CHAPTER VIII.

"Mamma!" said Susy, one day as they were walking home from church, "there is a little girl in my class at Sunday-school, who loves me dearly. She always hugs my hands and hugs them."

Her mamma smiled, and said, "Then I hope you 'hugged' hers too."

"I was afraid to," said Susy.

"Then that little girl was disappointed, I dare say. You should have let her see that you were grateful to her for loving you."

"I turned my head away round--so--" said Susy.

"Instead of that you should have smiled, and looked kindly at her, as much as to say, I like to have you love me, and I love you, too."

Susy looked down, and smiled. "I was afraid to," she said again.

They walked along together in silence for some time. At last Susy quite forgot what they had been talking about, and began to think what a pleasant day it was, and how sweet and fresh the air felt, and how nice it was to walk with her dear papa and mamma, and while she thought thus, she clasped the hand she held, more firmly and lovingly. Her mamma, however, took no notice of this, and turned her head away.

Susy felt hurt.

"Mamma does not love me a bit," thought she, and she was going to draw away her hand.

Her mamma looked down and smiled and said playfully: "Oh! I felt your little, loving squeeze, but I was afraid to take any notice of it."

Susy smiled too. She never forgot this little lesson, and it was useful to her as long as she lived.

Children should not only learn to observe little tokens of love, but to be grateful for them.

"Mamma, was I a good girl in church?" said Susy, when they reached home.

"Yes, pretty good. But I must tell you something about a dear little boy, whose life you shall read, as soon as you are old enough. When asked if there were many children at Sunday-school, he said: 'I don't know, for when I am there, I never dare to look round.' Now your little hands were very good in church; and so were your little feet. But I thought your eyes and ears were not so good."

"My eyes looked round a good deal," said Susy. "But my ears _couldn't_ do any thing naughty."

"Yes they could, dear Susy, by not listening to what was said. Did they hear any thing at all?" "No, mamma. I was busy, thinking. I thinked about my dollies."

"But we do not go to church to think about dollies. We go to praise God, and hear about Him."

"Big people don't have any dollies," said Susy.

"But they have other things that they like as well. And when they first go into church they ask God to help them not to think about any thing but Himself, and to hear what is said. For in the Bible it speaks of those who having ears, hear not--and I do not want my little Susy to be one of those."

Susy then went up stairs to the nursery, where she found Robbie asleep in his cradle. She went up to him and putting her mouth close to his ear, shouted, "Robbie! Robbie!"

Robbie opened his eyes, turned over and smiled.

"You naughty, naughty girl!" said his nurse, "to wake your brother up. I'll tell your mamma, and she'll punish you well."

"I didn't mean to wake him up," said Susy. "I only wanted to see if he was one of those who having ears, hear not. And I guess he isn't, he wakes up so easy."

"I'll tell your mamma the very first thing. He will be just as cross as two sticks. Just as I had got him to sleep! It is too bad!"

Susy looked quite puzzled to know what she had done. She ran down to her mamma, and told her all about it.

"Was I naughty, mamma?" she asked.

"Yes, I think you were. For you know how often I have told you there must be no noise when Robbie was asleep. And then it was wrong to use God's holy words to play with."

Susy sighed. "Oh! dear!" said she. "First my ears are naughty, and then my tongue. But they are sorry, mamma."

Her mamma kissed her, and told her to go up stairs and amuse Robbie, as she had made him lose his nap. So Susy went, and said in a pleasant voice to Nurse:

"I've come to 'muse Robbie because I woke him up," and Nurse smiled and said:

"Well you _are_ a good child when you aren't naughty."