Katherine Merritte Yates

“ Many long talks the lady and the little girl had together; the child listening eagerly to teaching concerning our God who is only kind and loving, and who never tortures His children, not even "for their own good," since He knows that the good is theirs without need of torture. The children of earth torture themselves, that is all. Then there were long periods of silent prayer and communion with God, and the realization that "All that God has created is Good." ”

“ It is yellow like the center of the daisy, only it has a shiny gloss, like varnish, all over the petals; and a cowslip is just like it only bigger. You see, I do remember."
The lady was idly wondering what sort of a new game this might be, and the sweet childish voice went on:
"This is a wild rose. Oh, Ronald, isn't it sweet! I could tell it by its fragrance without even touching it. Now listen; a wild rose is colored a lovely soft pink, with a little yellow sun in the center, that sends out tiny, yellow rays all around. I can feel them with my fingers. ”

“ The lady pressed her lips to the moist little forehead, rocking her gently to and fro.
"I—I'm sorry to bother you so," the little girl said, her voice catching piteously. "I don't know why you should care about it at all, but you do,—I could tell by your kiss."
"I care because I love you, dearie."
"But you don't know me. How can you love me when you don't know me?" The girl sat up and turned a tear wet, inquiring face toward the lady.
"I love everyone, dearie." The lady patted the small brown hand gently.
"Everyone? Ronald and Mamma and everybody there is?" ”

“ I said that I hadn't been bad and so Mamma wouldn't want to punish me, and then Bridget said that probably Mamma took them just to warn me not to be bad. I said that wouldn't be a sensible way to do at all; and then she said that maybe Mamma took them so that I would love her more and think of her more; that probably she was jealous of the beads and was afraid that I would care more for them than I did for her, and that very likely she had burned them up so that I wouldn't ever see them again. And then I believed her! ”

“ Yes, because I separate between the real selfhood of everyone—the selfhood which God made,—and the evil which tempts people to do wrong and leads them into sin. I know that the evil is no part of their real being ”

“ When I waked up, the first thing I thought of was my lovely corals, and I reached out for them and they were gone. Oh, you don't know how badly I felt! I looked all over the rug and under the chairs and the sofa and everywhere, but I couldn't find them at all. Then I went out to Bridget and asked if she had seen them, and she said that Mamma had picked them up from the rug and that probably she had taken them away from me to punish me for something. ”