"I am not half so fond of anybody as I am of papa. He is always
kind, he is always right. I love him, I love him, I love him.

"But this is not how I meant to begin. I must tell how he talked
to us; I wish he was here to tell it himself.

"He said to me: 'You are getting lazier than ever, Eunice.'
He said to Helena: 'You are feeling the influence of Eunice's
example.' He said to both of us: 'You are too ready, my dear
children, to sit with your hands on your laps, looking at nothing
and thinking of nothing; I want to try a new way of employing
your leisure time.'

"He opened a parcel on the table. He made each of us a present
of a beautiful book, called 'Journal.' He said: 'When you have
nothing to do, my dears, in the evening, employ yourselves in
keeping a diary of the events of the day. It will be a useful
record in many ways, and a good moral discipline for young
girls.' Helena said: 'Oh, thank you!' I said the same, but not
so cheerfully.

"The truth is, I feel out of spirits now if I think of papa; I am
not easy in my mind about him. When he is very much interested,
there is a quivering in his face which I don't remember in past
times. He seems to have got older and thinner, all on a sudden.
He shouts (which he never used to do) when he threatens sinners
at sermon-time. Being in dreadful earnest about our souls, he is
of course obliged to speak of the devil; but he never used to hit
the harmless pulpit cushion with his fist as he does now. Nobody
seems to have seen these things but me; and now I have noticed