V.
The builder started, as the heading in the evening paper caught his eye—“Terrible Bridge Accident—Who is to Blame?”
“Why, why, it’s the bridge of the shallow pier!” he exclaimed. “People will find out that I am the one to blame!”
“Shall I run away?” he wondered, and sat for hours with his head in his hands.
Suddenly he threw back his shoulders and said aloud, “No, I will not run away. I will stay and do what I can to make the bridge right and never neglect my duty again!”
Do you wonder that the good fairy of carefulness, and thoroughness, smiled and whispered, “I wish he could have learned his lesson more easily!”
MEMORY GEM
If a task is once begun
Never leave it till it’s done;
Be the labor great or small
Do it well, or not at all.
—Phœbe Cary.