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Show The Queen's Cloak." Helen hated to sew. Her stitches were loncf and uneven, the thread kinked and broke, the needles grew sticky and squeaked, and she pricked her finger. Helen lived in a little village where sewing wasn't taught in school, and mamma wa3 her teacher. . One day mamma said to the little girl. "Helen, after this vou are going to sew only one hour a week" Helen looked delighted "and," went on mamma, "that hour you are going to Mrs. Stanhope." Stan-hope." ' That pleased Helen still more. Mrs. Stanhope was a widow. Helen knew, and earned her living doing fine sewing. . The nt y. t day Helen went for her lesson. 1 was sewing "over and over" on a square of patchwork. patch-work. "We'll sit in the grape arbor while we sew." said Mrs. Stanhope. It was so pleasant in the giapa arbcr that Helen quite enjoyed her lesson. A few lessons went smoothly. Then one day it rained, and they couldn't sit in the grape arbor-The arbor-The needle creaked dismally in Helen's moist, little lit-tle fhigi rs. "Better use your emery, my dear," suggested Mrs. Stanhope. Next the thread snapped, but instead of cutting the end neatly with her silver scissors and tucking it daintily out of sight she only made a big knot ai:d hurried on. Mrs. Stanhope said nothing just then, but soon she began a story. "When I was a girl," she said and Helen's frown swiftly cleared away "I lived in England. As soon as I was old enough my mother had me taught to sew. All the little girls in the school were sewing, too. First I learned the plain kind" of sewing how to set tiny, even stitches" Helen's stitches suddenly became small and regular "and to tuck in ends and knots" the silver scissor snipped off the clumsy knot, and the short end waa tucked tidily under the edge of the hem. "And then," went on Mr. Stanhope, "I learned t'j embroider. I was taught to have my work as reat on the -yrong side as on the right. Those who shirked were sorry afterward. Because one day our teacher said that the best work done in ou school would be sent to the exhibition, and the qjeen would come to see the exhibition. "We were excited enough over it. Only the best sewers could take part, you see." "Did you take part?" Helen asked. "Yes," 'said Mrs. Stanhope. "I had a cloak to c-mbroidcr for the exhibition. And I worked months on it. It was white, and had a deep border wrought in silk all around it. I took great care because I wanted to have my work as perfect as possible. And I wanted to please my mother, too The cloak took a first prize a blue ribbon! "But one day the queen came to the exhibition, anc she saw the white cloak. And she liked it sc well she bought it. She said she wanted to give it away for a present." "Oh!" cried Helen, breathlessly. "Wasn't that splendid: Do you s'pose I could ever do embroidery embroid-ery like that ?" Tm sure you could," said Mrs. Stanhope, heartily. "There wouldn't be any queen to buy it but you could do it so well a queen would like to have it! And how pleased your mamma would be!" From that day Helen was ambitious to sew well and it wasn't long before mamma had reason tc be proud of her little girl's fine sewing and embroidery. em-broidery. Alice M. Farringfbn in S. S. Times. |