"Come, Willy, and play, and I will be kind," said Harry.

"Will you let me be the master sometimes?" asked the little fellow,
raising himself up from where he remained seated beside his mother.

"Yes, you shall be master, sometimes."

"Then I'll play," and Willy sprang from the sofa and bounded from
the room, as happy as he could be.

The mother smiled, and looking into my face, as soon as we were
alone, said--

"You see, Kate, that I am trying your remedy, patience."

"With most happy results, I am glad to see."

"With better results than I could have believed, certainly.
Gentleness, consideration, and firmness, I find do a great deal, and
their exercise leaves my own mind in a good state. There is a power
in patience that I did not believe it possessed. I can do more by a
mildly spoken word, than by the most emphatic command uttered in a
passion. This is the experience of a few weeks. But, alas! Kate, to
be able to exercise patience--how hard a thing that is! It requires
constant watchfulness and a constant effort. Every hour I find
myself betrayed into the utterance of some hasty word, and feel its
powerlessness compared to those that are most gently spoken."

"Do you get on with your domestics any better than you did?"