"Very well, I will take it then," said Mrs. Hausen, seeing that Florry was in earnest. "Mr. Crampton will be very much pleased; for this is a new variety, and better than anything we have. I will tell him to set some cuttings as soon as possible, and then you shall have one. Run and get ready for school, Emma, and you and Florry can go down together. You never did such a thing before, did you, Florry?" she asked, when Emma had gone.
"No, ma'am, never. I never even touched a flower without asking."
"And I don't believe you ever will again. How came you to do it this time?"
"I believe it was because I was so envious," whispered Florry. "I thought it was too bad that Emma should have so many more nice things than I had; and that she should be rich while I was poor. I didn't care anything about all the nice things I had myself, because I thought you had so many more."
"I understand the feeling," said Mrs. Hausen. "I have had it myself."
"You!" said Florry, surprised. "I am sure I thought you had everything that money could buy."
Mrs. Hausen smiled rather sadly.
"There are a good many things that money will not buy, my dear. When my first child was born, it was a very bright, pretty little thing till it was three or four months old. Then it began to pine away, and grow crooked and weakly; and when it was three years old, it could neither walk nor sit up, nor do any of the things that healthy children can do at that age."
"Poor little thing," said Florry, very much interested. "How hard it must have been for you."
"It was, indeed; but I made it harder than it would have been. I let my child's misfortunes make me envious of mothers who had healthy, bright little ones; and I could not bear to have such children near me. I even went so far that, when my sister's child fell downstairs and broke its leg, I found myself, for a moment, hoping that it would always be lame. That opened my eyes to see how wicked I had become. I asked forgiveness for my sin, and set myself resolutely to conquer it; and, I am thankful to say, I succeeded; so that nobody was more glad than I was, when the little boy got quite well."