Nelly's Temptation and Prayer [pp. 178]

T HE LADIES' REPOSITORY.
ther called Fot, and Gretchen stole down stairs
into the street. Fot soon forgot all about
Gretchen and her book, but that night, when
he and Carl were tumbling along home full of
odd ill-natured freaks as ever, there she was by
the gate, and she made them stop and listen.
She said Miss Lee, who borrowed fiat-irons of
their aunt Christina, taught her to read and
told her such beautiful things. She had kept it
to herself because she wanted to surprise them.
"And 0, Fot, 0, Carl," said Gretchen with
tears in her eyes and her voice all in a quiver,
"she's so good! She does n't hate you a bit,
not even when you pull up her radishes and
onions, and hang her geese in the barn-yard.
And she's sorry for you, and she's going to
get father and aunt Christina to send us to
school! But she said we'd have to be real
brave like soldiers, for they'11ll laugh at us in
school. You know they would, Fot."
Dear, earnest little Gretchen! It was very
hard getting Carl and Fot to want to be civilized, and she hardly knew what she was after
herself. But Miss Lee, in her plain way, was
encouraging the little wistful heart. She told
Gretchen that there was a woman in her own
country whose name was Frederika Bremer,
and all the world loved this woman because she
was so grand and so pure-hearted, and she,
even little Gretchen, might be like her if she
tried. Fot, and Carl, and Gretchen did go to
school, and they had a very weary, trying time
of it, you may be sure. But whenever the
children laughed at Gretchen and made fun of
her name, and teased her about her dress till
her throat ached with the tears, she would
think of the grand woman in her own country
and shut her lips very tightly, and pore over
the hard English spelling like a little heroine.
As for Fot and Carl, they did little besides
quarrel with their schoolmates. But Miss Lee
and Gretchen coaxed them, and all of a sudden
Fot determined to learn something. Every
body wondered what put it into his head, but
they knew something had, though he was mischievous and quarrelsome as ever. At last
Gretchen, and Carl, and Fot left the town. I
do n't think their neighbor, Miss Lee, was very
sorry to part with the boys, but I do think she
missed Gretchen, with her loving face and soft
voice that was always talking reverently of
Frederika Bremer.
Years went by, and Miss Lee came to be an
old maid, a prim, rosy-faced little woman, living in the same town, in the same tiny white
house, with a bird-cage at the door, and green
plants in the window, and little wilderness of
roses in front. One evening, when Miss Lee
was washing her tea-things and singing "Tell
me not in mournful numbers," her friend, Mary
Brown, came for her to go "to the lecture."
Miss Lee liked lectures, so she finished her teathings in a hurry, and they went to hear it
The hall was crowded and every body feverish
with expectation. What was the lecturer's
name? You can guess-Fotnon. 0, that was
a grand speech! Grand, because it rung out
bravely for the poor, and oppressed, and despised; because in all things it spoke fearlessly
for the right; and because he who uttered it
had struggled out of a dark, wretched childhood
into such a bright, noble life. I wonder if he
thought, when he uttered it and saw the white
thrilled faces before him, of the bitter old days
at school, of that dreary yard, and the cats in
prison. If he did not Miss Lee did, and her
eyes were full of glad tears as she listened to
the man and said to herself, "Yes, yes, there is
hope for every one."
In the morning, when Miss Lee was sweeping the paths in the rose garden, a gentleman
and lady came through the gate and stood before her. The gentleman said, "I am Fotnon."
And the lady, with her clear eyes and goldenbrown hair, held out her two hands and said,
'.'I am Gretchen; do you remember me?"
0, how they thanked Miss Lee for that
blessed encouragement of long ago! How
grateful they were! And Gretchen was such a
beautiful woman in every sense of the word, so
full of all graciousness, though not quite a
Frederika Bremer. Little Carl was dead, they
said, and their aunt Christina, too. But they
only spoke their father's name and shook their
heads sadly.
NELLY'S TEMPTATION AND PRAYER.
LITTLE NELLY was five years old. Her
mother had taken great pains to instill into
her mind principles of right and truth. One
day she stood at the door of the dining-room
looking with earnestness at a basket of fine
peaches which was on the table. Nelly knew
she should not touch them without leave, but
the temptation was strong. Soon her mother,
who was watching her from another room, saw
her bow her head and cover her face with her
hands. "What ails you, Nelly?" she said. The
child started, not knowing she was watched.
"O, mother," she exclaimed, "I wanted so much
to take one of the peaches; but first I thought
I would ask God if he had any objection."
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