18 THE DOLL AND HER FRIENDS.

“ You will wish it was your own again before
long’, I dare say,” said the gentleman. “ However,
we must hope you will be wiser in time. Come
home now to dinner.”

“ T don’t want any dinner,” said Geoffrey.

“Probably not, but Edward and I do. We
have not dined on tarts; and I dare say Ned is as
hungry as I am.”

So saying, he led the way towards the door,
leaving me, as usual, pondering over what had
passed. One word used by the gentleman made a
great impression on me—USEFUL.

What could that mean? Various considerations
were suggested by the question. Some things, it
seemed, were useful, others not; and what puzzled
me most was, that the very same things appeared
to be useful to some people, and not to others. For
instance, the sixpenny paint-box, which had been re-
jected as useless to Willy, was bought soon after-
wards by a small boy, who said it would be the
most useful toy he had.

Could this be the case with every thing? Was
it possible that every thing properly applied might
have its use, and that its value depended upon
those who used it? If so, why was Geoffrey blamed
for spending his money in tarts? He liked them.
Perhaps he had plenty of food at home, and that