No and Other Stories: INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS by Uncle Humphrey

The necessity of cultivating industrious habits in early youth was never more fully exemplified than in the case of two girls, daughters of the same mother, who were born in a village about forty miles from the city of Boston.

Mary and Sophia had the advantage of a mother who was herself full of enterprise and energy, and who having been left a widow, and knowing that the success of her children depended mainly on their own conduct, strove to bring them up to habits of industry. Sophia, the younger of the two sisters, inherited much of her mother's tact and vivacity. When the elder persons of the family were engaged in any domestic employment, she delighted to watch their movements; and they, being pleased with this mark of early promise, never failed to instruct her in the duties of a housewife. She learned rapidly under their tuition, and as she never thought she knew too much to learn, she thrived greatly; so that when she became old enough to be married, she was fully acquainted with all the branches of domestic business. She knew what implements to use, and she had a dexterous way of using them, which not only helped to forward the business of the day, but also gave much pleasure to those persons who saw with what grace and ease she performed her labor. She married a worthy young man, who never ceased to admire her, because his house was always in order, his meals were on the table at the exact hour, and her dress was always arranged with a regard to neatness and to beauty, and the most perfect cleanliness reigned from one end of the house to the other.