"Yes, you are right," said Miss Burton, smiling at the child's hurried explanation. "I am glad you remembered about her, Coral. A Dorcas meeting is called by her name, because it is a gathering at which clothes are made for the poor. I want you and Beryl to be little Dorcases, and make garments for the poor children. I was quite distressed yesterday to see how bare of clothing some of them are obliged to go this bitter weather. Now, some of these cast-off things of yours will cut up nicely for smaller children, and others with a little mending will do as they are. We must have a working meeting once or twice a week, and see how much we can do."
"Oh, that will be nice," cried Coral. "I shall like that, shan't you, Beryl?"
Beryl did not at once reply. She was feeling vexed that Coral should have known about Dorcas when she did not. Moreover, Miss Burton's proposal did not seem a delightful one to her. She was not, like Coral, fond of needlework. Coral could sew pretty well for a little girl of her age, and would amuse herself for a long time with a needle and cotton making doll's clothes, which were often of a very queer cut. But if Beryl undertook any work of the kind, she soon threw it down in disgust. She disliked sewing, and had not sufficient patience to overcome its difficulties. When she worked, her needle was sure to break, or her thread to get into a knot, and her task was never finished unless Miss Burton insisted upon its completion—an exercise of authority fatal to Beryl's good temper.
Miss Burton had hoped that Beryl would interest herself in the proposed Dorcas meeting, and that it would prove a means of overcoming her indolent dislike of sewing.
Perhaps Beryl suspected that there was some such thought in her governess's mind, and felt inclined to resent it. She made no pleasant response to Miss Burton's proposition.
"Can't Lucy make the clothes?" she asked sulkily. "I hate sewing."
"I dare say Lucy will give us a little help," said Miss Burton; "but she has almost as much work as she can manage to do for you and Coral. I don't think you will dislike sewing so much, when you have learned to use your needle more skilfully."
"I don't want to learn," muttered Beryl.
"I am so sorry," returned Miss Burton; "I thought you would have liked our little scholars to have some warm clothes."
"I like them to have the clothes, of course," said Beryl; "but I don't want the trouble of making them."