hung her head, then the tears gathered in her eyes, and at last
rolled quickly down her cheeks. "I haven't got a hat," she sobbed. "I
gave it away. Are you vexed, Mother?"

Mother was puzzled. She sat down by Kathie and took her on her lap.
"Don't cry," she said gently, "but tell me to whom you gave it."

"It was to a poor woman," said Kathie; "she asked me for it for her
little girl, and so I took it off and gave it to her, but afterwards--"

"Afterwards you remembered that you should have asked Mother first,"
said Mother gravely.

"Yes," said Kathie. "But, Mother, the woman was poor; we ought to give
to the poor, ought we not?"

"Yes, Kathie, but we must only give that which is our very own. Now, the
hat was not yours to give away; I bought it for you, to shade you from
the hot sun."

"Oh, Mother!" interrupted Kathie, "then I can _never_ give to the poor,
for little children have nothing of their own." Kathie's lip trembled,
and she was very near crying at this thought.

"I will tell you what is your own to give," said Mother consolingly,
"that is your time. All children have a great deal of time to do as they
like in, and I can show you how you can use that time for the poor."

"Oh, mother! how? I can't sew nearly well enough to make anything for
them."

"No, I don't mean sewing. I will give you an old pillow-case, and you
must fill it with very little bits of torn, not cut, paper, and when it
is full I will cover it for you with a case of pretty print, and then it
will make a soft pillow for old Mrs. Timms, or any one else you like to
give it to. It will take both time and patience to tear the paper; and
when it is finished it will be your own work, and you may give it away."

"Yes, I see," said Kathie. "That will be my own work. I shall like
that."

"As you grow older you will have money and other things which you can
give away, but even then you will find that your best gifts will be
those you have spent time and love over; those two things are the
possession of the poorest of us, and yet they are worth more than gold
and silver. Now, Kathie, we must go and buy you a new hat, for you
cannot walk home in this heat without one; and another time when you
give away anything you must remember to be just before you are
generous."

Kathie thought Mother very kind not to be vexed about the hat; but
Mother remembered what a little girl Kathie was, and she hardly expected
her to be able to refuse, when a bol