"Yes," said Miss Harper, "I thought you would like to hear some more
of those pretty stories I read to you yesterday."

"That we will!" cried George, skipping about the room, while Mary,
with eyes sparkling with pleasure, hastily raked the jack-straws into
a pile.

"We can both get into this big chair, Ella," she said, "and then we
can hear cumfible."

Now Ella would much rather have played jack-straws, for she thought
listening to reading was very dull business indeed; but she was a
polite little girl, which is pretty much the same thing as saying she
was not selfish, and seeing that George and Mary were so pleased, and
expected her to be so also, she made no objection, and climbed up into
the big chair, and found it "cumfible," as Mary had said.

"It will be awfully stupid," she thought, "and this chair is so nice I
am afraid I'll go to sleep, and mamma says that is very rude when any
one is reading or talking to you."

You see Ella had not learned to be fond of books. Her parents had not
been in the habit of reading to her, and, although in school she could
read books that had quite long words in them, still she could not read
with sufficient ease to make it a pleasure to her.

But she did not go to sleep, but, on the contrary, got wider and wider
awake. The stories were all short, so that when the end came she
remembered the beginning perfectly, and they were such lovely stories
about little fairies, and how they helped children to be good, that
Ella was very sorry when the servant came to take her home.

"I thank you very much, Miss Harper, for reading to us," she said,
"Will you please tell me the name of the book?"

"It is 'The Mirror,'" said Miss Harper, "and I will read to you often
if you will come to see us."

Ella thought about the book all the way home, but she was so tired she
was glad to go to bed after supper, and the next morning she had no
time before school to say anything to her mother about the wonderful
"Mirror."

But after dinner there was a pleasant surprise for her. Her father
called her into his study, and, taking her up, kissed her tenderly,
and said: "I saw your teacher yesterday, and she gave me such a good
account of my little girl that I am very much pleased with her. And
now, if there is anything you would particularly like to have, I will
get it for you, if it does not cost too much. Think a moment, now!
Don't be in a hurry!"

"Oh, papa," exclaimed Ella, "I don't need to t