CHAPTER XVI
THINK HELP!
ETHEL BROWN'S head had been turned by the praise she received after the fire. So many people complimented her on her coolness and daring that she began to think that she had done something extraordinary. Her feeling was increased by Ethel Blue's attitude of humiliation over her own terror on that occasion. She told her cousin frankly that she thought she had been perfectly wonderful and Ethel Brown could see that Ethel Blue had never forgotten that she herself made but a poor showing in the emergency. She did not stop to think that Ethel Blue was a far more nervous girl than she, and that it was entirely natural for her to do without thinking what required a distinct effort on the part of Ethel Blue.
As a result of holding this extremely good opinion of herself, Ethel Brown's manner had become so condescending that Mrs. Morton was obliged to call her attention to it. It was a painful enlightenment for Ethel Brown. She loved Ethel Blue as if she were a sister, and she never consciously would have been unkind to her; yet not only had she been behaving in a way that would not help the more delicate girl to better her failing but she was becoming not an agreeable young person to have about.
"Oh, Mother," she sobbed, "I must be just awful! What can I do? Tell me what to do!"
"The very first thing to do is to houseclean your mind."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You must first rid your mind of the idea that you are a remarkable young woman. You did your duty well, but there is nothing so astonishing in doing one's duty that a person need dwell on it forever after. Do your duty as a matter of course and then forget that you have done it and go on to the next duty."
"But it's exciting to think that you've done something very well."