[Illustration]




IX.

CAROLINE AND HER KITTEN;

OR, THE PRETTY FACE, WITH A SCAR ON IT.


Caroline Rose was as happy a girl as ever you saw in your life--"as
happy as the days are long"--so her schoolmaster used to say. There
were a great many good points in Caroline's character besides this,
that she was so generally cheerful--for I consider that a good point
in any one's character. She was kind to her companions, obedient,
respectful, and affectionate to her parents; and she seldom got into a
fit of anger, or made a fool of herself by being sulky. One might have
met her frequently, and have supposed that he was well acquainted with
her, and still have loved her very much. Yet there was one thing in
her character which every one, as soon as he saw it, must dislike, and
which sometimes, where she was well known, made her appear exceedingly
unlovely. Shall I tell you what that was? I will do so, so as to put
you on your guard in that particular point. That trait in her
character was _selfishness_. If she ever got anything that she liked,
she used to act as if she were not willing that any one else should
enjoy it with her. Indeed, she appeared to be displeased, if one of
her playmates, as was sometimes the case, did take a great deal of
pleasure in her pretty things.