you may leave the room
and consider yourself banished from it for a week. At the end of that
time I shall probably be able to decide whether I will ever again listen
to a recitation from you."

Lulu, with cheeks aflame and eyes flashing, hardly waited for the
conclusion of the sentence ere she rose and rushed from the room,
shutting the door behind her with a loud slam.

Mr. Dinsmore stepped to it and called her back.

"I desire you to come in here again and then leave us in a proper and
ladylike manner, closing the door quietly," he said.

For a single instant Lulu hesitated, strongly tempted to refuse
obedience; but even she stood in some awe of Mr. Dinsmore, and seeing his
stern, determined look, she retraced her steps, with head erect and eyes
that carefully avoided the faces of all present; went quietly out again,
closed the door gently, then hurried through the hall, down the stairs,
and into her own room; there she hastily donned hat and sacque, then
rapidly descended to the ground-floor, and the next instant might have
been seen fairly flying down the avenue.

Her passion had slightly cooled by the time she reached the gate, and
giving up her first intention of passing through into the road beyond,
she turned into an alley bordered by evergreens which would screen her
from view from the house, and there paced back and forth, muttering
angrily to herself between her shut teeth,

"I hate him, so I do! the old tyrant! He's no business to give me such
long, hard lessons and then scold because I don't recite perfectly."

Here conscience reminded her that she could easily have mastered her task
if her time had not been wasted over a story-book.

"It's a pity if I can't have the pleasure of reading a story once in a
while," she said in reply; "and I'm not going to give up doing it either
for him or anybody else. He reads stories himself; and if it's bad, it's
worse for grown folks than for children. Oh, how I do wish I was grown up
and could do just as I please!"

Then came to mind her father's assurance that even grown people could not
always follow their own inclinations; also his expressions of deep
gratitude to Mr. Dinsmore and Grandma Elsie for giving his children a
home with them and taking the trouble to teach and train them up for
useful and happy lives. Lulu well knew that Mr. Dinsmore received no
compensation for his labors in behalf of her brother and sister and
herself, and that few people would