Aunt Pen took the chubby little one in both her own , and said , smiling , yet with meaning in her eyes , as she tapped the small fore-finger , rough with impatient and unskilful sewing -- ` Shall we try and see what a nice little comforter we can make this month , while you wait to be called home to see mamma and the dear new baby ? ' ` Yes , I 'd like to try ; ' and Patty gave Aunt Pen 's hand a hearty shake , for she wanted to be good , and rather thought the new fancy would lend a charm to the task which we all find rather tiresome and hard . So the bargain was made , and the patch Patty sewed that day was beautiful to behold ; for she was in a delightfully moral state of mind , and felt quite sure that she was going to become a model for all children to follow , if they could . The next day her ardour had cooled a little , and being in a hurry to go out to play , she slighted her work , thinking no one would know . But the third day she got so angry with her patch that she tore it in two , and declared it was all nonsense to fuss about being good and thorough and all the rest of it . Aunt Pen did not say much , but made her mend and finish her patch and add it to the pile . After she went to bed that night Patty thought of it , and wished she could do it over , it looked so badly . But as it could not be , she had a penitent fit , and resolved to keep her temper while she sewed , at any rate , for mamma was to see the little quilt when it was done , and would want to know all about it . Of course she did not devote herself to being good all the time , but spent her days in lessons , play , mischief , and fun , like any other lively , ten-year-older . But somehow , whenever the sewing-hour came , she remembered that talk ; and as she worked she fell into the way of wondering whether Aunt Pen could guess from the patches what sort of days she had passed . She wanted to try and see , but Aunt Pen refused to read any more calico till the quilt was done : then , she said in a queer , solemn way , she should make the good and bad days appear in a remarkable manner . This puzzled Patty very much , and she quite ached to know what the joke would be ; meantime the pile grew steadily , and every day , good or bad , added to that other work called Patty 's life . She did not think much about that part of it , but unconsciously the quiet sewing-time had its influence on her , and that little ` conscience hour , ' as she sometimes called it , helped her very much . One day she said to herself as she took up her work , ` Now I 'll puzzle Aunt Pen . She thinks my naughty tricks get into the patches ; but I 'll make this very nicely and have it gay , and then I do n't see how she will ever guess what I did this morning . ' Now you must know that Tweedle-dee , the canary , was let out every day to fly about the room and enjoy himself . Mother Bunch never tried to catch him , though he often hopped temptingly near her . He was a droll little bird , and Patty liked to watch his promenades , for he did funny things . That day he made her laugh by trying to fly away with a shawl , picking up the fringe with which to line the nest he was always trying to build . It was so heavy he tumbled on his back and lay kicking and pulling , but had to give it up and content himself with a bit of thread .
XXXXX was forbidden to chase or touch him at these times , but always felt a strong desire to have just one grab at him and see how he felt .
Mother Patty Pen Tweedle-dee ardour day days fore-finger hour morning