brave and make the best of it. Now, Cannie, there
are two things which may help you to do this, two thoughts which you can
keep in mind; and I wish you would try to remember them when you feel a
fit of fright or of stiffness coming on."

"What are they?"

"One is, that you are but one little insignificant atom among thousands.
People are not thinking about you or noticing you very particularly. You
are not of much consequence except to yourself and the few friends who
love you. This would be a mortifying fact, if vanity were your trouble;
but as it is not, it is a comfortable one. And just as nobody notices
you specially, so all the world is not engaged afterward in recollecting
all your little mistakes and the stupid things you have said. Unless you
have done something _very_ queer, they forget about you as soon as they
lose sight of you. I know what miseries sensitive girls undergo in
thinking over their foolish speeches and actions, and imagining that
every one remembers them as distinctly as they themselves do."

Cannie couldn't help smiling. "Cousin Kate, how can you know about all
those things?" she asked.

"Because I was a girl myself once, and as foolish as any of the rest of
you; and I have not forgotten how it feels to be a girl," said her
cousin, gayly. "That is the use of growing old, Cannie. You can show the
way to younger people, and make the road you have walked over a little
easier for them.--But to go back to what we were talking about, our own
insignificance is one helpful thought, as I said; the other is, that
kindliness is one of the Christian virtues, and it is just as much a
duty to practise it as it is to be honest and temperate."

Candace drew a long breath.

"It would be perfectly delightful to keep thinking like that always,"
she said; "the only thing is that I am afraid I should forget when the
time came. I wish you could give me an exact rule, Cousin Kate, just
what to say and how to act. I would try ever so hard to follow it."

"I know you would," said Mrs. Gray; "but there is no exact rule that I
can give, except the Golden one, to do to others just as you would like
them to do to you. If you feel stiff, be sure to look cordial. Smile,
and shake hands as if you meant it. Try to look interested in what
people are saying to you. A good listener helps on conversation as well
as a good talker. If you are friendly and warm in your manner, other
people will warm to you instinctively. Try i