"I am going down to Mrs. O'Brien's with some milk."
"Give me a drink—will you?"
"I can't; it is for the poor widow's children. I suppose they won't have any supper till they get this milk."
"Yes, they will. I won't drink but a little of it."
"No, I can't give you any. It would not be right for me to do so."
"Pooh! You needn't pretend to be so good all at once. You are no better than I am."
"I didn't say I was. Only I shall not give you any of this milk, when it is for the poor woman's children; so you needn't ask me," replied Kate, with a great deal of spirit.
Some people think, when they do anything that is right, they ought to make a great parade over it; but this only shows that they are not much in the habit of doing right, and they wish to get all the credit they can for it.
It was so with Kate. She ought to have been content with merely doing her duty, without "talking large" about it. Fanny felt that she was just as good as Kate, and she was angry when the latter made a needless show of her intention to do what she believed to be right.