"Joseph, don't let me know you to do so again!
"Joseph Saunders, I forbid you to go to my drawers!"
Than he did to the sighing and moaning of the autumnal wind. She recommended that he be placed in a good school, where, for six hours every day, he be under a proper influence and restraint, or that a private governess be taken into the house.
How many times, in after years, did Mr. Saunders regret he had not acted upon this last piece of advice!
Mrs. Collins resided in a quiet country town. Her husband was a physician, and kept a small shop of medicines more for the convenience of his neighbors than from any advantage which accrued to himself. They had one son, who was at an academy pursuing studies preparatory to entering college, and a daughter one year older than Alice.
There was but one church and society in the whole village, over which the Reverend Mr. Allen had been settled for a score of years.
The district schoolhouse, where Mr. Collins's children had been thoroughly taught the rudiments of knowledge, was but a short distance from their home and to this the lady determined to send her niece.
For the winter term, a gentleman of high attainments had been engaged, and Mary Collins, also, expected to become a pupil.
Though scarcely a day passed, without some trials with the impulsive, untutored girl; yet her aunt hoped much from the silent influences which surrounded her. From Mary, too, she expected great assistance by inspiring in the mind of her cousin a love for virtue. This young girl was an earnest, sincere Christian, and, though modest and unobtrusive in her manners, extremely decided where principle was involved.
In the centre of the village, there was one large variety store, sufficient to satisfy most of the wants of the residents. As Mr. Saunders, without his sister's knowledge, had liberally supplied his daughter with pocket-money, she used to invent a variety of excuses for visiting the store, where she had seen one small shelf devoted to jars of confectionery.