“No, my dear, Sally must go home to her sick mother now, and Dinah shall go to them after dinner.”

“But mamma, I want to begin my part.  You know you said I could hem nicely, and might do some on the ruffles or something.”

“Yes, daughter, and so you shall, but must rest awhile first.”

Violet had often to be held back in starting upon some new enterprise, and afterward encouraged or compelled to persevere, while Elsie was more deliberate at first, more steadfast in carrying out what she had once undertaken.  Each had what the other lacked, both were very winsome and lovable, and they were extremely fond of one another; scarcely less so of their brothers and the darling baby sister.

“When may I begin, mamma?” asked Vi, somewhat impatiently.

“After breakfast to-morrow morning you may spend an hour at your needle.”

“Only an hour, mamma?  It would take all summer at that rate.”

“Ah, what a doleful countenance, daughter mine!” Elsie said laughingly, as she bent down and kissed the rosy cheek.  “You must remember that my two little girls are not to carry the heavy end of this, and the sewing will be done in good season without overworking them.  I could not permit that; I must see to it that they have plenty of time for rest and for healthful play.  I appoint you one hour a day, and shall allow you to spend one more, if you wish, but that must be all.”

Violet had been trained to cheerful acquiescence in the decisions of her parents, and now put it in practice, yet wished very much that mamma would let her work all day for Sally, till her outfit was ready; she was sure she should not tire of it; but she soon learned anew the lessons she had learned a hundred times before—­that mamma knew best.

The first day she would have been willing to sew a little longer after the second hour’s task was done; the next, two hours were fully sufficient to satisfy her appetite for work:  on the third, it was a weariness before the end of the first hour; on the fourth, she would have been glad to beg off entirely, but her mother said firmly, “No, dear; one hour’s work is not too much for you, and you know I allowed you to undertake it only on condition that you would persevere to the end.”

“Yes, mamma, but I am very tired, and I think I’ll never undertake anything again,” and with a little sigh the child seated herself and began her task.

Mamma smiled sympathizingly, softly smoothed the golden curls, and said in her own gentle voice, “Let us not be weary in well-doing’!  Do you remember the rest of it?”

“Yes, mamma, ‘for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.’  And you told us to faint was to get tired and stop.  But mamma, what shall I reap by keeping on with this?”

“A much needed lesson in perseverance, for one thing, I hope my little daughter, and for another the promise given in the forty-first Psalm, ’Blessed is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.  The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth; and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.  The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing:  thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.’