"When you were at Chalecoo last summer, did not the Lord Jesus give you work to do for Him, such as you had no thought of?"
"Yes," said Maggie, softened at once; "and it was a very happy work; and I am very glad He made us of a heart to do it."
"And if you ask Him, darling, He will always give you a heart to do the work He puts in your way," said grandmamma.
"But, grandmamma," said Maggie, "how could I find work for Him in school? Miss Ashton would not have children like Lem and Dolly in her class."
"No," answered Mrs. Stanton. "The children you will meet there are all probably more or less well taught; but you may still find something to do for Jesus. But the work which He gives us is not always that which we have chosen or planned for ourselves. It may be that your task will be only that of which you have just spoken—to learn your lessons well, to be obedient and respectful to Miss Ashton, gentle and patient with your schoolmates; yet all may be done for the love of Jesus, and to His glory and praise. There is a lovely hymn which asks that one may be made more careful to please God perfectly than to serve Him much. That means that it is far more pleasing to Him to have us take up cheerfully and gratefully the small duty which lies straight before us, than it is to have us pass that by while we search for some more grand task, or self-sacrifice, which we may choose to think is His work. I can tell you a story of a great mistake which I made in that way once. Would you like to hear it?"
The children both assented eagerly, and settled themselves comfortably to listen to grandmamma's story.
CHAPTER II.
GRANDMAMMA'S STORY.
"I was a good deal older than either of you," said Mrs. Stanton, "when the things happened of which I am going to tell you, for I was nearly fourteen years of age; but still the story may interest and be of use to you.
"Up to that time, I had always been taught at home, partly by a governess, who also taught my younger sisters, Emily and Bertha, partly by my father, who was a man fond of study, and who took great pleasure in teaching what he knew to others, especially his own children. I was a scholar after his own heart, for I learned easily and with little trouble to myself or my instructors; and I had a wonderful memory, which seldom let anything slip which I had once heard or studied. I was very proud of my ready memory, forgetting that it was quite as much a gift from God as beauty, riches, or any other good thing which He gives to His creatures. I may say, now, that I was really very forward for my age; and my father and mother also took great pride in me, particularly the former, who was anxious to show off my learning on every occasion.