Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1878-11-11
sy1oMth's Column.
STEP BY STEP.

"How nicely you do that. auntie,''
said young girl. as she took up the
handsome piece of needlework. 81 won.
der if / shall ever be able to sew as
neatly as that May be | will when
am as old as you are" she added, with
rather disagreeable emphasis.
MAY be you will" said her relative
with flush of color on her cheek, eff
you practise while you're young"
Now practise was just what Alice
Vericool disliked more than anything
else in the world, and Aunt Mercy
knew it, and while she listened to the
praise of her giddy young niece, her
thought wandered back to the days and
hours she had spent in endeavoring to
acquire her present skilfulness with the
needle.
"Oh, I'd never have patience to put
in all those tiny little stitcher p said
Alice, examining more closely the
fairy-like garment. isn't it perfectly
lovely?"
Alice was a girl of very strong de-
sires and very lofty ambition. She
longed to be frst-class prima-donna,
a distinguished pianist or artist. or any
thing else that would secure her the
admiring plaudits and the laurel wreath.
But as for climbing the ladder of fame
step by step. or working gradually up
to the coveted position, why, that never
entered her silly head She wouldn't
do it. She wanted the prize without
running the race, and seemed to be in
daily anticipation of some miraculous
interposition on her behalf.
She was familiar with the story of
Joan of Arc, of the Maid Of Saragossa,
and other historical heroines, and was
SO dazzled by the glory that shcne
around their grand achievements, that
she failed to see the hard and thorny
road by which they had attained that
height.
1t would be SO pleasant to have a
staircase ready-made on which We
might ascend, and take our places with
the illustrlous ones But to be illus.
trious one must be Industrious, and it il
wise Providence that prevents thu
transmission of genius. "There is rooE
at the top" for those who have not only
talent. but the perseverance to continue
climbing.
Alice Vericool wouldn't practise he
music lessons because she was jealou
of other girls who played better thai
she did, and so there is no possibilit.
, of her ever being fine performer. Ii
instead, she had taken counsel with her
self, and determined to acquire skill b
persistent application, had raised he
standard and fought her way up to il
she would have done credit to hersel
f and her teachers, and have avoide
hearing her father say as often as b
did, sit is throwing away money to pa
for Alice's tuition"
, 1t is only by long practice that tn
markham can hit the "bull's eye" wit
! such unerring aim. You admire, an
: are astonished at his success, as 20
, wouldn't be could you count the numbt
of his failures. His skill is not at a
q the result of accident. or the effect of
E sudden inspiration, but there was muc
. previous experience, the cultivation I
/ self-reliance, the ambition to excel.
r Step by step we win our way, ;
scholars. as teachers, into every positic
r that is worth having, or worth strivir
' for; and if any of my readers are wal
n ing. like Alice Vericool, in the expect,
q ton of a reward they haven't earne
y and are not entitled to. they will fin
{ even should they live to be old, TIL
| they have made but little progress. ar
J, are not among those who have bee
crowned by fame. Sunday School Clas
u 3,20fe