“O mother, mother! only a few more stitches! See! O mother, let me go!” But, even while we uttered this piteous wail, we knew that mother could not break her word. When she took her sobbing little girl on her lap, and explained how necessary it was that we should suffer the penalty of our persistent procrastination, if we would ever destroy this bad habit, we were conscious that her grief was deeper than our own, that she suffered with us. We did not soon forget that lesson, and it did not require many similar ones to effect a pretty substantial cure. No one is more strongly tempted to put off till a more convenient season, here and there, some minor duty, than a housekeeper whose cares are many, and helpers very few. By afternoon she is so weary, rest would be very pleasant, but just as she thinks she may indulge in one half-hour’s quiet, some little item rises up that should receive attention to-day. “I have half a mind to let it pass till to-morrow,” but to-morrow has it own duties, and unexpected ones may arise. A few experiments in this most excusable of all procrastinations will teach the folly of the attempt to add to the already filled register of the next day’s work the duties of the present time. The clothes are brought up from the wash; on sorting them out and putting them in place, you find a small hole in this article or a rip in that. You are very tired, your head aches; to thread your needle and mend those few small rips or holes seems a burden. “It is so little I’ll let it go till next week, one week’s more wear can’t make much difference.” And it is laid aside unmended. How is it when it next comes up from the laundry? A huge rent or a most appalling hole is the result. A heavy wind arose when the clothes were on the line, and with every snap a dozen more stitches were added to the work that procrastination has cost you, if indeed the garment is not ruined past any repairing. “A stitch in time saves nine.” Some friends have just left your house. During their visit much work accumulated, while you felt bound to entertain your guests. Either you are with no help, or your servants are very busy, and you say, “I’ll take off the soiled linen from the bed, and leave the room to air a few days, or till a more convenient season.”