"I'm going to pray to help him be a good boy."
"That's right, my darling. We will pray now."
[CHAPTER V.]
THE DANDELIONS.
AFTER a pleasant evening spent in conversation with Grandma Kent and Mr. and Mrs. Mason, they were just about retiring, when Mrs. Mason said, with a sigh—
"This is the only time when I can take the least comfort. Joseph is so hasty in temper, and when he is roused, is so furious, that I live in constant dread of an outbreak."
Mrs. Kent glanced toward her sister Mary, as if she would say, "How well I can sympathize with her!"
"I tell my wife," began Mr. Mason, his voice growing angry at the thought of his unruly boy, "that his passion must be checked, or it will render him a maniac. Whip him till he will submit."
"I doubt whether whipping is always the best remedy," suggested Mrs. Kent, mildly.
"You would think differently if you had such a child as Joseph to manage. Why, he's so strong in his fits of passion, that Amanda can do nothing with him. If I'm away, she just lets him thrash about till he's tired."