`` Why , how could she be ? What did she do ? '' cried Jill , forgetting her own troubles to look up with an open , eager face again . `` She was so patient , other people were ashamed to complain of their small worries ; so cheerful , that her own great one grew lighter ; so industrious , that she made both money and friends by pretty things she worked and sold to her many visitors . And , best of all , so wise and sweet that she seemed to get good out of everything , and make her poor room a sort of chapel where people went for comfort , counsel , and an example of a pious life . So , you see , Lucinda was not so very miserable after all . '' `` Well , if I could not be as I was , I 'd like to be a woman like that . Only , I hope I shall not ! '' answered Jill , thoughtfully at first , then coming out so decidedly with the last words that it was evident the life of a bedridden saint was not at all to her mind . `` So do I ; and I mean to believe that you will not . Meantime , we can try to make the waiting as useful and pleasant as possible . This painful little back will be a sort of conscience to remind you of what you ought to do and leave undone , and so you can be learning obedience . Then , when the body is strong , it will have formed a good habit to make duty easier ; and my Lucinda can be a sweet example , even while lying here , if she chooses . '' `` Can I ? '' and Jill 's eyes were full of softer tears as the comfortable , cheering words sank into her heart , to blossom slowly by and by into her life , for this was to be a long lesson , hard to learn , but very useful in the years to come . When the boys returned , after the Latin was recited and peace restored , Jack showed her a recovered stamp promptly paid by Frank , who was as just as he was severe , and Jill asked for the old red one , though she did not tell why she wanted it , nor show it put away in the spelling-book , a little seal upon a promise made to be kept . Chapter VIII . Merry and Molly Now let us see how the other missionaries got on with their tasks . Farmer Grant was a thrifty , well-to-do man , anxious to give his children greater advantages than he had enjoyed , and to improve the fine place of which he was justly proud . Mrs. Grant was a notable housewife , as ambitious and industrious as her husband , but too busy to spend any time on the elegancies of life , though always ready to help the poor and sick like a good neighbor and Christian woman .
The three sons -- Tom , Dick , and Harry -- were big fellows of seventeen , nineteen , and twenty-one ; the XXXXX two on the farm , and the elder in a store just setting up for himself .
Christian Frank Jack Jill Lucinda Now VIII elegancies first spelling-book