\n\nHatty put on her sun-bonnet, and they both were soon very busy in the\nyard, planning for the chicken coop with as much interest as if they\nwere going to build some wonderful specimen of architecture which all\nthe world would admire.\n\nMarcus found in the wood-house a large packing box, and after much\nhammering he succeeded in knocking out one side, so the chickens could\nhave their feet on the ground in their new home.\n\n\"Chickens are like the Irishman who liked a mud floor that would never\nwear out, and never need washing,\" said Marcus, with the air of one who\nwas instructing some ignorant person.\n\n\"Yes, grandma has all her coops made that way,\" said Hatty, who was well\npleased to show that she understood the subject.\n\nMarcus now selected a board of the right length, and had just begun to\nsplit it up into slabs for the front of the coop, when he heard Aunt\nBarbara's bed-room window go up.\n\nMarcus did not raise his eyes, but he could not stop his ears, and he\nhad to hear the shrill tone that called out, \"Stop! stop! Marcus Lee!\"\n\nMarcus rested his hatchet on the board, and looked up.\n\n\"You are a wasteful boy!\" began Aunt Barbara. \"You ought to be ashamed\nto cut up that good board!\"\n\n\"Don't mind her,\" said Marcus, in an undertone, as he resumed his work.\n\n\"Wait a minute, Marcus,\" said Hatty; and then raising her voice she\ncalled out, \"Aunt Barbara, we want a coop for the chickens--some dear\nlittle bantams I brought from grandma's!\"\n\n\"Chickens!\" said Aunt Barbara, much as if she had said bears! \"What on\nearth did you bring them here for? why, they'll ruin everything in the\ngarden, and crow so in the morning nobody can sleep.\"\n\n\"We are going to shut them up, Aunt Barbara, and that will keep them out\nof mischief,\" said Hatty, trying to speak pleasantly.\n\n\"Take your own way! take your own way! Its never any use for me to say\nanything!\" said Aunt Barbara, and her window was put down with such a\nforce that made the glass rattle.\n\nMarcus had expected to hear Hatty answer in her usual hasty way, and he\nwas quite surprised to see that she did not seem at all angry, and now\nhad no unkind remarks to make about Aunt Barbara. He did not know that\nHatty had been obliged to cast one look up to the clear sky, to remember\nthe Great Being who was looking down upon her, before she dare trust\nherself to speak, nor did he know that she was now wondering why Aunt\nBarbara should be so unlike her dear, dear grandma.\n\nMarcus kept steadily on at his work, but Hatty did not feel satisfied\nabout it until she had asked her mother if there was really any harm in\nwhat they were doing. After Mrs. Lee had given them free permission to\ngo on, the morning passed pleasantly away in watching Marcus, and she\nwas quite surprised when the dinner bell rang.\n\n\"O dear!\" said Hatty, \"we shall have hardly time to put ourselves in\norder for the table.\"\n\nAlthough Marcus knew that it was his mother's express wish that he\nshould never come to the table without looking neat and tidy, he paid\nlittle regard to his personal appearance; but there was something in\nthe eager way in which Hatty hastened to brush the hair she had been too\nmuch inclined to neglect, that had its influence on him.\n\nHatty was in her seat before her father was at the table, and a pleased\nsmile crossed her face as she saw that Marcus had been using the clothes\nbrush, and combing his straight black hair off his high forehead.\n\nThe dinner hour was always a pleasant time at Mrs. Lee's, for then all\nthe family were together, and some interesting conversation was sure to\ntake place. Marcus was a restless boy, active in body and mind. He\nenjoyed his father's society, and affected to think that he was the only\none in the family who was really a suitable companion for a boy of the\nmature age of twelve!\n\nMr. Lee was a merchant; he had lately met with large losses, but he did\nnot allow himself to be saddened by misfortunes that left his home\nuntouched, and all his dear ones alive and well. Mr. Lee was a tall,\nslender man, with a bright, expressive eye, and a large, pleasant mouth,\nand his children thought him the handsomest man in Hyde, the large\ninland town where he lived.\n\nDuring the dinner-hour on the day about which we are writing, Mr. Lee\nwas talking of a plan for building an Orphan Asylum, about which the\ncitizens of Hyde were greatly interested.\n\nMarcus listened to his father's remarks, and seemed to think himself\ncalled upon to reply. He did so, and showed uncommon quickness and good\nsense for a boy of his years in what he said. Mrs. Lee modestly made\nsome suggestions, which her husband thought particularly useful; but\nMarcus' lip curled as his mother spoke, in a way which it was well for\nhim escaped his father's observation. After dinner, Mr. Lee was obliged\nto hurry away, but not too soon to give Hatty a kiss, and to say to her\nhow pleasant it was to see her face once more at the table.\n\nWhen Mr. Lee was gone, Mrs. Lee resumed the subject about which they had\nbeen talking, and sketched what she thought would be an improvement on\nthe internal arrangement of the proposed building.\n\n\"Now don't, Mother!\" said Marcus. \"What do women know about such\nthings?\"\n\n\"What do boys know? you had better say!\" said Hatty, hastily taking\npart with her mother.\n\n\"Any sensible boy of twelve knows more about such things than a woman!\"\nsaid Marcus, turning to leave the room.\n\n\"Stop, Marcus,\" said Mrs. Lee, gently.\n\nMarcus stopped, but did not approach his mother. She stepped to his side\nand said: \"Marcus, there was once a boy of twelve who had more wisdom\nthan the learned doctors in the Jewish Temple. He, of course, knew more\nthan his mother. Yet he went down with her to Nazareth, and was subject\nunto her. Even he was not above honoring his father and mother. Will you\nnot try to imitate him?\"\n\nMarcus was softened by his mother's gentle manner, and he answered: \"If\nI don't behave as I ought to you, Mother, it is a great shame;\" and then\nhe was again turning away.\n\nAgain he was detained. Hatty laid her hand on his arm and said: \"Marcus,\nI did not speak rightly to you just now. I was angry. I am sorry.\" Hatty\nblushed painfully when she spoke, and it was evident the acknowledgment\ncost her a great effort.\n\n\"I did not notice it,\" said Marcus, hurrying away.\n\nHatty felt a little hurt at the way her apology was received, but her\nmother took her by the hand, and said: \"That is right, Hatty. Confess\nyour faults one to another, and pray one for another. You must not\nforget Marcus in your prayers.\"\n\nHatty was silent a moment, and then her mother said: \"Come now, my dear,\nthe baby is awake, and you will have an opportunity to see his queer\nlittle blue eyes, and to hold him in your lap.\"\n\nHatty was delighted when she reached the nursery, to be allowed to take\nthe tiny being in her arms, and to hold his pretty soft hand in hers.\n\nMeg and Harry seemed to think it was a very attractive sight to see\nHatty with the baby on her lap, and they left their soap-bubbles and\ncame to stand about her.\n\nAt this moment Aunt Barbara came in. She did not seem to notice Hatty\nand the baby. Her eyes at once fell upon the bowl full of soap-suds Meg\nhad placed on a chair.\n\n\"Dear! dear!\" exclaimed Aunt Barbara, \"what are the children coming to?\nWhy, they waste soap as if it grew, instead of cost money! Here, Meg,\npour this away directly, and don't do such a thing again!\"\n\n\"It won't help it to throw it away,\" said Meg. \"I want to blow bubbles.\"\n\n\"Shan't have it! shan't have it!\" said little Harry, holding tight to\nthe edge of the bowl with his little fat hands.\n\n\"Aunt Barbara,\" said Mrs. Lee, very gently, \"I told the children they\nmight blow bubbles a little while this afternoon. Jane mixed the soap\nfor them, that they need not be wasteful.\"\n\n\"Its little use savin' in such a house as this!\" said Aunt Barbara, and\nshe walked away as if she were particularly injured.\n\nMarcus now came in to tell how happy and contented the chickens seemed\nin the new coop. He saw some evidences of displeasure on the faces of\nMeg and Harry, and he exclaimed, \"I met Aunt Barbara in the hall, with\nher indignation strut on. What's up?\"\n\n\"Marcus, my son, I cannot bear to hear you speak in that way of any old\nperson, especially of Aunt Barbara.\"\n\n\"But she is too tiresome and provoking, Mother. If I want a piece of\ntwine for a kite-string she calls it wasteful, and--\"\n\n\"Yes,\" broke in Meg, \"and when I want to play tea, she won't let me have\na bit of milk or sugar,--that is, if mother is not here.\"\n\n\"Hush, hush, my children,\" said Mrs. Lee, with a look of pain. \"Come,\nsit down all of you, and I will tell you a story.\"\n\nMarcus liked to hear stories as well as little Meg herself, and he\nforthwith sat down on the floor, where he could look straight into his\nmother's eyes.\n\nMrs. Lee began: \"Once there was a little orphan girl, only seven years\nold. Her father and mother died, and she did not know what was to become\nof her. Now this little girl had an aunt, who was the widow of a\nclergyman. This aunt had a little cottage of her own, and just enough\nmoney to live quietly and comfortably by herself. She knew if she took\nthe little orphan to her home, she must deny herself a great many\ncomforts to which she had always been accustomed; but she resolved to do\nit.\n\nThe little girl was very glad when she found that she was not alone in\nthe wide world, and she soon learned to love the kind aunt who did so\nmuch for her.\n\nSometimes she was surprised to see what care her aunt took, that nothing\nshould be wasted; and she often wondered why her aunt did not buy\nherself a new bonnet, or a new dress, which she seemed to need. She did\nnot know that her aunt had to practice so much care and economy, to give\nher a home. By and by, when she grew older, she understood all this, and\ntried to be like a daughter to the friend who had been so kind to her.\nHer aunt's queer little ways only made her feel, then, that it was for\nher she had learned to save even the shreds she cut off when she was\nsewing. After the orphan girl was grown, she was married to a very kind\ngentleman. This gentleman was so grateful to the aunt for her care of\nthe orphan, that he wanted her to come and live with them in her\ncomfortable home; but Aunt Barbara said--\"\n\n\"There, there, Mother! you have let it out,\" exclaimed the children in a\nbreath.\n\n\"Don't, don't,\" said Hatty; \"what did Aunt Barbara say, Mother?\"\n\n\"She said, your old aunty is queer and notional, and maybe you would be\nhappier without her. No, no, let me stay here alone; I shall be quite\ncontented to know my little orphan is so well taken care of! It was of\nno use urging Aunt Barbara, so we had to let her have her way. Now, my\nchildren, you know how Aunt Barbara got her very economical ways, and I\nhope you will have patience with her, for my sake.\"\n\n\"Indeed, I will!\" said Hatty, looking up with her eyes full of tears.\n\n\"I won't tease her any more,\" said Meg, nestling at her mother's side.\n\nMarcus was silent; he felt too deeply to speak, how ill a return he had\nmade to Aunt Barbara for her kindness to his mother.\n\n\"But how came Aunt Barbara here?\" asked Hatty, with much interest.\n\n\"I will tell you,\" said Mrs. Lee. \"We had been married three years, when\nI had a little, helpless, sickly baby. I was too feeble to take proper\ncare of it, and your father was obliged to be too much away from home to\ngive me any help. Aunt Barbara heard how weak and pale I was looking,\nand what a poor, suffering baby I had. Then the old lady let her little\nhome to a stranger, and came one day to us. She said she could not\nsleep for thinking of me and the little one, and she had come to take\ncare of us. And what good care she took of us! She seemed to know just\nwhat I wanted. I was young, then, and there were many things about which\nI was as ignorant as you are. Aunt Barbara had nourishing food made for\nme just when I needed it, she took the care of the housekeeping from me,\nand so nursed me that I soon began to feel strong again. But I have not\ntold you about the poor baby. Aunt Barbara could not do too much for\nthat baby. It was a cross little thing, crying even when it was not\nsick. Aunt Barbara was never out of patience with it. She attended to\nits food, got up with it at night, and even when I was well enough to\ntake it with me again, she was hardly willing to give it up.\n\n\"All this watching and nursing was too much for Aunt Barbara; she has\nnever been well since. When her rheumatism keeps her awake at night, she\nis often irritable and inclined to find fault the next day. When I feel\ntempted to be out of patience with her, I have only to remember that it\nwas for me and my little baby she came here, and that for us she\nwearied herself until her health gave way.\"\n\n\"Mother,\" said Hatty, in a whisper, \"was I that little sickly baby that\nAunt Barbara was so patient with?\"\n\n\"Yes, my darling,\" was Mrs. Lee's reply.\n\nThe many impertinent, hasty, impatient words that she had spoken to her\nold aunt, returned to Hatty's mind, and she resolved to ask God to give\nher strength to make amends for the past.\n\n\"It is a sad truth,\" said Mrs. Lee, \"that old people have much less\npatience shown towards them than little children have, yet they need it\nquite as much. God has so arranged it, that those who are watched over\nand taken care of when they are helpless babes, should in their turn\nnurse and comfort the feeble old age of their parents. Remember, my\nchildren, old age makes people in one way like infants; that is, it\nleads them to be irritable and troublesome, and often helpless, and\nthese defects should be borne with tenderly, as your father or I would\nsoothe that dear baby on Hatty's lap. God has taught in his holy book\nthe greatest respect to the aged, and his eye sees with displeasure\neven a rude look cast towards one who is grey-haired.\"\n\nThe children were all silent. Mrs. Lee saw that they were moved, and in\nher heart she prayed that God would grant a blessing upon the earnest\nwords she had spoken, and save her dear ones from falling into the sin\nso offensive to the Holy One of Israel.\n\n\n\n\nIV.\n\n\nWhen Hatty went to bed, on the evening of her return, she found Meg fast\nasleep, and apparently as much at home as if she had always had a right\nto talk of \"our room,\" instead of being one of the children in the\nnursery.\n\nHatty looked at the little brown face lying on the pillow, and the long\ndark lashes hiding the mischievous eyes, and she felt that she loved her\nlittle sister dearly, and would be willing to be put to a great deal of\ninconvenience to be of service to her. When Hatty knelt that night in\nthe quiet closet her mother had given up to her use, she did not forget\nto pray that she might be patient and gentle with Meg, and so win her\nconfidence as to be able to lead her to the Saviour, who loves to call\nthe little ones His own.\n\nHatty's short reading in the Bible that evening was about the\ncrucifixion of our Saviour, and as she prepared to lie down, she\nwondered how he could have borne such suffering without one murmur.\nHatty had a perfect horror of pain. Her skin was thin and delicate, and\neven the grasp of a rough hand on her arm was sure to leave a bruise.\nHer usually pleasant face was clouded over by a scratch or a pin-prick,\nand her tears often fell fast for a wound that many children would have\nmet with a smile. Hatty was naturally very sensitive to pain, and that\nwas not her fault; but she had never yet begun to try to bear it\npatiently, as a part of her christian duty. As she lay down that night,\nshe resolved to be more patient under, little trials, and to make light\nof little pains.\n\nHatty's new resolution was soon put to the test. She had hardly put her\nhead on the pillow, before she became conscious that her couch was\nanything but a bed of roses.\n\nMeg had consoled herself for going to sleep in a strange room by\nherself, by munching hard crackers until that pleasure was lost in the\nnew joy of the dreams of childhood. The bed was strewn with the crumbs,\nand through her thin night-dress Hatty could feel them in all\ndirections. After brushing them this way and that way, Hatty jumped out\nof bed with an angry bound, and proceeded to light the candle and\nrectify the mischief in a systematic manner.\n\n\"The troublesome little thing!\" exclaimed Hatty, as she saw a half-eaten\ncracker lying in Meg's loosened grasp. \"She ought to be punished for\nit!\"\n\nAt that moment Hatty thought of her resolution to be patient under\ntrifling discomforts, and a feeling of mortification came over her. Very\nquietly she brushed away the offending crumbs, gently she removed the\nhalf-eaten cracker, and then she knelt to ask forgiveness for this new\nexhibition of her hasty temper, ere she again lay down to rest.\n\nHatty was soon in a sweet sleep; but shortly after midnight she was\nawakened by a feeling very much as if a broom-handle were thrust against\nher, while at the same time Meg exclaimed, \"Do move, Hatty, you crowd\nso. I wish you would'nt come on my side of the bed.\"\n\nMeg was a thin bony little creature, and the children all dreaded a\npunch with her sharp elbows almost as much as one of her scientific\npinches.\n\nHatty's tender side actually ached, but she made an effort to say,\ngently, \"Meg, you must be dreaming; wake up!\"\n\n\"I am not asleep at all!\" said Meg, pettishly. \"I wish you would move!\"\n\nHatty passed her hand along the seam of the sheet (Mrs. Lee used her\nold-fashioned sheets on the children's beds) to assure herself that she\nwas on her own side of the bed, and then she was going to tell Meg that\nit was _she_ who was out of place; but something checked her, and she\nonly said, pleasantly, \"Never mind, Meg, where the middle of the bed\nis,--you shall have all the room you want;\" and making way for her little\nfriend with the sharp elbows, Hatty composed herself again to sleep,\nwith a far happier feeling than if she had contended for her rights.\n\nOnce she was going to say, \"O Meg, it hurts me still where you punched\nme,\" but she checked the words, and thought how trifling was such a pain\ncompared with the nails in the hands of our great example, who has bid\nus follow him in his patience, as well as in perfect purity.\n\nHatty's long ride from her grandmother's, a distance of sixteen miles,\nand the excitement of her return home, made her sleep very soundly, when\nnot disturbed, and she would gladly have continued her nap until the\nrousing bell gave forth its summons.\n\nMeg was something like the uneasy birds who twitter at midnight on their\nperches, and wake at dawn to sing, as if they never knew the need of\nrest.\n\nBy the first grey streak of morning she began to stir, and was soon wide\nawake and full of glee at finding herself in her new quarters.\n\nHatty turned her back resolutely, but in vain. Meg was not to be so\neasily disposed of. Hatty was going to say some hasty words to Meg, as\nshe twitched away from her, when Meg pleaded, \"Do wake up, sister Hatty.\nIt is Sunday morning.\"\n\n\"Sunday morning!\" that thought brought Hatty to herself--and making an\neffort to throw off her sleepiness, she turned towards Meg, and said,\n\"Well, then, give me a nice kiss to begin the day.\"\n\nMeg gave the kiss with real good will, and then, nestling up close to\nHatty, she began to talk as if her tongue needed violent exercise to\nmake up for being quiet all night.\n\nBefore many minutes were over, Hatty had set that little tongue at\nSunday work, repeating all the hymns and Bible verses that Meg had\nlearned during the three months that Hatty had been away from home.\n\nMeg was full of eager questions about her hymns and her verses, and\nHatty had an opportunity of giving the little one some sweet lessons\nabout the loving Saviour and what He wishes in His lambs, that she would\nhave lost if she had given way to her selfish wish for a longer nap.\n\nWe do not know, when we give way to our own whims, instead of being\nunselfish, what opportunities of usefulness we may be losing. If we do\none duty well, some higher and more important duty generally follows\nclose upon it.\n\nHatty took a pleasure in making Meg look particularly nice that Sunday\nmorning, and she was well pleased when her mother smilingly remarked at\nbreakfast that Meg showed very plainly that she had fallen into good\nhands. \"Hatty needs a little attention, herself,\" added Mrs. Lee, and\nshe glanced at the irregular white line which separated the two heavy\nmasses of waving red hair on each side of Hatty's head.\n\nHatty would rather have gone without her breakfast than had her hair\nparted. Hatty was apt to fret about being hurt all the while the\noperation was going on, and Mrs. Lee actually dreaded to propose what,\nif borne cheerfully, would have been but the work of a moment. Happily\nfor Hatty at that instant her thoughts were called in a different\ndirection by Marcus' sudden question--\n\n\"Where is Aunt Barbara this morning?\"\n\nEven the question showed some interest in the old lady; and Mrs. Lee\nhailed it as an indication of a better state of feeling in her son.\n\n\"Aunt Barbara is not very well this morning; she did not get up as early\nas usual,\" said Mrs. Lee.\n\n\"Shan't I go up to see if I can do anything for her?\" said Hatty,\neagerly.\n\n\"She will be down soon, I think; but you may go,\" said the mother,\npleasantly.\n\nHatty ran up stairs, and knocked very gently on Aunt Barbara's door.\n\n\"Who is it? What do you want?\" answered Aunt Barbara's voice from\nwithin.\n\n\"It is Hatty. Can I do anything for you?\" said the little girl.\n\n\"No!\" was at first the decided answer; then followed a sudden call\n\"Stop, stop, child. Come in a moment.\"\n\nHatty stepped in, but felt like drawing back as Aunt Barbara stood\nthere, half dressed, with her grey hair uncovered, and her thin,\nshrivelled arms bare.\n\n\"Don't stare as if you were frightened,\" said Aunt Barbara, quickly.\n\"Old people are not generally very beautiful to look at!\"\n\n\"Can I do anything for you?\" said Hatty, pleasantly.\n\n\"Yes, if you want to. I can't find my pocket. Perhaps you can see it.\"\n\nAunt Barbara wore a pocket tied on under her dress with a string, and\nshe had been for some moments looking for it, as she was ready to put it\non.\n\nHatty glanced round the room, and was delighted when she saw a piece of\nwhite Marseilles peeping out from under the tumbled bed-clothes. She\nsprang towards it, and handed the pocket to the old lady, who took it\nwithout a word, and went on dressing herself.\n\nHatty began to pick up the things about the room, and to throw open the\nbed; for she knew Aunt Barbara would not think of going down to\nbreakfast until the room was a little in order.\n\nAunt Barbara did not seem to notice her; but when she had tied the\nstrings to her close-quilted muslin cap, and pinned a broad black ribbon\nround it, she said: \"Come, now, child, its not worth while your\nbreakfast should get cold while you are waiting on me.\"\n\nHatty's face brightened, and she said, eagerly: \"I should be glad to do\nanything for you, Aunt Barbara.\"\n\n\"You may have more chance than you want, if I feel like this many\nmornings,\" said Aunt Barbara, very sharply.\n\nAunt Barbara was not very pleasant at breakfast that morning. Nothing\nseemed cooked to suit her. The fact was, the poor old lady was not well,\nand had no appetite, and that made everything seem out of the way to\nher.\n\nHatty could not help noticing how pleasantly her mother took Aunt\nBarbara's comments on the breakfast, that would have put many\nhousekeepers out of patience. When nothing on the table seemed to suit\nAunt Barbara, Mrs. Lee quietly sent out for a bit of ham to be boiled;\nand when it came in, she seemed pleased that the old lady ate a few\nmouthfuls,--complaining at first that it was done a trifle too much, and\nin the end making way with it all.\n\nMr. Lee did not seem to notice that Aunt Barbara was not well,--at least\nhe did not ask about her health; and Hatty thought at first it was not\nquite right in her father, and she wondered that he should do anything\nso unlike himself. By-and-by she noticed that all the topics he brought\nup were such as were likely to interest Aunt Barbara. He spoke of\nmeeting an old minister who used to live near her own home, and told how\ncheerfully he talked of his long, active life, and of the happy time\nwhen he should meet his Master in heaven. Then he brought up the new\norphan asylum, which was always sure to enlist Aunt Barbara's\nattention; and at last she seemed to forget her pains, while listening\nto his account of the meeting on the subject he had attended the evening\nbefore.\n\nHatty felt pleased as she saw the shadow passing from the old lady's\nface, and she glanced across for Marcus to sympathize in her\nsatisfaction. He did not see her, but Hatty noticed that he placed a\ncomfortable chair, after breakfast, near the window where Aunt Barbara\nbest loved to sit, and drew a footstool up to it.\n\nMarcus did not think that anybody observed him, but two hearts were made\nglad by this little effort of kindness. Mrs. Lee and Hatty both saw that\nMarcus' feelings towards Aunt Barbara had undergone a happy change.\nMarcus' feelings had been touched, but feelings are a poor dependence\nfor doing right, without principle.\n\nHatty was delighted at the idea of going to church once more in her dear\nnative town. She felt that it would be a new and better thing to be\nthere, now that she could count herself among those who were glad at the\nthought, \"God is in His holy temple.\" Hatty began, in her impatience, to\nmake her preparations in very good season. She had laid out on her bed\nall the things she expected to wear, when her mother called her to come\ninto the nursery.\n\nHatty went promptly as far as the door, but she moved across the floor\nmore slowly when she saw that her mother had a comb and brush in her\nhand.\n\n\"I hope we shall have no trouble about the hair, this morning. It needs\nparting, sadly,\" said Mrs. Lee, in her gentle way.\n\nHatty's mind was made up at that moment; her mother might pull as hard\nas was necessary, _she_ would not say a word if it hurt her ever so\nmuch.\n\nMrs. Lee used the comb very carefully, yet it was disagreeable, almost\npainful to Hatty's delicate skin. She shut her mouth tight, however, and\nthought of her resolution to bear little hurts pleasantly, and actually\ngot through without a murmur.\n\nWhen the hair was brushed smoothly, Hatty's face looked very sweet from\nthe effort she had made to do right, and she well deserved the\naffectionate kiss her mother pressed on her lips.\n\n\"Perhaps I could help Aunt Barbara get ready for church,\" said Hatty,\none right action leading to another.\n\n\"Aunt Barbara is not well enough to go, to-day. I am very sorry, on my\nown account as well as on hers. It is Communion day, and I had hoped to\ngo to church, for the first time in many weeks.\"\n\n\"But cannot you go, Mother?\" said Hatty, earnestly.\n\n\"No, my dear,\" said Mrs. Lee, quietly. \"I do not like to leave Aunt\nBarbara with no one to wait upon her. I promised Betsy, yesterday, that\nshe should go out this morning, and Jane will be busy with the baby and\nHarry.\"\n\nHatty was silent for a moment; a struggle was going on in her mind. At\nlength she looked up with a beautiful, bright expression on her face,\nand said, \"I will stay with Aunt Barbara, if you could trust her with\nme. I do not want you to be kept at home.\"\n\nMrs. Lee knew the effort it must have cost her little girl to give up\nthe pleasure for which she had been so eagerly preparing, but she did\nnot refuse her kind offer.\n\n\"Thank you, my darling; I shall feel quite easy leaving Aunt Barbara\nwith you. 'I was sick and ye visited me,' our Saviour says, and then\nadds, 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye\nhave done it unto me.' That thought makes taking care of the sick doubly\npleasant. And now, darling, instead of putting on your own things, which\nare all laid out so nicely, you will have to help me to get ready.\"\n\nHatty was glad to be kept very busy that she might not have a moment to\nregret her choice, and she made herself so actively useful, that Mrs.\nLee was not at all too late in joining the group waiting for her in the\nhall below.\n\n\"Why! are you not going, Hatty?\" exclaimed Marcus, as his sister\nappeared at her mother's side.\n\n\"Hatty is going to stay with Aunt Barbara. She may need some attention,\nand I did not like to leave her alone,\" said Mrs. Lee.\n\nMarcus looked up in surprise. He knew with what eagerness Hatty had\nspoken in the morning of being at church, and could not but wonder at\nthe sudden change,--she looked so cheerful. One glance at the sweet,\nbright expression of her face, convinced him of the generous motive that\nhad kept her at home. Marcus began to think there was some strength in\nHatty's new resolution to do right.\n\n\n\n\nV.\n\n\nAunt Barbara's room was in the back building, and the entrance to it was\non the first landing to the front stairs. The old lady had chosen that\nroom, when she came to Mrs. Lee's, because no one had ever occupied it;\nfor she said, \"I never did turn anybody out, and I never mean to.\"\n\nThere Aunt Barbara had collected about her all her favorite pieces of\nold-fashioned furniture, her dark mahogany secretary-bureau, with its\nbright brass rings held fast in the mouths of wrinkled old brass faces,\nand her curtained bed, with all its festoons and fringes.\n\nWhen Hatty stepped into the room, she saw Aunt Barbara sitting\nbolt-upright in a stuff, straight-backed chair, and looking not much in\nthe humor for little visitors.\n\n\"Aunt Barbara, mother thought perhaps you would like some one with you\nthis morning, and so I have brought in my Sunday books, and will sit\nhere, if you like,\" said Hatty, in a cheerful tone.\n\n\"I don't mind your sitting here, if you choose,\" was the old lady's\nreply.\n\nHatty did not know what to say next, so she mounted into one of the\nhigh, stiff chairs, and took up a book and tried to read. Her eyes would\nwander to Aunt Barbara, sitting up straight and still, and looking out\nof the window at the sky. At length Hatty said, \"Do lie down, Aunt\nBarbara; I am sure you would be more comfortable. Let me fix your\npillows nicely for you.\"\n\n\"I never go to bed when I can sit up. I was not brought up to loll about\nand make myself sick by being lazy,\" said Aunt Barbara.\n\nHatty tried to read for a few moments more; then Aunt Barbara moved, and\nshe looked at her again.\n\nThe old lady evidently wanted something she could not find in her\npocket, and yet did not feel like getting up.\n\nHatty glanced her eyes round the room, and saw Aunt Barbara's\nspectacles on the mantel-piece.\n\nShe jumped up and handed them to her. \"You may give me my Bible, if you\nchoose,\" said Aunt Barbara, in a pleasanter tone than she had used that\nmorning.\n\nHatty laid the great Bible on Aunt Barbara's lap, and for a few moments\nthe old lady seemed nodding; but she soon began to rub her spectacles as\nif they were not clean, and then she put her hand to her head, and said,\n\"old folks can't sit and read all day like young ones.\"\n\n\"That is just what grandma tells me,\" said Hatty; \"and she says young\npeople ought to remember that, and learn a great many Bible verses to\nthink about when they are too sick or too old to read.\"\n\n\"But if they did not do that when they were young,\" said Aunt Barbara,\n\"did grandma say what they should do then?\"\n\n\"She did not say anything about that,\" said Hatty, looking puzzled. In\nanother moment she added, in her most pleasant way, \"would not you like\nme to read to you a little, Aunt Barbara?\"\n\n\"If you can make that little tongue of yours go slow enough, for me to\nunderstand, you may try,\" said Aunt Barbara.\n\nHatty drew her chair close up to Aunt Barbara, and was going to ask when\nshe should begin, when the old lady said, pettishly, \"Go round to the\nother side, child! don't you know that's my deaf ear?\" Hatty moved as\nshe was requested, and then Aunt Barbara told her to read the 103d\nPsalm. Hatty was a very pleasant reader, and she had lately taken great\npains not to speak too rapidly.\n\nAunt Barbara must have been pleased, for she kept Hatty reading,\nreading, until the family came home from church; and when she turned to\nleave the room, she said, \"Thank you, child; I think going to your\ngrandma's has done you good.\"\n\nMrs. Lee had not told Aunt Barbara of Hatty's letter about her new\nresolutions, yet the old lady felt that some change must have taken\nplace in Hatty to make her willing to give up her own pleasure to sit in\nthat quiet room with a sick, fretful old woman, as Aunt Barbara knew\nherself to be that morning.\n\nHatty enjoyed her afternoon at Sunday school all the more for the\nsacrifice she had made; and when the children all gathered in the parlor\nbefore tea to say their catechism and Bible verses to their father, she\nfelt as if she were one of the happiest little girls in the world.\n\nMrs. Lee was all the afternoon with Aunt Barbara, and when night came\nthe Doctor was sent for, and Jane and Betsy were called in to help Mrs.\nLee to get the poor old lady into bed, for she was very sick.\n\nThe Doctor looked soberly, and said the disease must have been coming on\nsome time--that there was a great deal of irritation in her system, and\nhe could not say how her sickness might end.\n\nHatty and Marcus heard the Doctor say these words in the hall as he went\nout. The tears came into Hatty's eyes, and she said to her brother, \"How\nI wish we had never spoken a wrong word to Aunt Barbara!\"\n\nMarcus did not reply, but he walked away to his room, to lie awake with\nsad, repentant thoughts.\n\nMrs. Lee had no idea how rude her children had often been to Aunt\nBarbara; her presence had been some check upon them, though she had\nheard enough to give her pain. Aunt Barbara had led for many years a\nquiet life, and the noise and restlessness of children tired and worried\nher; and latterly she had been far from well.\n\nMrs. Lee had been for some weeks confined to her room, and during this\ntime Aunt Barbara had had much to bear from Marcus and the little ones;\nbut she never complained to Mrs. Lee, though she daily grew more harsh\nin her own manner to the children.\n\nA little gentleness, a little patience on the part of those who were\nyoung, healthy and happy, would have done much to make poor old Aunt\nBarbara more pleasant and cheerful.\n\n\n\n\nVI.\n\n\nNow came an anxious period in Hatty's home. Mrs. Lee, and a nurse who\nwas hired for the purpose, spent their time in Aunt Barbara's room,\nwhile the Doctor came and went with a troubled, serious air.\n\nOn Hatty, meanwhile, fell the care of Meg and Harry. Hatty found having\nMeg in her room by no means so troublesome as she had expected. Meg's\ndesire to meddle with Hatty's things, and to put them out of order,\nseemed to have gone now that she could say \"our room.\" She even made\nherself a kind of guardian against Harry's inroads; and when she heard\nhis little feet pattering that way, she would get in advance of him with\nher swift skips, and have the door shut before he reached it.\n\nHatty found it quite impossible to keep the children quiet, so she\nmanaged to have them in the garden as much as she could, in pleasant\nweather, that they might not disturb Aunt Barbara.\n\nAt the foot of the wide walk that led down between the flower beds, was\na pleasant arbour, and here Hatty made a kind of a little home of her\nown. Marcus put up a tight box on one of the seats, and there Hatty kept\na store of books and playthings for herself and the children, to make\nthe place attractive, and looked so bright and happy herself, that when\nMarcus came from school he was glad to leave the dull, quiet house, to\njoin the circle in the arbour.\n\nHatty was busy sewing there, one day, while Meg made a parasol for her\ndoll, of a maple leaf, and Harry drew a long-necked squash up and down\nthe walk for a carriage. Suddenly Hatty heard Marcus come out the back\ndoor, whistling a cheerful tune. Hatty tucked her work in her pocket,\nand quickly picked up some bits of bright-colored worsted that were\nscattered over her dress.\n\nMarcus came down the walk, kicking a ball before him, and leaped into\nthe arbour with a regular bound.\n\n\"Well, Hatty,\" he exclaimed, \"I was head of my class to-day, and did\nnot get a mark for being late, either. So I stand a chance for the prize\nyet.\"\n\n\"Were you not late?\" asked Hatty, with surprise.\n\n\"O yes!\" answered Marcus, with a laugh. \"The boys were all on their\nknees when I went in, but I opened the door quietly, and nobody heard\nme; so I got off famously.\"\n\n\"But what did you say when your name was called? You did not tell an\nuntruth, Marcus?\" said Hatty, anxiously.\n\n\"No, indeed!\" said Marcus, indignantly. \"I am above that!\"\n\n\"I don't understand it at all,\" said Hatty, uneasily.\n\n\"Why, this was the way. When Mr. Briggs called over the names for\npunctuality, some how or other his attention wandered just before he got\nto my name, and he skipped it, so I did not have to answer at all. After\nMr. Briggs went out I looked at my name, and there was a cross after it\nfor punctual; so you see it is all right, and my chance for the prize is\nas good as ever.\"\n\n\"I would rather have a brother who told the truth, than one who got the\nprize,\" said Hatty, earnestly. \"Dear Marcus, won't you tell Mr. Briggs\nabout it?\"\n\n\"I shall do no such thing. Girls are so silly! You never can make them\nunderstand anything,\" said Marcus, hastily.\n\nBut Hatty did understand. She felt that Marcus had acted a lie for the\nsake of winning the prize he so greatly desired. She knew he would be\nangry if she said anything more about it; but she could not be silent\nand let him do wrong, without one more effort. After a moment, in which\nshe asked God to help her to keep down her own quick temper if Marcus\nshould make a harsh reply, Hatty said:\n\n\"Marcus, you know what mother tells us about the book where what we call\nsecret things are written down, to be read on the great day when all\nthings will be known. Something will stand against your name, there,\nworse than a mark for being unpunctual. Dear Marcus, do tell the truth,\nand not mind the prize. You will not care about the prize when you are\nhappy with the beautiful angels in Heaven; but you will love to remember\nhow you did right, when it came so very hard.\"\n\nIt had cost Hatty a great effort to say all this, and now she burst\ninto tears.\n\n\"Girls are so silly!\" said Marcus, impatiently. \"I wish you would not\nset up to lecture me, Miss?\" and the brother walked angrily away.\n\n\"For shame! For shame!\" shouted little Meg, who had been an unnoticed\nlistener to the conversation, and her slender finger was pointed at her\nbrother. He took no notice of her; and she turned to Hatty, and threw\nher arms round her neck, and said: \"Don't cry, sister. Meg will be a\ngood girl. I will try very hard.\"\n\n\"Will you, Meg?\" said Hatty, brightening. \"Then I shall be very happy.\"\n\nNow Meg had only wanted to say something to comfort Hatty, and had\nspoken the first words that came into her mind, without thinking what\nthey meant. When she saw Hatty seem so much pleased, she thought to\nherself: \"I do mean to try, if Hatty wants it so very much.\"\n\nAt that moment Harry's voice was heard in loud, angry screams. Hatty and\nMeg ran to the spot from whence they came. Marcus walked sheepishly\naway, as they appeared, ashamed to own that in his ill-humor he had\nbeen teasing his little brother.\n\nHarry was a sweet-tempered, affectionate little fellow, ready to put up\nhis mouth to kiss anybody who smiled upon him; but now he had been too\nfar provoked to bear all patiently.\n\nMarcus had run away with his yellow carriage and dashed it against a\nstone, until all the seeds that had been riding about so comfortably\nwere scattered far and wide on the grass. Then, because he looked\ndispleased, and said, \"Naughty boy!\" Marcus had perched him on the high\nchicken-coop, and left him to scream for himself, or roll off as he best\ncould.\n\nHatty took the little fellow in her arms and wiped away his tears. She\npromised to hunt with him for a \"beautiful squash,\" larger than the one\nhe had lost,--and he was soon comforted, and began to smooth her face and\nsay, \"Dear Hatty--Hatty so dood.\"\n\n\"Yes, Hatty is so good,\" echoed Meg.\n\n\"Sister is only trying to be good,\" said Hatty, modestly. But the praise\nof the little ones went to her heart.\n\nMarcus was sulky towards Hatty all the noon. He did not go out to help\nher feed the bantams, though she went through the room where he was,\nwith the food in her hand, to give him a chance, if he wished, to join\nher pleasantly.\n\nHatty loved her brother, and since she had been making an effort to\ngovern her temper, she had enjoyed being with him. He, too, found in her\na very pleasant companion. She was ready to listen to him when he\ntalked, and let herself be instructed, though she sometimes knew as much\nas he did about the subjects of which he was speaking. Marcus did not\nteaze Hatty much of late, as she had learned to laugh, herself, even\nwhen he warmed his hands by her red hair, or asked her if she was so\nhot-tempered that she had set her head on fire in a passion.\n\nMarcus was glad that day when it came time for him to go to school\nagain, though he generally thought the intermission quite too short. He\nmissed Hatty, and he felt uneasy about what she had said. An\nuncomfortable feeling was at his heart. He was acting a lie! The truth\nhad been plainly told him, and he could not forget it.\n\n\n\n\nVII.\n\n\nMarcus was very cross to Hatty for a day or two after their conversation\nin the arbour; and whenever he was in the house he kept the children\nperpetually uncomfortable with his teasing.\n\nHatty had all this to bear in silence, for she would not trouble her\nmother with complaints when she had so much on her mind.\n\nSaturday came, and Marcus was to be at home all day. Hatty actually\ndreaded it. She did not know how she should get through so many hours,\nwith Marcus about the house, so she resolved to go early to the arbour,\nand perhaps he would not follow her there.\n\nMarcus lounged about by himself for a while, and at last, out of\nloneliness, he went down to the arbour, too.\n\nHatty looked up pleasantly as he drew near, and said: \"Why can't you\nget a book, Marcus, and read something to Meg and me?\"\n\n\"To Meg and you!\" said Marcus, contemptuously. \"A pretty business for a\nboy of twelve!\"\n\nHatty did not like contempt, and she answered, hastily: \"I am only two\nyears younger than you are, and mother says I am farther advanced in\nsome of my studies!\"\n\n\"Hurrah for the red-head; touch her, and she goes off like a brimstone\nmatch!\" said Marcus, triumphantly, for he was tired of having all the\ncrossness on his own side.\n\n\"Hatty's hair isn't red,\" said Meg, angrily. \"I heard a lady say, the\nother day, it was beautiful auburn hair; and she said Hatty was\nsweet-looking and good, and that is more than anybody will say of you.\"\n\n\"Bad boy! bad boy! Go away!\" said Harry, lifting his fat little leg and\ntrying to kick Marcus with his wee foot.\n\nHatty could not reprove the children, for she herself had set the\nexample of speaking angry words.\n\nHeartily ashamed of herself, she said: \"I am very sorry I spoke so to\nyou, Marcus; it was not right. I ought not to mind being put with Meg,\nfor she is a dear little girl, and I love her very much.\"\n\n\"And I love Hatty, and you shan't be cross to her,\" said Meg, putting\nher arms round Hatty.\n\n\"It was Hatty who was cross,\" said the little girl, sadly. \"Poor Hatty\nis only _trying_ to be good. She does wrong very, very often.\"\n\n\"Hatty dood! Hatty dood!\" said Harry, nestling at her side.\n\nMarcus walked away, without saying another word. He took his\nfishing-rod, and Hatty saw him no more that day.\n\nWhen Marcus came home in the evening he was very tired. The family had\nall done supper. He took what he wanted, alone, and then went up to bed\nwithout saying \"good-night\" to any body. When he got into his own room,\nhe saw on the floor by his bed a beautiful pair of slippers, with dogs'\nheads worked neatly upon them. He took off his heavy shoes. How\ncomfortable the slippers felt to his tired feet! Such an excellent\nfit--so loose and easy! \"How kind in mother to make them!\" he thought.\n\"When could she have had the time.\"\n\nMarcus was going to rush to the door of Aunt Barbara's room to thank his\nmother, when he saw a little note lying on the table. He broke it open\nand read:\n\n\"Dear Marcus: It has made me very sad all the week to think you were\ndispleased with me. I love you very dearly, and cannot bear to have you\nlook at me as if you did not care for me. I know I made you angry by\nspeaking about the mark at school. If I had not cared for you I should\nnot have spoken as I did. I hope you will yet tell Mr. Briggs. Perhaps I\nam too naughty myself to give anybody advice. Please forgive me all I\nhave ever done wrong to you.--I began to work these slippers as soon as I\ngot home from grandma's, and they were only finished this week. I hope\nthey will fit you.--Won't you be pleasant to-morrow morning to your\nsister Hatty?\"\n\nMarcus read the note, with the slippers on his feet. He felt ashamed of\nhis unkindness to his little sister, and he resolved to meet her\npleasantly in the morning. Marcus did not go to sleep until late that\nnight, but we will not tell what was the subject of his thoughts.\n\nThe next morning Marcus' ill humor seemed to have all passed away. He\nmade no apology to Hatty for his late rudeness, but she was generous\nenough to forget the past. She did not now in her turn sulk and pout,\nand so keep up the quarrel, but she received him as cheerfully as if\nnothing had happened.\n\nMarcus wore the new slippers, and declared he had never had a present\nthat suited him better, and Hatty was repaid for all her trouble.\n\nHatty fancied that at church Marcus was more attentive than usual, and\nonce she thought she saw him wipe his eyes, as if he were affected by\nsomething the clergyman said; but she was soon afraid she had been\nmistaken, for he began to look about as usual, and even exchanged a\nglance of recognition with one of his acquaintances in the gallery.\n\nHatty felt anxious for her brother, and she was particularly tender and\nkind in her manner towards him all day, and in the evening, when she\nwent to bed, she prayed earnestly that God would soften his heart, and\nlead him to do right. Hatty had not forgotten that Marcus had acted a\nlie, and she remembered that our Heavenly Father is \"a God who hateth a\nlie.\"\n\n\n\n\nVIII.\n\n\nMonday morning rose bright and clear. For many days Aunt Barbara had\nbeen steadily gaining, and now she was coming down stairs, for the first\ntime. Hatty felt it a pleasure to wait upon her mother, while she\nassisted the old lady to dress, and even Marcus seemed pleased to be\nuseful. He and Jane carried down the old-fashioned easy chair, which\nAunt Barbara particularly fancied, and then he drew a small table near\nit, placed a footstool beside it, and stood waiting to see if he could\nbe of any further assistance. Mr. Lee helped Aunt Barbara down very\ntenderly, and looked at her as affectionately as if she were a dear\nlittle child instead of a poor invalid, tottering with age and sickness.\n\nMarcus expected to hear Aunt Barbara say, \"This room is too light for\nanybody,\" or \"My! who could have chosen such a place for my chair?\" but\nhe was mistaken.\n\nAunt Barbara sunk down among the pillows which Hatty had arranged, quite\nexhausted, and for a while was too weak to say one word. Mrs. Lee\nbrought her a glass of wine, and a light biscuit, and when Aunt Barbara\nhad taken them she seemed better.\n\nThen she looked round the cheerful library, and said, \"How pleasant it\nis here, and how nicely you have prepared for me! And you helped, too,\nMarcus; that was kind!\"\n\n\"I am very glad you are pleased!\" said Marcus; and away he ran to\nschool, feeling more light-hearted than he had done for many days. Mrs.\nLee said she would take care of the children in the nursery, as Jane\nmust be busy, and leave Hatty with Aunt Barbara. Hatty was glad to be\ntrusted, and she brought her sewing, and took a low seat near the old\nlady.\n\nAunt Barbara did not seem inclined to talk at first, and Hatty kept very\nquiet, though every now and then she opened her mouth as if she were\ngoing to speak, and then shut it again quickly.\n\nHatty had learned that there are often times when older people do not\ncare to hear even pleasant young voices. She had found out that a little\nhappy child may show a great deal of unselfishness by keeping quiet,\nwhen she would gladly let her tongue speak out the joy that is in her\nheart. Hatty tried to think over all the hymns she had ever learned, and\nso be silent until Aunt Barbara should choose to speak.\n\nHatty's lips were beginning to feel quite stiff with their unusual\neffort, when Aunt Barbara said, \"Hatty, my dear.\"\n\nHatty looked up suddenly, (Aunt Barbara had never called her \"my dear\"\nbefore,) but she only said \"What, ma'am,\" and then waited to see what\nwould come next.\n\n\"Do you love your grandma?\" asked Aunt Barbara.\n\n\"Indeed I do!\" said Hatty, warmly. \"She is the dearest and sweetest old\nlady in the world!\"\n\n\"She is older than I am, I believe, and a great deal more wrinkled,--at\nleast I have heard so!\" said Aunt Barbara.\n\n\"I don't know, I never thought about that; she looks very sweet to me!\"\nsaid Hatty, with a puzzled look.\n\n\"I have had a notion,\" said Aunt Barbara, \"that children did not like\nold people, and perhaps I have not tried to make myself pleasant to\nthem. Do you think if I tried to be like your grandma you could love me,\ntoo?\" and the old lady looked earnestly at the little girl.\n\n\"O Aunt Barbara, I love you now!\" said Hatty affectionately; \"and you\ngrow more like grandma every day.\"\n\n\"Dear child!\" said Aunt Barbara, and she laid her thin hand on the head\nof the little girl. After a moment's pause she went on--\"Hatty, I think I\nmust have been very cross before I was sick; somehow everything seemed\nwrong to me. I am sorry!\"\n\n\"I and Marcus and Meg and all of us are sorry we were so naughty. It was\nour fault, Aunt Barbara,--and we mean to be better,\" said Hatty, eagerly.\n\n\"Poor old Aunt Barbara did wrong, too, child. God has laid her on her\nbed of sickness to think, and he has raised her up again for some good\npurpose. Perhaps he wanted to give her an opportunity to be more like\nwhat a person ought to be, who has had more than seventy years of\nblessings, and who has the promise of a home in Heaven. Aunt Barbara\nmeans to try not to be fretful, and you children must have patience with\nher if she don't always speak just as she should.\"\n\nThe old lady was in earnest, and tears rolled down her cheeks.\n\nHatty rose and wiped them away,--then she kissed Aunt Barbara, tenderly,\nand said, \"We will never think any harm of what dear Aunt Barbara\nsays,--for we all love you, and mean to make you very happy.\"\n\nAunt Barbara now asked Hatty to sing some sweet hymns; and she looked so\nquiet and peaceful as she listened, that Hatty could not help thinking\nthat Jesus must be very near to old people, who are almost at the golden\ngate of Heaven.\n\nFrom that time Hatty was much with Aunt Barbara; and it was touching to\nsee how hard the old lady tried to be gentle and pleasant.\n\nHatty's example had a great influence on the other children. Meg learned\nto skip more softly as she passed Aunt Barbara's door; and Harry never\nate an orange without pattering along to Aunt Barbara's room, to give\nher a taste.\n\nIn their hearts the children often acknowledged that it was their own\nthoughtlessness which had brought about much of the old lady's\nharshness; and now that they were more gentle and considerate, they\nfound her a dear, kind friend, who had pleasant stories to tell, of days\ngone by; and with her Hatty had many sweet talks of the loving Saviour,\nwhom they were both striving to serve.\n\n\n\n\nIX.\n\n\nWhen Marcus came home from school on Monday afternoon, Hatty was in the\ngarden, picking a bouquet to put in Aunt Barbara's room. He stepped\nquietly behind her and put his hands round her waist, before she heard\nhim coming.\n\nShe looked round, expecting to see his face full of fun; but it was very\nsober,--and he said, quietly,\n\n\"I have lost the prize, Hatty!\"\n\n\"Did you miss a lesson to-day!\" said Hatty, eagerly.\n\n\"I have not made a mistake this term, and I don't mean to, if I can help\nit,\" said Marcus, rather proudly.\n\n\"Not a mark for misconduct?\" said Hatty, anxiously.\n\n\"A mark for tardiness stands against my name. I have told Mr. Briggs.\"\n\nHatty turned towards her brother, and kissed him tenderly. He did not\npush her away, but, putting his arm round her waist, he walked a few\nmoments along the path in silence; then he said, \"I have had a talk with\nMr. Briggs, that I hope I shall never forget. I thank you, Hatty, for\nbeing a true sister to me.\"\n\nHere Marcus broke away from Hatty, and ran into the house before she\ncould speak a word in reply.\n\nHatty finished gathering the flowers, but her thoughts were not on her\nbouquet, but on her brother. In her heart she thanked God for prompting\nhim to take this first right step, and earnestly she prayed that he\nmight go steadily forward in the path that leadeth unto life.\n\n\n\n\nX.\n\n\nThe weeks flew by, and Aunt Barbara was able first to take a short\ndrive, and then to be in the air hour after hour.\n\nOne Saturday Mr. Lee pushed back his chair, after dinner, and looking\npleasantly round on his children, said, \"What do you all say to a visit\nto Mr. Sparrow's peach orchard to-day?\"\n\nThe young faces flushed back a glad response, and every little voice was\nraised in a joyous welcome to the proposal.\n\n\"Aunt Barbara must go, too,\" said Meg, giving the old lady a protective\nlook, which, although it was quite absurd, sprang from real kindness.\n\n\"Yes, Aunt Barbara must go, of course,\" said Mr. Lee, smiling.\n\n\"And Hatty, Hatty so dood,\" put in Harry, as he laid his plump hand\ncaressingly on Hatty's white arm.\n\n\"Yes, every one must go, if the carriage is as full as the shoe where\nthe old woman lived, with that wonderfully large family.\"\n\n\"I hope none of us will have to be whipped and sent to bed,\" said Meg,\nlaughingly.\n\n\"No, no. You shall all have peaches and bread, instead,\" said Mr. Lee,\nwith a quizzical look.\n\nThe children all laughed so much at what they thought a charming\nwitticism on their father's part, that they could hardly hear his voice\nwhen he spoke again to say they must be ready in an hour; and then away\nhe went, to give orders about the carriage.\n\nAt the first mention of the excursion Marcus had darted away to get his\nfishing-tackle in order; for he knew there was a famous trouting stream\non Mr. Sparrow's farm, and he meant to have sport, for which he cared\nmore than for bushels of peaches.\n\nThe hour passed quickly away in busy preparation for the coming\npleasure, and all were ready when the great family carriage Mr. Lee had\nborrowed from his brother, came up to the door.\n\nThe horses seemed as full of glee as the children, and Mr. Lee could not\nleave them to attend to the ladies. Marcus assisted Aunt Barbara very\ncarefully down to the gate, and handed her in so dexterously that she\nwas able to take her seat without complaining of twisting her joints\nwith the exertion. Then Mrs. Lee was escorted with great ceremony, by\nMarcus, and placed at Aunt Barbara's side. Jane (with the baby in her\narms) and Hatty took up the middle seat. Marcus was to sit with his\nfather,--but what was to become of Harry and Meg. The little things\nlooked disconsolate as they saw the places filling up; but Hatty called\nout, cheerily, \"I will hold Meg,\" and Marcus said, almost in the same\nbreath, \"Harry must sit on my knee, that all the gentlemen may be\ntogether.\"\n\n\"All de dentlemen todedder!\" said Harry, with a pompous look, as he\nstood ready to be lifted to the place of honor assigned him.\n\n\"Now are all packed in tight?\" said Mr. Lee, as he drew up the reins in\nhis hand.\n\n\"All right!\" was the merry shout within, and away went the horses, as\nif they enjoyed the sport.\n\nThe swift motion through the cool air made Hatty glad to draw close\nround her the shawl she had thrown over her bare neck and arms; and Mrs.\nLee reached forward to fold the baby's blanket closely about it.\n\nHatty soon found Meg rather heavy, and she might have made the whole\nparty uncomfortable by complaining,--but she had learned that one way of\ndoing right is, to check all complaints about trifles, and to be as\ncheerful as possible.\n\nAfter a while Meg slipped quietly down into the bottom of the carriage,\nand said she had a charming seat there on the baby's strong basket. She\ndid not say that she saw sister Hatty was weary, and wished to relieve\nher. Little Meg was learning something of Christian kindness; so true is\nit that where one child in a family is really trying to do right, all\nthe others soon catch something of her spirit.\n\nIt was a real treat to the children to be fairly outside the town, among\ngreen fields and pleasant woods. Mrs. Lee had to keep her head bobbing\nthis way and that way, to see a flock of turkeys that made Meg laugh;\nor a wild flower that pleased Hatty; or a \"pretty moo cow\" that Harry\nthought quite extraordinary.\n\nMarcus, meanwhile, was sitting up beside his father, and trying to talk\nlearnedly of \"crops and fallow-land, good timber, and pretty fair\norchards.\" His father listened when he spoke, and quietly corrected his\nmistakes, without showing him the least sign of contempt, or making him\nfeel his youth unnecessarily.\n\nMr. Lee saw that Marcus was bent upon appearing like a man, and he only\ntried to make him a sensible, accurate little man, instead of putting\nhim down in a way likely to provoke him.\n\nAll Marcus' _mannish_ ways went off, suddenly, when the carriage drew up\nat Mr. Sparrow's door. He leaped from his seat, and without waiting to\nhand out the ladies and children, he gave a merry shout, and started off\nfor the brook at a pace that most men find neither easy nor comfortable.\n\nGood farmer Sparrow was away in the orchard; but stout Mrs. Sparrow\nhelped Aunt Barbara out as well as if she had been a man; and by that\ntime Mr. Lee had tied the horses, and was ready to lift down the\nchildren; Meg came out with a flying skip, and Hatty bounded down\ncheerfully; but Harry was so sleepy, that his father had to lift him as\nif he were a bag of meal.\n\nThe sight of the peach orchard was enough to fill the children with\nastonishment,--the rich fruit looked so beautifully, hanging on the\nbending boughs. Aunt Barbara was placed on a comfortable chair by the\nwindow; Mrs. Lee took the baby,--and then Jane and the children went out\ninto the peach orchard, with Mrs. Sparrow.\n\nThe farmer's wife knew exactly to what trees to take them; and she\nreached up and picked two of the largest peaches Hatty had ever seen,\nand placed one in the little girls' hands. Away went Hatty back to the\nhouse with her treasures, and when she had given them to Aunt Barbara\nand her mother, she was ready for her own pleasure.\n\nHatty was learning to think of others first, even in trifles.\n\nMrs. Lee had told the children just how many peaches they must eat; and\nafter they had come up to the number she named, they enjoyed going\nabout with Mrs. Sparrow, and watching her while she filled the large\nbasket that had been placed in the carriage, in front of Mr. Lee, for\nthe purpose. Hatty could not help thinking, as she looked at the trees\nloaded with the beautiful fruit, how kind it was in our Heavenly Father\nto make so much that is \"pleasant to the eye and good for food,\" that we\nmay take without breaking any of his commandments. She pitied poor Eve,\nif the forbidden fruit looked anything like those tempting peaches, and\nwas glad that there was no \"serpent\" at farmer Sparrow's that pleasant\nday.\n\nHatty forgot that there is temptation every where, if not quite in the\nform that was tried upon Eve.\n\nAfter the children had enjoyed the orchard to their hearts' content,\nlittle Harry grew tired, and Jane took him to rest. Mrs. Sparrow and her\nstrong maid carried in the heavy basket of peaches, and Hatty and Meg\nhad permission to wander about to look at the chickens, the bee-hives,\nor anything else that might interest them.\n\nMeg was full of glee, and would gladly have chased the chickens, handled\nthe young ducks, and teazed the turkey-gobbler till he was quite in a\npassion. Hatty checked her as gently as she could, and managed to keep\nher for some time from doing any actual mischief.\n\nMeg was charmed when she got to the bee-hives. She had lately heard\nMarcus discoursing, in his most learned manner, as to the habits and\npeculiarities of bees, and she was curious to see these wise little\ninsects in their own home.\n\nHatty was glad to find her at last so absorbed as to be willing to be\nquiet a moment, and, a little relieved from her anxiety, she turned away\nto look at a curious plant that was growing in a small swampy place,\ninto which the surplus water from the large back-yard was made to flow.\n\nThe plant was, indeed, worth looking at; it was the pitcher plant, or\nside-saddle-flower,--every leaf of which is so formed as to hold water.\nShe walked round and round it, looking into each pitcher-like leaf, and\nthinking of the wonderful variety which God has chosen to make even in\nthe forms of the leaves, not to speak of the many-hued flowers.\n\nTurning accidentally towards Meg, Hatty saw her slender brown arms\npushing with all their might against one of the hives, and it was\nevident from Meg's determined air that she had made up her mind to do\nsomething--some mischief, Hatty concluded, of course, and hurried to the\nspot.\n\nShe only reached it in time to see the hive tumbling over, while a swarm\nof angry bees came forth to avenge themselves for this overthrow of\ntheir home.\n\nThe very impulsiveness of character, which made Hatty open to temptation\nfrom a hasty temper, now made her think and act quickly.\n\nShe saw at once the danger that Meg was in, from the angry insects. It\nwas but the work of a second for Hatty to throw her light shawl\ncompletely over Meg--the child's straw hat--holding it at such a distance\nfrom her face and arms that the stings of the insects could not reach\nher.\n\nThen, with one hand, Hatty held her white sun-bonnet close together in\nfront, while she extended the other, to lead Meg.\n\nOver Hatty's bare neck and arms the bees now settled, and began to vent\ntheir anger in sharp stings that made her scream with pain.\n\nThe cries of the children quickly brought Mr. Lee and Farmer Sparrow,\nwho had been taking a survey of the place, together.\n\nFarmer Sparrow bade Mr. Lee keep at a distance, as soon as he saw, from\nthe over-turned hive, and from the moving black spots on Hatty's fair\nneck and arms, what was the matter.\n\nMr. Lee found it hard to keep away from his children when they were in\nsuch trouble, but he knew it was best to obey.\n\nWith a dexterous turn of the shawl, Farmer Sparrow shut the bees up in\nit, while he bade Meg run for her life. She needed no second command,\nand was soon sobbing in her father's arms.\n\nThe few bees who had escaped from the shawl settled upon Farmer Sparrow,\nbut he minded them no more than if they were so many flies, for the\nsagacious insects knew him too well to sting him.\n\n\"Stand quite still, child!\" said Farmer Sparrow to Hatty, in a tone of\ncommand. It would have been hard for Hatty to obey, covered as she was\nwith the tormenting bees, but for the belief that the prayer for help\nthat she had sent up to God in her distress was about to be answered.\nOne by one Farmer Sparrow picked off the bees with his hands, and\nslipped them into the shawl, which he held like a bag. They seemed to\nown him as a master, and not one offered him a disrespectful sting.\n\nWhen Hatty was freed from her tormentors she was in a piteous plight,\nher neck and arms being spotted over with the painful stings. Hatty\nstruggled hard to bear them patiently, and Farmer Sparrow declared she\nwas a perfect soldier.\n\nMrs. Lee and Mrs. Sparrow were now on the spot. The latter hastened to\nbind indigo on the wounded parts, and poor Hatty soon presented an odd\nappearance, her white face peering out from her blue wrappings.\n\nFarmer Sparrow excused himself from any further attendance upon the\nparty, as he must secure his beloved bees ere they were lost to him.\n\nThe sun was now sinking in the west, and Marcus, laden with the results\nof his successful trouting, came whistling up to the farmhouse. He\nheard, in silence, the story of Hatty's misfortune; but when his mother\ncame quite to the end, Marcus walked up to his sister, and kissing her\nfondly, said: \"You are a splendid girl, Hatty. You ought to have been a\nboy!\" Then, turning to Meg, his indignation burst upon her, and he could\nnot find words strong enough to express his anger at her mischief, and\nhis conviction of the severity of the punishment she deserved.\n\nMeg could only reply in sobs.\n\n\"Poor Meg is punished sufficiently by seeing her sister suffer. I think\nshe will not soon forget this lesson!\" said Mrs. Lee, kindly.\n\n\"Meg did not know the harm she was doing!\" added Hatty, pleadingly.\n\n\"I only wanted to look inside,\" said poor Meg, in the midst of her sobs.\n\"I thought the wise little bees knew too much to hurt us!\"\n\n\"I hope my little Meg will remember, hereafter, 'to touch not, taste\nnot, handle not' what is not her own,\" said Mrs. Lee, soberly.\n\n\"Indeed, I will try,\" answered Meg, earnestly. \"Do kiss me, Hatty,\" and\nthe child turned her swollen face towards her generous sister.\n\nHatty kissed her, and assured her the pain of the stings was almost\ngone, and that she should soon be quite well.\n\nMr. Lee was now ready with the horses, and the little party set out for\nhome.\n\nAs Hatty rode along in the carriage, and all seemed so tenderly\ninterested for her, the little girl went back in memory to the time\nbefore she started on that all important visit to her grandmother.\n\nShe recalled the frequent reproofs she then received from her mother,\nthe stern displeasure of her father, her constant quarrels with Marcus,\nher impatience with Meg, and the saucy replies of the child. It seemed\nstrange to her to remember that even Harry did not then like to be with\nher, and that she thought it quite a trial to be left with Aunt Barbara\neven for a few moments. Were all changed, or was the change in herself?\nWhen she thought all around her severe, cross, or quarrelsome, must not\nthe fault have been in a great measure her own?\n\nHatty could not bear to think of her old naughty self, and she turned\nwith pleasure to the happy present. God had given her the wish to do\nright, and granted his blessing on her sincere efforts. How near and\ndear now seemed that Heavenly Father to his little one; she realized\nthat He was at her side; she needed not to wait until she reached home\nto thank Him for his mercies. Into her heart she knew He was then\nlooking, and beholding her gratitude there.\n\nLittle Hatty felt very happy as she glanced round on the kind faces,\nbeaming lovingly on her. Surrounded by such affection, she could bear\nalmost anything. Yes, Hatty Lee, who once so dreaded pain, knew now that\nwrong, angry feelings, in herself, or the disapproval of her earthly\nparents, or the smile of her mother withdrawn, were far greater trials\nthan the slight sufferings her body had been called to endure.\n\n\n\n\nXI.\n\n\nHatty's wounded neck and arms healed rapidly, but the red spots remained\nfor many days to remind all the family of the late accident, and make\nthem more tender than usual in their manner to the courageous little\ngirl.\n\nMarcus seemed to have quite changed his opinion of his sister, and felt\ncalled upon to treat her with marked respect, and to honor her with many\nlong talks on his favorite subjects.\n\nHatty heard his footstep in the hall, as he was returning from school\none afternoon, shortly after the accident. She knew that on that day was\nto be awarded the prize for which he had so faithfully labored, and\nwhich he had been induced to forfeit for the sake of truth.\n\nShe felt great sympathy for him, and was planning in her own mind how\nshe could best cheer him under his disappointment, when he threw open\nthe door, and with a joyous bound sprang towards her.\n\n\"Look, Hatty!\" he said, as he laid on her lap the richly bound copy of\nVirgil which he had so desired for its own sake, as well as a mark of\nhis teacher's approval.\n\n\"It is mine, given in the presence of the school, by Mr. Briggs!\" said\nMarcus, with a joyous smile, \"And I owe it all to you, Hatty.\"\n\n\"I am so glad!\" said Hatty, with real pleasure. \"But you do not owe it\nto me, Marcus.\"\n\n\"Yes, Hatty,\" continued Marcus,--\"Mr. Briggs knew all about my being\nlate, and he was waiting for me to acknowledge it; if I had not I should\nhave lost his confidence, and the prize would never have been mine, he\nsaid: as it was, no other boy stood as high as I did! Isn't it\nsplendid?\"\n\n\"I am very, very glad,\" repeated Hatty. \"Is it not better always to try\nto do right, Marcus!\" she added softly.\n\nMarcus opened his mouth as if to speak, then turned silently away.\n\nThat evening Mrs. Lee sat in the library, in the twilight, with Marcus\nand Hatty. She too had heard about the prize, and had rejoiced with her\nson, with a silent prayer in her heart that he might see the wisdom of\nthe Better Path, and be led always to do right by the happy results\nwhich had followed the step that had cost him such an effort.\n\nAfter the subject of the prize had been discussed, a feeling of\nquietness stole over the little group; perhaps all had their own serious\nthoughts at that twilight hour.\n\n\"Come, Hatty,\" said Mrs. Lee, pleasantly, \"can you not recite a hymn for\nus?\"\n\nMrs. Lee almost feared that Marcus would walk away at this proposal, as\nhe had often done before, on similar occasions; but he sat down at his\nmother's side, and listened, while Hatty repeated, in a voice of deep\nfeeling, the hymn,--\"Ashamed of Jesus.\"\n\n\"Mother,\" said Hatty, earnestly, when she had done speaking, \"Do you\nthink anybody in a Christian country was ever _ashamed of Jesus?_\"\n\n\"There are few in a christian country, my dear, who would be willing to\nbe called infidels, or heathen,\" said Mrs. Lee, soberly; \"and I doubt\nif there are any young people who have heard of Jesus, who would not\nshrink from the thought. Though this is quite true, there are many who\nare ashamed of Jesus--many children, I fear!\"\n\n\"O Mother! what do you mean?\" said Hatty, earnestly.\n\n\"I mean,\" said Mrs. Lee, \"there are many who are ashamed to have it\nknown that they wish to serve him. They would rather their best actions\nshould be attributed to any cause, than a desire to do His will. They\nhide their best feelings, and struggle to show indifference when holy\nthings are named, in a way which proves them at heart to be _ashamed_ of\nJesus. Alas, poor foolish children! what will be their lot when he is\nashamed of them, in the presence of his Father in Heaven!\"\n\nMarcus had laid his head on his mother's hand, as he sat beside her, and\nnow she felt the hot tears trickle over it.\n\nHatty was questioning in heart whether she could be so situated as to be\n_ashamed of Jesus_, when Marcus suddenly rose, and said:\n\n\"I am afraid I have been ashamed of Jesus! Let me say now to you, dear\nMother, and to Hatty, that I do wish to serve Him, and I want you both\nto help me.\n\n\"We will together ask God for his help, which is better than any human\narm, my dear son,\" said Mrs. Lee, solemnly.\n\nThe mother knelt down with her children, and earnestly implored God's\nblessing on their young hearts. Fervently she asked the Great Heavenly\nFriend so to guide and sustain them in the upward path, that they might\nat last be gathered to his Eternal Home, with all those that love Him in\nsincerity and truth.\n\nWhen they rose from their knees, Hatty's heart was too full of joy for\nwords. She walked to Marcus' side, and putting her arm about him, kissed\nhim, with a deep, trusting affection she had never felt before.\n\nNow came in Aunt Barbara, leading little Harry, full of glee, while Meg\nfollowed, with her usual cheerful skip.\n\n\"Let us have one more hymn before supper,\" said Mrs. Lee, as she\ngathered the little group around her. \"We will have 'I want to be like\nJesus,' and only those must sing who really feel what they say.\"\n\nMrs. Lee began in her own clear, sweet voice. Hatty quickly followed,\nand Marcus united with her in trembling tones, with sober earnestness.\nMeg, with her childlike warble, and even little Harry, felt that he\nwanted to be like Jesus, and tried to lisp in \"sweet accord\" his\nSaviour's name, blending his baby notes with those that fell from Aunt\nBarbara's faltering tongue.\n\nHow welcome to the father's ear, as he returned from his daily toil, was\nthat evening hymn!\n\nAt the closing verse his manly tones were heard as a deep, full echo to\nthe rest, while devout thanksgiving filled the mother's heart.\n\nAnd Hatty--little Hatty--she felt almost too happy for earth; and fully\nshe realized the truth, that \"Wisdom's ways are pleasantness, and all\nher paths are peace.\"\n\n\n\n[Transcriber's Note: The table below lists all corrections applied to\nthe original text.\n\np. 009: [added pair of quotes] and say, 'You can't come in, Meg.'\np. 009: [added open quotes] \"Jesus' little children never quarrel\np. 011: obey that consicence -> conscience\np. 016: I did'nt know -> didn't\np. 027: [removed wrong quotes] \"Marcus was softened -> Marcus\np. 058: [normalized] a store of books and play-things -> playthings\np. 096: [added period] that love Him in sincerity and truth. ]","title":"Hatty and Marcus: or, First Steps in the Better Path","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":17143}