'Don't like it all the same. We can't all be like Miss Nightingale, Miss Phelps, and the rest.' So what can we do but sit in a corner and look on?' asked a plain girl with a dissatisfied expression. 'Cultivate cheerfulness and content, if nothing else. But there are so many little odd jobs waiting to be done that nobody need “sit idle and look on”, unless she chooses,' said Mrs Meg, with a smile, laying on the girl's head the new hat she had just trimmed. 'Thank you very much. Yes, Mrs Brooke, I see; it's a little job, but it makes me neat and happy--and grateful,' she added, looking up with brighter eyes as she accepted the labour of love and the lesson as sweetly as they were given. 'One of the best and most beloved women I know has been doing odd jobs for the Lord for years, and will keep at it till her dear hands are folded in her coffin. All sorts of things she does--picks up neglected children and puts them in safe homes, saves lost girls, nurses poor women in trouble, sews, knits, trots, begs, works for the poor day after day with no reward but the thanks of the needy, the love and honour of the rich who make Saint Matilda their almoner. That's a life worth living; and I think that quiet little woman will get a higher seat in Heaven than many of those of whom the world has heard.' 'I know it's lovely, Mrs Bhaer; but it's dull for young folks. We do want a little fun before we buckle to,' said a Western girl with a wide-awake face. 'Have your fun, my dear; but if you must earn your bread, try to make it sweet with cheerfulness, not bitter with the daily regret that it isn't cake. I used to think mine was a very hard fate because I had to amuse a somewhat fretful old lady; but the books I read in that lonely library have been of immense use to me since, and the dear old soul bequeathed me Plumfield for my “cheerful service and affectionate care”. I didn't deserve it, but I did use to try to be jolly and kind, and get as much honey out of duty as I could, thanks to my dear mother's help and advice.' 'Gracious! if I could earn a place like this, I'd sing all day and be an angel; but you have to take your chance, and get nothing for your pains, perhaps. I never do,' said the Westerner, who had a hard time with small means and large aspirations. 'Don't do it for the reward; but be sure it will come, though not in the shape you expect. I worked hard for fame and money one winter; but I got neither, and was much disappointed. A year afterwards I found I had earned two prizes: skill with my pen, and Professor Bhaer.' Mrs Jo's laugh was echoed blithely by the girls, who liked to have these conversations enlivened by illustrations from life. 'You are a very lucky woman,' began the discontented damsel, whose soul soared above new hats, welcome as they were, but did not quite know where to steer. 'Yet her name used to be “Luckless Jo”, and she never had what she wanted till she had given up hoping for it,' said Mrs Meg.