I want to tell you about a very funny thing that happened to a little girl, who lived in a country called Nowhere. This little girl, whose name was Bess, loved her mother dearly, as she thought, and was very fond of telling her so. But, unfortunately, she did not love her mother enough to help her. She played and had a good time from morning till night, and never offered to do anything for her hard-working mother.
At last there came a day when something very queer happened. Early in the morning Bess threw her arms around her mother’s neck, as she was about to go out of doors to play, and tried to say, “I love you, mother.” But, to her complete astonishment, she didn’t say those words at all, but said, instead, “I’ll help you, mother!”
Bess’s mother was indeed pleased. Her little daughter had never done anything like that before. So she kissed Bess, and thanked her, and set her to paring potatoes. Bess didn’t know what to make of it, and was a little frightened, but she went bravely to work and pared the potatoes, though it looked very tempting out-of-doors. And her mother worked with her, so pleased and happy that she was singing all the time. When they got done, she looked so good and nice, and Bess was so happy, that she threw her arms around her mother’s neck a second time, saying, as before, “I’ll help you, mother dear!” But this time Bess really meant it, for she had found out how delightful it was to help mother; and from this time on she not only loved her mother, but she showed her love in kind and helpful ways, and so loved her mother more and more.