122 FIRST STEPS IN GENERAL KNOWLEDGE. 



petals opposite each other, in the shape of a 

 Maltese cross. 



"And so has the stock, and the rocket, and 

 honesty," said Robert ; 

 " and they all grow in my 

 garden." 



' And so has water- 

 cress," said Henry, "and 

 cabbage and turnip, and 

 a great many useful 

 things. I have often no- 

 ticed their flowers being 

 all of the same shape, 

 but I did not know they 

 were cross-bearers." 



" These flowers are like 

 mamma has told me that 

 every one, even a little child, has a cross to bear." 

 "What does mamma mean by that?" asked 

 Robert. 



" She means, that we have things to disappoint 

 us and make us sorry, and things to tease us and 

 make us angry, and that we must learn to bear 

 them all without being fretful or unkind. This is 

 what mamma calls taking up our cross." 



BLOSSOM OP THE WALLFLOWER. 



us," said Mary; "for 



