Martha Finley

“ Looking smilingly at the little group opposite, "I have a thought," she said lightly; "who can guess it?"
"It's something nice about papa; how handsome he is, and how good and kind," ventured Lulu.
"A very close guess, Lu," laughed Violet; "for my thought was that the Woodburn children have as good and kind a father as could be found in all the length and breadth of the land."
"We know it, Mamma Vi; we all think so," cried the children.
But the captain shook his head, saying, "Ah, my dear, flattery is not good for me. ”

“ But shall we not try again, my children?"
"Oh yes, sir, yes!"
"And try, not only to make the new year better—if we are spared to see it—but also the three remaining days of the old?"
"Yes," sighed Lulu, "perhaps I may get into a dreadful passion yet before the year is out."
"I hope not, daughter," her father said; "but watch and pray, for only so can you be safe. There is One who is able to keep you from falling. Cling close to Him like the limpet to the rock."
"Oh I will!" she replied in an earnest tone. "But papa what is a limpet? ”

“ Evelyn interrupted, putting both arms round her friend and kissing her with warmth of affection.
"No, indeed, I'm not!" said Lulu; "and I'll tell it, if only to punish myself for my badness. Papa has never punished me for it, though I really did wish he would and asked him to over and over again."
"That seems very odd," Eva said, half smiling. "Most people are only too glad to escape punishment."
"Maybe I'm different from most folks," said Lulu, "but I always want to beat myself when I've been so hateful, and so if papa punishes me I always feel a good deal happier after it's over. ”

“ Lu!" screamed the parrot, "time for breakfast! Polly wants her coffee."
"Just hear Polly," exclaimed Lulu; "it does seem as if she must have sense. I suppose she does think it's time for breakfast."
"Does she drink coffee?" asked Eva.
"Yes; she is very fond of it. She gets a cup every morning."
"She's a very amusing pet, I think," remarked Evelyn. "What fun it will be to teach her to say all sorts of cute things!"
"Yes," sighed Lulu, "but papa says if she should hear angry, passionate, or willful words from my lips she may learn and repeat them to my shame and sorrow. ”

“ Happy New Year to you," cried both girls, Lulu running and taking her sister in her arms to hug and kiss her.
"You darling child! You look bright and well. Are you?"
"Yes, you old woman," laughed Gracie, returning the hug and kisses; "and
I'm all ready for breakfast. Are you?"
"No, not quite."
"I am," said Eva. "Shall we go into the sitting-room, Gracie, and wait there for Lu?"
"Yes," answered Grace, leading the way; "and I'll be learning my Bible verse while we wait for her and papa and the breakfast bell." ”

“ Gracie said, with a sweet silvery laugh.
"The dear, grateful darlings!" exclaimed the captain, his tone half tremulous with feeling. "I sometimes fear I am almost too indulgent; but it is such a dear delight to give them pleasure."
"And I don't believe it does them the least harm, so long as you do not indulge them in any wrong doing," said Violet. "Love never hurts anybody."
"Merry Christmas, my darlings," he called to them. "Did Santa Claus fill your stockings?"
"Oh merry, merry Christmas, papa!" they answered. "Yes, sir, Santa Claus or somebody did, and gave us lovely things. ”

“ Riches and honor are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver!
"'They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever.'
"Rosie, my darling, it is the dearest wish of my heart to see you engaged in that work; but you cannot teach others what you do not know yourself; you must first give your heart to God and learn for yourself the sweetness of his love. ”

“ And I should mend those gloves in a better way than you are taking."
"If you know so well how to mend, Madam Zoe, will you please give me some instruction about mending this shoe?" said Herbert. "Cobbling is not in my line."
"Neither is it in mine, Sir Herbert," she returned, drawing herself up with a lofty air.
"Such silly pride! They should mend their ways if not their garments," remarked Maud, in a scornful aside.
"One should think it beneath her to mend even a worn stocking," said
Rosie.
"No," responded Eva, "and she should mend it well." ”

“ He passed out of the room as he spoke, and on up the wide stairway, Lulu and Eva following, each with an arm about the other's waist.
"Those talks must be so delightful," remarked the latter in a low tone, and with a slight sigh, "I'm very glad you don't let me hinder them, dear Lu."
"I knew you wouldn't want me to," said Lulu; "you are always so kind and thoughtful for others; and though papa sometimes gives me a quarter of an hour or more, when we have a great deal to say to each other, I think he won't stay more than a minute or two to-night! ”

“ Chester had just joined the group. "I can never be sufficiently thankful for the escape," he said with a slight tremble in his tones, "I could never have forgiven myself if I had maimed that pretty hand; though it was utterly impossible for me to stop myself in time, at the headlong rate of speed with which I was moving."
"Your thankfulness can hardly equal her father's," the captain said with emotion almost too big for utterance, as he gently drew off the mitten, and bound up the wounded fingers with his handkerchief. "That will do till I get you to the house. Shall I carry you, daughter?" ”

“ Evelyn said, "I have never received anything but the greatest kindness there."
"And you are so sweet-tempered that you would never fly into a passion if you were treated ever so badly," remarked Lulu, with an admiring, appreciative look at her friend, accompanied by a regretful sigh over her own infirmity of temper.
"Perhaps my faults lie in another direction; and how much credit do people deserve for refraining from doing what they feel no temptation to do?" said Evelyn, with an arch look and smile directed toward Lulu. ”

“ At that everybody laughed and Violet said to Gracie, "So you see, dearie, you need not despair of some fun with the babies."
"Maybe not, mamma, but it won't be just the same as when papa is with us, and while you are away putting them to bed we'll miss papa ever so much."
"I hope so," he said, smiling on her; "it is pleasant to feel that one's absence is regretted. But, my dear little daughter, we can't expect to have all our enjoyments every day."
"No, sir;" said Lulu; "and we'll miss you when Mamma Vi comes back and you are not there to read to us." ”

“ An emphatic endorsement of that sentiment from both Max and Lulu. Then the captain, smiling tenderly upon them, said, "I dearly love to give you pleasure, my darlings, my heart's desire is for my children's happiness in this world and the next; but life can not be all play; so lessons must be taken up again to-morrow morning, and I hope to find you all in an industrious and tractable mood."
"I should hope so indeed, papa," returned Max; "if we are not both obedient and industrious we will deserve to be called an ungrateful set." ”

“ God does not require that of us; indeed forbids it; 'Judge not, that ye be not judged,' Jesus said.
"But I see plainly that my duty is as I explained it to you last evening, and I thought then you were convinced that it would be selfish and wrong for you and me to spend a large sum for useless ornament that might otherwise be used for the good of our fellow creatures, and the advancement of Christ's kingdom."
"Yes, papa, I was, and I'm trying, and asking God to help me, not to want the ring I asked you for; but I'm afraid it'll take me quite a while to quite stop wishing for it," she sighed. ”

“ Outside the night was cold, but within the house the atmosphere was that of summer; doors stood open, and in the halls, and the rooms used by the family, lights were burning; also the air was sweet and fragrant with a faint odor of roses, heliotrope and mignonette, coming from the conservatory and from vases of cut flowers placed here and there; all the result of Capt. Raymond's kind forethought for the comfort and pleasure of wife and children, and the careful carrying out of his orders by the faithful housekeeper Christine. ”

“ A book lay on a table, quite near the edge. With a sudden jerk Herbert threw it on the floor.
Rosie picked it up and replaced it, saying: "Can't you let things alone?"
"Rosie, why can't you let the poor boy alone?" whined her cousin, Lora Howard. "No one has ever known me to be guilty of such an exhibition of temper; it's positively wicked."
"Oh, you're very good, Lora," sniffed Zoe. "I can't pretend to be half so perfect."
"Certainly I can't," said Eva.
"I can't."
"I can't," echoed Lulu, Max, and several others.
"Come now, children, can't you be quiet a bit?" asked Harold. ”

“ I did not think it right or wise to buy you the ring, because it would have been spending a great deal for something quite useless, and very unsuitable for my little girl. The things I have given you I considered it right to buy because they will all be useful to you in one way or another."
"The games and storybooks, papa?" asked Grace with a look of surprise.
"Yes, daughter; people—and especially little folks like Max and Lulu and you—need amusement as a change and rest from work; we can do all the more work in the end if we take time for needed rest and recreation." ”

“ Grace trembling with fear, Lulu bravely struggling with her own excitement and trying to calm and soothe her little sister.
"O Mamma Vi, I'm so glad you've come!" she exclaimed, as Violet drew near, then seated herself on the side of the bed, and bent down to kiss first the one and then the other, "for Gracie is so frightened."
"I'm so afraid those wicked men will hurt papa," sobbed Grace.
"God will take care of him, dear child," Violet said, repeating her caress. "Beside your papa just told me he thought there was no cause for apprehension. ”

“ Trusting in ourselves we are not safe, but trusting in Jesus we are. We are safe only while we cling to our sure foundation, the Rock Christ Jesus; but our greatest security is in the joyful fact that he holds us fast and will never let us go; if we have indeed given ourselves to him.
"He says, 'My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me; and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.'"
"Such sweet words, papa, aren't they?" Lulu said softly. ”

“ Let us pair off and go down at once to secure our fair share," said Rosie gaily. "There's just an even number of us—Maud and Lora, Lulu and Eva, Grace and Rosie Lacey, Sydney and I. We're to have a table to ourselves; I asked mamma if we might, and she gave consent."
"I like that," remarked Sydney with satisfaction; "we can have our own fun and eat what we please without anybody to trouble us with suggestions that perhaps such and such articles of food may not agree with us." ”

“ But, Cousin Elsie, I didna expect to be treated to a meal o' livin' creatures in your house."
"Did you not?" she returned with a smile. "Life is full of surprises."
"And grandpa and Ned go on carving without any apparent thought of the cruelty of cutting into living creatures," laughed Zoe.
"And what a singular circumstance that chickens baked in a pie should sing like blackbirds," remarked Grandma Elsie. ”

“ I trust you will always let me be that to you," the captain said, grasping his son's hand and holding it for a moment in a warm affectionate clasp.
"You are mine, too, papa; my best and dearest earthly friend," Lulu said, lifting to his, eyes shining with filial love. "Papa, aren't you afraid those bad men will try to harm you some day, if they ever get out of prison?"
"We are always safe in the path of duty," he replied, "and it is a duty we owe the community to bring such lawless men to justice, for the protection of those they would prey upon. ”

“ Papa, I—haven't liked Dick very much since he chopped up the cradle I'd carved for Gracie's dolls, but I believe I want to give him a Christmas present; it will help me to forgive him and like him better. But I don't know what would please him best."
"Something to make a noise with," suggested Max; "a drum or trumpet for instance."
"He'd make too much racket," she objected.
"How would a hatchet do?" asked Max, with waggish look and smile.
"Not at all; he isn't fit to be trusted with one," returned Lulu, promptly. "Papa, what do you think would be a suitable present for him?" ”