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Show Mary's Act of Revenge. Alice was making something which she would not let Mary sec. Whenever the latter came near where she was at work she would wrap up what sho was doing and go to some other part of the house. Mary at. last noticed this and it aroused her curiosity. curi-osity. She then tried hard to come upon Alice unawares, un-awares, but the elder sister was too wary. Her failure fail-ure made her angry, and when Alice positively refused re-fused to tell her, she became furious. "Keep it to yourself, then, you mean old thing," she shouted. Alice only laughed at this outburst of temper. Mary went off by herself in a pout. She determined deter-mined "to get even" with her sister. The more she thought of it the more she was tempted to be vindictive. vin-dictive. At last a thought came to her she would let Alice's bird out of its cage! She shrank from the idea. But her own wounded self-love and the whisperings of her evil spirit at last conquered she consented to the wicked deed. Quickly she rushed up to Alice's room, opened the cage door, with a stick forced the canary out, and watched it fly and flutter out of the window, which happened to be open. She went to the window and looked out. The bird had alighted on the fence. But, see, there was a big stray cat about to pounce upon it. Mary screamed at the cat, but in vain with a bound it sprang upon the canary, caught him in its mouth, jumped down outside the fOnee and disappeared, .lust then Alice's voice called upstairs: i "Conic down, Mary; 1 have something to show you." Mary was too unnerved to move or to. answer. But when Alice called her again she stumbled down the stairs somehow. ''Come into the dining room, Mary; you may see now." When Mary went into the dining room, there, spread out on the table, were two exquisite bobinet scarfs. "I made them for you, Mary." said Alice. "They are for your bureau and chiffonier." Mary remained silent, too excited, too overwhelmed over-whelmed with emotion to utter a word. "Why, what's the matter f inquired Alice, anxiously, anx-iously, "aren't you pleased f" "Oh. Alice." cried Mary, "don't speak to me; don't be kind to me; I'm a mean, hateful thing!" "Why, what's the matter, Mary 2" "Don't ask me. I'm ashamed to tell you. . I'll never forgive myself. Oh. my hasty temper, my quick, hot, tingoverned temper! Will you ever forgive for-give me, Alice '(" "Forgive you for what?" But thereupon Mary became hysterical. Yes. she fell into paroxysms of crying and nothing could stop her or comfort her. She became so" violent that the doctor was sent for. The physician gave her a sedative potion that quieted her nerves and put her to sleep. But she had to keep to her bed for three days and the sight of the bird cage or any mention of the vanished canary ;sent her into a spasm of weeping weep-ing and moaning. Alice searched everywhere for her lost pet, but no trace of it was ever found. As soon as Mary recovered she went to her little store of savings and pocket money and found that she had $1.82. Then she began to walk up and down town, to have no dessert at luncheon, to find several sev-eral opportunities to earn a little money and in every ev-ery way possible to accumulate funds, by her own efforts, at the cost of labor and self-denial. At the end of two long months she had $3. At last, at last, the amount was made up. Eagerly she hurried to a bird store and bought a lovely bullfinch bull-finch that was a fine singer for $5 and a brand new cage for $3. She carried them home herself at an hour when she knew that Alice would not be at home, and placed them in the latter's room together with this note: "To Alice. An act of repentance, a sign of sorrow, sor-row, a token of love, and a plea for forgiveness. Please accept the offering, but don't say a word to me about it. Affectionately, MARY." When Alice came home and saw the-new bird and read the message she understood. She sought her sister. Without a word she put her arms about her and kissed her. Xo better way of expressing pardon par-don for a wrong could have been used. The gift was accepted as an act of reparation, and the past, so far as it could be, was blotted iut. But Mary had been taught a lesson to curb her temper, to regulate her curiosity, and to be slow to seek revenge for fancied slights. Aunt Agnes in Catholic Union and Times. |