“Come, Miss Bell, dry your eyes,” said the maid who _educated_ her; “dry your eyes, and I’ll tell you something that will please you.” “What, then?” said the child, pouting and sobbing. “Why—but you must not tell that I told you.” “No,—but if I am asked?” “Why, if you are asked, you must tell the truth, to be sure. So I’ll hold my tongue, miss.” “Nay, tell me, though, and I’ll never tell—if I _am_ asked.” “Well, then,” said the maid, “your cousin Rosamond is come, and has brought you the most _beautifullest_ thing you ever saw in your life; but you are not to know anything about it till after dinner, because she wants to surprise you; and mistress has put it into her wardrobe till after dinner.” “Till after dinner!” repeated Bell, impatiently; “I can’t wait till then; I must see it this minute.” The maid refused her several times, till Bell burst into another fit of crying, and the maid, fearing that her mistress would be angry with _her_, if Bell’s eyes were red at dinner time, consented to show her the basket. “How pretty!—but let me have it in my own hands,” said Bell, as the maid held the basket up out of her reach. “Oh, no, you must not touch it; for if you should spoil it, what would become of me?” “Become of you, indeed!” exclaimed the spoiled child, who never considered anything but her own immediate gratification—“Become of _you_, indeed! what signifies that—I sha’n’t spoil it; and I will have it in my own hands. If you don’t hold it down for me directly, I’ll tell that you showed it to me.” “Then you won’t snatch it?” “No, no, I won’t indeed,” said Bell; but she had learned from her maid a total disregard of truth. She snatched the basket the moment it was within her reach. A struggle ensued, in which the handle and lid were torn off, and one of the medallions crushed inwards, before the little fury returned to her senses. Calmed at this sight, the next question was, how she should conceal the mischief which she had done. After many attempts, the handle and lid were replaced; the basket was put exactly in the same spot in which it had stood before, and the maid charged the child, “_to look as if nothing was the matter_.” We hope that both children and parents will here pause for a moment to reflect. The habits of tyranny, meanness, and falsehood, which children acquire from living with bad servants, are scarcely ever conquered in the whole course of their future lives. After shutting up the basket they left the room, and in the adjoining passage they found a poor girl waiting with a small parcel in her hand. “What’s your business?” said the maid. “I have brought home the lace, madam, that was bespoke for the young lady.”