the girl had for a long time past been very unhappy. she had tried by amiability and obedience to show her goodwill and to mollify the new wife, and to break down that wall of prejudice and misunderstanding that she knew generally stood between step-parents and their step-children. but she soon found that her efforts were in vain. the step-mother never trusted her, and seemed to misinterpret all her actions, and the poor child knew very well that she often carried unkind and untrue tales to her father. she could not help comparing her present unhappy condition with the time when her own mother was alive only a little more than a year ago so great a change in this short time! morning and evening she wept over the remembrance. whenever she could she went to her room, and sliding the screens to, took out the mirror and gazed, as she thought, at her mother's face. it was the only comfort that she had in these wretched days.