ut if I want to go and be naughty, _you_ can't help yourself!"

Prudy's face took on a look of real distress. What this little queer
mixture of a girl might do, if she really chose to be naughty, it was
not pleasant to fancy.

The two went down stairs together. As they entered the cheerful
dining-room, the joyous sun burst into a round smile, as if he had
thrown off his yesterday's vapors, and never meant to be low-spirited
again. But Dotty looked foggier than ever.

It was a delightful room. The wallpaper was the color of rich cream;
the pictures were beautiful; the table, with its snowy cloth and white
dishes, was pleasant to the eye; still, it was not so much the objects
to be seen as it was the "air" of the room which made it seem so
delightful. You knew at once, as you looked at the people who gathered
around the table that morning, that they all loved one another; and
family love makes any house seem like home.

Grandma Read was there in her plain Quaker cap, with the nicely-starched
kerchief crossed upon her bosom; Mr. Parlin in his drab dressing-gown,
lined with crimson; Mrs. Parlin in a print wrapper, with a linen collar
at the throat, her hair as smooth as satin; the three little girls all
neatly dressed, and all happy but Dotty. Susy's mocking-bird hung in a
cage by one of the windows, and "brother Zip" was lounging in an
arm-chair, catching flies.

After everybody was comfortably seated, and had said "Good morning,"
then a "silent blessing," according to the custom of the Friends, was
asked upon the food. All sat with folded hands, and eyes reverently
fixed upon their plates. Dotty knew very well they were asking to be
made thankful for the excellent breakfast before them. She repeated to
herself several times the sentence she had been taught; for, in spite of
her intention to be naughty, she dared not omit it. When Mr. Parlin
began to pass the butter, she was still looking at her plate, and
startled the whole family by saying aloud, "Amen!"

Grandma looked at the little girl with surprise and disapproval. Dotty
blushed painfully. She had not meant to be irreverent. Next moment she
thought,--

"Now they all s'pose I did that _to purpose_! I don't care if they do!
I'll act worse'n that! I wonder what my father'd say if I should jump
right up and down, and scream?"

It certainly was not safe to try the experiment. Dotty contented herself
by scowling at her dry toast.

But after her father had gone a