"I left her five minutes ago, trying to thread a needle," replied Anna.
"She is a long while about it," said Mrs. Ludlow. "Send her to me."
When Lucy entered the room, her mother asked her what she had been about; and Lucy replied, "I have been teaching myself to thread a needle."
"But you have been a long time about it," said mother.
"I will tell you why," continued Lucy. "When I went to walk with papa yesterday, he saw me get over a stone-wall, which I did rather clumsily: so he said, 'A thing that is worth doing at all is worth doing well. Let me teach you how to get over a wall quickly and gracefully.'"
"So he gave you a lesson in getting over walls, did he?"
"Yes, mother: he kept me at it at least half an hour; and now I can get over a wall as quickly and well as any boy."
"But what has getting over walls to do with threading a needle?"
"Only this: I thought I would apply papa's rule, and learn to do well what I was trying to do. So I have been threading and unthreading the needle, till now I can thread it easily."
"You have done well to heed your father's advice," said Mrs. Ludlow. "If you do not see the importance of it now, you will see it often in your life as you grow older."