The Bossier banner., 1884-10-16
Again grandma Iookad

Again grandma looked up ov.- !,
speetacles, but said nothing. 1ae
just before bedtime there w.s
rus OF ''ohsn' and 'sahs!'' from AZ ! '.sao eao-
in the back parlor, where tbe s1S ~ Nsaola
children were clustered, preparing aass thais
lessons for the next morning. 'ueis
'.What is the matter out t6erepr a...,
their father, whose perusa1 Of the sSas ,ssasU
ing newspaper had been disturbed =, Y.
their cries. '0u ~
Il upset the ink-bottle, papa a.
"All over my new atlas, too. i orn.
bled VIII. stuuas
1T will not hurt it; it has onlv -.
on the paper cover; and Pm SURE g,asa So
mopping it up as fast as we can y csias
Minnie. esic0
show came you to be so earelesspp
II don't know, sir. spose ono :
my books must have hit it il some u,vI =
| did not mean to do it; I'm ,s's; snrss
couldn't help il" she replied. 9p.
very sorry about it, "
Well, perhaps you couldn't avoid /.
but do be more careful! For III
twelve years old, you certainly get ~ ~
q great many scrapes, I" said her mo,s es
er, quickly; afraid, perhaps. that NJ
Norris might feel it his duty IL saaI.. ~,
Minnie or to punish her. .~s'a
Half an hour later Minnie was Il l..
pretty little bedroom preparing for hss
nightly slumbers, when grandma cana
in. s4sa
''As q general rule, Minnie. dear
think you are truthful girl. | was
very glad to hear you owa nm s
promptly and courageously when vos,
upset that ink bottle d little while aeo -
but was exceedingly sorry to hear vs.,. 4,
| tell an untruth about it.
''An untruth. grandma? / don't y.
member it. What did sayp' and Min
ME looked and felt very much puzzled
The same, also untrue, which Won
said when you broke Alice's Gun and
saucer, when you tore your dress this
morning. and which you have said ~
many many other occasions-that Won
couldn't help it."
But, grandma, surely that was tha
truth! | could not help dropping the
cup, nor"
'sJust think moment. nv dear. i
was not at all necessary for Won Ia
have touched the cup; in fact, ii was
not yours, and you should not have
done so; but after touching it YOU did
not grasp it firmly Suppose, for ex-
ample, you had been sure that it would
have cost you your life if Won
dropped it, could you not then hava
avoided the calamitg?"
"Ies, ma am, | suppose so.
''And your dress was torn on q nail.
I fancy that YOU were able to avoid
| going so near the nail. Where was itpp
/ Minnie looked the least bit guilty al
she explained that she was irving Is
climb up the fence, just for fun, not
even to really get over it, and when
she jumped down the offending nal
did the mischief.
'fThen you could have helped ftei
/ ayes, ma'am. I understand now
what you mean, / think And il / had
not been pushing my books on the ta-
BILE. SO as to joggle Alice's slate, would
not have upset the ink.
Exactly so. am glad that You
comprehend what | mean that In say
ing you couldn't help this, that or the
other, you were not telling the truth.
You should have said: i did not try IS
ought to have done, to avoid unior-
tunate consequences, to some apparent
ly tritling act. When one does what
one ought not to do, or leaves plain
duty undone. one Is respons BILE for the
results, and therefore we can 'help iti
1 0ftnnar than Wn realize -
Next time, grandma, I'll try and
only say: i didn't mean to do it, when
I meet such misfortunes; for see now
that / wasn't really truthful when I
complained couldn't help it. - Jis.
UerSatist.