Nattie thought her lot the hardest that any girl of her age and tastes ever had to endure,—being obliged to sit in a close room from morning till night, and to hear the complaints and attend to the wants of an invalid; though that invalid was her own tender, loving mother, who never thought any hardship or privation too great to be endured for her child.
On this particular morning, Mrs. Nesmith wished to send a glass of currant jelly to a neighbor who had a little daughter ill of throat distemper. She wished Nattie to go on the errand; and it was in response to this request of her sick mother, that the girl had made use of the ungracious words at the head of this chapter. Her father, as he was leaving home, had filled her pocket with candy and nuts. She had got settled in her mother's cushioned chair, to eat them and to read a story book; consequently, her ease and comfort were much disturbed by this little request.
