WHERE is Lucy all this while?" asked Mrs. Ludlow of Anna, the maid.
"I left her five minutes ago, trying to thread a needle," replied Anna.
"She is a long while about it," said Mrs. Ludlow. "Send her to me."
When Lucy entered the room, her mother asked her what she had been about; and Lucy replied, "I have been teaching myself to thread a needle."
"But you have been a long time about it," said mother.
"I will tell you why," continued Lucy. "When I went to walk with papa yesterday, he saw me get over a stone-wall, which I did rather clumsily: so he said, 'A thing that is worth doing at all is worth doing well. Let me teach you how to get over a wall quickly and gracefully.'"
"So he gave you a lesson in getting over walls, did he?"
"Yes, mother: he kept me at it at least half an hour; and now I can get over a wall as quickly and well as any boy."
"But what has getting over walls to do with threading a needle?"
"Only this: I thought I would apply papa's rule, and learn to do well what I was trying to do. So I have been threading and unthreading the needle, till now I can thread it easily."