Such implicit obedience as this “Yes, mum” implied! In fact, there was the promise in it of every one of the cardinal virtues.
The two children then went away through the long hall, whose doors stood wide open in the warm summer afternoon, and Will, dragging along the slower-footed Emily, hurried on to the elm tree.
“Don’t pull so, Will; I shall drop my basket, and my spool and thimble will roll away.”
“What do you want to bother with work for this beautiful afternoon?” inquired Will, slackening his pace.
“I promised mamma I would try and finish it this week,” said Emily, “and I like to keep my word.”
“I thought the machine sewed.”
“So it does; but mamma says I must learn just the same as if there were no machines.”
“Well, I’m glad I’m not a girl, to sit pricking my fingers, and jabbing needles in and out all day.”
Patience was not one of Will’s virtues.
How lovely it was out under the elm! The sweet-scented grass was warm with the afternoon sun, and musical with the chirp and hum of its insect homes. The bees fluttered in and out over mamma’s rose garden, and all the air was filled with the delicate fragrance of the roses.