"Who said I ran the streets?" demanded the girl.
"I have seen it for myself, and I feel very sorry that a bright, clever girl like you, who could be such a useful woman in the world by-and-by, should just throw away all her chances which she will never have again."
"What chances?" asked Jessie, in a more gentle tone.
"The chances to learn all sorts of useful things; how to cook in the most economical way. How to make a house clean and neat. A mistress is always ready to teach her young maid these things, and while she is learning them she is earning a character for herself too, that is of more value than anything else, if she only does her work faithfully and truly, as God's servant, as well as a household servant."
Jessie was evidently touched by the kindly tone in which these words were spoken.
"Thank you, ma'am. I didn't know you cared about me now," she said.
"But I do care for you, and want to see you grow up a happy useful woman, of whom I can be proud to say that she was one of my scholars when she was a girl."
Tears had filled Jessie's eyes while her governess had been speaking.
"If it wasn't so hard," she murmured, "I'd like to please you like that," she said.
"Nothing that is worth having is gained without hard work. Before I could be a teacher, I had to learn many hard lessons, not from books only; although I had to sit learning from books when I would gladly have gone out for a walk, or to see my friends; so that I know what hard work is better than you do."