Hatty and Marcus | Page 9

as she prepared to lie down, she wondered how he
could have borne such suffering without one murmur. Hatty had a
perfect horror of pain. Her skin was thin and delicate, and even the
grasp of a rough hand on her arm was sure to leave a bruise. Her
usually pleasant face was clouded over by a scratch or a pin-prick, and
her tears often fell fast for a wound that many children would have met
with a smile. Hatty was naturally very sensitive to pain, and that was
not her fault; but she had never yet begun to try to bear it patiently, as a
part of her christian duty. As she lay down that night, she resolved to be
more patient under, little trials, and to make light of little pains.
Hatty's new resolution was soon put to the test. She had hardly put her
head on the pillow, before she became conscious that her couch was
anything but a bed of roses.

Meg had consoled herself for going to sleep in a strange room by
herself, by munching hard crackers until that pleasure was lost in the
new joy of the dreams of childhood. The bed was strewn with the
crumbs, and through her thin night-dress Hatty could feel them in all
directions. After brushing them this way and that way, Hatty jumped
out of bed with an angry bound, and proceeded to light the candle and
rectify the mischief in a systematic manner.
"The troublesome little thing!" exclaimed Hatty, as she saw a half-eaten
cracker lying in Meg's loosened grasp. "She ought to be punished for
it!"
At that moment Hatty thought of her resolution to be patient under
trifling discomforts, and a feeling of mortification came over her. Very
quietly she brushed away the offending crumbs, gently she removed the
half-eaten cracker, and then she knelt to ask forgiveness for this new
exhibition of her hasty temper, ere she again lay down to rest.
Hatty was soon in a sweet sleep; but shortly after midnight she was
awakened by a feeling very much as if a broom-handle were thrust
against her, while at the same time Meg exclaimed, "Do move, Hatty,
you crowd so. I wish you would'nt come on my side of the bed."
Meg was a thin bony little creature, and the children all dreaded a
punch with her sharp elbows almost as much as one of her scientific
pinches.
Hatty's tender side actually ached, but she made an effort to say, gently,
"Meg, you must be dreaming; wake up!"
"I am not asleep at all!" said Meg, pettishly. "I wish you would move!"
Hatty passed her hand along the seam of the sheet (Mrs. Lee used her
old-fashioned sheets on the children's beds) to assure herself that she
was on her own side of the bed, and then she was going to tell Meg that
it was she who was out of place; but something checked her, and she
only said, pleasantly, "Never mind, Meg, where the middle of the bed
is,--you shall have all the room you want;" and making way for her

little friend with the sharp elbows, Hatty composed herself again to
sleep, with a far happier feeling than if she had contended for her
rights.
Once she was going to say, "O Meg, it hurts me still where you
punched me," but she checked the words, and thought how trifling was
such a pain compared with the nails in the hands of our great example,
who has bid us follow him in his patience, as well as in perfect purity.
Hatty's long ride from her grandmother's, a distance of sixteen miles,
and the excitement of her return home, made her sleep very soundly,
when not disturbed, and she would gladly have continued her nap until
the rousing bell gave forth its summons.
Meg was something like the uneasy birds who twitter at midnight on
their perches, and wake at dawn to sing, as if they never knew the need
of rest.
By the first grey streak of morning she began to stir, and was soon wide
awake and full of glee at finding herself in her new quarters.
Hatty turned her back resolutely, but in vain. Meg was not to be so
easily disposed of. Hatty was going to say some hasty words to Meg, as
she twitched away from her, when Meg pleaded, "Do wake up, sister
Hatty. It is Sunday morning."
"Sunday morning!" that thought brought Hatty to herself--and making
an effort to throw off her sleepiness, she turned towards Meg, and said,
"Well, then, give me a nice kiss to begin the day."
Meg gave the kiss with real good will, and then, nestling up close to
Hatty, she began to talk as if her tongue needed