"Oh, Sallie! that would be unkind and unforgiving, even if she had done all that Matilda says; but I do really think, Matilda is mistaken; I heard Cynthia praise the dress myself."
"No, she was not mistaken," cried Sallie in great excitement. "She meant to make a fuss. She"s always trying to get people into a quarrel. There, the beans are done; and I"m going right to her house to tell her I"ve found her out; and I want nothing more to do with her."
"But Sallie, it"s time we were going to the grove. The best nuts will all be gone; and I want to get good ones for uncle Oliver."
"Come on, then, I"m ready. Mother, is Edward going with us?"
"He"s been gone with Ethel for an hour. He has a chance to sell a bushel, if he can pick them."
"I hope Matilda wont be there," said Sallie. "If she is, I sha"n"t speak to her."
"I shall," added Hatty in a decided tone; "because, though I"m afraid she"s done wrong, I don"t think that would be the way to cure her, I think it would be best to let her see that we all love each other too well to allow a few hasty words to make us quarrel."
"I hate people who are always making a fuss."
Hatty laughed. "Matilda can"t make a fuss with me," she said, showing all her white teeth.
"She tried to," answered Sallie. "She called you proud, and said you laughed to show your handsome teeth; but I wouldn"t hear you talked against; and I told her so. After that she shut her mouth pretty quick."
"I"m afraid I do laugh too much," said Hatty, blushing crimson; "but I"m so happy, I can"t help it. I hope I"m not proud, though I try to be thankful."
"You"re the dearest girl in the world," exclaimed Sallie, putting her arms tightly around her friend"s neck. "If it hadn"t been for you, I should have had a quarrel with Cynthia; and mother would have worried awfully about it, for we"re own cousins, you know."
"Well, dear Sallie, for my sake, forgive Matilda too. She was to blame for what she said; but we must pity her. I don"t think Matilda is very happy."
Sallie shook her head, but presently asked,--
"What makes you always want people to forgive? I don"t see how it will make you any happier."
"Oh, yes indeed it will! It seems dreadful to me to see two school-mates feeling unkindly to each other; and then, you know," she added with a deeper blush, "who has said, "Be of one mind, live in peace, and the G.o.d of love and peace shall be with you;" don"t you remember what a blessing is promised to the peace-makers?"
"No, I don"t."
"Why, Sallie! The minister preached about it last winter. I remembered ever so much of the sermon for uncle Oliver and Esther. You know I have to preach it over again to them. Esther says, she thinks it"s one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible:"
"Blessed are the peace-makers; for they shall be called the children of G.o.d."
Sallie remained silent for a few moments. When they came in sight of the grove, she caught her friend"s hand and said earnestly,--
"Oh, Hatty! I wish I were like you, and could claim that promise. I see now why you"re always so happy. You--"
""Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee,""
added her companion, with a reverent glance upward.
CHAPTER V.
MATILDA"S CONSCIENCE.
MATILDA did not make her appearance in the grove. Her father was so angry at her tardiness in bringing the ham for his dinner that he forbade her the pleasure. She pa.s.sed the afternoon in a very unhappy state of mind, continually quarrelling with her brothers and sisters, and stirring up strife in the whole household.
From her chamber window she saw Hatty and Sallie walk on, arm in arm, swinging their baskets; and conscience whispered,--"They will talk of you, and you have no one but yourself to blame for all your wretchedness."
Disgusted with herself, she still sat gazing from the window, when serious thoughts began to arise.
"Why can"t I be happy?" she asked herself. "I have a better home than either of those girls. That is, the rooms look better, and father has more money. But things never go right. Mother always wants errands done so quick; and father gets angry and cross; and the boys are so touchy,"--
"And Matilda, the eldest daughter is worse than all the rest; for she might be a help to her mother, a comfort to her father, and an example of love and peace to the whole family."
This was what conscience said; and conscience this time was determined to be heard.
"You hate yourself now," the inward monitor went on, "but not so badly as you will by and by. Every day that you indulge in these evil pa.s.sions, you will grow worse and worse. Try to reform. Begin to-day, and take this verse for your motto: "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.""
"That is Hatty"s rule," exclaimed Matilda, starting from her seat.
"I"ll try it. I"m sorry now, I told Sallie that Cynthia didn"t like her dress. I"m afraid there"ll be a fuss about that. Sallie wont speak; and her cousin will find out what I said, and then the blame will all come on me."
"Where it belongs," urged conscience again.
"Well, I"ll never tell tales again; that is, if I can help it. I mean to try and be like Hatty. Father and mother will wonder what has come over me; I wish I knew what I ought to do first."
Already she felt happier than for a long time. She ran down to the sink, bathed her face and eyes; then back to her room and combed her hair, confining it in her net, after which she joined her mother in the sitting-room.
"Where"s that little ap.r.o.n," she began, "that you cut out yesterday? I"m going to make it."
Mrs. Manning glanced up from her work in surprise. "What has happened?"
she asked herself; but she smilingly directed her daughter where she might find the ap.r.o.n.
Before her needle was threaded, baby Tom fell from the steps and began to scream with all his might.
Mrs. Manning started up, letting her sewing fall to the floor. "I sha"n"t sew a st.i.tch at this rate," began Matilda impatiently; but recovering herself, she exclaimed,--
"Come here, Tommy. I"ll show you the bossy;" and they trotted off together to the barn.
The other boys were there playing in the hay, and at any other time Matilda would have begun to quarrel directly; but with her good resolves fresh in mind she began to coax them to come off the hay, and show her how to make bossy stand on his feet.
Her tone was so pleasant that they came at once, wondering at the change; and for the next half hour they had a merry time together.
Then she returned to the house with the baby mounted on her back.
When her father came home to supper, he evidently expected to find her cross and impatient at having been kept from accompanying her companions to the grove. He heard her singing before he reached the gate, and was not a little delighted to find his wife sitting at her sewing, and Matilda putting the last dishes on the table for tea.
"Well, now, this is as it ought to be," he said heartily, as they drew their chairs about the table. "Wife, you said you wanted a new gown, and here"s money to buy cloth for you and Matilda, too. I"m always ready with the cash for good daughters."
A few hours later, when the young girl retired to her bed, she said to herself,--"It isn"t so very hard to do right after all. How pleased father was. Now if I only knew that Sallie wouldn"t say anything about what I told her, I should be happier than I have been for a month."