Golden Moments | Page 5

the
corner, and with his sooty brush sweeps the pages of her new atlas. The
coalheavers turn over her inkstand upon it, and the black fluid comes
streaming down. Aunt Susan's sharp voice calls out, "Mind your dress,
you naughty child."
Minnie puts her hand across it; but the fireman quickly pulls aside the
table-cloth, runs his finger down the stream, and her lap is a pool of
ink.

"Won't you catch it?" says an old woman, with a delighted chuckle; and
the pygmy under the table crawls out, grinning with pleasure.
"We can take the horse to the water, if we cannot make him drink,"
shouts a newsboy in her ear; and with a great deal of tugging and
thumping she feels herself driven closer to her books. But idle hands
make an idle brain, and the pages seem only a blank.
"How long wilt thou sleep, lazy one?" cries a grave face in spectacles
and lawns. With a sleepy feeling she turns her head away from his stern
gaze, only to meet the sterner faces of the judges, who are examining
her untidy copy-book.
"Not a single line written this morning. What have you to say in
self-defence?"
"Please, sir, the acrobat had my pen balanced on his nose," said Minnie
feebly.
"An excuse is worse than a lie," answered one of the judges; "for an
excuse is a lie guarded." The book closed with a bang, and the judge
marched off to consider the verdict.
At this moment Minnie started up in a fright, to find the dinner-bell
ringing, the inkstand upset in her hurry, and no lessons done.
And now she had to go and wash her hands and make herself tidy for
dinner. What would mother say when she came to know how little
Minnie had done that morning?
A ray of sunshine shone through the window of the second house also,
and softly kissed the rosy cheek of little Winnie, as she lay sleeping in
her cot.
"Get up," said a small voice in her ear: "it is your turn to arrange the
schoolroom to-day."
Winnie jumped out of bed, and was dressed in less than no time; for the

good fairy had set her train to wait on her. Her shoes were placed ready
to her feet, her strings did not get into knots, and even her hair was not
tangled.
Running down into the schoolroom, and tying on a large apron, she set
to work to polish the mahogany cupboard with so good a will that Jack
Tar, who stood above it, fairly clapped his hands with glee. Two neat
little maids swept the floor, and two little men with their tiny brushes
took up the dust. The highest shelf in the book-case was soon mounted
by one of the pygmies, whilst two on the next shelf dusted and handed
him the books. The carpet-cleaner stretched and nailed down a corner
of the drugget which had been kicked up. The coachman, footman,
butler, and buttons stood in readiness to carry out the orders of
Policeman X. It was a good thing Policeman X was there; for quite a
crowd had collected to see the work so briskly going on. The three little
pygmies climbed up the rail of a chair to beeswax and polish it. A
bookbinder sat cross-legged on one corner, arranging the loose leaves
of a book; and a fat cobbler sat balanced on the rail below, singing, "A
stitch in time saves nine."
The work was soon done; and when Aunt Susan came into the room
she praised little Winnie, and said the white hen had laid her an egg for
breakfast.
Now, perhaps, you would like to know the names of the two fairies
who attended the little girls. The good fairy was called
Work-with-a-will; the bad fairy, No-will-to-work.
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HELPING MOTHER.
It was a lovely summer's day; there was a hot sun with a nice breeze,
and Mrs. Jones, who had a heavy wash on her hands, was delighted.
"I shall get all dried off before night," she exclaimed, as she hung out
the snowy sheets, and the children's shirts and pinafores, which latter
looked rather like doll's clothes as they hung on the line beside father's

great stockings.
Tommy and Jeannie, of course, were there too, and very busy, as they
had taken it into their heads to plant all the clothes-pegs they could lay
hands upon, under the idea that they would soon grow into cabbages!
"Dear! dear!" exclaimed poor Mrs. Jones, when she turned round,
having filled the line, and found out what her children had been after.
"Did any one ever see such children? I must get them away from the
wash somehow. See now, duckies, I'll get you some cherries off the
tree, and you'll