"I intend to give you one as soon as you have learned to have patience
under provocation, so that I shall be able to trust you to treat him
kindly," he said. "How soon do you think that will be?"

"I don't know, papa. It will be a good while before I can feel at all
sure of myself," she answered humbly.

"I hope it will," he said; then, as she looked up in surprise, "The
apostle says, 'When I am weak, then am I strong.' When we feel our own
weakness, and look to God for help, then we are strong with a strength
far greater than our own; but when we grow self-confident, and trust in
our own strength, we are very apt to find it but weakness.

"And now I must caution you to be on your guard to-day against any
exhibition of self-will and ill temper, if your wishes are overruled by
those older and wiser than yourself."

"Why, papa, am I not to be allowed to choose the things for my own
rooms?" she asked, in a tone of deep disappointment.

"I intend that your taste shall be consulted, my child," he said; "but I
cannot promise that you shall have, in every case, exactly what you most
prefer. You might select carpets, curtains, and upholstery of material
and colors that would wear poorly, or fade very soon. Therefore we must
take grandma Elsie into our counsels, and get her help in deciding what
to take; for I am sure you would like neither to have your rooms
disfigured with faded, worn-out furnishings, or to put your father to
the expense of refurnishing for you very soon."