The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-19

Jimmie grew excited.
You was zust bitin' re fastest torner off
when Doadie toned. wasn't he, mithie?'
| he cried.
! "Oh. yes" said Meta Don't tell sto-
ries. Jackie, or mumrnie will cry"
Jaclde's lip trembled, his hand stin
stretched ont for the sugared piece. "Div's
yours. Jimmie" he said.
Jimmie licked very lovely bit Of sugar
/ off and looked kindly at his less fortu-
nate brother. Then he stretched the slice
invltingly out. you tan have bite" he
/ said.
Meta was still busy with Jackie's slice.
| There was good deal Of earth still on
| it, though she picked the bits off prese-
! veringly.
Tate anuvver," said Jimmie, feeling &
| pleasurable glow Of generosity at the
| quick Frightening OF his brothers dole
full face
III tell YOU said Meta, with sudden
| joyful thought, Tets halve the dirty
| piece-it isn't very bad-and halve the
clean, and tend the dirty piece is meat
and the clean is pudding"
"Oh, let's" said the little boys. And
/ they had a merry feast after all. and the
/ brown earth hurt the digestion Of neither
/ of them.
/ In the afternoon came a lady visitor to
| the house, and as the mother was out she
/ made her way to the nursery for an hour.
! Dora, as usual took the onus OF enter
! tainment upon herself. She ordered af-
! ternoon tea and begged the lady to come
down 10 the drawing room to drink it.
But perhaps your mother does not like
| all the little ones in her drawing ROOM"
] the lady said
/ Dora laughed.
Il should think not" she said. Jimmie
! and Jack smash everything they touch,
! and even Meta broke her little sugar
/ basin last week, and mother had had it
| fourteen years. We will leave them all
! here, of cOurse?"
| But the visitor did not seem as over
! joyed she might have done at the
! prospect of a tete-a-tete with Dora, and
! the painful color that had rushed to Me-
| ta's sensitive little face at the recollec-
ton of the unhappy breakage made her
| wish to stay and comfort her.
II would have rather have the tea here,
| Dora" she said, and caressed the bunch
| of curls Meta had pinned on the top of
| her head while she played she was a lion
| pursuing Jack.
"Oh, very we'll" Dora answered, with
| little grown-up laugh; but on your
! own head be it. There never were noisier
| little monkeys of children than ours
The tea came and was distributed, Dora
| sitting upright on a chair and holding 1t
| in her hand in grown-up style, Meta pc
titloned for little in her dolls cup. and
/ drank it sitting on the floor with a chair
for table. And Jimmie and Jack came
| coaxngly round and pleaded for "zust one
| bikkey and one ickle drop of tea" and
! were given two each, and fed with great
! merriment with teaspoonsful of very
sweet tea, despite Dora 5 perpetual rernin-
ders to them that they were worry
| ing"
Dora then recited "The Battle of Hohen-
/ linden" and The Wreck OF the Hespe-
rus" without a false word. After that
| she said troy and avoirdupois measure,
corrugated the verb "parlor," and gave
! the Latin numerals up TO twenty.
The visitor would have departed hurried
ly only that her train was not due for
nearly an hour.
a should like to hear what Meta can do
now" she said at last, YEARLY.
Meta only blushed and began to undress
! her doll very quickly
"Oh, Metal said Dora. with a laugh of
| good-natured scorn. "she's a dreadful lit
tie Ounce yet, but I daresay she'll grow
| out of il when she's older. Can you be-
| lieve it? She's turned eight. and the other
day when she wrote to Aunt Jessie, she
| wanted to say you would be surprised to
see how fat Tinys leg are getting, and
| how tall Jimmie is, and what do you
think she did? Spelt surprised 'serpris-
ed and getting with one t, and Jimmie
with one m. and instead of would she put
| 'wud,' and small is all through the letter
| instead of capitalist"
But the lady only kissed Meta affect
ionately and said she was quite sure Aunt
Jessie understood it, and loved the little
letter better than if there had been no
fault At which speech Dora stared at
her incredulously.
''She doesn't even know her ordinary
tables she said. Uncle Albert is always
asking her eight sevens,' and nine
Fights and she never remembers
Il did say tifty-six last time, Doadie,"
said Meta in a low tone. her cheeks pink
20 4 Th.,ra I
'siXty-three.' 100. for nine-eights'
oh" said The lady who was young and
merry, bother lessons. 1 think nine Fights
and eight sevens are the most disagreed
bic things in the world. Meta Don't you
worry about them pet. They'll come right
when you're older. Don't let US talk about
tables and lessons when it isn't time for
them"
'She's n dreadful little goose about other
things, too" Dora said smiling at the
same time in quite a kindly way on her
| sister, for whom she had the Warmost af-
| lection. What do you think? She's eight
eight and quarter-and she's as afraid
of the dark as can be. she wouldn't go up
stairs after tea if there was no one there,
for anything you could give her; and il 5
only the last month or two mother has got
her into the way of going to sleep Without
a light. She thinks ghosts and bogies and
hobgoblins come out and wander about as
soon as ever iNscts dark"
But Meta, VINO had gone redder and red
der as this fault OF hers was exposed, burst
into tears at lasC and hid her face in the
Visitors knee; she was most painfully
ashamed of this weakness, and Dora was
constantly teasing her about it,
The lady could contain herself no longer.
She drew the sobbing child on to her knee
and soothed her lovingly. But on Dora she
bent a wra thful look.
You are a cruel. bad little girl, Dora -
she sand. You may be clever but [ would
"A thousand times rather have Meta; no one
could love a girl like you, Dora"
Then 1t was Dora's turn TO so away and
hide herself in quiet room and cry. What
could it be that made visitors 50 unkind 10
ncr? What was The fault in her that caus-
ed Meta to be always preferred?
She went over tho speeches carefully but
1t was a very long time before il dawned
on her that she had been thoughtless in
saying these things about Meta.
She is a silly hLlle goose about the
dark" she commended TO herself. Il only
said just what was true. But perhaps it
wasn't kind 10 say ii before strangers: it's
all right, of course TO tease her when we re
alone, because it's my duty to get her out