p a piece of perforated paper, upon which was
wrought one lid of a Bible, and beneath it the words, "I love"--but what
she loved was left for me to imagine.

Beneath the Bible lid I found a stocking, evidently intended for some
baby foot; but it had come to a stand just upon the little heel, and
there it seemed doomed to remain.

Near to the stocking was a needle-book, one cover of which was neatly
made, and upon the other, partly finished, was marked, "To my dear--."

I need not, however, tell you all that I found there; but this much I
can say, that during my travels through that workbox, I found not a
single article complete; and silent and dumb as they were, these
half-finished, forsaken things told me a sad story about that little
girl.

They told me that, with a heart full of generous affection, with a head
full of useful and pretty projects, all of which she had both the means
and the skill to carry into effect, she was still a useless
child,--always doing but never accomplishing her work. It was not a lack
of industry, but a lack of perseverance.

Remember, my dear little friends, that it matters but little what great
thing we undertake. Our glory is not in that, but in what we accomplish.
Nobody in the world cares for what we _mean_ to do; but people will open
their eyes to see what men and women and little children _have_ done.

* * * * *

WHAT'S THE USE

"How much did you ever make by complaining?" asked a man of his
"disgruntled" granddaughter. "Come, now, be honest with yourself, and
think it all out and see if you do not lose by grumbling."

Finding fault is indeed an unprofitable occupation. It "snarls you up
inside," as the little boy said of his hot temper, and so puts you out
of joint with the world that you are sure to find something more to
grumble about, and so it goes from bad to worse all the while.

[Illustration: "_Get away!_"]

SUSY DILLER'S CHRISTMAS FEAST

"Please'm, only a penny. I'm most froze and starved!"

The carriage stood at the edge of the sidewalk, and Mrs. Linley was just
going out with her two children to buy some Christmas gifts. Nellie was
all scarlet and ermine, her sweet, happy face framed in with golden
curls, and Master Frank not a whit behind in elegance, though a trifle
more haughty, as you could tell by the wide distance he gave the
miserable little beggar.

"Get away!" said Mrs. Linley, with a disdainful swee