Next came anecdotes about
dogs and elephants and snakes, taken from the Natural History book, and
not very interesting, because the audience knew them by heart already. A
hymn or two followed, or a string of original verses, and, last of all,
a chapter of "Little Maria and Her Sisters," a dreadful tale, in which
Katy drew so much moral, and made such personal allusions to the faults
of the rest, that it was almost more than they could bear. In fact,
there had just been a nursery rebellion on the subject. You must know
that, for some weeks back, Katy had been too lazy to prepare any fresh
_Sunday Visitors_, and so had forced the children to sit in a row and
listen to the back numbers, which she read aloud from the very
beginning! "Little Maria" sounded much worse when taken in these large
doses, and Clover and Elsie, combining for once, made up their minds to
endure it no longer. So, watching their chance, they carried off the
whole edition, and poked it into the kitchen fire, where they watched it
burn with a mixture of fear and delight which it was comical to witness.
They dared not confess the deed, but it was impossible not to look
conscious when Katy was flying about and rummaging after her lost
treasure, and she suspected them, and was very irate in consequence.
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