BY MARY JOANNA PORTER.
The family mail-bag was made of black and white straw arranged in checks. It was flat and nearly square, was lined with gray linen and fastened at the top with narrow black ribbon. It had two long handles, finely made of straw, and these handles Luella and Francis were accustomed to grasp when, twice a day regularly, at half-past eight in the morning and at half-past three in the afternoon, they went for the family mail.
Their instructions were always to go back and forth to the post-office without stopping, always to tie the bag securely after putting the mail inside, and never to open it after it was thus fastened. They were to take turns in carrying the bag, and upon returning to their home were always to take it at once to the study of their father, Rev. Mr.
Robinson.
So important a personage as a public mail-carrier had never been seen in the small village in which they lived. In his absence the two children performed their service well. At least they always did excepting on one unfortunate day, and that is the day of which our story is to tell.
The children went to the office as usual, and were quite delighted at finding there a registered letter addressed to "Luella and Francis Robinson." Luella felt very proud when the postmaster asked her, as the elder, to sign the registered receipt.
"What"s that for?" asked Francis.
"It"s for proof that you"ve received the letter. You see that a registered letter usually contains something valuable."
"I wonder what it can be? It"s from Aunt Maria. See, her address is written on the side of the envelope?"
"Yes," said the postmaster, who was a very good friend of the children.
"It"s certainly from your aunt, and it probably contains something for you both, but, you"d better put it in your bag now and tie it up, according to your father"s wish."
The children obediently acted upon this suggestion and started for home.
On their way they talked constantly of their letter, trying vainly to guess what it might contain.
"It"s something small, anyway," said Luella, "for it doesn"t seem to take any room."
"Maybe "tisn"t anything, after all," said Francis.
"Oh, yes, it is; for the letter is registered, you know."
So they went on talking and wondering until they had gone about half the distance toward home. Then they reached a spreading apple tree which grew by a fence near the sidewalk, and beneath which was a large stone, often used as a resting-place for pedestrians.
"Let"s sit down a while," said Francis. "I feel tired; don"t you?"
"Yes, but father wouldn"t like us to stop."
"Oh, yes, he would, if he knew how tired we are. I"m going to rest a moment, anyway. That can"t be any harm."
Luella allowed herself to follow her brother"s example. So they took the first step in disobedience.
Next Luella said: "I wonder if we couldn"t just unfasten the bag and look at that letter again. It"s our letter, you know."
"Of course, it is. Give me the bag. I"ll open it."
Then, without more ado, Francis deliberately opened the bag. Thus the second step in wrong-doing was taken.
They examined the letter closely and leisurely, not one minute, but many minutes, pa.s.sing while they were thus engaged. Then Luella said: "I"m going to read the letter. It"s all the same whether we read it here or at home."
It proved to be a very kind letter from Aunt Maria, who had lately made them a visit. She concluded by saying: "While I was with you I took pleasure in noticing your constant obedience. As a sort of reward, I enclose for you each a five-dollar gold piece. Please accept the gift with my love."
"Where are the gold pieces?" asked Francis, taking the envelope from Luella, "Oh! here"s one in the corner of this thing. I"ll take this; but where"s the other?"
Where was the other? It was easier to ask the question than to reply.
The two children folded and unfolded the letter. They turned the envelope inside out. They searched through their clothing. They inspected the gra.s.s and the path. If it had been possible, they would have lifted the stone upon which they had been sitting; but that would have been an herculean task. At length they reluctantly gave up the search and sadly went on their way homeward.
"I wish we hadn"t opened the letter," said Luella. "What are we going to tell mother and father anyhow?"
"Well, I think we"d better tell them the whole story. Perhaps they"ll help us look for the other gold piece."
Francis, with the one coin in his hand, naturally took a more hopeful view of the situation than his sister did.
"Perhaps Aunt Maria only put one in the letter," he suggested.
"Oh, no; she"s too careful for that. She never makes mistakes," said Luella, positively. "I only wish we"d minded. That"s all."
Francis echoed the wish in his heart, though he did not repeat it aloud.
Thus, a repentant couple, they entered the house and the study. Mother was upstairs attending to baby, and father was evidently out. The brother and sister awaited his return in silence, Luella meanwhile grasping the letter, and Francis the single coin.
"What"s that you have?" asked Mr. Robinson; "a letter? How did it get out of the bag?"
"It"s ours," answered Luella, trembling while she spoke. "We--we--we--"
then she burst into tears.
"Let me have it," commanded Mr. Robinson.
Luella obeyed, and went on weeping while her father read. Francis wanted to cry, too, but he thought it was unmanly, and choked back the tears.
"I need ask you no more questions," said their father. "The truth is that I was calling on old Mrs. Brown when you stopped under the apple tree, and I saw the whole thing from her window. You don"t know how sorry I felt when I found that my boy and girl couldn"t be trusted. I saw that you had lost something, and after you had left I examined the gra.s.s about the stone and found the other gold piece. But I shall have to punish you by putting the money away for a whole month. At the end of that time I will return it to you, if I find that you are obedient meanwhile. I do not intend to be severe, but I think that ordinarily you are good children, and I understand how strong the temptation was. Are you not sorry that you yielded to it?"
"Yes, sir, we are," exclaimed both children, emphatically.
"And now, what am I going to do about the mail-bag? Can I let you have it after this?"
"Yes, father, you can," they both replied once more; and after that they were always worthy of their trust.
When Aunt Maria made her next visit they told her the story of their misdoing. Her only comment was: "You see, children, that it is necessary always to pray, "Deliver us from evil," for even when we want to do right, without help from above, we shall fail."
A Day"s Fishing.
BY MARY JOANNA PORTER.
Six lively boys had been spending their vacation at Clovernook Farm, and, as any one may imagine, they had been having the liveliest sort of a time.
There were Mr. Hobart"s two nephews, James and Fred; and Mrs. Hobart"s two nephews, John and Albert, and two others, Milton and Peter, who, though only distant cousins, were considered as part of the family.
To tell of all the things that these six had been doing during the eight weeks of their stay would be to write a history in several volumes. They had had innumerable games of tennis and croquet; had fished along the banks of streams; helped in the harvest field; taken straw-rides by moonlight; traveled many scores of miles on bicycles; taken photographs good and bad; gone out with picnic parties; learned to churn and to work b.u.t.ter; picked apples and eaten them, and they had plenty of energy left still.