at she is not a person I wish for a neighbor.
And I have heard enough about Annie, too, to feel very sure she is not a
safe companion for my little daughter."

"But, mother," said Susy, "you are not--you don't feel 'stuck up' above
Mrs. Lovejoy?"

Mrs. Parlin smiled.

"That is not a very proper expression, Susy; but I think I do not feel
_stuck-up_ above her in the least. I am only anxious that my little
daughter may not be injured by bad examples. I don't know what sort of a
little girl Annie might be with proper influences, but--"

"Now, mamma, I don't want to say anything improper," said Susy,
earnestly; "but wouldn't it be the _piousest_ for me to play with Annie,
and try to make her go to Sabbath school, and be better?"

Mrs. Parlin did not answer at once. She was thinking of what she had
said to Susy about people who are "home missionaries," and do a great
deal of good by a beautiful example.

"If you were older, dear, it would be quite different. But, instead of
improving Annie, who is a self-willed child, I fear you would only grow
worse yourself. She is bold, and you are rather timid. She wants to
lead, and not to follow. I fear she will set you bad examples."

"I didn't know, mamma; but I thought I was almost old enough to set my
_own_ examples! I'm the oldest of the family."

Susy said no more about becoming a home-missionary to Annie; for,
although she could not quite see the force of her mother's reasoning,
she believed her mother was always right.

"But what does she mean by calling me _timid_? She has blamed me a great
deal for being _bold_."

Yes, bold Susy certainly was, when there was a fence to climb, a pony to
ride, or a storm to be faced; but she was, nevertheless, a little
faint-hearted when people laughed at her. But Susy was learning every
day, and this time it had been a lesson in moral courage. She did not
fully understand her mother, however, as you will see by and by.

CHAPTER X.

RUTHIE TURNER.

"The darkest day,
Wait till to-morrow, will have passed away."

The next morning, Susy woke with a faint recollection that something
unpleasant had occurred, though she could not at first remember what it
was.

"But I didn't do anything wrong," was her second thought. "Now, after I
say my prayers, the next thing I'll feed--O, Dandy is dead!"

"See here, Susy," said Percy, coming into the dining-room, just after
breakfast; "did you ever see this cage