"I don't think I shall," said Amity modestly. "I almost always do stick to what I begin, because I hate to leave things half done."
"Then there is another talent."
"But, after all, I am a homely little thing," said Amity, recurring to her first grievance. "If only my eyebrows were not so ugly, I don't think I should mind the rest."
"The ancient Greeks would have considered your eyebrows a great beauty," said Mrs. Paget. "I am not going to flatter you, Amity, by telling you that you are pretty, or to say that beauty is of no account. I don't think so. Beauty is like other gifts of God, to be used for his service and glory. He has not seen fit to give it to you, and you must try to be content without it. Your duty toward your neighbors requires you to be neat and tidy, and to dress so as not to offend the taste of those about you. After that, the less you think of your looks the better.
"As to the rest, do whatever comes in your way; help when you can and comfort when you can, and do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, remembering his words, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive,' and 'Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.' Do you love him, my dear?"
Amity looked down on the floor, and a color came to her face which made her look lovely for the moment.
"Yes, ma'am," she whispered. "I love him because he died on the cross for my salvation."
"And have you asked him to show you what he would have you do?"
"I don't think I have," said Amity. "I never thought of it in that way."
"Then let that be your first work. Now we have talked enough; only remember this, my child: every person has at least one talent given him, for which he must answer to him who gave it. Remember, too, that the man who had one talent was the man who hid it away, and was judged and punished accordingly. Now let us go up to the house."