The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-08-21
How Nita Learned 10 X eep Her TEN
Der. .

per.
She was O very beautiful dolly, with
such lovely blue eyes and long hair
tucked up on her head just like real
lady, and dear little Nita was very
proud of her. She was dressed as q
bride, too-in white tarlatan, with sat-
in bows and a long veil that covered all
of her dress, and pretty white flowers
in her dress.
Now, little girls, this is true story,
and if any one of you has a little
something within you that likes to get
mad and say naughty words or do ugly
things when any one does something
that displeases you, I want you to
think of my dear little girl and her
doll.
The bride was entirely too fine to be
played with, so she was carefully laid
in one of the empty bureau-drawers in
the company room to be looked at, and
occasionally held.
Nita had right high temper, and
would say and do all kinds of ugly
things which she was very sorry for af'
terWards.
Her mamma was trying to make her
see how wrong it was to be so ugly,
and told her that if she would shut her
lips right tight just as soon as she got
mad she would get into the habit OF
controlling her temper so well that she
wouldn't even want to say anything
ugly, and told her also how much God
would love her, and how proud mann
ma would be if she would make up her
mind to try it.
One day one of her friends came to
play with her, and her mamma said she
ought to show dolly to little Edith so
they went into the company room to-
gether, and Nita pulled open the draw
er and showed the doll. Oh! how
beautiful she did look! more so, Nita
thought, than she had ever looked be-
fore her little friend admired her, too,
immensely, and wanted to take her out
and play with her but Nita said "no,"
she might hurt her.
AS they stood looking at the dolly,
Nita's mamma called, so she had to go,
and what do you suppose her little
friend Edith did while she was away
She took the dolly out Of the drawer to
hold, and in her haste to put it back
before Nita came she put it in wrong,
shut the drawer, caught poor baby's
neck in it, and when Nita got back into
the room there was dolly with her body
in the drawer and her head, with the
beautiful blue eyes looking 80 hurt and
pitiful, hanging OH the outside by her
veil. Poor little Nita She lost heI
doll and she nearly lost her temper, but
what her mamma said came over her
like flash, and she shut her lips to-
gether real tight.
Her friend looked scared, and stam-
mered out she didn't mean to do it,
and, after a little, Nita managed to say
it didn't matter very much she reck-
oned her brother would give her anoth-
er pretty doll sometime.
Her mamma, who was in the room
next them, had seen and heard all SO
when Edith left (which she soon did,
she called Nita to her, and took her up
in her arms so she could have good,
big cry over her dear broken dolly
told her how she had seen it all. and
how very proud she was of her little
daughter. She took her Bible down
from the mantel, and read her what
King Solomon said: "He that is slow
to anger is better than the mighty and
he that ruleth his spirit, than he that
taketh CITY,"
Mamma told the brother about it,
and next day there was another big
doll for Nita II am sure she wouldn't
have gotten it if she had been bad }
and she dressed it in the same clothes,
but she never thought it quite rs pref
ty as the other.
That was many years ago, and the
dear mamma is in her grave, but Nita
will always remember and thank her
for teaching her to keep her temper.
I do not mean to say that that one
time cured her. Oh, no! she had
many battles with herself, but she
found, as she grew older, that her
MANI ma was right. Each victory over
self made it easier next time, until
she lost all desire to give way to hel
temper.-Annie Francis, in The Chill
drens' Friend.