lity in all
their worst points.

This unamiable and dangerous propensity of their daughter, gave great
pain to Mr. and Mrs. Evering, who tried in vain to correct it. They
represented to her that as parents cannot be _constantly_ on their guard
in presence of their own family, and that as grown persons do not
_always_ remember or observe when children are in the room, many things
are inadvertently said, which, though of little consequence as long as
they remain unknown, may be of great and unfortunate importance if
disclosed and exaggerated. And as children are incapable of forming an
accurate judgment as to what may be told with safety, or what ought to
be kept secret, their wisest and most proper course is to repeat no
remarks and to relate no conversations whatever; but more particularly
those which they may chance to hear from persons older than themselves.

But neither reproof nor punishment seemed to make any lasting impression
on Rosamond Evering; and scarce a day passed that she did not exhibit
some vexatious specimen of her besetting sin. A few instances will
suffice.

Mrs. Evering had a very excellent cook, a black woman, that had lived
with her more than six years, and whom she considered an invaluable
servant. One morning, when Venus (for that was her name) had just left
the parlour, after receiving her orders for dinner, Mr. Evering
remarked, in a low voice, to his lady, "Certainly, the name of Venus
was never so unsuitably bestowed as on this poor woman. I have rarely
seen a negro whose face had a greater resemblance to that of a baboon."
In this remark Mrs. Evering acquiesced.

Rosamond was at this time sitting in a corner, looking over her lessons.
Just before she went to school, her mother thought of a change in the
preparations for dinner, and not wishing to give the old cook the
trouble of coming up from the kitchen a second time, she desired
Rosamond to go down and tell Venus she would have the turkey boiled
rather than roasted. Rosamond went down and delivered the message; but
fixing her eyes on the cook's face, she thought she had never seen Venus
look so ugly, and she said to her, "Venus, my father thinks you are the
ugliest negro he ever saw (_even for a negro_) and he says your face is
just like a monkey's, only worse." Having made this agreeable
communication, Rosamond went out of the kitchen and departed for school,
leaving Venus speechless with anger and astonishment; for though in
other