Page:Nicholas Nickleby.djvu/78

46 shook his head, and bumped himself down on a very hard stone,—at which, no doubt, approving angels were gratified.

Ye were merry daughters,' said the monk.

You know how light of heart sweet Alice is,' replied the eldest sister, passing her fingers through the tresses of the smiling girl.

And what joy and cheerfulness it wakes up within us, to see all nature beaming in brightness and sunshine, father,' added Alice, blushing beneath the stern look of the recluse.

"The monk answered not, save by a grave inclination of the head, and the sisters pursued their task in silence.

Still wasting the precious hours,' said the monk at length, turning to the eldest sister as he spoke, 'still wasting the precious hours on this vain trifling. Alas, alas! that the few bubbles on the surface of eternity—all that Heaven wills we should see of that dark deep stream—should be so lightly scattered!' Father,' urged the maiden, pausing, as did each of the others, in her busy task, 'we have prayed at matins, our daily alms have been distributed at the gate, the sick peasants have been tended,—all our morning tasks have been performed. I hope our occupation is a blameless one?'

See here,' said the friar, taking the frame from her hand, 'an intricate winding of gaudy colours without purpose or object, unless it be that one day it is destined for some vain ornament, to minister to the pride of your frail and giddy sex. Day after day has been employed upon this senseless task, and yet it is not half accomplished. The shade of each departed day falls upon our graves, and the worm exults as he beholds it, to know that we are hastening thither. Daughters, is there no better way to pass the fleeting hours?'

"The four elder sisters cast down their eyes as if abashed by the holy man's reproof, but Alice raised hers, and bent them mildly on the friar.

Our dear mother,' said the maiden; 'Heaven rest her soul.'

Amen!' cried the Friar in a deep voice.

Our dear mother!' faltered the fair Alice, 'was living when these long tasks began, and bade us, when she should be no more, ply them in all discretion and cheerfulness in our leisure hours: she said that if in harmless mirth and maidenly pursuits we passed those hours together, they would prove the happiest and most peaceful of our lives, and that if in later times we went forth into the world, and mingled with its cares and trials—if, allured by its temptations and dazzled by its glitter, we ever forgot that love and duty which should bind in holy ties the children of one loved parent—a glance at the old work of our common girlhood would awaken good thoughts of by-gone days, and soften our hearts to affection and love.'

Alice speaks truly, father,' said the elder sister, somewhat proudly. And so saying she resumed her work, as did the others.

"It was a kind of sampler of large size, that each sister had before her; the device was of a complex and intricate description, and the pattern and colours of all five were the same. The sisters bent