Christian life -- Juvenile fiction; Girls -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Grandmothers -- Juvenile fiction
"I don’t see _what_ you can do," said poor Elsa, bravely refraining from
an angry retort. There were those among her acquaintances who were wont
to declare that she had not sufficient spirit to hold her own with her
somewhat tyrannical twin sister. But Elsa Franklyn had lately learnt
that it is "the soft answer that turneth away wrath;" and although she
was often sorely tempted to return evil for evil, she remembered Him who
never answered back, and day by day the quiet, unobtrusive girl was
growing more like the Saviour whom she humbly sought to please.
"Hadn’t you better change your dress, Olive," she suggested, as her
sister twisted the skirt, first this way, and then that, to get a better
idea of the extent of the damage.
"Quite a brilliant idea, Miss Elsa," was Olive’s sarcastic reply; "just
what I was going to do." And the girl, who knew she had only her own
carelessness to thank for the catastrophe, gave the unoffending chair
such a kick with her foot as she was going out of the door, that the
saucer, which was still upon it, slid off the shiny seat, and falling on
the linoleum-covered floor, was smashed into little bits.
"Oh, Olive!"
"Horrid, aggravating thing!" cried the hot-tempered girl. "Won’t old
Cookey be mad, though? She wanted to find an odd one, but she couldn’t,
so she gave me one of the kitchen set. I _shall_ catch it, when she
knows. But there’s no hurry about that, the frock’s the worst."
Meanwhile, Elsa had been carefully collecting all the broken bits of
china into an old box-lid, and was wiping up the floor with some rag
they had been using to clean their woodwork with. For a minute she was
inclined to let Olive bear the brunt of the cook’s wrath, as a
punishment for her silly outburst of temper, but the next she said
quietly: "I will take this down to the kitchen, Ollie, and explain to
cook, while you go and change your frock. And if I can find Kathleen
anywhere, I will send her up to you. She will know what had better be
done to it."
With an incomprehensive look at Elsa, as if such conduct were beyond her
ken, Olive burst out, "Well, you are a dear good creature, Elsa; I’m
sorry now I was cross to you," and she looked affectionately into the
quiet face Elsa lifted to hers, as she rose from her stooping posture.
They were never at variance for long, this pair of twins, for if Olive
was careless and hot-tempered she was also generous and affectionate.
"I know you didn’t mean it," was all Elsa said, but the smile which
irradiated her face at the words of commendation was good to see.
Elsa soon put matters right with cook (who had been for many years a
faithful servant in the doctor’s busy household) and was on her way to
find Kathleen, when she heard her name called.
"Elsa, dear!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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