required to show herself much more than ever before. Katy did not
repine at this, though her mother did, for their pride, as my
young friends have discovered, was of very different kinds.
Katy did wish she had a little better dress, and a little better
bonnet for her first attempt in the mercantile
calling; but there
was no help for it. She had mended her clothes as well as she
could, and as they were clean, she was pretty well satisfied with
her personal appearance. Besides, people would not be half so apt
to buy her candy if she were well dressed, as if she were rather
plainly clothed. In short, it was all for the best.
After breakfast she prepared herself for the duties of the day.
Her heart beat
violently" target="_blank" title="ad.强暴地;猛烈地">
violently with
anxiety and
expectation, and while
she was placing the candy on the tray, which she had previously
covered with white paper. to render her wares the more inviting,
her mother gave her a long lecture on the trials and difficulties
in her path, and the proper way to
encounter them.
"Now, my dear child," said Mrs. Redburn, in
conclusion "if any
evil person
insults you, do not
resent it, but run away as fast
as you can."
"Shan't I say anything, mother?"
"Not a word."
"But if some
naughty boy or girl, no bigger than I am myself,
should be saucy to me, I think I can give them as good as they
send."
"Don't do it, Katy."
"They have no business to
insult me."
"That is very true; but when you use bad or
violent language to
them, you go down to their level."
"But if they begin it?"
"No matter, Katy; if they are
unkind and
wicked, it is no reason
that you should be
unkind and
wicked. If you leave them without
resenting their
insults, the chances are that they will be
ashamed of themselves before you get out of sight. You need not
be low and vile because others are."
"I guess you are right, mother."
"You know what the Bible says: `If thine enemy
hunger, feed him;
if he
thirst, give him drink, for in so doing thou shalt heap
coals of fire on his head.' "
"I won't say a word, mother,
whatever they say to me. I'll be as
meek as Moses."
"I hope you will not be gone long," added Mrs. Redburn.
"I have thirty sticks of candy here. I don't think it will take
me long to sell the whole of them. I shall be back by dinner time
whether I sell them or not for you know I must go to Mrs. Gordon
again to-day. Now, good-by, mother, and don't you worry about me,
for I will do everything just as though you were looking at me."
Katy closed the door behind her, and did not see the great tears
that slid down her mother's pale cheek as she
departed. It was
well she did not, for it would have made her heart very sad to
know all the sorrow and
anxiety that distressed her mother as she
saw her going out into the
crowded streets of a great city, to
expose herself to a thousand temptations. She wept long and
bitterly in the
solitude of her
chamber, and perhaps her wounded
pride caused many of her tears to flow. But better thoughts came
at last, and she took up the Bible which lay on the bed, and read
a few passages. Then she prayed to God that he would be with Katy
in the midst of the crowd, and guide her
safely through the
perils and temptations that would
assail her. She tried to banish
her foolish pride, when she considered her circumstances, she
could almost believe it was a
wicked pride; but when she
endeavored to be reconciled to her lot, the thought of her
father's fine house, and the servants that used to wait upon her,
came up, and the struggle in her heart was very
severe. In spite
of all she had said to Katy about the
disgrace of selling candy
in the streets, she could not but be
thankful that the poor girl
had none of her foolish pride. She read in the New Testament
about the lowly life which Jesus and the apostles led, and then
asked herself what right she had to be proud. And thus she
struggled through the long hours she remained alone--
trying to be
humble,
trying to be good and true. Those who labor and struggle
as hard as she did are always the better for it, even though they
do not
achieve a perfect
triumph over the passions that torment
them.
Katy blushed when she met the
keeper of the
grocery at the corner
of the court, for in spite of all her fine talk about false
pride, she had not entirely banished it from her heart. Some
queer ideas came into her head as she thought what she was doing.
What would her
grandfather, the rich Liverpool merchant, say,
should he meet her then? Of course he would not know her; he
would be
ashamed of her. But she did not permit such reflections
as these to influence her; and as soon as she was
conscious of
the nature of her thoughts she banished them.
"I'm going to support my mother, and I have no right to be proud.
If I meet my
grandfather, I should like to sell him twenty sticks
of candy."
"Hallo, Katy! What are you going to do?" said a voice behind,
which she recognized as that of her friend Tommy Howard.
"I'm going to sell this candy," replied Katy.
"You're a spunky one; mother told me all about it. I should like
two sticks," said Tommy, as he offered her the money.
"Take two, Tommy, and as many more as you like."
"Two is all I want;" and he placed the two cents on the tray.
"No, Tommy, I won't take your money," replied Katy, with a blush,
for she felt
ashamed to take his money.
"That's no way to trade," laughed Tommy. "You won't make much, it
you do so. Keep the money and I will keep the candy."
"I can't keep it, Tommy."
"You must; if you don't take the money, I won't take the candy."
"I owe you two cents, Tommy. I will pay you now."
"No, you don't!"
"Please to take them; I shall feel very bad, if you don't."
Tommy Howard looked her in the eye a moment; he saw a tear there.
Her pride was wounded, and he took the two cents from the tray,
for he did not wish to give her pain.
"Now, we are square, Tommy," said Katy, as her face brightened up
again.
"Yes, we are, but I don't like it pretty well. One of these days,
when you get out of this
scrape, I will let you give me as much
candy as you have a mind to."
This was very obliging of Tommy; and when Katy understood his
motive, she was sorry she had not permitted him to pay for the
candy, for she saw that he did not feel just right about the
transaction. It was not exactly mercantile, but then the heart
comes before
commerce. As she walked along, she could not help
thinking that her natural
generosity might
seriously interfere
with the profits of her
enterprise. She had a great many friends;
and it became a knotty question for her to decide whether, if she
met any of her school companions, she should give each of them a
stick of candy. She would like to do so very much indeed; but it
was certain she could not afford to
pursue such a
liberal policy.
It was a hard question, and, hoping she should not meet any of
her schoolmates, she determined to refer it to her mother for
settlement.
When she got into Washington Street, she felt that the time for
action had come. Now was the time to sell candy; and yet she did