The following morning, when Mrs. Benson desired Fanny to read, she was very naughty, and would not say a letter. "Well," said her aunt, "if you will not read you shall neither play nor walk, so when I go out I shall leave you at home." Fanny persisted in her ill-humour, and was therefore obliged to spend the morning alone, instead of enjoying a pleasant ramble in the fields. When Mrs. Benson returned, she asked her niece if she would then try to read, "because," added she "till you have done so, you may be assured I will grant you no amusement." Fanny perceiving that her aunt was quite determined to keep her word, at length took up the book and read as well as she could. Mrs. Benson, pleased with her compliance, made no allusion to her former obstinacy, but gave her a pretty sattin pincushion, telling her that if she would try to be a good child she should love her dearly. From this time Fanny began to amend; at first she found it very difficult to restrain her temper, but the more she tried, the easier she found the task: and though during the first few months of her residence at Mrs. Benson's she frequently forgot the good resolutions she had formed, yet she was always sincerely sorry for her faults, and endeavoured to make amends by doing whatever she thought would restore her to her aunt's favour. Thus Mrs. Benson had the satisfaction of seeing a child whom she had formerly known so undutiful and ill-tempered, become by degrees quite amiable and obliging: the alteration in her was so great, that when at the end of a year Mrs. Benson carried her to pay a visit to her family, they could hardly trace any resemblance between Fanny such as she now was, and the naughty little girl who had given them so much trouble. She staid in London three weeks, during which time the cloud of ill-humour scarcely once ruffled her brow. At the end of that time Mrs. Benson wished to return home, and Fanny begged to accompany her, fearing that if deprived of her aunt's counsel before her good habits were entirely fixed, she might relapse into her former errors. Several years are now past since these events happened. Fanny has been constantly improving, she is now the delight of her family, and the favourite of all who know her. Let the history of Fanny teach all little girls that to be _good_ is to be _happy_! * * * * * "What an interesting story," said Anne, as she shut the book: "now I find what a silly thing it is to be naughty, I will always try to be good." _Mrs. Harley._ Do my dear child, and you will be sure of success. It gives me pleasure to see you so attentive to the instructions contained in the stories you read. SECOND LESSON. _Mrs. Harley._ We talked about letters yesterday: to-day I will explain figures or numbers to you, the following is a list of them: those letters which stand for numbers are called _numeral letters_.