"Clara must be Mary Brown, Edward's nurse."

"Oh, dear little fellow," said Clara, patting Harry, "old nursey will buy you a stick of candy."

"Ago-o-o," said Harry, like a little baby, which set them all laughing.

"Johnny shall be Mr. Sherwood, the tutor, because he is naturally such a sober little fellow," said the mother; "and we will invite Gus Averill, Harry's friend, to be Morris, because he and Harry are of the same age and height, and that will be excellent. Minnie can do Jane, the maid, very nicely; and Willie and Bennie can be Patrick and Andrew, the waiter and gardener."

So it was all settled; and the next morning the children began to study their parts--the larger ones a.s.sisting the little ones--so that they learned as quickly as the best. In the evening they repeated what they knew to their mother, working at the same time on their mittens, and were just as busy and happy as good and industrious children always are.

It was really surprising how soon they became perfect, and the rehearsal went off with complete success. Harry and Anna kept their faces very well; and only Bennie and Willie grinned a little when they first came on the stage, which was the back parlor.

The company were to sit in the front parlor, and some curtains were hung up between that and the back room, and made to draw quickly aside, and drop just as quickly.

The invitations had been sent out, and were every one accepted. This is one of them:

"An Entertainment for the Benefit OF THE SOLDIERS: AT THE LITTLE MOTHER'S HOUSE, _Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 1861_.

ADMISSION, ONE PAIR OF MITTENS."

The great evening came; and the children, ready dressed for their parts, were in a tremendous flutter. Even the little wee ones were to do something. They were stationed at the parlor door with baskets, and charged not to let a soul come in, unless the pair of mittens were paid into one of the baskets. I warrant you they took very good care of that, for their eyes were as sharp as needles; and the moment the door was opened they would all cry "Mitten money! mitten money! pay your mitten money!" which made the company laugh so they could hardly get the "mitten money" out of their pockets.

After they had all arrived, and were comfortably seated, each with a beautifully written play bill, with the names of the actors upon it, the entertainment began.

MASTER EDWARD'S TRIAL;

OR, DO AS YOU WOULD BE DONE BY.

A LITTLE PLAY.

CHARACTERS.

MRS. LANGDON. By Anna.

EDWARD, her son, thirteen years of age. By Harry.

MARY BROWN, his nurse. By Clara.

MORRIS, Mary's son, of the same age as Edward. By Master Augustus Averill, a friend of Harry's.

MR. SHERWOOD, Edward's tutor. By Johnnie.

JANE, his mother's maid. By Minnie.

PATRICK, the waiter. By Willie.

ANDREW, the gardener. By Bennie.

SCENE--_A fine House in the Country. A Parlor opening into the Garden._

SCENE I.--MRS. LANGDON _and_ MR. SHERWOOD.

MR. SHERWOOD. No, madam; I have come to bid you adieu. It is impossible.

I cannot, I will not stay here another day.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

MRS. LANGDON. But, Mr. Sherwood, listen a moment!

MR. S. No! I have made up my mind! I am tired of losing my time and pains with Edward!

MRS. L. Please have a little patience. Try him once more.

MR. S. He has already abused my patience beyond all bounds. He is wilful, ungrateful, idle, and stupid; and all the blame will fall on me, whom you have employed to educate him.

MRS. L. Can you believe that I would blame you, who have been so kind to my son? Remember, that when my husband died, you promised me to devote yourself to my fatherless boy. Will you leave your work undone? He has talents, a good heart--

MR. S. No, madam; you deceive yourself. His heart is bad; his character unamiable; he is proud, vain, selfish, wicked.

MRS. L. What! wicked!

MR. S. Yes, madam. Does he not treat your servants as if they were slaves? Does not everybody hate him?

MRS. L. Oh, how severe you are! My dear son is young: he has pride, to be sure; and that very pride once caused you to say that you would make a great and good man of him.

MR. S. Yes, I said so; and perhaps I might have succeeded without you--

MRS. L. Without me! Why, what can you mean?

MR. S. Do you wish me to be frank with you?

MRS. L. Certainly. I shall feel obliged to you.

MR. S. Well; it is you who spoil the effect of all my lessons. It is you who spoil Edward. Excuse me, but I must say it.

MRS. L. I, Mr. Sherwood! I confess I love him above all other earthly possessions; but that is surely excusable. He is the image of a husband taken away from me in the first year of our marriage. You remember my grief was so excessive that I could not nourish my poor child; and by the advice and entreaties of my relatives and physician, I consented that he should be taken into the country by my humble, faithful friend, Mary Brown, who nursed him for eighteen months with her own child, while I was sent to the West Indies, and afterward to Europe, to recover my health. Edward is all I have.

MR. S. If you love him so much, send him to boarding school.

MRS. L. Impossible! I cannot part with him. But I will put him entirely under your control. Only stay, and you shall govern him just as you like.

SCENE II.--_Enter_ PATRICK.