ll call them all to see, and say that it is pretty. Then I'll
enjoy it, and come here when things look dismal and bare everywhere
else," said Merry, when at last it was done. She had worked all the
afternoon, and only finished at supper time, so the candles had to be
lighted that the toilette might look its best, and impress the beholders
with an idea of true elegance. Unfortunately, the fire smoked a little,
and a window was set ajar to clear the room; an evil-disposed gust blew
in, wafting the thin drapery within reach of the light, and when Merry
threw open the door proudly thinking to display her success, she was
horrified to find the room in a blaze, and half her labor all in vain.

The conflagration was over in a minute, however, for the boys tore down
the muslin and stamped out the fire with much laughter, while Mrs. Grant
bewailed the damage to her carpet, and poor Merry took refuge in
her father's arms, refusing to be comforted in spite of his kind
commendation of "Grandma's fixins."

The third little missionary had the hardest time of all, and her first
efforts were not much more satisfactory nor successful than the others.
Her father was away from morning till night, and then had his paper to
read, books to keep, or "a man to see down town," so that, after a hasty
word at tea, he saw no more of the children till another evening, as
they were seldom up at his early breakfast. He thought they were well
taken care of, for Miss Bathsheba Dawes was an energetic, middle-aged
spinster when she came into the family, and had been there fifteen
years, so he did not observe, what a woman would have seen at once, that
Miss Bat was getting old and careless, and everything about the house
was at sixes and sevens. She took good care of him, and thought she had
done her duty if she got three comfortable meals, nursed the children
when they were ill, and saw that the house did not burn up. So Maria
Louisa and Napoleon Bonaparte got on as they could, without the tender
cares of a mother. Molly had been a happy-go-lucky child, contented
with her pets, her freedom, and little Boo to love; but now she was just
beginning to see that they were not like other children, and to feel
ashamed of it.

"Papa is busy, but Miss Bat ought to see to us; she is paid for it,
and goodness knows she has an easy time now, for if I ask her to do
anything, she groans over her bones, and tells me young folks should
wait on themselves. I take all th