"After all," said Rollo, after a few moments of silence, "you don't think, Grandma, that quoting that Bible verse made a bad man of him?" "N-o," said Grandma, speaking slowly, giving her head a little doubtful shake the while, "I wouldn't like to say that. Boys do trifle with serious words, sometimes, and get over it, and make good men. I should be sorry _enough_ if I thought they didn't. But then, Jeremiah Carter was exactly that kind of a boy. He had no reverence for the Bible, nor for words of prayer; he was tempted to make fun of everything; and he got so used to it, that after awhile, nothing of that kind shocked him; he became one of these men who pretend not to believe the Bible; and sometimes I have thought that if he had not learned to make light of it when he was a boy, it would not have come so handy when he grew up. Anyhow it always makes me think of Jeremiah Carter when I hear anybody doing it; and he isn't a pleasant body to think of, I can tell you. He died a good many years ago, and they said his last word was a profane one." The grandchildren made no other comments, and Rollo presently began to whistle. He knew one thing; and that was, it was a great temptation to him to quote a Bible verse now and then, for his own use. Not anything so wicked as Jeremiah did, but in a way that his grandmother, he knew, would call "light and trifling." He wasn't sure whether anybody else had noticed this habit and he made up his mind while he whistled, that they should never again have a chance to notice it in him. PANSY. THOMAS AND CLARA. THAT boy and girl in the picture were real persons. They were Thomas and Clara; were born in a certain town in Steuben County, N. Y., ten years apart--though they seem to be almost of the same age--and always knew each other. [Illustration: THOMAS AND CLARA.] Clara was a very thoughtful girl, and anxious to know all about everything--often trying to do things beyond her power. She was also fond of her needle, and at an early age could use it with remarkable skill and rapidity. You need not be surprised to learn that her father used tobacco. Most men do. They begin in boyhood. Many boys think it fine to be men, and that one of the quickest ways to be men is to smoke or chew. So they become deathly sick learning to use tobacco. It is strange. It costs a great sum of money in one's life--enough to buy a home. It makes the breath offensive. It is a very filthy habit and selfish as it is filthy, for though the tobacco user is a great nuisance to many people, especially to ladies, yet he does not seem to care how much others dislike his smoke or breath. He goes right on puffing his cigar or nasty old pipe-fumes into the nostrils and eyes of all who come near. Now Clara's father was no exception. Sometimes he would come into the kitchen or dining-room--the parlor even--and fill the air with tobacco odor.