"Yes, it is a duty for you to do that which you have promised to do, is it not?"
"Yes, mamma; but I need not have promised if I did not choose."
"No, you need not; but now that you have undertaken it of your own free will, that makes it all the more a duty for you to finish it in time. Will you sew on it a little while this afternoon, after you have had your lunch?"
"No, mamma, I think not," said Lily. "Maggie and Bessie are going to ask their mamma if they can have us for a sewing meeting at their house, and I'll wait and see what they say. It will be fun."
Mrs. Norris sighed as Lily gleefully rolled up her work and tossed it upon the table. This was not a very good beginning.
"Put it away in the large work-box, dear," she said.
"Presently, mamma; I'm just going to tell Nora about it."
"No, Lily, put it away at once. And remember, my darling, that I shall not allow Nora to finish it for you if you fall behindhand through your own fault."
"Oh, no, mamma," said Lily, as she obeyed her mother's order; "but I would have put it away in a minute or two."