And what about the tidy girl?
All nice and clean is she,
Her pinafore is smooth and straight,
Her hair neat as can be;
No wrinkled sock, or untied lace
Does this neat, tidy girl disgrace.
48. Pussy and the Knitting.
I wonder if you have heard of pussy getting mother's knitting and making it all in a tangle. These are the verses about it:—
PUSS IN MISCHIEF.[11]
1. "Where are you, kitty?
Where are you?—say.
I've scarcely seen you
At all to-day.
2. "You're not in mischief,
I hope, my dear;
Ah! now I have found you.
How came you here?
3. "That's mother's knitting,
You naughty kit;
Oh! such a tangle
You've made of it.
4. "'Twas that which kept you
So very still;
Mamma will scold you,
I know she will."
5. Then puss comes to me,
And rubs her fur
Against my fingers,
And says "purr, purr".
6. I know she means it
To say, "Don't scold,"
So close in my arms
My puss I hold.
7. And then I tell her,
My little pet,
That mother's knitting
She must not get.
8. The wool will never
Be wound, I fear;
But mother forgives
My kitty dear.
I do not suppose that pussy would know she was doing anything naughty in tangling the wool, but a child would know, of course, that wool must be kept straight and tidy if it is to be of use.
49. The Packing of the Trunks.
Nellie and Madge were two little girls getting ready to go for a visit to grandmamma. She lived many miles away, and the children were to go by train and stay with her for a whole month.
Their clothes were all laid on the bed ready for packing, and as mother wanted them to grow up helpful girls, she said they might put the things in the boxes themselves. So Nellie and Madge began to pack. Nellie took each article by itself, and laid it carefully in the box without creasing, putting all the heavier things at the bottom, and the dresses and lighter articles at the top. When she had laid them all in, the lid just closed nicely, and her work was finished.
Then she turned to see what Madge was doing. Madge had not packed more than half her pile, and the box was full. "What shall I do?" she cried, "I cannot get them all in." Just then mamma came up and said: "Have you finished, children? it is nearly train time". Her eyes fell on the box Madge was packing, and she exclaimed, "Oh! Madge, you have put the clothes in anyhow, everything must be taken out!" Madge had just thrown them in "higgledy-piggledy," instead of laying them straight, and they came out a crumpled heap. She was so hot and flurried, and so afraid of being late for the train, that she could hardly keep the tears back, but mamma and Nellie helped to straighten the things, and to pack them neatly, and just as the cab drove up to the door the last frock was laid in the box, and the lid went down without any trouble. Madge remembered to take more pains next time she packed her box.