When Miss Janis came into the school, there were always a few giggles. Miss Janis was very pretty. She had glossy golden hair, beautiful blue eyes and always wore exquisite dresses. Whenever she was free, she would look into a little mirror and put on some lipstick or dusted her face with some powder or ran a comb through her hair.
The students giggled at Miss Janis. The other teachers looked sternly at the giggling students. But as soon as they turned away, the teachers also smiled at the funny airs that Miss Janis gave herself.
No one would have giggled if Miss Janis had a heart that was kind. But she was very unkind to anyone whom she did not consider good-looking.
In her class was Karen, a very plain, thin girl with brown hair, and a pale face. But she had a wide smile and was bright and helpful. Miss Janis did not like her. So, she commented on her homework, marked her books all over with red ink, and told the class not to be a student like Karen, lazy and careless.
Karen was very unhappy. She was neither careless nor lazy. In fact, she was hard-working and had a beautiful handwriting. Her books were neat. So, she did not understand why Miss Janis always found fault with her.
One day, Miss Janis came into the class looking dishevelled. Her hair was not perfect and there was no trace of powder on her face. She looked as if she had been crying. Everyone wondered what had happened to make her cry.
Miss Janis had a cat, Milly. That morning, Milly had been knocked down by a speeding car and had died. So, she was very upset.
When Miss Janis came to class the next morning, there was a cardboard box on her table. She opened the box carefully, afraid that the students were playing a trick on her. But when she opened the box, she gasped. There was a small golden kitten inside, with a tiny cushion!
Miss Janis had tears in her eyes as she looked up, cuddling the little kitten.
“Who brought this lovely kitten for me?” she asked.
“Karen did!” chorused the whole class.
Miss Janis went to Karen and, giving her a hug, she said, “Thank you, Karen. I am going to name her Kary, after you.”
Karen flushed happily because she had made someone feel happy too. After that day Miss Janis never put on any airs and was never nasty to anyone at all.