Peggy does not feel the least little bit older than when she climbed the water-wheel, or thrashed Jones minor behind the paling of the cricket-field—if growing old means losing your ideals, and your keen enthusiasm, and your hopefulness, and a certain appreciation of other people's worth which is our birthright when we are young. She is still capable of climbing a tree or scrambling over a hedge when no one is looking, and pursues her hobbies with all her former vigour and energy. She is sometimes almost ashamed of feeling, as she says, so ridiculously young, but after all one's age should not always be measured by one's years, and wherever she may go, or whatever she may do, Peggy will keep that most priceless of possessions, the heart of a little child, without which, equally in this world or the next, it is impossible to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
THE END
Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London and Bungay.
Transcriber's Note:
Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been retained as they appear in the original publication. Changes have been made as follows:
Page 19
In April the cuckoo comes, changed to
['"In] April the cuckoo comes,
Page 143
and went prim little walks changed to
and went [on] prim little walks
Page 164
such invaluable etacher as changed to
such invaluable [teacher] as
Page 172
were not so simply changed to
were not so [simple]