the thoughtful, gay,
or eager faces.

'Be old maids, I suppose. Horrid, but inevitable, since there are so
many superfluous women,' answered a lively lass, too pretty to fear
single blessedness unless she chose it.

'It is well to consider that fact, and fit yourselves to be useful, not
superfluous women. That class, by the way, is largely made up of widows,
I find; so don't consider it a slur on maidenhood.'

'That's a comfort! Old maids aren't sneered at half as much as they used
to be, since some of them have grown famous and proved that woman isn't
a half but a whole human being, and can stand alone.'

'Don't like it all the same. We can't all be like Miss Nightingale, Miss
Phelps, and the rest.'

So what can we do but sit in a corner and look on?' asked a plain girl
with a dissatisfied expression.

'Cultivate cheerfulness and content, if nothing else. But there are so
many little odd jobs waiting to be done that nobody need "sit idle and
look on", unless she chooses,' said Mrs Meg, with a smile, laying on the
girl's head the new hat she had just trimmed.

'Thank you very much. Yes, Mrs Brooke, I see; it's a little job, but
it makes me neat and happy--and grateful,' she added, looking up with
brighter eyes as she accepted the labour of love and the lesson as
sweetly as they were given.

'One of the best and most beloved women I know has been doing odd jobs
for the Lord for years, and will keep at it till her dear hands are
folded in her coffin. All sorts of things she does--picks up neglected
children and puts them in safe homes, saves lost girls, nurses poor
women in trouble, sews, knits, trots, begs, works for the poor day after
day with no reward but the thanks of the needy, the love and honour
of the rich who make Saint Matilda their almoner. That's a life worth
living; and I think that quiet little woman will get a higher seat in
Heaven than many of those of whom the world has heard.'

'I know it's lovely, Mrs Bhaer; but it's dull for young folks. We do
want a little fun before we buckle to,' said a Western girl with a
wide-awake face.

'Have your fun, my dear; but if you must earn your bread, try to make it
sweet with cheerfulness, not bitter with the daily regret that it isn't
cake. I used to think mine was a very hard fate because I had to amuse
a somewhat fretful old lady; but the books I read in that lonely library
have been of immense use to me since, and the dear old soul bequeathed
me Plumf