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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/18248-8.txt b/18248-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a356296 --- /dev/null +++ b/18248-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6445 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lucy Raymond, by Agnes Maule Machar + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lucy Raymond + Or, The Children's Watchword + +Author: Agnes Maule Machar + +Release Date: April 24, 2006 [EBook #18248] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUCY RAYMOND *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by the Canadian Institute for Historical +Microreproductions (www.canadiana.org)) + + + + + + + + + + Lucy Raymond; + + OR, + + THE CHILDREN'S WATCHWORD. + + + + + BY THE AUTHOR OF + + 'KATIE JOHNSTONE'S CROSS.' + + + + + + TORONTO: + JAMES CAMPBELL AND SON. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAP. + + I. MISS PRESTON'S LAST SUNDAY, + + II. LUCY'S HOME, + + III. MORE HOME SCENES, + + IV. NELLY'S SUNDAY EVENING, + + V. STRAWBERRYING, + + VI. A MISSION, + + VII. TEMPTATIONS, + + VIII. PARTINGS, + + IX. INTRODUCTIONS, + + X. NEW EXPERIENCES, + + XI. A START IN LIFE, + + XII. AMBITION, + + XIII. A FRIENDSHIP, + + XIV. AN UNEXPECTED RECOGNITION, + + XV. THE FLOWER FADETH, + + XVI. DARKNESS AND LIGHT, + + XVII. HOME AGAIN, + +XVIII. A FAREWELL CHAPTER, + + + + +LUCY RAYMOND. + +I. + +_Miss Preston's Last Sunday_. + + "Tell me the old, old story + Of unseen things above-- + Of Jesus and His glory, + Of Jesus and His love." + + +The light of a lovely Sabbath afternoon in June lay on the rich green +woodlands, still bright with the vivid green of early summer, and +sparkled on the broad river, tossed by the breeze into a thousand +ripples, that swept past the village of Ashleigh. It would have been +oppressively warm, but for the breeze which was swaying the long +branches of the pine-trees around the little church, which from its +elevation on the higher ground looked down upon the straggling +clusters of white houses nestling in their orchards and gardens that +sloped away below. The same breeze, pleasantly laden with the mingled +fragrance of the pines and of the newly-cut hay, fanned the faces of +the children, who in pretty little groups--the flickering shadows of +the pines falling on their light, fluttering summer dresses--were +approaching the church, the grave demeanour of a few of the elder ones +showing that their thoughts were already occupied by the pleasant +exercises of the Sunday school. + +Along a quiet, shady path, also leading to the church, a lady was +slowly and thoughtfully walking, on whose countenance a slight shade +of sadness, apparently, contended with happier thoughts. It was Mary +Preston's last Sunday in her old home, previous to exchanging it for +the new one to which she had been looking forward so long; and full as +her heart was of thankfulness to God for the blessings He had +bestowed, she could not take farewell of the Sunday school in which +she had taught for several years, without some regret and many +misgivings. Where, indeed, is the earnest teacher, however faithful, +who can lay down the self-imposed task without some such feelings? Has +the _heart_ been in the work? Have thought and earnestness entered +into the weekly instruction? Has a Christian example given force to +the precepts inculcated? Above all, has there been earnest, +persevering prayer to the Lord of the harvest, in dependence on whom +alone the joyful reaping time can be expected? + +Such were some of the questions which had been passing through Miss +Preston's mind; and the smile with which she greeted her class as she +took her place was a little shadowed by her self-condemning +reflections--reflections which her fellow-teachers would have thought +quite uncalled for in one who had been the most zealous and +conscientious worker in that Sunday school. But Mary Preston little +thought of comparing herself with others. She knew that to whom "much +is given, of him shall be much required;" and judging herself by this +standard, she felt how little she had rendered to the Lord for His +benefits to her. As her wistful glance strayed during the opening hymn +to the faces of her scholars, she could not help wondering what +influence the remembrance of what she had tried to teach them would +exert on their future lives. + +As her class had been much diminished by recent changes, and in view +of her approaching departure the blanks had not been filled up, it +consisted on this Sunday of only three girls, of ages varying from +twelve to fourteen, but differing much in appearance, and still more +widely in character and in the circumstances of their lives. + +Close to Miss Preston, and watching every look of the teacher she +loved and grieved at losing, sat Lucy Raymond, the minister's +motherless daughter, a slight, delicate-looking girl, with dark hair +and bright grey eyes, full of energy and thought, but possessing a +good deal of self-will and love of approbation,--dangerous elements of +character unless modified and restrained by divine grace. + +Next to her sat fair, plump, rosy-cheeked, curly-haired Bessie Ford, +from the Mill Bank Farm--an amiable, kind-hearted little damsel, and a +favourite with all her companions, but careless and thoughtless, with +a want of steadiness and moral principle which made her teacher long +to see the taking root of the good seed, whose development might +supply what was lacking. + +Very different from both seemed the third member of the class--a +forlorn-looking child, who sat shyly apart from the others, shrinking +from proximity with their neat, tasteful summer attire, as if she felt +the contrast between her own dress and appearance and that of her +school-fellows. Poor Nelly Connor's dingy straw hat and tattered +cotton dress, as well as her pale, meagre face, with its bright hazel +eyes gleaming from under the tangled brown hair, showed evident signs +of poverty and neglect. She was a stranger there, having only recently +come to Ashleigh, and had been found wandering about, a Sunday or two +before, by Miss Preston, who had coaxed her into the Sunday school, +and had kept her in her own class until she should become a little +more familiar with scenes so strange and new. Curiosity and wonder +seemed at first to absorb all her faculties, and her senses seemed so +evidently engrossed with the novelty of what she saw around her, that +her teacher could scarcely hope she took in any of the instruction +which in the most simple words she tried to impress on her wandering +mind. And so very ignorant was she of the most elementary truths of +Christianity, that Miss Preston scarcely dared to ask her the simplest +question, for fear of drawing towards her the wondering gaze of her +more favoured classmates, who, accustomed from infancy to hear of a +Saviour's love and sacrifice for sin, could scarcely comprehend how +any child, + + "Born in Christian lands, + And not a heathen or a Jew," + +could have grown up to nearly their own age, ignorant of things which +were familiar to them as household words. + +Lucy and Bessie, in their happy ignorance and inexperience, little +dreamed how many thousands in Christian cities full of stately +churches, whose lofty spires seem to proclaim afar the Christianity of +the inhabitants, grow up even to manhood and womanhood with as little +knowledge of the glorious redemption provided to rescue them from +their sin and degradation as if they were sunk in the thickest +darkness of heathenism. Strange that congregations of professed +followers of Christ, whose consciences will not let them refuse to +contribute some small portion of their substance to convey the glad +tidings of the gospel to distant lands, will yet, as they seek their +comfortable churches, pass calmly by whole districts where so many of +their fellow-countrymen are perishing for lack of that very gospel, +without making one personal effort to save them! Will they not have to +give an account for these things? + +Nelly Connor's life had for the last two or three years been spent in +one of the lowest districts of the city in which her father had fixed +his abode after his emigration from the "old sod" to the New World. +The horrors of that emigration she could still remember--the +overcrowded steerage, where foul air bred the dreaded "ship-fever," +and where the moans of the sick and dying weighed down the hearts of +those whom the disease had spared. Her two little sisters had died +during that dreadful voyage; and her mother, heart-broken and worn out +with fatigue and watching, only lived to reach land and die in the +nearest hospital. An elder brother, who was to have accompanied them, +had by some accident lost his passage; and though he had, they +supposed, followed them in the next ship that sailed, they never +discovered any further trace of him. So, when Nelly's father had +followed his wife to the grave in the poor coffin he had with +difficulty provided for her, he and his daughter were all that +remained of the family which had set out from their dear Irish home, +hoping, in the strange land they sought, to lay the foundation of +happier fortunes. + +They led an uncomfortable, unsettled life for a year or two after +that, exchanging one miserable lodging for another--rarely for the +better. The father obtained an uncertain employment as a deck hand on +a steamboat during the summer, subsisting as best he could on odd jobs +during the winter, and too often drowning his sorrows and cares in the +tempting but fatal cup. Poor Nelly, left without any care or teaching, +soon forgot all she had ever learned; and running wild with the +neglected children around her, became, as might have been expected, a +little street Arab, full of shrewd, quick observation, and utter +aversion to restraint of any kind. + +Suddenly, to Nelly's consternation, her father brought home a second +wife, a comrade's widow, with two or three young children. In the new +household Nelly was at once expected to take the place of nurse and +general drudge, a part for which her habits of unrestrained freedom +and idleness had thoroughly disqualified her; and the results were +what might have been expected. There was a good deal of heedlessness +and neglect on Nelly's part, and nearly constant scolding on that of +her new mother. And as the latter was neither patient nor judicious, +and was, moreover, unreasonable in what she demanded from the child, +there was many a conflict ending in sharp blows, the physical pain of +which was nothing in comparison with the sense of injury and +oppression left on the child's mind. But she had no redress; for her +father being so much away from his home, had no opportunity of +opposing, as he would probably have done, his wife's severe method of +"managing" his motherless child. + +Things were in this condition when Mrs. Connor, who had formerly +belonged to Ashleigh, made up her mind to remove thither, in the +expectation both of living more cheaply, and of being able, among her +old acquaintances, to find more work to eke out her uncertain means of +living. Her husband was now working on a steamboat which passed up and +down the river on which Ashleigh was situated, so that he could not +see his family as often as before. They were now settled in a small, +rather dilapidated tenement, with a potato patch and pig-sty; and Mrs. +Connor, who was an energetic woman, had already succeeded in making +her family almost independent of the earnings which Michael Connor too +often spent in the public-house. This being the case, she had no +scruples in providing for her own children, without much consideration +for Nelly; so that the poor child was a forlorn-looking object when +Miss Preston had found her hovering wistfully about, attracted by the +sight of the children streaming towards the church, and had induced +her to come, for the first time in her life, into a Sunday school. + +And now, with these three girls before her, differing so much in +circumstances and culture, it was no wonder that Miss Preston should +feel it a matter for earnest consideration what parting words she +should say, which, even if unappreciated at the time, might +afterwards come back to their minds, associated with the remembrance +of a teacher they had loved, to help them in the conflict between good +and evil which must have its place in their future lives. But she felt +she could not possibly do better, in bidding farewell to her young +pupils, than to direct them to Him who would never leave nor forsake +them,--who was nearer, wiser, tenderer, than any earthly friend,--who, +if they would trust themselves to Him, would guide them into all +truth, and in His own way of peace. + +She had brought them each, as a little parting remembrancer, a pretty +gift-card, bearing on one side the illuminated motto, "LOOKING UNTO +JESUS," a text the blessed influence of which she herself had long +experimentally known. And in words so simple as for the most part to +reach even little Nelly's comprehension, she spoke earnestly of the +loving Saviour to whom they were to "look,"--of that wonderful life +which, opening in the lowly manger of Bethlehem, and growing quietly +to maturity in the green valleys of Nazareth, reached its full +development in those unparalleled three years of "going about doing +good," healing, teaching, warning, rebuking, comforting; not +disdaining to stop and bless the little children, and at last dying to +atone for our sins. + +She explained to them, that although withdrawn from our earthly sight, +He was as really near to them now as He had been to those Jewish +children eighteen hundred years ago; that their lowest whisper could +reach Him; that if they would but ask Him, He would be their truest +Friend, ever at their side to help them to do right and resist +temptation, to comfort them in sorrow and sweeten their joy. Her +earnest tone and manner, even more than her words, impressed the +children, and fixed even Nelly Connor's bright hazel eyes in a +wondering gaze. It was very new and strange to her to hear about the +mysterious, invisible Friend who was so loving and kind; the idea of a +_friend_ of any kind being novel to the lonely, motherless child, more +accustomed to harsh, unsparing reproof than to any other language. +Miss Preston, glad to see at least that her interest was excited, was +fain to leave the germs of truth to take root and develope in her +mind, under the silent influence of the divine Husbandman. + +"Now, my dear children," she said in conclusion, "whenever you are +tempted to be careless or unfaithful in duty, to think that _it +doesn't matter because no one will know_, remember that your _Saviour +knows_,--that whatever the duty before you may be, you have to do it +'as to the Lord, and not unto men.' Whenever you are tempted to get +tired of trying to do right and resist temptation, or when you may +feel sad for your sinfulness and unworthiness, think of the text I am +leaving you, 'LOOKING UNTO JESUS.' And if you really and earnestly +_look_ to Him, you will always find help, and strength, and guidance, +and comfort." + +On the reverse side of the illuminated card she had brought for her +class was printed, in clear, distinct characters, the hymn, + + "I lay my sins on Jesus, + The spotless Lamb of God; + He bears them all, and frees us + From the accursed load. + + "I lay my wants on Jesus, + All fulness dwells in Him; + He heals all my diseases, + He doth my soul redeem." + +As Nelly could not read, Miss Preston made her say these verses +several times after her; and as she had a quick ear and a facility for +learning by heart, she could soon repeat them. That she could not +understand them at present, her teacher knew; but she thought it +something gained that the words at least should linger in her memory +till their meaning should dawn upon her heart. Then, telling Nelly she +must take care of her pretty card, and try to learn to read it for +herself, she bade her class an affectionate farewell, trusting that +the Friend of whom she had been teaching them would care for them when +_she_ could not. + +"I'll learn the hymn, miss, and try to learn to read it, if anybody +'ll teach me," said Nelly, her bright brown eyes sparkling through +tears, for her warm Irish heart had been touched by the kind words and +tones of her teacher, whom she expected never to see again. + +Bessy Ford's sunshiny face also looked unusually sorrowful, and Lucy +Raymond's trembling lip bespoke a deeper emotion, with difficulty +repressed. + +"I shall see _you_ again, Lucy," Miss Preston said, with a smile, as +she affectionately detained her a moment, for Lucy had been invited to +be present at her teacher's marriage, at which her father was to +officiate. Lucy and Bessie walked away together, the former with her +first experience of a "_last time_" weighing on her mind and spirits; +and Nelly Connor slowly stole away among the trees toward the spot she +called her "home." + +Bessie's momentary sadness quickly vanished as she engaged in a brisk +conversation with another girl about her own age, who was eager to +gossip about Miss Preston's approaching marriage, where she was going, +and what she was to wear. Lucy drew off from her companion as soon as +Nancy Parker joined them, partly from a real desire of thinking +quietly of her teacher's parting words, partly in proud disdain of +Bessie's frivolity. "How _can_ she go on so," she thought, "after what +Miss Preston has been saying?" But she forgot that disdain is as far +removed from the spirit of the loving and pitying Saviour as even the +frivolity she despised. + +"Come, Lucy, don't be so stiff," said Nancy as they approached the +shady gate of the white house where Mr. Raymond lived; "can't you tell +us something about the wedding? You're going, aren't you?" + +Nancy's pert, familiar tones grated upon Lucy's ear with unusual +harshness, and she replied, rather haughtily, that she knew scarcely +anything about it. + +"Oh, no doubt you think yourself very grand," Nancy rejoined, "but I +can find out all about it from my aunt, and no thanks to you. Come on, +Bessie." Bessie, somewhat ashamed of her companion, and instinctively +conscious of Lucy's disapproval, stopped at the gate to exchange a +good-bye with her friend, who for the moment was not very cordial. + +Thus Miss Preston and her class had separated, and future days alone +could reveal what had become of the seed she had tried to sow. + + + + +II. + +_Lucy's Home._ + + "Is the heart a living power? + Self-entwined, its strength sinks low; + It can only live in loving, + And by serving, love will grow." + + +As Lucy passed in under the acacias which shaded the gate, she was met +by a pretty, graceful-looking girl about her own age, who, with her +golden hair floating on her shoulders and her hat swinging listlessly +in her hand, was wandering through the shrubbery. + +"Why, Lucy," she exclaimed, "what a time you have been away! I've +tried everything I could think of to pass the time; looked over all +your books, and couldn't find a nice one I hadn't read; teased Alick +and Fred till they went off for peace, and pussy till she scratched my +arm. Just look there!" + +But Lucy's mind had been too much absorbed to descend at once to the +level of her cousin's trifling tone; and having been vexed previously +at her refusal to accompany her to Sunday school, she now regretted +exceedingly that Stella had not been present to hear Miss Preston's +earnest words. + +"Oh, Stella," she said eagerly, "I do _so_ wish you had been with me! +If you had only heard what Miss Preston said to us, it would have done +you good all your life." + +"Well, you know I don't worship Miss Preston," replied Stella, always +ready to tease, "she looks so demure. And as for dressing, why, Ada +and Sophy wouldn't be seen out in the morning in that common-looking +muslin she wore to church." + +"Oh, Stella, how can you go on so?" exclaimed Lucy impatiently. "If +you only had something better to think of, you wouldn't talk as if you +thought dress the one thing needful." + +"That's a quotation from one of Uncle Raymond's sermons, isn't it?" +rejoined Stella aggravatingly. + +Lucy drew her arm away from her cousin's and walked off alone to the +house, obliged to hear Stella's closing remark: "Well, I'm glad _I_ +didn't go to Sunday school if it makes people come home cross and +sulky!" And then, unconscious of the sting her words had implanted, +Stella turned to meet little Harry, who was bounding home in his +highest spirits. + +Lucy slowly found her way to her own room, her especial sanctuary, +where she had a good deal of pleasure in keeping her various +possessions neatly arranged. At present it was shared by her young +visitor, whose careless, disorderly ways were a considerable drawback +to the pleasure so long anticipated of having a companion of her own +age. Just now her eye fell at once on her ransacked bookcase all in +confusion, with the books scattered about the room. It was a trifle, +but trifles are magnified when the temper is already discomposed; and +throwing down her gloves and Bible, she hastily proceeded to rearrange +them, feeling rather unamiably towards her cousin. + +But as she turned back from the completed task, her card with its +motto met her eye, like a gentle reproof to her ruffled +spirit--"LOOKING UNTO JESUS." Had she not forgotten that already? She +had come home enthusiastic--full of an ideal life she was to live, an +example and influence for good to all around her. But, mingled in her +aspirations, there was an unconscious desire for pre-eminence and an +insidious self-complacency--"little foxes" that will spoil the best +grapes. She had to learn that God will not be served with unhallowed +fire; that the heart must be freed from pride and self-seeking before +it can be fit for the service of the sanctuary. Already she knew she +had been impatient and unconciliatory, contemptuous to poor +ill-trained Nancy, whose home influences were very unfavourable; and +now, by her hastiness towards her cousin, whom she had been so anxious +to influence for good, she had probably disgusted her with the things +in which she most wanted to interest her. + +She did not turn away, however, from the lights conscience brought to +her. Nurtured in a happy Christian home, under the watchful eye of the +loving father whose care had to a great extent supplied the want of +the mother she could scarcely remember, she could not have specified +the time when she first began to look upon Christ as her Saviour, and +to feel herself bound to live unto _Him_, and not to herself. But her +teacher's words had given her a new impulse--a more definite +realization of the strength by which the Christian life was to be +lived-- + + "The mind to blend with outward life, + While keeping at Thy side." + +Humbled by her failure, she honestly confessed it, and asked for more +of the strength which every earnest seeker shall receive. + +With a much lighter heart and clearer brow, Lucy went to rejoin +Stella, whom she found amusing herself with Harry and his rabbits, +having forgotten all about Lucy's hastiness. Lucy seated herself on +the grass beside them, joining readily in the admiration with which +Stella, no less than Harry, was caressing the soft, white, downy +creature with pink eyes, which was her brother's latest acquisition. + +"I want him to call it Blanche--such a pretty name, isn't it, Lucy?" +said Stella. + +"I won't," declared the perverse Harry, "because I don't like it;" and +so saying, he rushed off to join "the boys," as he called them. + +"What have you got there?" asked Stella, holding out her hand for +Lucy's card, which she had brought down. "Yes, it's pretty, but Sophy +does much prettier ones; you should see some lovely ones she has +done!" + +"Has she?" asked Lucy with interest,--thinking Stella's sister must +care more for the Bible than she herself did, if she painted +illuminated texts. "I was going to tell you this was what Miss Preston +was speaking to us about." + +"I don't see that she could say much about that, it's so short. I +don't see what it means; Jesus is in heaven now, and we can't see +Him." + +"Oh, but," exclaimed Lucy eagerly, overcoming her shy reluctance to +speak, "He is _always near_, though we can't see Him, and is ready to +help us when we do right, and grieved and displeased when we do wrong. +I forget that myself, Stella," she added with an effort, "or I +shouldn't have been so cross when I came home." + +Stella had already forgotten all about that, and felt a little +uncomfortable at her cousin's entering on subjects which she had been +accustomed to consider were to be confined to the pulpit, or at any +rate were above her comprehension. She believed, of course, in a +general way, that Christ had died for sinners, as she had often heard +in church, and that in some vague way _she_ was to be saved and taken +to heaven, when she should be obliged to leave this world; but it had +never occurred to her that the salvation of which she had been told +was to influence her life now, or awaken any love from _her_ in +response to the great love which had been shown toward her. Not daring +to reply, she glanced listlessly over the hymn on the card, but took +up none of its meaning. She had never been conscious of any heavy +burden of sin to be "laid on Jesus." Petted and praised at home for +her beauty and lively winning ways, her faults overlooked and her good +qualities exaggerated, she had no idea of the evil that lay +undeveloped in her nature, shutting out from her heart the love of the +meek and lowly Jesus. She could scarcely feel her need of strength for +a warfare on which she had never entered; and Lucy's words, spoken +out of the realizing experience she had already had, were to her +incomprehensible. + +She was a good deal relieved when the tea-bell rang, and Lucy's two +brothers, Fred and Harry, with her tall cousin Alick Steele, joined +them as they obeyed the summons to the cool, pleasant dining-room, +where Alick's mother, Mr. Raymond's sister, who had superintended his +family since Mrs. Raymond's death, was already seated at the +tea-table. Her quiet, gentle face, in the plain widow's cap, greeted +them with a smile, brightening with a mother's pride and pleasure as +she glanced towards her son Alick, just now spending a brief holiday +at Ashleigh on the completion of his medical studies. He was a +handsome high-spirited youth, affectionate, candid, and full of +energy, though as yet his mother grieved at his carelessness as to the +"better part" which she longed to see him choose. He had always spent +his vacations at Ashleigh, and was such a favourite that his visits +were looked forward to as the pleasantest events of the year. + +"Girls," said Alick, "I saw such quantities of strawberries this +afternoon." + +"Where?" interrupted Harry eagerly. + +"Was anybody speaking to you?" asked his cousin, laughing. "But I'll +tell you if you won't go and eat them all up. Over on the edge of the +woods by Mill Bank Farm. I could soon have filled a basket if I had +had one, and if mother wouldn't have said it was Sabbath-breaking!" + +"Alick, my boy," said his mother gravely, "you mustn't talk so +thoughtlessly. What would your uncle say?" + +"He'd say it was a pity so good a mother hadn't a better son. But +never mind, mother dear, you'll see I'll come all right yet. As for +these strawberries, Lucy, I vote we have a strawberry picnic, and give +Stella a taste of real country life. They'll give us cream at the +farm, and the Fords would join us." + +Stella looked a little of the surprise she felt at the idea of the +farmer's children being added to the party, but she did not venture to +say anything, as Alick was by no means sparing in bringing his powers +of raillery to bear on what he called her "town airs and graces." + +"Well, you needn't make all the arrangements to-night," interposed +Mrs. Steele; "you know your uncle doesn't like Sunday planning of +amusements." + +And just then Mr. Raymond entered the room, his grave, quiet face, +solemnized by the thoughts with which he had been engrossed, +exercising an unconsciously subduing influence over the lively +juniors. Mr. Raymond never frowned upon innocent joyousness, and even +the boisterous little Harry was never afraid of his father; yet there +was about him a certain realization of the great truths he preached, +which checked any approach to levity in his presence, and impressed +even the most thoughtless; although, not tracing it to its real +source, they generally set it down simply to his "being a clergyman." +His children looked up to him with devoted affection and deep +reverence; even Stella could not help feeling that her uncle must be a +_very_ good man; and to Alick, who under all his nonsense had a strong +appreciation of practical religion, he was the embodiment of Christian +excellence. + +"Well, Stella," said her uncle, turning kindly to his niece, "I hope +you had a pleasant afternoon. I suppose our little Sunday school looks +very small after the great city ones." + +"We never go to Sunday school at home, uncle," said Stella, with one +of her winning smiles; "there are so many _common_ children." + +"Oh, indeed!" exclaimed Alick, seizing the opportunity of putting down +Stella's airs. "Why don't you get up a select one, then, attended only +by young ladies of the best families?" + +Stella coloured at the sarcastic tone, but Mr. Raymond only said +kindly, "Did you ever think, my dear child, how many of these poor +common children, as you call them, you will have to meet in heaven?" + +It was certainly a new idea to Stella, and made her feel rather +uncomfortable; indeed she never cared much to think about heaven, of +which her ideas were the vaguest possible. + +As they went to evening service, Alick did not omit to rally Stella on +her want of candour in leaving her uncle under the impression that she +had been at Sunday school that afternoon. + +"Why, Alick!" she exclaimed in surprise, "I didn't say I had been at +Sunday school. If Uncle Raymond supposed so, it wasn't my fault." + +"Only, you answered him as if his supposition was correct. I have +always understood that intentionally confirming a false impression was +at least the next thing to telling a story." + +"Well, I'm sure Stella didn't think of that," interposed Lucy +good-naturedly, noticing the rising colour of vexation on Stella's +countenance. + +"How tiresome they all are here!" thought Stella; "always finding out +harm in things. I'm sure it wasn't my business to tell Uncle William I +hadn't been at Sunday school. Sophy and Ada often tell the housemaid +to say they are not at home when they are, and don't think it any +harm. What would Alick say to that?" + +By one of those coincidences which sometimes happen--sent, we may be +sure, in God's providence--Mr. Raymond took for his text that evening +the words, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." +The coincidence startled Lucy, and made her listen with more than +ordinary attention to her father's sermon, though, to do her justice, +she was not usually either sleepy or inattentive. Mr. Raymond began by +alluding to the "race set before us," which the apostle had spoken of +in the previous verse,--the race which all who will follow Christ must +know, but only in the strength He will supply. The young and strong +might think themselves sufficient for it, but the stern experience of +life would soon teach them that it must be often run with a heavy +heart and weary feet; that "even the youths shall faint and be weary, +and the young men utterly fall;" and that it is only they who wait on +the Lord, "looking unto Jesus," who shall "mount up on wings as +eagles," who shall "run and not be weary, and shall walk and not +faint." + +Then he spoke of the Helper ever near--the "dear Jesus ever at our +side," in looking to whom in faith and prayer, not trying to walk in +our own strength, we may get + + "the daily strength, + To none who ask denied,"-- + +the strength to overcome temptation and conquer sloth, and do whatever +work He gives us to do. Something, too, he said of what that work is: +First, the faithful discharge of daily duty, whatever its nature; then +the more voluntary work for Christ and our fellow-men with which the +corners of the busiest life may be filled up--the weak and weary to be +helped, the mourner to be sympathized with, the erring brother or +sister to be sought out and brought back, the cup of cold water to be +given for Christ's sake, which should not lose its reward. + +He ended by speaking of the grounds on which Jesus is the "author and +finisher of our faith," the great salvation won by Him for us on the +cross,--a salvation to be entered upon now, so that during this life +we may begin that glorious eternal life which is to go on for ever. +Then he besought his hearers, by the greatness of that love which had +prompted the infinite sacrifice, by the endurance of that mysterious +depth of suffering which the Son of God bore for men, that He might +"save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him," to come at +once to have their sins washed away in the Redeemer's blood, which +alone could "purge their consciences from dead works to serve the +living God." + +Many and many a time during Lucy's after-life did the words of that +sermon come back to her mind, associated with her father's earnest, +solemn tones, with the peaceful beauty of that summer Sabbath +evening--with the old church, its high seats and pulpit and +time-stained walls, and the old familiar faces whom all her life she +had been wont to see, Sunday after Sunday, in the same familiar seats. + +And what of the others? Bessie Ford, too, had noticed the coincidence, +and had listened to the sermon as attentively as a somewhat volatile +mind would allow her, and had gathered from it more than she could +have put into conscious thought, though it was destined to bring forth +fruit. + +And far back, in a dusky corner of the little gallery, gleamed the +bright brown eyes of little Nelly, who had ventured back to the +church, and, hearing the familiar sound of the text, listened intently +and picked up some things which, though only half understood, yet +awakened the chords which had been already touched to a trembling +response. + +Even little Harry in some measure abstained from indulging in his +ordinary train of meditation during church-time, consisting chiefly of +planning fishing excursions and games for the holidays. How many older +and wiser heads are prone to the same kind of reverie, and could not +have given a better account of "papa's sermon" than he was usually +able to do! Fred, the quiet student, listened with kindling eye and +deep enthusiasm to his father's earnest exposition of the divine truth +which had already penetrated his own mind and heart; and Alick heard +it with a reverent admiration for the beautiful gospel which could +prompt such noble sentiments, and with a vague determination that +"some time" he would think about it in earnest. + +Stella alone, of all the young group, carried away nothing of the +precious truth which had been sounding in her ears. She had gone to +church merely as a matter of form, without any expectation of +receiving a blessing there; and during the service her wandering eyes +had been employed in taking a mental inventory of the various odd and +old-fashioned costumes that she saw around her, to serve for her +sister's amusement when she should return home. It is thus that the +evil one often takes away the good seed before it has sunk into our +hearts. Stella would have been surprised had it been suggested to her +that the words of the last hymn, which rose sweetly through the church +in the soft summer twilight, could possibly apply to her that evening: + + "If some poor wandering child of thine + Have spurned to-day the voice divine, + Now, Lord, the gracious work begin; + Let him no more lie down in sin!" + + + + +III. + +_More Home Scenes._ + + "Tell me the story often. + For I forgot so soon; + The early dew of morning + Has passed away at noon." + + +When Bessie Ford parted from Lucy at the gate, she had still a long +walk before reaching home. Mill Bank Farm was a good mile and a half +from the village if you went by the road, but Bessie shortened it very +considerably by striking across the fields a little way beyond the +village. There were one or two fences to climb, but Bessie did not +mind that any more than she minded the placid cows browsing in the +pasture through which her way led. The breezy meadows, white with +ox-eye daisies, and in some places yellow with buttercups, with the +blue river flowing rapidly past on one side, afforded a pleasant walk +at any time, and the rest of the way was still prettier. Just within +the boundary of Mill Bank Farm the ground ascended slightly, and then +descended into a narrow glen or ravine, with steep, rocky sides +luxuriantly draped with velvet moss and waving ferns, while along the +bottom of it a little stream flowed quietly enough towards the river, +though a little higher up it came foaming and dashing down the rocks +and turned a small saw-mill on the farm. The sides of the ravine were +shady with hemlocks, spreading their long, waving boughs over the +rocks, with whose dark, solemn foliage maples and birches contrasted +their fresh vivid green. In spring, what a place it was for wild +flowers!--as Lucy Raymond and her brothers well knew, having often +brought home thence great bunches of dielytras and convallarias and +orchises; and at any time some bright blossoms were generally to be +found gleaming through the shade. + +Bessie, however, did not linger now to look for them, but picking her +way across the stepping-stones which lay in the bed of the stream, she +quickly climbed the opposite bank by a natural pathway which wound up +among the rocks--easily found by her accustomed feet--and passing +through the piece of woodland that lay on the other side, came out on +the sunny expanse of meadows and corn-fields, in the midst of which +stood the neat white farmhouse, with its little array of farm +buildings, and the fine old butternut tree, under the shade of which +Mrs. Ford sat milking her sleek, gentle cows, little Jenny and Jack +sitting on the ground beside her. The instant that they espied their +sister coming through the fields, they dashed off at the top of their +speed to see who should reach her first, and were soon trotting along +by her side, confiding to her their afternoon's adventures, and how +Jack had found nine eggs in an unsuspected nest in the barn, but had +broken three in carrying them in. + +"But me wouldn't have," insisted Jack sturdily, "if Jenny hadn't +knocked up against me." + +"Oh, Jack! Now you know I only touched you the least little bit," +retorted the aggrieved Jenny. + +"Well, don't jump up and down so, or I will let go your hand," said +Bessie. "You almost pull my arm off! I wish you could see how quietly +little Mary Thomson sits in Sunday school, and she is no bigger than +you." + +"Why can't I go to Sunday school, then?" demanded Jenny; "I'd be quiet +too." + +"And me too!" vociferated Jack; the circumstance that they were not +considered old enough yet to go to Sunday school giving it a wonderful +charm in their eyes. Then, as they set off again on another race +toward their mother, it occurred to Bessie for the first time that +these little ones were quite old enough to learn the things that other +little children learned at Sunday school, and that although they were +not strong enough for the long walk, and her mother's time and +thoughts were always so fully engrossed with the round of domestic +duties, _she_ might easily find time to teach her little brother and +sister as much as they could understand about the Saviour, who had +died that they might be made good, and who when on earth had blessed +little children. Something Miss Preston had said about home +duties--about helping to teach and guide the little brothers and +sisters--now recurred to her mind, and conscience told her that these +duties she had hitherto failed of performing. She had never herself +really taken Christ for her own Saviour and Guide, although she often +felt a vague wish that she were "good," and the desire of pleasing +Christ entered but little, if at all, into the motives and actions of +her daily life. But she generally _knew_ what was right, and +occasionally, while the impulse from some good influence was still +fresh, would try to _do_ it. + +"I know Miss Preston would say I ought to teach Jenny and Jack some +verses and hymns on Sunday," she thought. "I'll begin to-night, when +mother and the boys are gone to church;" for a certain shyness about +seeming "good" made her wish to begin her teaching without witnesses. + +"Here, Bessie," said Mrs. Ford as Bessie approached, "do run and get +the tea ready--there's a good girl. I shan't be through yet for half +an hour, for I've the calves to see to; and your father and the boys +'ll be in from watering the horses, and if we don't get tea soon +they'll be late for church." + +Bessie went in to change her dress, with her usually good-humoured +face contracted into a dissatisfied expression. She was tired; it +would have been nice to sit down and read her Sunday-school book till +tea-time. But of course nothing could be said; so she hurriedly pulled +off her walking things, grumbling a little in her own mind at the +difference between her own lot and that of Lucy Raymond, who, she felt +sure, had none of these tiresome things to do. She had never +thought--what, indeed, older people often lose sight of--that God so +arranges the work of all His children who will do what He gives them +to do, that while some may seem to have more leisure than others, all +have their appointed work, of the kind best suited to discipline, and +fit them for the higher sphere of nobler work, in which will probably +be found much of the blessedness of eternity. + +Before Bessie went down to her unwelcome task, she recollected that +she must put her pretty card safe out of the children's way; so with a +strong pin she fastened it up securely on the wall, on which it formed +a tasteful decoration. As she did so, the motto brought back to her +memory what Miss Preston had said about "looking unto Jesus" in every +time of temptation, great or small, as well when inclined to be +discontented or impatient, as in greater emergencies. The evil +principle in her nature rose against her doing so now, but the other +power was stronger; and perhaps for the first time in her life, though +she regularly "said her prayers," Bessie really asked Jesus to help +her to be more like Himself. Then with a new, strange happiness in her +heart, that was at once the result of her self-conquest and the answer +to her prayer, she ran down cheerfully to do her work, singing in a +low tone the first verse of her hymn: + + "I long to be like Jesus, + Meek, loving, lowly, mild; + I long to be like Jesus, + The Father's holy child." + +Jenny and Jack came running in to help her--small assistants, whom it +required a good deal of patience to manage, neither allowing them to +hurt themselves or anything else, nor driving them into a fit of +screaming by despotically thwarting their good intentions; and +Bessie's patience was not always equal to the ordeal. But on this +occasion Mrs. Ford was left to pursue her dairy avocations in peace, +without being called by Jack's screams to settle some fierce dispute +between him and his sister, whose interference was not always very +judiciously applied. + +The tea was soon ready,--not, however, before Mr. Ford and his two +eldest boys had come in, accompanied by Bessie's younger brother Sam, +next in age to herself, who ought to have been at Sunday school, but +had managed to escape going, as he often did. His mother being on +Sundays, as on other days, "cumbered with much serving," and his +sister generally remaining with some of her friends in the village +during the interval between the morning service and Sunday school, it +was comparatively easy for Master Sam to play truant, as indeed he +sometimes did from the day school, where his chances of punishment +were much greater, Mr. Ford being far more alive to the advantages of +a "good education" than to the need of the knowledge which "maketh +wise unto salvation." So that, when Bessie began her usual "Why, Sam, +you weren't at Sunday school!" Sam had some plausible excuse all +ready, the ingenuity of which would amuse his father so much as to +lead him to overlook the offence. + +"Well, Bessie," her mother exclaimed when they were all seated, "I +really believe you haven't forgotten anything, for _once_. I should +not wonder if you were to turn out a decent housekeeper yet." + +For it was Mrs. Ford's great complaint of Bessie, that she was so +"heedless" and "needed so much minding," though she would always add, +modifying her censure, "But then you can't put an old head on young +shoulders, and the child has a real good _heart_." And being a +thoroughly active and diligent housekeeper, she generally found it +less trouble to supply Bessie's shortcomings herself, so that +Bessie's home education was likely to suffer by her mother's very +proficiency, unless she should come to see that to do all things well +was a duty she owed "unto the Lord, and not unto men." + +"So, Bessie, you're going to lose your teacher?" said her father. "I +hear she's to be married on Thursday." + +"Yes, father, she bade us all good-bye to-day; and she gave us such +pretty cards, mother, with a text and a hymn;" and on the impulse of +the moment she ran up for hers, and brought it down for inspection. It +was handed round the table, eliciting various admiring comments, and +exciting Jack's desire to get it into his own hands, which being +thwarted, he was with difficulty consoled by an extra supply of bread +and butter. + +"And, mother," asked Bessie, somewhat doubtfully, "may I go to-morrow +and get the things to work a book-mark for Miss Preston? I'd like to +do it for a new Bible the teachers are going to give her." + +"I don't care," said Mrs. Ford, "if you'll only not neglect everything +else while you're doing it. I don't believe in girls fiddling away +their time with such things, and not knowing how to make good cheese +and butter. But I wouldn't hinder you from making a present to Miss +Preston, for she has been a good teacher to you." + +Bessie looked delighted, but the expression quickly changed when her +mother said, as they rose from table, "Bessie, I guess I'll not go to +church to-night. I've had so much to do that I feel tired out; and if +I did go, I'm sure I'd just go to sleep. Besides, I don't like the way +the dun cow is looking; so you'd better get ready and go with father +and the boys." + +Now Bessie had expected to remain at home that evening, as she usually +did. She had planned to teach the children for a while, according to +her new resolution, and then, when they had gone to bed, to sit down +to read her Sunday-school book, which seemed unusually inviting. +Bessie's Sunday reading was generally confined to her Sunday-school +book, for she had not yet learned to love to read the Bible, and +regarded it rather as a lesson-book than as the spiritual food which +those who know it truly find "sweeter than honey" to their taste. So +it was not a very pleasant prospect to have to hurry off to church +again, and she felt very much inclined to make the most of the slight +fatigue she felt, and say she was too tired to go, in which case her +mother would have willingly assented to her remaining. But conscience +told her she was able to go, and ought to go; and remembering her +motto and her prayer, she cheerfully prepared to accompany her father +and brothers to church, and she had reason to be grateful for her +choice. The words of the sermon deepened and expanded the impressions +of the afternoon, and left an abiding influence on the current of her +life. + +When Mrs. Ford had got through her evening duties, and the little ones +were hushed in sound slumber, she sat down near the open window to +rest, her eye falling, as she did so, on Bessie's card. The motto upon +it carried her thoughts away to the time when, as a newly-married +wife, she had listened to a sermon on that very text,--a time when, +rejoicing in the happiness of her new life, she had felt her heart +beat with gratitude to Him who had so freely given her all things, and +with a sincere desire to live to His glory. How had the desire been +carried out? A very busy life hers had been, and still was. The +innumerable cares and duties of her family and farm and dairy had +filled it with never-ceasing active occupations, as was natural and +right; but was it right that these occupations should have so crowded +out the very principle that would have given a holy harmony to her +life, and been a fountain of strength to meet the cares and worries +that will fret the stream of the most prosperous course? Sacred words, +learned in her childhood, recurred to her mind: "And the cares of this +world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things, +entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful." Had not that +been her own experience? Where were the fruits that might have been +expected from "the word" in her?--the Christian influence and training +which might have made her household what a Christian household ought +to be? + +Had not the "cares of this world" been made the chief concern--the +physical and material well-being of her family made far more prominent +than the development of a life hid with Christ in God? Had not the +very smoothness and prosperity of her life, and her self-complacency +in her own good management, been a snare to her? Her husband, good and +kind as he was, was, she knew, wholly engrossed with the things of +this life; and her boys--steadier, she often thought with pride, than +half the boys of the neighbourhood--had never yet been made to feel +that they were not their own, but bought with the price of a +Saviour's blood. Such higher knowledge as Bessie had was due to Miss +Preston, for, like many mothers, she had not scrupled to devolve her +own responsibilities on the Sunday-school teachers, and thought her +duty done when she had seen her children, neatly dressed, set off to +school on Sunday afternoon. And the little ones she had just left +asleep--had she earnestly commended them to the Lord, and tried to +teach them such simple truths about their Saviour as their infant +minds could receive? + +All these thoughts came crowding into her mind, as they sometimes will +when the voice of the Spirit can find an entrance into our usually +closed hearts; and she shrank from the thought of the account she +should have to give of the responsibilities abused, the trust +unfulfilled. Happily, she did not forget that "if we confess our sins, +He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins;" and that quiet hour +of meditation, and confession, and humble resolve was one of the most +profitable seasons Mrs. Ford had ever known. For God, unlike man, can +work without as well as with outward instrumentality. + +When the others returned from church, it was with some surprise that +Mrs. Ford heard from Bessie the words of the text. + +"I heard Mr. Raymond preach from that same text long ago, just after +we were married, John," she said. + +"Well, if you remember it, it's more than I do. But if he did preach +the same sermon over again, it is well worth hearing twice." + +"Yes, indeed," said his wife. "I wish I had minded it better. It would +have been better for us all if we had. Bessie, are you too tired to +read a chapter as soon as the boys come in? We don't any of us read +the Bible enough, I'm afraid." + +And Bessie, struck by something unusual in her mother's tone and +manner, cheerfully read aloud, at Mrs. Ford's request, the thirteenth +of Matthew and the tenth of Hebrews, although the tempting +Sunday-school book still lay unread on the table up-stairs. + + + + +IV. + +_Nelly's Sunday Evening._ + + "Oh, say not, dream not, heavenly notes + To childish ears are vain,-- + That the young mind at random floats, + And cannot catch the strain." + + +In the meantime let us go back to Nelly Connor, and see how _she_ +spent her Sunday afternoon. + +When she had wistfully watched the last of the groups of children +disappearing in the distance, she walked slowly away toward her +"home"--a dilapidated-looking cottage in a potato patch, enclosed by a +broken-down fence, patched up by Nelly and her new mother with old +barrel-staves and branches of trees. The outdoor work which fell to +her lot Nelly did not so much dislike. It was the nursing of a +screaming baby, or scrubbing dingy, broken boards--work often imposed +upon her--which sorely tried her childish strength and patience. + +Nelly found the house deserted. Sunday being Mrs. Connor's idle day, +she usually went to visit some of her friends in the village, taking +her children with her. A piece of bread and a mug of sour milk on the +table were all that betokened any preparation for Nelly's supper; but +she was glad enough to miss the harsh scolding tones that were her +usual welcome home. + +Nelly sat down on the doorstep to eat her crust, watching, as she did +so, a little bird which was bringing their evening meal to its +chirping little ones in a straggling old plum-tree near the house. For +in animal life there is no such discord as sin introduces into human +life, marring the beauty of God's arrangements for His creatures' +happiness. Then, having nothing to keep her at home, she took up her +dingy, tattered straw hat, and strolled slowly along towards the +village, keeping to the shady lanes on its outskirts till she came out +upon the fields across which Bessie had taken her way home. + +On her way she passed Mr. Raymond's pretty shrubbery, and stood for a +while quite still by the white railings, looking at the group +within--Lucy and her cousin sitting under the trees on the green turf, +with Harry and the rabbit close beside them. Nelly thought she had +never seen anything so pretty as Stella, with her rose-leaf complexion +and sunny golden hair. The two might have served a painter for a +contrast, both as to externals and as to the effect of the surrounding +influences which mould human life: the one, from her cradle so +tenderly and luxuriously nurtured, petted, and caressed; the other, +accustomed from her earliest years to privation and hardship, to harsh +tones and wicked words, to all the evil influences which surround a +child left to pick up its education on the city streets. Strange +mystery of the "election of circumstances!"--one of the strangest in +our mystery-surrounded life, never to be cleared up till all crooked +things shall be made straight. Only let the privileged ones, whose +lines have fallen in pleasant places, remember that "to whom much is +given, of them much shall be required." + +A forlorn little figure Nelly looked as she strolled along the +field-paths which Bessie had taken an hour before. But she did not +trouble herself much about externals, except when in company with +others whose better attire made her painfully conscious of the defects +in her own; and being of a nature open to every impression from +surrounding objects, she was at that moment far from being an unhappy +child. It was not often that she was completely free to wander at +will; and the fresh breezy fields, the sweet scents of the clover and +the pines, the blue rippling river, and the cows that looked calmly at +her with their patient, wistful eyes, were all novelties to the town +child, whose first summer it was in the country. Some faint +recollections she still had of the grassy slopes of her native hills, +in the days of her early childhood; but since then all her experiences +of summer had been the hot, hard pavements and stifling dust of a +large city. + +She had never before extended her wanderings in the direction of Mill +Bank Farm so far as to reach the ravine through which the little +stream flowed into the river; and now, when she came to the edge of +the steep slope and looked down into the luxuriant depth of foliage +and fern and ragged moss-clad rock, she felt a sense of delight more +intense than Bessie Ford or Lucy Raymond, familiar all their lives +with such scenes, had ever experienced. She stood spell-bound at +first, and then, scrambling down among rock and fern, reached the +little stream, and was soon wading about in its bed, enjoying the +sensation of the soft, warm water flowing over her bare feet, and +pulling the little flowering water-plants that raised their heads +among the moss-grown logs and stones which lay in the bed of the +stream. Then she began to climb up on the other side, stopping to +examine with admiring eyes every velvety cushion of moss, and cluster +of tiny ferns, and fairy-like baby pine or maple, and picking with +eager hands the wild roses and other blossoms which she espied among +the tangled underwood. + +At last, tired with her wanderings, and with hands full of her +treasures, she threw herself down on a bed of dry moss that carpeted +the top of a high bank of rock which overlooked the river winding away +beneath, while overhead, through the feathery sprays of the long, +straggling pine boughs, the slanting sunbeams flickered on the turf +below. + +There, in that solitary stillness--all the stiller for the confused +murmur of soft sounds, and the fresh, sweet breath of the woods +perfuming the air--unaccustomed thoughts came into the little girl's +mind,--thoughts which, in the din and bustle of the city, where the +tide of human interests sufficed to fill up her undeveloped mind, had +scarcely ever entered it. But here, where the direct works of God +alone were around her, her mind was irresistibly drawn towards Him of +whom Miss Preston had told her, that He had made her and all she saw +around her, and who lived, she supposed, somewhere beyond that blue +sky. With so many pleasant things around her, the thought of their +Maker was pleasant too. But then Miss Preston had told her that God +loved what was good, but hated what was bad; and did not her new +mother constantly tell her she was a "bad child?"--an accusation in +which her conscience told her there was much truth. So God could not +love her, she thought. + +But Miss Preston had said that God did love her--that He cared for her +continually, and wished to make her good and happy--that He had even, +in some strange way which she could not understand, sent His Son to +die for her, that she might be made good. It was all new and strange, +but she had faith in Miss Preston; and because she had told her, she +believed it must be true, that she, who had come to think +herself--poor child--too bad for any one to care for, had really a +great, kind Friend near her, though she could not see Him, and loving +her more than the mother whose warm caress she could still remember. +It was an idea that might seem beyond the grasp of a poor untaught +child, were it not that He who reveals Himself to babes and sucklings +can speak to the heart He has made in ways beyond our power to trace. +The idea in Nelly's mind of that wonderful love which she so sorely +needed, was more enlightened than many a philosopher's conception of +divinity, and the dark eyes filled with tears as a half-formed prayer +awoke from her heart to the loving Jesus, who, Miss Preston had told +her, would hear and answer her. + +And who could doubt that He did hear and answer the desolate, +uncared-for child, scarcely knowing as yet what "good" meant, since +her knowledge had been only of evil! Her conscience, however, was not +dead, though neglected; she knew at least what "wrong" was, and felt +she must leave off doing it if the Saviour was to be her friend. But +how should she be able to leave off her bad, idle ways, and become a +good, industrious girl, such as her new mother said most of the little +girls in Ashleigh were? Then she remembered the words which Miss +Preston had made her repeat, "Looking unto Jesus," and "I lay my sins +on Jesus," and that Miss Preston had told her she must ask Jesus to +take away her sins and make her good. But she thought the right place +for speaking to Jesus must be in the church, as most of the people she +had known in the city used to go to church "to confess," and she +supposed that must have something to do with it. + +Just then she saw the Fords passing at a little distance on their way +to church, and it occurred to her that she would go too; and perhaps +Jesus would hear her there, and show her how she was to be made good. +So she started up, and was speedily on the other side of the ravine, +almost overtaking the Fords before they reached the village. The +service was beginning when she crept stealthily into one of the +farthest back seats, half afraid lest she was doing wrong in thus +trespassing where she had no right. Then, crouched in a corner, with +her face bent forward and her elf-locks half covering her eyes, she +listened with intense earnestness, trying to take in all she could of +what was so new, yet already not unfamiliar to her, and half disposed +to think that the kindly-looking gentleman who stood there and spoke +in such solemn tones might be Jesus Himself. + +Let not the more favoured ones, on whom from their cradles the blessed +light of divine truth has steadily shone, smile at this poor child's +ignorance, but rather try to show their gratitude for higher +privileges, by seeking to impart some of the light shed on them so +abundantly to those who are still wandering in darkness. + +On Nelly's listening heart Mr. Raymond's sermon did not fall so +fruitlessly as some might have expected. For God is, for all, the +hearer and answerer of prayer, and He never leaves unheard the weakest +cry to Him. As the lonely child once more sought her comfortless home, +she felt a stirring of new hope within her, and scarcely minded her +mother's rough words when she demanded, "What have you been doing out +so late? No good, I am sure!" + +Mrs. Connor had been enlarging, among sympathizing friends, on the +hardship of her having to support her husband's child when he did so +little himself for his family. "My goodness! all he gives us wouldn't +half pay Nelly's board," she had declared; and as her grievances were +still fresh in her mind, she greeted her step-child with even more +asperity than usual. + +But as Nelly crept away to her hard little bed, perhaps some angel, +sent to minister to the motherless child, may have known that the +"good-for-nothing," ignorant little girl, oppressed with the feeling +of her own sinfulness, and full of the thought of her new-found +heavenly Friend, was nearer the kingdom of heaven than the petted, +admired, winning Stella Brooke, who had never yet learned her need of +the Saviour, who came "not to call the righteous, but sinners to +repentance." + + + + +V. + +_Strawberrying._ + + "Why should we fear youth's draught of joy, + If pure, would sparkle less? + Why should the cup the sooner cloy + Which God has deigned to bless?" + + +The "strawberry picnic" proposed by Alick Steele had been fixed for +the following Tuesday should it prove fine. Alick and Fred had been +over at Mill Bank Farm, and the younger Fords had agreed to meet them +at the ravine, with their contribution of milk and cream, and various +other things which Mrs. Ford's zealous housewifery would not be +prevented from sending, though Fred assured her that it was +unnecessary. + +"I know what young folks can eat, Mr. Fred," she replied, "and you may +as well have plenty;" and Alick laughingly assured her she was quite +right. Alick Steele, or the "young doctor," as his old friends now +began to call him, had been an acceptable guest at many a picnic and +merry-making, but he had never entered into anything of the kind with +more spirit and zeal than he now threw into this simple gypsying +excursion with his country cousins. + +"He's no end of a fellow for a picnic," declared Harry +enthusiastically, "and ten times as good as Fred;" the quiet nature of +the latter always shrinking from any unusual bustle, while Alick's +unfailing flow of animal spirits found a congenial outlet in any +little extra excitement, especially when it was connected with the +procuring of enjoyment for others. He and Harry were busy all Monday +in exploring the ground and selecting the most eligible place for the +repast; and Harry averred, when they returned home, that they would +have a "splendid time" next day, if it were only fine. + +Next morning opened as fair and bright as the excursionists could +desire,--not too hot, but tempered by a pleasant breeze--"just the day +for the woods, and not too rough for the water." For Stella had +manifested such consternation at the idea of going through the +pasture--"cows always frightened her so"--that, notwithstanding the +raillery and the representations of Alick and Harry, it was evident +that her pleasure would be spoiled if she were obliged to go by the +field-path. Alick therefore had good-naturedly hunted up a boat, which +would save them a long dusty walk by the road, and greatly enhance the +pleasure of the excursion, besides carrying the "_impedimenta_," as +Fred classically termed the baskets of provisions. Marion Wood, a +playmate of Lucy's, was to accompany them in the boat, while Mrs. +Steele and the boys walked across the fields. + +As soon as the early dinner could be got over, the boat's cargo was +taken on board, the passengers embarked, and after some little screams +from Stella, who had a habit of being "nervous," the little bark shot +off, swift and straight, impelled by Alick's firm, skillful strokes. +The water-party reached the mouth of the ravine considerably sooner +than the others; and while awaiting their arrival, Alick rowed them to +a little fairy islet near the shore, where they landed to explore it, +and twine their hats with the graceful creepers and ferns growing +among its rocks. Then re-embarking, they floated at leisure up and +down the glassy shaded water, fringed with tall reeds, the girls +alternately trying their hands at the oars, till a shout from Harry +and the waving of handkerchiefs announced the arrival of the rest of +the party. + +The strawberry-pickers had soon begun their search. Fred, who +preferred rowing to strawberry-picking, undertook to take charge of +Harry, who was as eager for the water as a young duck; while Mrs. +Steele, taking out her knitting, sat down beside the baskets under a +spreading oak, on a knoll overlooking the river, to wait until there +should be a demand for tea. + +Very quickly the time sped away, while the children pursued their busy +but not laborious quest of the tempting berries, half hidden under +their spreading leaves; and many an exclamation, half of annoyance, +half of amusement, was uttered as one of them made a dart at a bright +spot of crimson, fancying it a rich cluster of berries, and finding +only a leaf. + +"Why in the world do strawberries have red leaves, I wonder!" +exclaimed Harry, who, tired at last of boating, was pretending to help +them, though they all declared he ate as many as he picked. + +"To inure you to the disappointments of life," responded Alick +oracularly. "You'll find, as you go along, there are more red +strawberry leaves than berries all through." + +And Alick half sighed, as if he had already learned the lesson by +experience. + +"There's one thing, Alick, of which that remark doesn't hold good," +remarked Fred to his cousin in an undertone. "My father says _that_ +sheet-anchor will bear us up through all the disappointments of life; +and I believe it." + +"Well, very likely you're right,--well for those who can feel it so. +But at present I can't say I belong to that happy number. Some time or +other, perhaps. You know my head has been full of all sorts of ologies +except theology for a good while back." + +"The 'more convenient season,' Alick," replied Fred, with a half +smile. + +"Here, a truce to moralizing. Who's got the most strawberries? The +premium is to be the finest bunch in the collection," shouted Alick. + +And after the prize had been with much ceremony and mirth adjudged to +Bessie Ford, it was time to think about tea. + +"Come," said Alick, "shoulder arms, that is, baskets, and march!" + +All were very ready to obey Alick's word of command, and the merry +party were soon collected around the snowy tablecloth spread on the +turf, on which Mrs. Steele had arranged the tempting repast of pies +and cakes, curds and cream, to which a fine large dish of +strawberries--a contribution from the farm--formed a tempting +addition. + +Fred, at his aunt's request, asked a blessing, and then the good +things were welcomed by the appetites sharpened by fresh air and +exercise; and the feast was enlivened by the innocent glee and frolic +which usually enliven such simple country parties, unfettered by form, +and unsophisticated by any of the complications which creep into more +elaborate picnics. Even Stella, though she felt the whole +affair--especially the presence of the farmer's children--rather below +her dignity as an embryo city belle, gave herself up unrestrainedly to +the enjoyment of the occasion, and was more natural and free from what +Alick called "airs" than she had been at any time during her visit. +But the party were quite unconscious that they were watched, through +the thickly drooping boughs of a large hickory, by a pair of bright, +dark eyes, which were wistfully regarding them. The eyes were those of +Nelly Connor, who, having been unexpectedly left free that afternoon +to follow her own devices, had wandered away in the direction of the +spot which had so fascinated her on Sunday. + +When the tea was fairly over, and cups, dishes, and other +paraphernalia were being packed up by Mrs. Steele and the girls, +Stella, who, not being inclined to assist in such a menial occupation, +was wandering aimlessly about, made a discovery. + +"Oh, Lucy," she exclaimed, coming hurriedly up to her, "there is such +a ragged, bold-looking little girl sitting over there! She has been +watching us the whole time." + +"Well, her watching wouldn't hurt us," said Lucy, smiling at her +cousin's consternation. "I hope she was pleased with what she saw. +Why, it's Nelly Connor!" she added as the little girl emerged from her +hiding-place. "What can have brought _her_ here? I'll get Aunt Mary to +give her something to eat. I daresay she's hungry enough, for Miss +Preston told me she didn't think her new mother gave her enough to +eat." + +"I think she ought to be scolded and sent away," said Stella +decidedly. "You are just encouraging her impertinence in coming here +to watch us." + +But Lucy had already run off to her aunt, and was soon carrying a +plate heaped with good things to the astonished Nelly, who, frightened +at being discovered, and at Stella's frowning looks, was thinking how +she might make good her escape. Stella had only spoken as she had been +accustomed to hear those around her speak. She had been brought up to +look upon poverty and rags as something almost wicked in themselves, +and had never realized that feelings the same as her own might lie +under an exterior she despised. She had never been taught the meaning +of "I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave +me drink." Lucy, on the contrary, had been taught to consider it the +highest privilege and gratification to impart a share of the bounties +bestowed upon herself to the poor and needy whom our Saviour has left +as a legacy to His followers, and had already tasted the happiness of +lightening somewhat the load of poverty and hardship which press upon +some during all their lives. + +She soon reassured Nelly, and had the satisfaction of seeing her +enjoy the food with the zest of one to whom such delicacies were rare +indeed, and whose appetite was very seldom fully satisfied at home. +She explained to the rest that Nelly was in her class at Sunday +school; and Stella mentally put it down as another objection to going +there, that it involved the possibility of such undesirable +acquaintanceships. Alick was much interested in the little wanderer; +and even after the rest had set off towards the farmhouse, which they +were to visit before returning, he remained beside her, drawing from +her, bit by bit, her touching history, until she began to remember how +late it was, and started homeward, much astonished and cheered by the +kindness and sympathy she had met with. + +Alick found the rest of the party exploring the farmyard, admiring the +cows, particularly Mrs. Ford's sleek, glossy black favourite; while +Harry was, to his intense delight, cantering up and down the road to +the gate, on the stout little pony which the farmer usually rode to +market. + +As there was a full moon, there was no hurry about returning; and on +the arrival of Mr. Raymond, who had walked over to meet them, Mrs. +Ford insisted on their coming in for a while. And before they took +their leave she brought out her large family Bible for evening +worship, with the request that Mr. Raymond would read and pray before +his departure; "for," she said, "I know we don't mind these things +half enough, and we'd be all the better of a word or two from you." + +Mr. Raymond read the last chapter of Ecclesiastes, making a few brief +but impressive comments on the insufficiency for true happiness of the +enjoyments which this life can furnish, fair and good gifts of God +though such enjoyments may be. "The time would come, even in this +life," he said, "when the joys of this world would be found wanting. +And after this life, what would be their condition who had made this +world their portion, and had 'not remembered their Creator in the days +of their youth?'" Doubt-less the thought of his own youthful circle, +and of the strong, ruddy young Fords, all so full of health and life +and joyous spirits, was strongly upon him when he dwelt so earnestly +upon the words: "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart +cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart +and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these +things God will bring thee into judgment." + +Then, reading part of the third chapter of the First Epistle of John, +he directed his hearers to the wonderful privileges provided for them, +so far transcending all mere temporal gifts--to the "love the Father +hath bestowed, that we should be called the sons of God,"--showing how +these privileges were to be grasped through faith in the love which +laid down life for us; and how that love, flowing into the heart, was +to purify the life by enabling us to do the things which are pleasing +in His sight. + +The solemn, earnest words--few, but well chosen--seeming to come with +peculiar power after the day of joyous excitement, touched responsive +chords in the hearts of most of the young party, who looked earnest +and thoughtful; though who could tell whether the impression should be +an abiding one, or should pass away like the "early dew?" Lucy and +Bessie listened with real interest--the latter, especially, with much +more than she would have felt a few days before; and Mrs. Ford +silently renewed her good resolutions to seek to influence her family +to choose the "better part, which could not be taken away from them." + +Lucy could not help glancing at Stella when the verses in the chapter +about want of compassion for the brother or sister in need were read; +but Stella looked placidly unconscious, and indeed her thoughts were +far away,--considering how she should best impress Marian Wood, on +their way home, with a due sense of the grandeur of her city life. + +After many kind parting salutations, and warm invitations from Mrs. +Ford to come soon and spend an afternoon at the farm, the party took +leave; one division proceeding homeward by the winding road, lying +white in the full moonlight, as the fields were now wet with dew, +while the others took the shortest cut to the river, where the boat +was lying. Very little was said during most of the way, except some +subdued exclamations of delight as they passed out from the deep +shadow of the overhanging rocks into the broad river, which glittered +in the moonlight like a sheet of dazzling silver, roughened by the +slightest ripple, and past point after point of luxuriant foliage, +looking dream-like and unreal in the light that silvered their +glistening leaves. + +As they neared the village, Lucy suddenly recollected their unexpected +guest. "I wonder how Nelly got home! Did she stay long after we left, +Alick?" she said. + +"No; she said her mother would be angry if she were out late, so she +set off at a run." + +"Lucy," said Stella, "I wonder how you can have anything to do with +such a vagabond-looking child! I'm sure she was watching to see +whether she could pick up anything; and she looked just like a gipsy." + +"Oh, Stella! how can you be so suspicious?" exclaimed Lucy +indignantly. "I don't believe Nelly would do any such thing! No wonder +the poor child was watching us while we were at tea; didn't you see +how hungry she was?" + +"Well, I know we've had things stolen by just such children, and papa +says it's best to keep such people down; for they're sure to impose on +those who are kind to them, and charity is quite thrown away upon +them." + +"A convenient belief to save trouble," Lucy was just going to say, but +wisely repressed the impulse, feeling that it would not sound very +respectful to Stella's father, who, she felt, must be a very different +man from her own. + +"Stella," said Alick, "did it ever occur to you what you might have +been if you had been left, motherless and almost fatherless, to run +all day on the streets, listening to bad words and seeing all sorts of +evil, without any one to say a kind word to you and teach you what is +right? I wish you could have heard the poor little thing's story as +she told it to me." And in a few words he gave them an outline of +Nelly's history. + +"Papa says you never can believe their stories," objected the +city-hardened Stella. + +"I know you can't always," replied Alick; "but I think I'm not easily +taken in, and I'm willing to stake my judgment on this being no sham. +And how would _you_ have turned out from such a bringing-up, +Mademoiselle Stella?" + +"And where is her father?" Lucy asked. + +"Oh, her father works on a boat, and is seldom at home. They came to +live here because it is cheaper, and they can have a pig and raise +potatoes." + +"I wonder whether she can read," said Lucy. + +"I shouldn't think so, for she never was at school in her life, nor at +church either, since they left Ireland, till last Sunday." + +"I wonder," said Stella, "whether she understood anything she heard." + +"Possibly she might be able to give as good an account of the sermon +as some other people," remarked Alick mischievously. "Come, Stella, +what was the text?" + +"I don't believe you know yourself," retorted Stella, colouring; and, +fortunately for her, Alick's attention was just then directed to the +care of landing his passengers. + +As they walked home, Stella and Marian in front, eagerly engrossed in +a children's party which the former was describing, Lucy remarked +impatiently to Alick, "How can Stella talk in that hard, unfeeling way +about poor people?" + +"Poor girl!" said Alick, "it is sad to see any one so spoiled by +living in a cold worldly atmosphere. As you know more of the world, +Lucy, you will be more and more thankful for such a home as you have +always had." + +Lucy was silent. Her cousin's words made her feel that she had been +indulging in self-righteous and uncharitable feelings, and she felt +humbled at the lesson which she had thus received from one who did not +profess to be a Christian, in one of a Christian's most important +graces. But she accepted the rebuke, and she added to her evening +prayer the petition that she might be made more humble, and less ready +to condemn; as well as that Stella's heart might be opened to receive +the love of Christ, and, through this, of her poor earthly brothers +and sisters. + +The little party were soon assembled at home, and after cheerful +"good-nights,"--Harry remarking that "he was awful tired, but there +never had been a nicer picnic,"--the wearied excursionists soon lost +all sense of fatigue in peaceful slumbers and happy dreams. + + + + +VI. + +_A Mission._ + + "And if this simple message + Has now brought peace to you, + Make known the old, old story, + For others need it too." + + +Two days after the picnic was the day fixed upon for Miss Preston's +wedding, to which, as has been said, Lucy had been invited to +accompany her father and aunt. Stella had not been included in the +invitation, which she privately thought a great omission. It would +have been such a good opportunity for showing the Ashleigh people how +they dress in the city, and she felt sure that, tastefully attired in +a lovely white grenadine, which would have been just the thing for the +occasion, she and her dress would have added no small _éclat_ to the +wedding. + +Nevertheless she behaved very amiably to Lucy, who, when she pressed +her to wear one of her own pretty white dresses, and offered to lend +her any of her ornaments which she fancied, felt somewhat ashamed of +her own condemnatory feelings toward her cousin, since it is a very +natural tendency in all of us to make our own estimate of others +depend to a considerable extent upon their treatment of ourselves. + +However, she adhered to her original determination of wearing the +simple India muslin, which had been her own dear mother's bridal dress +(its trimmings having been worked by her own hands), and all Stella's +representations that it was "old-fashioned" failed to produce any +effect. She would indeed have felt it treason to admit its inferiority +to any of her cousin's more stylish dresses. But, to please Stella, +she accepted the loan of a sash pressed upon her by her cousin, who +took a considerable amount of trouble in the arrangement of her +toilet, and in weaving, with innate skill, a graceful wreath of +delicate pink rosebuds and green leaves, which she fastened on Lucy's +dark hair, and pronounced the effect "charming," while Alick +complimented her on her skill. Lucy was conscious of looking better +than she had ever done before. It made her think just a little too +much about her appearance, and then she felt humbled at seeing in +herself the germ of the very feeling she had despised in her cousin. + +The wedding arrangements were very quiet and simple. Lucy, who had +never been present on so important an occasion, enjoyed it very much, +notwithstanding her sorrow at parting with her teacher, whom she +thought the very ideal of a bride in her simple bridal dress. Its +simplicity, indeed, would probably have scandalized Stella, but Miss +Preston was not going to be rich, or mingle in gay society, and she +wisely thought show and finery quite out of place. But she had long +made it her chief aim to possess that best ornament of "a meek and +quiet spirit," which, we are told, "in the sight of God is of great +price." + +Before her departure she took Lucy apart to say a few words of loving +counsel. + +"I hope you will try to work for Christ, dear Lucy," she said, "as He +gives you opportunity. Remember, a Christian who does not work is only +half a Christian. Now I think if you tried, you might do Nelly Connor +some good. She wants a friend very much, and is easily won by +kindness." + +"I should be glad to do anything I could," said Lucy; "but what would +be best to try?" + +"Well, poor Nelly can't read a word, you know, and I am afraid her +stepmother would not spare her to go to school. But suppose you were +to get her to come to you for half an hour a day. I think her mother +might be induced to let her do that. And a short reading-lesson every +day would soon bring her on." + +Lucy was a little disappointed. It seemed such common-place drudgery +to drill an untaught child in the alphabet and spelling-book. Her +vague idea of "work for Christ" had been of a more exalted nature. But +her friend added: "I don't mean that you should not teach her better +things also. You could, little by little, teach her a good deal about +Christ in the course of your daily lessons. But sometimes we may serve +Him best by doing His commonest work. And think what you will do for +this poor child by putting it in her power to read the Bible for +herself, and have access at all times to our Saviour's own words!" + +Lucy willingly promised to try, and then Mrs. Harris, as Miss Preston +was now called, bade her an affectionate farewell, before going to +exchange the parting words with the members of her own family. Lucy +watched by the gate till she saw the carriage drive off, and then, +overcome by the reaction from the excitement of the occasion, hurried +home through the quiet shady lane, and disregarding Stella's call, +never stopped till she reached her own room. + +There the astonished Stella found her lying on her bed, crying +bitterly, and asked in alarm the cause of her distress. That the +parting from a Sunday-school teacher, a friend so much older than +herself, could have called forth such emotion, Stella could not +comprehend; and it was difficult for Lucy to explain it to so +unsympathetic a listener. + +"Why, I'm sure I shan't cry so when Sophy is married and goes south, a +great deal farther away than Miss Preston. Now tell me how she was +dressed." + +"Oh, Stella! I can't just now," sobbed Lucy, whose crying was partly +the result of nervous excitement, as well as of her realizing for the +first time Miss Preston's departure. And Stella, finding her attempts +to soothe her unavailing, returned to her story-book, until the +arrival of Mrs. Steele, whom she found more communicative. + +"And where is Lucy?" inquired her aunt, after satisfying Stella's +curiosity. "She must have slipped away very quietly." + +"Oh, she's in her own room. She was crying so, it was no use to speak +to her. I don't know what for." + +"She is very fond of her teacher, and I don't wonder at her crying on +losing her. She is a great loss to us all." + +"What a fuss they all _do_ make over her! I'm sure she didn't seem +anything particular," thought Stella as she accompanied Mrs. Steele +up-stairs. Lucy had fallen asleep, but awoke on their entrance, and +started up to arrange her disordered dress and hair before going to +tea. + +"Just look how you have crushed your nice dress now!" exclaimed Stella +reproachfully. "And the wreath too! It might have been fresh all the +evening. You might have taken them off if you wanted to lie down." + +"I didn't think of it," said Lucy apologetically, somewhat remorseful +for not having treated the result of Stella's labour with more +respect. "But I shouldn't have worn it all the evening, at any rate, +for after tea I am going to see Nelly Connor." + +"What! that girl we saw in the wood? What are you going to see her +for?" exclaimed Stella. + +"Miss Preston--I mean Mrs. Harris--wants me to try to get her to come +to learn to read, if papa and Aunt Mary have no objection; and I'm +sure they won't." + +It was to Stella a bewildering phenomenon, that Lucy should really go +out of her way to invite such a girl to the house. However, partly +from curiosity, and partly from having nothing better to do, she +acceded to Lucy's invitation to accompany her; and after tea the girls +set off, Mrs. Steele warning Lucy to be very conciliatory to Mrs. +Connor, or she would not accomplish her object. + +They soon reached the side of the green slope on the river bank, on +which the Connors' cottage stood, and were following the path to the +house, when they encountered Nelly herself, struggling up the hill +with a heavy pail of water. Her brown, weather-tanned face lighted up +with a glad smile when she recognised Lucy, and in reply to her +inquiry she said she was carrying up water for the next day's washing. + +"And do you carry it all up from the river?" said Lucy. + +"Yes, miss, every drop," replied Nelly, with a weary little sigh. + +"Nelly, would you like to learn to read?" asked Lucy, plunging at once +into her errand. + +"I don't know, miss," was the rather doubtful reply. + +"Why, wouldn't you like to be able to read that nice hymn Miss Preston +gave you, for yourself?" + +"Yes, miss, I'd like to be able, but I don't know if I'd like the +learning." + +Lucy laughed, as did Stella also, and Nelly herself. + +"Well, as you can't be able to do it without learning, don't you think +you'd better try?" asked Lucy. + +"I don't think mother would let me; and I must hurry now, or she'll be +angry at me keeping her waiting, with the baby to mind." + +But just then a large dog, rushing down the hill, upset poor Nelly's +pail. + +"Holy Mary!" she exclaimed, using the ejaculation she had been +accustomed to hear from infancy, "there's all my water spilt;" and +seizing her pail, she had run down to refill it, before Lucy was able +to begin an intended reproof. + +The girls watched her refill her pail, and return towards the cottage +by a nearer though steeper path. Mrs. Connor, a tall, bony, +discontented-looking woman, had come to the door to look for Nelly. +Not seeing the young ladies, who were approaching the house from the +other side, she screamed out in a harsh voice as Nelly approached: + +"What have you been doing all this time, keeping me waiting with the +child in my arms?" + +"It was a dog," began Nelly, setting down her pail. But before she +could finish her sentence she was roughly shaken, and sharp blows +descended about her ears. + +"I'll teach you to spend your time playing with dogs when I'm waiting +for you. There, be off, and mind the baby;" and Nelly, putting up her +hands to her face, ran crying into the house. + +Lucy stood for an instant pale with indignation, and then, the impulse +of the moment making her forget all her aunt's warnings as to being +conciliatory, and her own prudent resolves, she announced her presence +by exclaiming, in a voice unsteady with emotion: "Mrs. Connor, it's a +shame to beat Nelly like that, when she hasn't been doing any harm. It +was my fault she was so long, for I stopped her to speak to her, and +then a dog overturned her pail." + +Mrs. Connor was startled at finding there had been spectators of her +violence; but she did not betray any shame she might have felt, and +coolly regarding Lucy, she replied: + +"Well, I don't see what business it is of yours, anyhow. If young +ladies hain't nothin' better to do than meddle with other folks' +children, they'd better let that be!" + +"What an impertinent woman!" said Stella, quite loud enough for her to +hear. "Lucy, can't you come away and let her alone?" + +But Lucy, though a good deal discomposed by her reception, was +determined not to be easily moved from her object; and having by this +time remembered her conciliatory resolve, she said, as quietly as she +could: + +"Mrs. Connor, my father is Mr. Raymond, the clergyman. I came to see +if you would let Nelly come to our house every day to learn to read. +It's a great pity she shouldn't know how." + +"I don't care who your father is," retorted the woman in the same +insolent tone. "I don't see what you've got to do with it, whether +it's a pity or not. The child's lazy enough already, without havin' +them idees put into her head; and better people than her do without +book-learning." + +"Lucy, do come away! I shan't stop to listen to her impudence," +exclaimed Stella as she turned and walked away with a haughty air. +Mrs. Connor's quick eye followed her, and she half muttered to +herself, "A city gal!" Then, taking up the pail which Nelly had set +down, she went into the house without vouchsafing another look at +Lucy, who, seeing the uselessness of pressing her point, hastened to +join her cousin. + +"Now you see, Lucy, you only get yourself insulted trying to do any +good to such people," said Stella triumphantly. "I remember one of +Sophy's friends once wanted her to go visiting poor people with her, +and papa said he wouldn't have her go on any account; it was all +nonsense running all sorts of risks to do good to people who didn't +want it." + +"But it wasn't Mrs. Connor, but Nelly, that I wanted to do good to, +and she can't help what her odious stepmother does. Only think what +it must be to live with her!" + +"I'd run away! But you see Nelly herself didn't seem to care about +learning to read." + +"Because she didn't know the good of it," replied Lucy. "But what +should you or I have done if we hadn't been made to learn, whether we +liked it or not?" + +"That's quite different. This girl will always have to work, I +suppose, and would get on well enough without learning to read. I know +mamma was always complaining that our servants were reading trashy +novels, that filled their heads with nonsense and made them +discontented." + +"But you could have given them something better to read," suggested +Lucy. + +Stella said nothing in reply to this; nor did she enlighten Lucy as to +the fact that in reading "trashy novels" the servants were only +following their young mistresses' example. Lucy in the meantime was +thinking what up-hill work doing good was, and how hard it was to know +how to do it. Suddenly she remembered her motto; she had been +forgetting that the difficulties of the way were to be met in a +strength not her own. Perhaps it was because she had not first asked +for that strength, that she had met with so little success; and she +regretted having so soon departed from her resolution of "looking to +Jesus" in everything. + +But Stella soon roused from her "brown study," as she called it, by +various questions as to Mrs. Harris's route of travel, and also as to +her travelling dress, which Lucy was very ill prepared to answer, +having cast hardly a passing glance at it, in her sorrow for her +teacher's departure. On their way home they overtook Mrs. Steele and +Alick, to whom were soon related the particulars of their mission, +Stella imitating Mrs. Connor's tone and manner to the life, as she +graphically reproduced the conversation, much to Alick's amusement, +though he ground his teeth with indignation on hearing of the violent +treatment Nelly had received. + +"What a woman! You mustn't leave the poor child to her tender mercies. +What can she turn out, brought up under such a termagant? Suppose I +try and bring the old lady round with a little judicious flattery?" + +"I think I can manage the matter," said Mrs. Steele. "I shall make a +bargain with Mrs. Connor, and promise to give her a day's work once a +fortnight, provided she will let Nelly come here for half an hour +every day. But do you think the child herself will be willing to +come?" + +"Oh, I'm sure she'll be willing to come where any one is kind to her, +she has so little kindness at home," replied Lucy. + +Mrs. Steele proved right. By her more judicious management and +substantial inducement, Mrs. Connor was persuaded to give an +ungracious assent to the plan proposed for Nelly's benefit. But, as if +to be as disagreeable as possible, even in consenting, she fixed upon +the time which Lucy would least have chosen for the task. The only +time when she could spare Nelly, she said, was in the evening, after +the children were in bed. It was the time when Lucy most enjoyed being +out, watering her flowers, or taking an evening walk, or row with the +others. But the choice lay between doing the work then, or not at +all; and when she thought how light was the task given her to do, and +how slight the sacrifice, she felt ashamed of her inclination to +murmur at it. + +So Nelly's education began with the alphabet; and though it was a +drudgery both for teacher and pupil, reciprocal kindness and gratitude +helped on the task, and before many weeks had passed Nelly was +spelling words of two syllables, and had learned some truths, at +least, of far greater importance. + + + + +VII. + +_Temptations._ + + "Or rather help us, Lord, to choose the good-- + To pray for naught, to seek to none but Thee; + Nor by our 'daily bread' mean common food; + Nor say, 'From this world's evil set us free.'" + + +The Sunday school was again assembled on another Sunday afternoon, +some weeks later. The day was even warmer than the one on which our +story opened, and all the church windows were opened to their widest +extent, to admit every breath of air which came in through the waving +pine boughs. Lucy had been promoted to teach a small class of her own, +in which Nelly Connor had willingly taken her place. She was indeed +advancing faster in spiritual than in secular learning; for in the +first she had the best of all teachers, to whose teaching her simple +heart was open--the Holy Spirit Himself. + +Bessie Ford had found another teacher, and beside her sat Stella, who, +partly from finding her Sunday afternoons dull, and partly from +feeling that it was her uncle's wish that she should accompany Lucy to +Sunday school, had overcome her objection to it so far as to go with +her cousin. And having found out on the first Sunday how deficient she +herself was in Bible knowledge, and never liking to appear inferior to +others in anything, she took some pains to prepare her lessons, at +least so far that her ignorance might not lower her in the eyes of her +classmates. It was a poor motive, certainly; still, seeds of divine +truth were gradually finding their way into her heart, which might in +time germinate and bear fruit. And her stay in Mr. Raymond's +household, where "serving the Lord" was avowedly the ruling principle, +had already exercised a healthful influence over her impressionable +nature. + +On this particular Sunday the interesting announcement was made, that +the annual "picnic" or Sunday-school excursion was to take place on +the following Wednesday, the place being a beautiful oak wood about a +mile from the church, in the opposite direction from Mill Bank Farm. +As little groups clustered together on leaving the church door, there +was a general buzz of talk about the picnic. + +Lucy stopped Nelly Connor to ask her whether she thought her mother +would let her go to the picnic. + +Poor Nelly looked very doubtful as she replied, "I don't know; I'm +afraid not." + +"Well, Nelly, I'll see what can be done about it," said Lucy +encouragingly. + +"But I haven't anything decent to wear to it, miss," replied Nelly, +looking dolefully down on the tattered frock, which her mother never +took the trouble to mend, and which she, poor child, could not, +except in the most bungling fashion. + +Lucy walked home thoughtfully, and, as the fruit of her meditation, a +print dress of her own was next morning produced, and a consultation +was held with her aunt as to the practicability of altering it to fit +Nelly. "I only wonder I didn't think of it before," she said, "for she +is always so miserably dressed. Will you help me to make it up, +Stella?" + +"My dear, I wouldn't know how! The most I ever sewed in my life was to +hem a pocket-handkerchief." + +Mrs. Steele looked shocked at such deficiency in what she rightly +considered a most important part of female education. She had always +taken care that Lucy should spare enough time from her more congenial +studies, to learn at least to sew neatly. + +"Why, Stella!" Lucy exclaimed, "you're almost as bad as poor Nelly, +who said she had never learned to sew because 'nobody had teached +her.'" + +"I've never had time to learn. I like embroidery better; and mamma +said we should never need to do plain sewing, so she didn't see the +use of our taking up our time with it." + +"No one knows what she may have to do," remarked Mrs. Steele gently. +"It is always best to know how, at any rate." + +"Well, I hope I shall never have to, for I should hate it!" + +However, when Lucy was fairly at work on the little frock, Stella +good-naturedly offered to help her a little, though, never having been +trained to perseverance in anything, her assistance was not very +efficient. + +Bessie Ford had gone home from Sunday school with her head turned by +hearing some foolish talk about her dress. Alas! how often it is that +Sunday scholars, on leaving the school, instead of giving one thought +to the divine truths they have been hearing, allow their attention to +be absorbed with the petty frivolities in which their thoughts run +wild! + +"Mother," said Bessie, after she had duly announced the intended +picnic, "can't I have a new pink sash for my white frock? Nancy Parker +is going to have ever so many new things." + +"No, child," said her mother, "you don't need a new sash. Your frock +looks quite well enough without one. But I've been thinking you'd be +the better of a new hat, for the one you have looks a little brown. +And as you've been a pretty good girl, and a deal less forgetful of +late, I wouldn't mind getting you a new hat, if you'll hurry and +finish up that plain sewing you've had in hand so long. It's time it +was done and put away." + +Bessie looked a little disappointed. The new hat was not so attractive +as the sash would have been. Suddenly her mother's remark on the +brownness of her hat suggested the image of Nelly's tattered, dingy +one, which she had noticed that afternoon. + +"What would you do with my old hat, mother," she said, "if I get a new +one?" + +"I don't know. You've your sun-bonnet for wearing about the farm. Put +it by for Jenny, perhaps," suggested the thrifty Mrs. Ford. + +"Might I give it to Nelly Connor, mother? Hers will hardly stay +together." + +Mrs. Ford had never seen Nelly, but she knew something of her forlorn +situation. "I'm sure," she said, "I shouldn't mind if you did. I dare +say it would be charity to her, poor thing." And it occurred to her to +think whether she, a well-to-do farmer's wife, had been as abundant in +deeds of charity as she might have been. + +Bessie considered the matter settled, and next day set to work with +renewed zeal on the "plain sewing," which had been getting on very +languidly; for Bessie was not fond of long, straight seams, or of +sitting still for any length of time. She set herself a task as she +took her seat under the spreading butternut-tree; and Jenny and Jack +came to beg for "a story." Bessie's story-telling powers had been +largely developed of late, to make the Sunday lessons she had begun to +give the restless little things more palatable to them. Only the +promise of "a story" could fix their attention long enough to commit +to memory a simple verse. And her powers once found out, she soon had +demands upon her for stories to a greater extent than her patience was +always equal to satisfying. + +Bessie had become, as her mother had noticed, much more thoughtful of +late. Her card, hung up in her room, kept always before her mind her +resolution to "look to Jesus" for help to live to please Him. And +though she still often forgot and yielded to temptation, yet, on the +whole, she was steadily advancing in that course in which all must be +either going forward or backward. Her mother noticed that this decided +improvement dated from the day when she had brought home the card,--a +day which had not been without influence on herself,--although, when +worldly principles have been long suffered to hold undisputed sway, +it is difficult at once to overcome old habits; and lost ground is not +less hard to retrieve in spiritual than in earthly things. + +Bessie was still diligently working at her "task," when she saw Nancy +Parker running up across the fields. + +"Oh, Bessie," she said breathlessly, "get ready and come right away. +My cousins have come to spend the day, and we're going boating up the +river, and then home to supper. The rest are all waiting in the boat +down there, and I ran up to get you. So be quick!" + +Bessie hesitated. If she went with Nancy, a considerable portion of +the work she had set herself to do would be left undone. Besides, her +mother had gone to Ashleigh, leaving her in charge; and Bessie was not +at all sure that, had she been at home, she would approve of her +joining the party. + +To be sure, she could not be absolutely certain of her mother's +disapproval, and she could easily run down for Sam to come and stay +with the children. At the worst, she did not think her mother would be +much displeased; and the thought of the pleasant row, and the merry +party, and all the "fun" they would have, offered no small temptation. + +"Quick, Bessie!" Nancy urged, impatient of her delay. + +"I don't think I can go, Nancy. Mother's out, and I've a lot of sewing +to do." + +"Bother the sewing! Your mother wouldn't mind, I'm sure. Mine lets me +do exactly as I like. Come and get ready;" and she pulled Bessie from +her seat, and drew her, half-resisting, towards the house. + +They went up-stairs together, Bessie feeling far from satisfied with +herself for yielding where conscience told her she ought not to yield. + +"My!" said Nancy, whose quick eyes had been glancing round the room, +"what a grand ticket you've got hanging up there! Where did you get +it?" + +Bessie's eye turned to her motto, and she stood for a minute looking +at it in silence. Then, instead of replying to the question, she said, +"Nancy, I cannot go; it wouldn't be right." + +"Well, that's a nice way to treat me!" said Nancy angrily. "After my +waiting so long, too. Why, don't you know your own mind? Come, you +can't change now; I'm not going to be cheated, after all my trouble." + +"I'm very sorry, Nancy; but I oughtn't to have said I would go at all. +Don't wait any longer. But I'll go down to the boat with you." + +"Oh, don't trouble yourself; I can do without your company." And off +she ran, before Bessie could say any more. + +Bessie felt sorry at having vexed Nancy, and thought a little +wistfully of the afternoon's pleasure that she might have had. But she +felt satisfied that she had done right, and felt thankful that she had +had strength given to resist a temptation to which she now felt she +would have done very wrong to yield. So she went back to her shady +seat with a light heart, and stitched away diligently, not repining +although she heard the merry voices of the party, borne to her from +the river. + +As her mother had not returned by the time her task was completed, +she went in and got tea ready; and then calling up two of the gentlest +cows, she had milked them by the time Mrs. Ford appeared, tired and +dusty from her long walk. Her pleased surprise at Bessie's thoughtful +industry in getting through so much of the work which she thought was +still before her, was in itself sufficient reward for the self-denial; +and Bessie felt what a shame it would have been if her mother, +fatigued as she was, had had everything to do on her return, while +_she_ was away on a pleasure-party. + +Of course Mrs. Ford was soon informed of Nancy's visit and invitation. +"Oh, my child!" she exclaimed, "I am so glad you refused to go. Mrs. +Thompson, in the village, was just telling me about these cousins of +Nancy's, and says they are the wildest set in Burford, and that their +society wouldn't do Nancy any good. So, if you had gone, I should have +been very sorry. I'm so glad you didn't!" + +How glad Bessie was that she had been enabled to resist the +temptation! But she felt she could not take the credit to herself; so +she said: + +"I had the greatest mind to go, mother, but something told me I +shouldn't, just as I was almost going." + +"Well, it's all the same to me, as you didn't go. And you were a real +good girl, Bessie, to stay!" + +What a safeguard is a definite duty conscientiously pursued! If Bessie +had not had her task of sewing to finish, with the feeling that it was +her duty to do it, she might have been more easily led away against +her better judgment. + +Nelly Connor had had her temptation, too, the same evening. Her mother +had sent her to take home some clothes she had been washing; and as +Nelly was carrying the basket, she noticed a pretty pink printed frock +lying on the top, which looked as if it would exactly fit her. How +nice it would be, she thought, if she had such a frock to wear to the +picnic! Then came one of the evil suggestions which the tempter is so +ready to put into the heart: what if she should keep it till the +picnic was over, and wear it just that once? She could hide it, and +put it on somewhere out of her stepmother's sight; and then, perhaps, +if she were dressed so nicely, some of the other little girls might be +willing to play with her; for the poor child felt her isolated +position. + +Then conscience said, "Would it be right?" Had she not been learning, +"Thou shalt not steal?" And had not Miss Lucy explained to her that +that meant taking anything, even the least, that was not her own? A +short time ago Nelly would have appropriated any trifle that came in +her way, without thinking twice about it; but some light had visited +her mind now, and she could distinguish what was darkness. But then +this would not be stealing, it would only be borrowing the frock! At +last she was so near the house, that she was obliged to make up her +mind at once; so, scarcely giving herself time to think, she wrapped +up the frock in the smallest possible compass, hid it behind a stone, +and ran on to leave her basket, hurrying nervously back, lest some one +should inquire for the missing article. + +She found it quite safe, however, and managed to convey it unseen to +her little attic-room. But Nelly felt far more unhappy than she had +ever been when her harsh mother had beaten her most severely. She +could not understand how it was that she should feel so miserable. She +was glad that she could not go for her lesson to-night, for she should +have been ashamed to face Miss Lucy. One of the children just then +began to cry, and she ran down-stairs, glad of something to do, and +took the utmost pains to do her evening work particularly well, by way +of making up for the wrong of which she was inwardly conscious. + +But when she went to bed, Nelly, for the first time in her life, +tossed about, unable to sleep. All sorts of possibilities of detection +and disgrace occurred to her, and, above all, the voice of conscience +told her she was little better than a thief. She had knelt down to say +the simple prayer she had been first taught by Miss Preston, "O Lord, +take away my sin, and make me Thy child, for Jesus Christ's sake;" but +indulged sin had come between her and the Father to whom she prayed, +so that her prayer was only a formal one. She fell asleep at last, but +only to dream uneasy dreams, in which the pink frock was always +prominent; and when she awoke in the early morning, it was with an +uneasy sense of something wrong, soon defined into a distinct +recollection. As she lay watching the early sunbeams slanting golden +into her dingy attic, her eye fell upon the card pinned up against the +wall, "LOOKING UNTO JESUS," which she could now spell out herself. Had +she not been told to "look to Jesus" when unhappy or naughty, and He +would deliver her? She knew now that she could speak to Jesus +anywhere; so, springing out of bed and kneeling down, she simply but +heartily asked Him to help her to be good. Then, putting on her +clothes with all the haste she could, for fear she might be tempted to +change her mind, she ran off unobserved, carrying with her the coveted +frock, which she handed, without a word, to the servant who was +sweeping the steps, and who, recognising her, supposed her stepmother +had forgotten to send it home with the rest of the washing. + +Nelly ran off with a heart so much lighter, that she did not mind even +the box on the ear which she received on her return for being out +"idling about," instead of lighting the fire for the breakfast. She +felt she had deserved much more than that, and she contentedly +accepted it as a slight punishment for her wrongdoing. + +That day, when Mrs. Connor was working at Mr. Raymond's, Mrs. Steele, +showing her the frock which was now completed, told her it was to be +given to Nelly on condition of her being allowed to go to the picnic. +Mrs. Connor of course grumbled a good deal about the inconvenience of +having to spare Nelly for a whole afternoon, but the frock tempted +her; and reflecting that the opportune arrival of this frock would do +away with any necessity for getting Nelly a new one for a long time to +come, she ungraciously gave her consent that she should go. + +When Nelly came that evening for her lesson, Lucy gladly informed her +that she was to be allowed to go to the picnic, and presented her with +the frock which had been provided for her. Lucy was prepared for her +look of surprise, but not so for her covering her face with her hands +and bursting into tears. With some trouble she drew from her a +confused account of the cause of her trouble--the sin she had been led +into, and which touched her generous nature all the more now that the +frock she had been wishing for was so opportunely provided. + +Lucy was at first somewhat shocked that Kelly had been capable of +taking such a liberty with what was not her own, not being able to +realize the strength of such a temptation to a child whose possessions +were so few; and she privately resolved not to tell Stella, who would +scarcely have thought how nobly she overcame the temptation. + +However, she commended and encouraged Nelly, and told her always to +resort to the same sure Helper in time of temptation, and to do it in +the first place. "And Jesus is always ready to hear and help you," she +added. + +"An' it was Him told you to give me the frock too, wasn't it? And I'm +rightly thankful to Him, and you too, Miss Lucy." + +And Nelly carried home her new acquisition, with very different +feelings from those with which she had taken the frock she had +coveted. + +"How glad I am I thought of getting it ready for her!" thought Lucy as +she watched her depart, her own heart full of the pleasure of doing a +much-needed kindness,--the only drawback being her regret that Nelly +had not a new hat likewise. + +The much-watched-for day on which the picnic was to be held turned out +as fine as the most eager young hearts could desire, notwithstanding +one or two slight showers that fell in the early morning. But these +only cleared the air and laid the dust, and made the foliage so fresh +and glistening that its early summer beauty seemed for a time +revived. + +The fine old oak grove where the feast was to be held, was, even +before the appointed hour, astir with bright little groups of happy +children. The teachers and some of the elder girls were already busy +at a roughly constructed table, unpacking and arranging cups and +saucers, filling the latter with the ripe-red berries which had been +brought in in great abundance, and cutting up the piles of buns and +cakes. Bessie Ford was superintending the distribution of the cream +which had come in large jars from the farmhouses, and of which Mill +Bank Farm had contributed the richest and finest. Lucy of course was +among the working party, her position as Mr. Raymond's daughter giving +her a degree of importance far from disagreeable to her. Stella, +seated with her friend Marian Wood in the centre of a mass of flowers, +was daintily arranging them in tiny bouquets to be given to the +children. + +At last Bessie, who with Nelly's new hat beside her had been watching +the various arrivals, descried the little solitary figure, with its +dark, hanging locks, for which she had been looking. When she +approached her, she was quite surprised at the change in her +appearance produced by the fresh, pretty frock; and when her old hat +was removed, and the new one placed upon her dark hair, which had been +smoothly combed and brushed out and put back from her eyes, she really +looked as nice as most of the children there. Her dark eyes danced +with pleasure as Bessie, herself almost as happy, took her to a group +of girls about her own age and introduced her to them as a stranger, +to whom they must try to make the picnic as pleasant as possible. +Bessie was a favourite with all the girls, and they willingly promised +what she asked; so that Nelly, for the first time in many months, had +a really good game of play with children of her own age,--an intense +pleasure to her social, kindly Irish nature, which, with her ready +wit, soon made her the life of the little group. + +Two or three hours passed rapidly by. Lucy and Bessie went from one +part of the ground to another, encouraging the little ones to run and +romp, bringing forward shy or isolated children, and watching that the +ruder and stronger did not oppress the weaker,--or sitting down to +talk with some of the elder girls, who preferred a quiet chat. Stella, +in her airy muslin flounces, a tiny hat with floating blue ribbons +crowning her golden tresses, flitted about with a winning grace, which +made her the admired of all observers. She felt herself a sort of +princess on the occasion; and as she dearly loved popularity, even +among rustics, she spared no pains to be affable and agreeable, and +felt quite rewarded when she heard such speeches as, "What a sweet, +pretty young lady Miss Lucy's cousin is!" "Isn't she, for all the +world, just like a picture?" + +Alick watched with some amusement the patronizing air which mingled +with her affability, and perhaps added to her consequence with those +who could not appreciate the higher beauty of simplicity of manner. +Lucy could not repress a slight feeling of annoyance at seeing how +easily her cousin won her way, and how far her more adventitious +advantages threw into the shade her own real exertions for the +pleasure of those around her. Not that the exertions had been +prompted by a desire for praise; but she was not yet unselfish enough +to be satisfied that they had gained the desired end, although not +fully appreciated by those for whom they had been made. The difference +between the cousins was, that Lucy liked approbation, when she did +what was right for its own sake, while Stella's conduct was chiefly +prompted by the desire of admiration. + +"Lucy," said Stella, coming up to her during the afternoon, "do you +see that ridiculous imitation of my dress that Nancy Parker has on? I +suppose she wanted to be dressed just like me; but I'm glad I wore a +different one to-day." Yet, though Stella professed some annoyance, +she was secretly a little flattered at Nancy's thus recognising her as +a leader of fashion. + +Alick and Harry were invaluable aids in promoting the enjoyment of the +boys, as was Fred also in his quieter way. Towards the close of the +afternoon Mr. Raymond appeared, and, after a pleasant greeting +interchanged with his older parishioners present, the children +assembled in the centre of the ground to listen to a few kind and +earnest words from their pastor. He took as his subject the +"remembering their Creator in the days of their youth;" and after +reminding them to whom they owed the innocent pleasures which had been +provided for them, he spoke earnestly of the Creator and Redeemer they +were to "remember," to whom they should now bring their young hearts, +that He might take them and make them His. The sunshine of His +gracious presence would, he said, hallow and sweeten their joyous +hours, and be a stay and support even when the "evil days" should +come, and all other sources of happiness should fail them. His +address was not so long as to weary even the most impatient, and when +it was concluded, the children stood up and sang a hymn, which, to +Nelly's great delight, was her favourite--"I lay my sins on Jesus." +Then, after Mr. Raymond had briefly asked a blessing on the food of +which they were about to partake, and the intercourse they had had, +and were still to have, the children quietly dispersed into little +groups, and sat down on the grass to enjoy the good things that were +liberally provided for them. + +The distribution kept the assistants busy, and some care had to be +exercised lest too large a share of the cakes should be appropriated +by some of the more greedy,--alas that there should be such among +Sunday-school children! Nelly Connor had seldom had a treat in her +life, but she would not for the world have taken one cake more than +her share, or have hidden one away in her pocket, as she saw some +better-dressed children doing. + +At last, when the dew was beginning to moisten the grass, and the +fast-lengthening shadows told that the long summer day was drawing to +a close, a bell sounded to collect the children, and after singing the +evening hymn, and having been commended by Mr. Raymond to the care of +Him who neither slumbers nor sleeps, all quietly dispersed to their +homes. The "picnic" so eagerly looked forward to was over, as all +earthly pleasures must sooner or later be. Not a single incident had +marred its harmony, and, to Nelly Connor in particular, the day had +been one of unmingled and unprecedented enjoyment. How different from +what it would have been had she not, in a strength from above, +overcome the temptation to which she had so nearly yielded! + + + + +VIII. + +_Partings._ + + "Only, since our souls will shrink + At the touch of natural grief, + When our earthly loved ones sink, + Lend us, Lord, Thy sure relief,-- + Patient hearts, their pain to see, + And Thy grace, to follow Thee." + + +Stella's visit was now drawing to a close. She had very much enjoyed +its novelty, and had, during her stay, made some acquisitions, though +not of a kind that she yet appreciated, or was even conscious of. It +was impossible for her to be so long in a household where every day +was begun and closed by invoking God's presence and guidance, where +His blessing and approbation were steadily regarded as the best of all +good, where the standard of action was that laid down in His word, and +where His strengthening grace was looked upon as the most necessary +equipment for daily life, without receiving a deeper impression of the +importance of these things than she had ever before felt. And though +the members of her uncle's family had their share of human +imperfections, yet on the whole the example she had seen around her +had been sufficiently consistent to show her, almost against her will, +the beauty of a Christian life, as contrasted with one based wholly on +worldly principles. Some seeds of good, at all events, she carried +back with her, though she was far from having profited as she might +have done, had her heart been more open to receive the influences +around her. + +It had been a new thing to Lucy to have a companion of her own age and +sex; she had become really attached to her winsome cousin, and all the +transient irritation which Stella had often caused her passed into +oblivion now that they were really about to part. Alick was to escort +Stella to the residence of a friend whom she was to visit on her way +home; and the cousins parted with affectionate hopes of a visit from +Stella next summer, and also of a winter visit which Mr. Raymond had +half promised that Lucy should make to her cousin's city home. + +The loss of Stella's restless and vivacious presence made no small +blank in the house--a blank to be still further increased by the +permanent departure of Alick soon after his return from escorting +Stella. He had at last decided on the place in which he was to +settle--a new and rising village in the far West--and had already been +claiming his mother's promise, that so soon as he should be able to +provide a home for her, she would come and preside in it. Mrs. Steele +felt that it would be her duty to comply with her son's desire; and +Mr. Raymond, while very sorry to lose his sister's kind, motherly +supervision of his family, felt that he could not dissuade her from +an arrangement so right and natural, and to which he had long looked +forward as a probability. However, she was not to leave them for some +months at least, and during that time Lucy was to learn all she could +about housekeeping, in order to be able to fill her aunt's place as +well as a young beginner could do. + +To Lucy, indeed, there mingled with her regret for her aunt's expected +departure, a certain latent satisfaction at the increased importance +of her own place in the household; and her ambition was so much +stimulated by the hope of fulfilling her new duties in the most +exemplary manner, that it somewhat alleviated her sorrow at the +thought of losing the kind aunt who had filled a mother's place. + +Many were the regrets when the time came for Alick's final departure +from Ashleigh to his distant sphere of duty; and Mr. Raymond, in +bidding him a kind farewell, added in an earnest tone the not unneeded +admonition: "Alick, my boy, don't forget who says, 'Seek ye first the +kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things shall be +added unto you.'" + +And so the happy party, who had enjoyed together at Ashleigh the +pleasant summer days, were scattered, never again to meet there under +the same circumstances; for the autumn, bringing the cold blasts and +nipping frosts that scattered the rich summer foliage and made the +earth bleak and bare, brought other changes, far sadder than these. + +Nelly was the first to whose life came a sudden change. A rumour +reached the village that a deck-hand on one of the river steamers had +lost his life by a fatal accident, and that the man's name was Michael +Connor. It seldom happens that such reports turn out groundless; and +when Mrs. Connor, having heard of it, hastened to the wharf to +discover what truth there might be in it, she met a comrade of her +husband's who had come to announce to his family the sad fact. + +Mrs. Connor did not profess any deep regret for a husband whom she had +often asserted to be a good-for-nothing scamp. She looked at the +matter chiefly in a pecuniary point of view, and, on making a rapid +calculation, came to the conclusion that any deficiency caused by the +loss of the small fraction of his earnings that came into her +possession would be more than made up by her being relieved of the +maintenance of Nelly, for whom she did not consider it her duty any +longer to provide. + +But in Nelly herself Michael Connor had at least one true mourner. She +forgot all her father's carelessness and neglect, and remembered only +that he was her father, who used in days long past, when her mother +was alive, to take her on his knee and call her his "darlint." When it +broke fully on her mind that she should never see him again--that he +had left her for ever, as her mother had done--her grief for a while +knew no control. Poor child, she had literally no one in the world +"belonging to her," so far as she knew, and she felt utterly desolate +and forlorn. Finding but little comfort at home, where her new +mother's cold, unfeeling remarks only aggravated her sorrow, she +betook herself to Lucy, who had just heard, with great concern, of +Nelly's bereavement. She did her best to comfort her; and though at +first the kind words only seemed to make the tears flow faster, by +degrees the child was soothed and calmed, and able to listen to Mr. +Raymond when he laid his hand kindly on her head and told her that she +must look to God as her Father now, and must go and "tell Jesus" all +her troubles. Then he made her repeat after him the verse, "When my +father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up." + +"But, Miss Lucy," said Nelly, as she was going away, "where is it I'm +going to live now?" + +"Why, is your mother going away?" + +"Niver a bit, miss; but she says she's kept me long enough now, and +she won't keep me any longer." + +Lucy could scarcely believe that this could be more than one of Mrs. +Connor's meaningless threats, and tried to reassure Nelly that it +would be all right. But Mrs. Steele, knowing Mrs. Connor's hard, +selfish nature, was by no means so sure that there might not be +something in it, and was not surprised when she appeared next day to +say that she thought Nelly's grand friends might do something for her +now her poor father was gone, and she had no one to look to her. + +"But she has you, of course," Mrs. Steele replied. "We shall be very +glad to help you as far as possible, but you have shown yourself well +able to support your family." + +"She ain't one of my family," replied Mrs. Connor, "and I've kept her +long enough for all the good I've ever got out of her; so I don't see +that it's any of my business to take the bit out of my children's +mouths and put it into hers." + +Mrs. Connor would probably not have come to this decision had she not +been less dependent than formerly on Nelly's assistance. But as her +youngest child was now able to run alone, and the eldest could, on an +emergency, take care of the rest, and as she now took in most of her +washing, she had less need for an additional worker, involving an +additional mouth to be fed. Besides, Nelly was a "growing girl," she +reflected, and would be always costing her more for food and clothing, +so that to be rid of her maintenance would be so much clear gain. She +was therefore inexorable in her determination that Nelly should not +remain with her, unless, indeed, the ladies would pay for her board--a +proposition which Mrs. Steele declined to entertain. + +It was taken seriously into consideration by Lucy and her aunt what +could be done to provide Nelly with a home. Lucy was eager that she +should be at once taken into their own household, to be trained for +domestic service; but this Mrs. Steele thought impracticable at +present, as she knew that their own busy, capable handmaid would +strongly object to have her time taken up in teaching a girl who would +give her so much additional trouble. + +"But there are other people," she said, "who would be very glad of a +child like Nelly, who would cost nothing for wages, to train and make +useful. I am going to Mill Bank Farm this afternoon to see about some +butter, and I'll see if Mrs. Ford knows of any one who would take +her." + +Lucy assented rather reluctantly. It would have been so nice, she +thought, to have her protegée immediately under her own charge, to +teach and train into a model servant. She had not yet learned the +distrust in her own powers which experience gives, and she saw only +the bright side of the plan, not the difficulties in its execution. + +Mrs. Ford's motherly heart was at once roused to pity for the little +orphan's forlorn condition, and to indignation at Mrs. Connor's +heartless conduct. + +"After all the work she's got out of her, too!" she said; "making that +poor child drudge away morning, noon, and night. I'm sure she's been +worth a deal more to her than the little bit of meat and drink she's +given her--with a grudge, as I hear from the neighbours. Well, well, +it's a queer world." + +Mrs. Ford promised to try to find out a good place for Nelly, and +early next morning she made her appearance, having taken the long walk +on one of her busiest days, in order to "talk over Nelly's business," +as she said. She proposed to take the orphan into her own family, for +a time at least, until some more permanent situation should turn up. +"We'll never miss the little she'll want," she said; "and if we did, +I've been often thinking of late that we've been too much taken up +with doing the most we could for this world, and been caring too +little for the poor that our Saviour says are to be always with us. So +my mind would be easier if I were doing this much, at any rate, and +the poor thing'll be more likely to get a good steady place if I take +her in hand and teach her a bit myself." + +So it was settled, and Nelly, to her surprise and delight, found +herself an inmate, for a time at least, of Mill Bank Farm, though she +was made to understand that the arrangement was not a permanent one. +The present comfort and happiness were enough for her, however, for +she was not given to spoiling the enjoyments of to-day by thoughts +about the morrow; and she certainly had never, so far as her +recollection went, been half so happy as she now was under Mrs. Ford's +motherly care, with Bessie for a half-companion, half-teacher, and +removed from the sound of the harsh words and tones which had so long +been the constant accompaniments of her life. + +One of Mrs. Ford's first cares was to provide her with some needed +clothing from Bessie's outgrown garments, which otherwise would have +been stowed thriftily away for little Jenny. Lucy added her +contribution for the same object, and it was considered a good +opportunity for teaching her what she so much needed to learn--plain +sewing. Mrs. Ford, who was a capital seamstress as well as housewife, +undertook to make Nelly a good needlewoman, if she would be diligent +in trying to learn; and she was too grateful, and too anxious to +please, not to try her best, though the long, tedious seams often +tried her restless, active spirit. When she found herself getting so +impatient that she felt as if she could not sit still any longer, or, +at any rate, could not force herself to do the work with patience and +care, she would remember the injunction to "tell Jesus" her troubles +and difficulties, and the restless spirit would become quiet, and the +strength to fulfil her good resolutions would come back. As it was too +far for her to go to Lucy now for her daily lessons, Lucy resigned her +to Bessie's tuition, though somewhat unwillingly, for her teaching had +become a source of real pleasure to her, and she felt that in it she +was doing some definite work for her Saviour. She had not yet got into +the habit of looking upon everything she was called in duty to do as +work done for Christ, just in proportion as it was done in a spirit +of cheerful faith and dependence, "looking unto Jesus" both as the +master and the friend. + +But dark days were at hand for Lucy too,--days when she would need all +the support her faith could give. Mr. Raymond's never robust +constitution had been for some time gradually failing, though Lucy, +seeing him daily, and accustomed to consider her father "not very +strong," had not observed it. Late in November, a long, cold drive in +sleet and rain to visit a dying parishioner brought on symptoms of +fever, which rapidly increased, till the doctor, who had been summoned +to attend him, looked very anxious, and pronounced his patient in a +most critical condition. Lucy had been so long accustomed to his +occasional illnesses, that she was slow to admit the idea of danger to +her father, the possibility of losing whom had scarcely ever occurred +to her mind. Therefore, though she could not help seeing her aunt's +extreme anxiety, she resolutely turned her thoughts to the happier +prospect of her father's recovery, when he would again occupy his +wonted place, and the house would be like itself again. + +Even when Mr. Raymond's extreme weakness forced the others to give up +hope, Lucy still hoped and prayed, by the sick-bed and in her own +chamber, as she had never prayed before. Surely, she thought, if she +prayed humbly and earnestly, her prayer would not be denied by Him who +has said, "Ask, and ye shall receive;" and her father would be +restored to her. She did not consider that as regards earthly things +the promise must be limited, or the conditions of human life would +have to be altered. If our prayers that our dear ones should be spared +to us were always to be granted, when would they ever attain that +blessed rest in the Father's house--the haven they have been looking +for through all the cares and troubles of their mortal pilgrimage? + +Mr. Raymond had often longed for the time when his earthly work should +be done, and he should be called to the presence of his Saviour--to +reunion with his early-lost wife. And now, though in the +unconsciousness of his exhausted powers he knew it not, that time had +come. His "falling asleep" was as peaceful as the sinking of a child +into its nightly slumber; and Lucy did not realize that it was death, +till, in the dark December morning, she stood by the cold white couch +on which lay the inanimate form to which, from her earliest days, she +had always looked as her protector and guide. It was hard to persuade +herself that that cold form was not her father, but that all that had +made the living, sentient being had passed to another state of +existence beyond her power to follow--beyond her power to conceive. In +the strange awe that came upon her, she lost for a time the sense of +the desolation of her bereavement--lost all thought for herself, in +trying to pierce the darkness which hung between her and the +"undiscovered lands" in which both her parents now were. With Fred it +was much the same,--an awestruck solemnity at first repressing in both +the natural feeling of personal loss. Harry was the only one whose +bitter, childish grief broke forth uncontrolled. + +But there was time in the blank, desolate days that followed to +realize the full bitterness of the bereavement. Once out of the still, +solemn chamber, which seemed to hush all violent emotion, there were +associations at every step, in every room, of him whose place should +know him no more, to call forth the uncontrollable agony of tears that +had for a time been repressed. And when the still form had been +carried to its last resting-place, and the heavy consciousness made +itself felt that he was gone, never in any possible event to return to +them, it seemed to Lucy as if it would have been too terrible to bear +but for the Saviour, to whom she carried her grief, and found that, +though He does not always at our asking restore our sick to this +mortal life, yet that, when He takes them away, He can and will be a +very present "help in time of trouble." + +But there was already another grief looming darkly in the distance, +which Lucy almost shrank from facing. The home that had been hers from +her birth must be broken up. The external surroundings in which her +life had been always set were to be torn from it; and any other phase +of life seemed as if it must be a dreary blank. She could not then +realize the possibility of ever forming new associations, or taking +root in any other home. And indeed it is doubtful whether one ever +does take root again in the same sense as in the home of childhood, +which is linked with the earliest associations of opening thought, and +with all the hallowed ties that cluster around a child's happy home. +Other houses are but places of abode, made home by association: _that_ +seemed absolutely and in itself _home_. + +Alick had come to Ashleigh as soon as possible after his uncle's +death, and was anxious to take his mother at once to the new home he +had been preparing for her. As to Lucy, there seemed to be but one +course advisable. As Mr. Raymond could leave only a very slender +provision for his family, he had always been anxious that Lucy should +have an education sufficiently thorough to put her in a position to +gain her own livelihood by teaching, and a way seemed opened for her +to carry out his wishes in this respect. Mr. Brooke, urged thereto by +his daughter Stella, had written to Mrs. Steele, offering to receive +Lucy into his own family for the next two or three years, in order to +give her the advantage of a first-class education, which was, he +remarked, "the best he could do for her, as it would give her the +ability to do for herself." + +Lucy shrank from the prospect of so long a residence in a home so +unlike the one she was leaving, as from Stella's remarks she felt sure +it must be. But to go with Harry to live with Mrs. Steele and Alick, +as they kindly invited her to do, in case she could not make up her +mind to go to Mr. Brooke's, would, she felt, be imposing far too great +a burden on Alick's kindness, though it seemed just the right home for +Harry. Fred, who had been summoned from college to his father's +deathbed, must return to resume his theological studies, for they all +insisted that he should not think of giving up the career which had +been his father's desire for him as well as his own. The more Lucy +thought about the matter, the more distinctly she saw that there was +no other way rightly open to her, especially as, even could she think +it right to accompany Mrs. Steele and Alick, she could not, in the new +village in the West, expect any educational advantages. But it was +with much reluctance, and after many prayers to be strengthened to +meet the new experiences before her, that she gave her decision to go +to live for the present in her Cousin Stella's home. + +Fred, to whom she confided her extreme shrinking from venturing into +an atmosphere which her fancy pictured as so cold and uncongenial, +endeavoured to reassure her, by reminding her of what she knew, +indeed, but found it difficult to realize, that her Saviour could be +as near her in the crowded city as in her quiet country home, since +His love is + + "A flower that cannot die + For lack of leafy screen;" + +and that it was a sickly Christianity which must necessarily fade and +droop when removed from the atmosphere in which it had been originally +nurtured. + +"Well," she said at last disconsolately, "it doesn't matter so very +much. I can never be very happy again, now papa is gone; and the best +thing is to think most about the home he has gone to, and try to +follow him there." + +Something of this kind she wrote to her old friend and teacher, Mrs. +Harris, who had sent her a letter of loving sympathy. She smiled half +sadly when she read Lucy's disconsolate reply. Mrs. Harris had seen +enough of life to know that a young heart is not permanently depressed +by a first grief; and she feared for Lucy, if she should trust to the +influence of sorrow alone to keep her "unspotted from the world." + +"My dear Lucy," she wrote, "while it is well that you should always +cherish your dear father's memory, and keep his counsels and his +example always with you as a protecting influence, beware of trusting +too much to this. He himself would have told you that it is not him +you are to follow, but Him whom he followed, 'Jesus Christ, the same +yesterday, to-day, and for ever.' This alone can be our strength. Time +is strong against our deepest sorrow, and no influence can permanently +hold, except the constraining love of Christ. Never lose the habit of +looking steadily to Him, and to Him alone, for daily and hourly +strength." + +It was wise counsel, and Lucy in time came to find out how true it +was. + +It is needless to dwell upon the pain of the breaking up,--the packing +up and stowing away treasured possessions, so closely associated with +the times now passed away; the sorrowful leave-takings of old friends, +who felt as if they were losing the last link with their beloved +minister in the departure of his family; the sad farewell looks at all +the well-known home objects, the flower-beds, the gravel walks, the +shrubs and trees, every twig of which had such a familiar look. Many a +time it seemed as if it must be only a sad dream, that all these +things were about to pass from her daily life into a vision of memory. +Happily it was winter. Had it been in the fair flush of summer, when +her home looked its loveliest, the parting would have been far harder. +As it was, it was hard enough; but she tried to conceal her sorrow +from those to whose pain it would have added, though many a tear was +secretly shed over even the old grey cat and the gentle petted cow, +which were almost home friends. + +At last all the preparations were completed. The house, stripped of +most of its familiar furnishings, wore already a strange, +uncomfortable aspect, full of packing-cases and confusion. Fred had +already been obliged to return to college, and Lucy was to be the next +to go. Alick was to escort her to the next railway station, and see +her on the train which was to take her to the city. It was the first +time she had ever travelled alone, and she rather dreaded it; but she +knew that it would be very inconvenient for Alick to accompany her the +whole way, and she would not admit that she thought the solitary +journey at all a formidable one. + +Poor Nelly, who grieved as much for her friend's departure as she had +done for her father's death, came on the last morning to say good-bye, +although Lucy had already taken leave of her and Bessie at Mill Bank +Farm, and had made the latter promise to write to her sometimes. + +"And it's sorry I am, Miss Lucy, you're going, and you so good to me," +sobbed Nelly, when she felt the parting moment was really come. + +"Well, Nelly, we must both try to remember our Friend in heaven, who +has been so good to us both. You love Him, I hope, Nelly, and pray to +Him always?" + +"Indeed I do, and I always pray God to bless you, Miss Lucy." + +"Well, I won't forget to pray for you, Nelly, and we know He will hear +our prayers," replied Lucy kindly. + +Acts of Christian kindness often bring their reward even in this life: +the "cup of cold water" we give sometimes returns to refresh our own +parched lips. It was some comfort to Lucy, even in this time of +sorrow, to feel that she had been enabled to help Nelly to know the +Saviour, whom the poor, friendless child seemed to have received into +her heart with a true and simple faith. + + + + +IX. + +_Introductions._ + + "My God, my Father, while I stray + Far from my home in life's rough way, + Oh teach me from my heart to say, + 'Thy will be done.'" + + +The short January afternoon was closing in when Lucy's train drew near +its destination. Gradually thickening clusters of houses, a momentary +glimpse of distant steeples, a general commotion and hunting-up of +tickets, packages, and bandboxes, betokened, even to Lucy's +inexperienced eyes, that the city was nearly reached. + +She had made no acquaintances on the way; but a polite elderly +gentleman, who had been sitting beside her, and had occasionally +exchanged a kind word with her, seeing that she was alone, stopped to +hand her out with great courtesy. + +"Any one to meet you?" he asked, seeing that she seemed at a loss what +to do next. + +"Yes--that is--I expect"--faltered Lucy, looking round to see if +Stella was not to be seen among the hurrying crowd. But no familiar +face was to be seen; and the gentleman, who had caught only the first +word of her answer, hurried off with a friend he met, forgetting all +about Lucy. + +It seemed to her a long time that she stood there, wistfully watching +the people who were meeting their friends, or hurrying away alone; and +her spirits, temporarily excited by the journey, began to sink fast. +It seemed so strange that no one should be there to meet her, as her +uncle had promised; and if no one should appear, what was she to do? + +At last, after about five minutes had elapsed, a slight, +delicate-looking young man, very fashionably dressed, with an eyeglass +at one eye and a cigar in his mouth, sauntered along, lightly swinging +his cane and looking leisurely around him. Presently he came up to +Lucy, and, after a scrutinizing glance, he said, touching his hat: + +"My cousin Lucy Raymond, I presume?" and seeing he was right, he +added, with a nonchalant air, "Glad to see you; been waiting long?" + +"About a quarter of an hour," Lucy replied, thinking she was speaking +the exact truth. + +"Hardly that," he replied. "I expected to have been here in time, but +these trains are never to be depended on." + +Then he motioned to a cabman, who advanced and asked for the checks +for the luggage. + +Lucy had forgotten all about them, and her cousin mentally set her +down as "green," while she nervously searched for them. + +"Take your time," he said good-humouredly. + +They were found at last, and everything being collected, Lucy and her +cousin were soon driving away from the station. + +"You are cousin Edwin, I suppose?" Lucy ventured to say timidly. + +"The same, at your service. I suppose Stella posted you up about us +all? You've never been in a place as big as this, have you?" he said, +observing her eager, watching look. + +"No, never; Ashleigh is hardly more than a village. How is Stella?" + +"Stella! Oh, she's quite well; she was out walking when I left." + +Lucy's heart sank at the apparent coldness of her reception. Had +Stella been coming to visit _her_, she would have been watching for +the steamboat for an hour before its arrival! + +"Left all well at home?" inquired Edwin. "Oh, I forgot; I suppose +you're all broken up there now?" he added, glancing at her black dress +and crape veil. "Fred's gone to college again, I suppose?" + +"Yes," replied Lucy. She could not have added a word more. It was all +she could do to keep back the tears that started to her eyes, as the +sad realization that she had no longer a home came back to her. Edwin, +however, had happily exhausted his stock of conversation for the +present, and Lucy did not try to renew it. + +After driving, as it seemed to her, an interminably long way, they +stopped opposite a tall stone house, one of a row all just alike, and +looking very monotonous and sombre to Lucy's eyes, accustomed to the +variety of the Ashleigh houses. + +Light gleamed already through the hall-door, which was speedily +opened; and the next moment Stella, looking as pretty as ever, rushed +down the wide staircase, and met her cousin with an affectionate +embrace. + +"Mamma, here's Lucy," she said as she led the way up the staircase. At +its head stood a lady, who reminded Lucy strongly of the pictures of +her dear mother, except that there was the difference of expression +between a worldly and an unworldly character. Mrs. Brooke never had +had--perhaps now never could have--the pure spiritual beauty which had +been Mrs. Raymond's chief charm; but she was a graceful, +stylish-looking woman, rather languid and unenergetic in appearance, +as she was in character. Her kiss was affectionate, as she told Lucy +that she was very glad to see her, and that she reminded her a little +of her poor mother; "though you're much more like your papa," she +added. + +"And here are Ada and Sophy, just in time," exclaimed Stella, as two +young ladies, very fashionably attired in walking dress, ascended the +stairs and were duly introduced. Ada, who was the smaller of the two, +resembled her mother and Stella, with all their softness and winning +grace of manner. Sophy was a tall, handsome girl, with a somewhat +haughty air, and her greeting was colder and more dignified. She +suggested that Stella should take her cousin at once to her room, +saying she should think Lucy would wish to rest for awhile before +dinner,--a proposal to which she was only too glad to accede, feeling +somewhat uncomfortable in the heavy travelling attire, which was such +a contrast to her cousins' elegant dresses. + +Stella led the way to a room much larger and more handsomely furnished +than Lucy's old one at home, though it all looked so strange and +unfamiliar, that she wondered whether it would ever seem home to her. +Stella showed her all its conveniences and arrangements for her +comfort, and then observed, "But you're not to have it all to +yourself;" which Lucy heard with some disappointment, for she had been +always accustomed at home to have a room to herself, and hoped to have +one still. + +"Amy's to sleep with you, and I think you'll like her. She's a good +little thing, though she's not a bit pretty; and she's named after +your mamma, you know, who was my Aunt Amy. It sounds odd, doesn't it? +Ada and I sleep together, because we get on best; and Sophy can't be +troubled with a child sleeping with her, especially as Amy is +delicate, and sometimes restless at night. Do you think you'll mind +having her?" + +"Oh no!" said Lucy, somewhat relieved. "I always used to think I +should like to have a little sister of my own." + +"Here she is, to speak for herself," said Stella, as the door opened, +and a fragile-looking little girl of about seven timidly peeped in. + +"Come in, Amy, and be introduced." + +The child stole quietly in, encouraged by Lucy's smile, and held out +to her a hand so thin and tiny, that she thought she had never felt +anything like it before. Amy had fair hair and a colourless +complexion; but when the soft grey eyes looked up wistfully at Lucy, +and a sweet smile lighted up the pale face, her cousin thought Stella +hardly justified in calling her "not a bit pretty." + +"So you're my little cousin Amy?" said Lucy, kissing her. "And you're +going to sleep with me and be my little sister, are you not?" + +Amy nodded. She evidently had not Stella's flow of language. + +"Shall I help you to unpack, Lucy?" interposed her loquacious cousin, +"or would you rather lie down and rest awhile?" + +Lucy preferred the latter. She wanted to be alone; and as she was very +tired with the fatigue and excitement of the journey and arrival, it +is scarcely to be wondered at that, when she was left alone, she found +relief in a hearty fit of crying. However, she soon remembered she +could do something better than that, so she knelt to thank her +heavenly Father for His protecting care during her journey. She asked, +too, that as she was far away from all dear home friends and familiar +surroundings, she might be helped to love those around her now, and to +do her duty in her new circumstances. + +Her heart was much lighter and calmer now, and she was nearly ready to +go down to dinner, when Stella came in to help her, and to insist on +arranging her hair in a new fashion she had lately learned, before +escorting her down to the dining-room. Lucy had dreaded a good deal +her introduction to her uncle, of whom she had not a very pleasant +impression. He was a brisk, shrewd-looking man, a great contrast to +his listless-looking son; and his manner, though patronizing, was not +ungenial, as Lucy had feared it would be, from his harsh opinions, +quoted by Stella, in regard to the poor. All the rest of the family +she had already seen, Edwin being the only son who had survived, and +on that account, probably, a good deal spoilt. + +Lucy could not help noticing the very slight mourning worn by the +family, if indeed it could be called mourning at all. But even this +slight mark of respect would hardly have been accorded to Mr. +Raymond's memory, but for Lucy's coming among them in her deep +mourning. "People would notice, and it wouldn't look well," Sophy had +said; and this decided the question, though the girls grumbled a good +deal at the inconvenience of it, especially at a time of the year when +they were usually so gay, and wanted to wear colours. Stella was the +only one who did not object. She had imbibed a strong respect for her +uncle, and wore her black dress with a certain satisfaction, in the +feeling that she was doing honour to his memory. + +There was a good deal of lively talk during dinner, almost +unintelligible, however, to Lucy, from her ignorance of the persons +and things talked about. The tone of conversation, however, was as +uncongenial as were the subjects. Edwin had a cynical air, partly +real, partly affected; and the girls' remarks were characterized by +the same sort of flippancy which had often jarred upon her in Stella. + +After dinner Edwin disappeared, Mr. Brooke became absorbed in his +newspapers, Sophy was soon engrossed with a novel, and Ada and her +mother employed themselves in some very pretty worsted embroidery. +Lucy, of course, had no work as yet, and Stella resorted to her old +fashion of lounging about doing nothing in particular, except +talking. She expatiated largely, for Lucy's benefit, upon the classes +and masters in the fashionable school to which her cousin was to +accompany her, giving her various scraps of information respecting her +future classmates, with a list of their foibles and peculiarities +amusingly described, but rather wearisome to a stranger. Mrs. Brooke +questioned Lucy about her previous studies, looking doubtful when she +heard of Latin and mathematics, and saying she was afraid "she had +been made a little of a blue." At her aunt's request, she sat down at +the handsome piano, and rather nervously got through a simple air, the +only one she knew by heart. She felt she had not done herself justice, +and Stella said apologetically, "You know she never had any teacher +but Mrs. Steele, and she has no style." + +Lucy's cheek flushed at the disparaging remark, but Mrs. Brooke only +said, "I hope you will play better than that, my dear, when you have +had Signor Goldoni for awhile. Do you sing?" + +"Only hymns, aunt. We often sing them on Sundays at home." + +"Well, if you have anything of a voice, you will soon do better than +that. Any one can sing hymns." + +Lucy made no reply, but she privately thought that very few could sing +them like her Aunt Mary. Then, recollecting that Stella had told her +how well Sophy played and sang, she turned rather timidly to her with +the request, "Won't you sing, Cousin Sophy?" + +"Do, Sophy," added her mother and Stella, both at once. + +But Sophy, reclining in a luxurious easy-chair near the fire, and +absorbed in a sensational novel, was too comfortable to think of +moving. + +"I really can't just now," she said rather coldly. "I'm tired, and I'm +just at the most interesting place in this book." + +"Sophy never will sing to please any one but herself and--_some_ +people," said Stella mischievously. "And then, sometimes, if she takes +the notion, there's no stopping her. Now, if a certain person I know +were here--" + +Ada laughed. Sophy just said haughtily, "I'll be much obliged to you, +Stella, not to disturb me;" at which Stella, with mock gravity, put +her finger on her lip. + +"Well, I am tired," Mrs. Brooke at last said, rising; "and I am sure +Lucy must be so too. Lucy, I advise you to go to bed at once; and, +Stella, don't stay in your cousin's room talking, and don't wake Amy, +if she is asleep." + +It seemed very strange to Lucy that the family circle should break up +for the night without the united acknowledgment of the protecting +kindness which had carried them in safety through the day--without +invoking the same protecting care through the watches of the +night--without the acknowledgment of the sins of the day, and the +prayer for forgiveness, and the petitions for dear absent ones--to +which she had always been accustomed. It was plain that no custom of +the kind existed in Mr. Brooke's family. + +Notwithstanding her mother's prohibition, Stella did linger long in +Lucy's room, chattering about one thing after another, Amy's wide-open +eyes watching them from her pillow. "I'm going just in a minute," she +would say, when Lucy reminded her of what her mother had said, and +then she would rush into some new subject. Lucy was tired, and was +longing to have a little quiet time to herself; but Stella, who was +undressing beside her, and would be in bed and asleep as soon as she +should go back to her own room, did not consider that. + +"There's Stella chattering away yet," said Ada, as she and Sophy came +up-stairs. "Stella, how naughty of you to stay here so long, keeping +Lucy up!" + +"I was just talking about two or three things," said Stella. + +"I have no doubt of that," Sophy remarked; "but I'm sure Lucy would +prefer to have the conversation postponed till to-morrow." + +Ada was examining the various little possessions of Lucy's, which were +already on the dressing-table. "Well, if she hasn't got her Bible out +already!" she exclaimed. "What a good child it is! Does it read it +every night?" + +"I thought every one did," said Lucy simply, though her cheek flushed +at the tone of the remark. + +Ada laughed, and Sophy smiled satirically, though she did not speak. + +"Well, you are a simple little thing," said Ada. "When you've lived in +town for awhile you'll know better." + +"Oh, they're all such good people in Ashleigh! I never knew I did so +many wicked things till I was there," said Stella. + +Lucy looked pained, and Sophy interposed. "Well, you've shocked Lucy +enough for one night, and it's high time she and you too were in bed. +So come at once, Stella." + +Ada and Stella kissed Lucy affectionately, as they followed Sophy out +of the room, and Lucy was left alone, to think with surprise and +distress of the total want of religious feeling which her cousins' +remarks betrayed. When she had once more thanked God for His goodness, +and implored His supporting help, and had read a few comforting verses +out of her Bible, she did not forget to pray that her cousins, who so +little appreciated its treasures of divine counsel and consolation, +might yet be led to know them for themselves. But the fatigue and +excitement of the day had thoroughly tired her out, and almost as soon +as her head sank on the pillow she was fast asleep, dreaming of the +happy times past, and the dear friends now so far away. + + + + +X. + +_New Experiences._ + + "I need Thy presence every passing hour; + Who but Thyself can foil the tempter's power? + When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, + Help of the helpless, Lord, abide with me!" + + +Lucy could hardly understand where she was when she awoke the next +morning. She had scarcely ever been absent from home in her life; and +the strange and unfamiliar aspect of everything around her quite +bewildered her, till little Amy's gentle touch recalled the events of +the preceding day. Her home-sickness returned for a time; but the +strength came for which she prayed, and she was able to go down to +breakfast with a cheerful face. + +Sophy and her father were the only ones who appeared at the nominal +breakfast hour. Stella had always been late for breakfast at Ashleigh +in summer, so it was not surprising that in winter she should be one +of the last to appear. But it did not apparently matter much, for the +different members of the family seemed to come to the breakfast table +just as it suited them, and the meal could scarcely be called a social +one. Neither Sophy nor her father talked much, he having his newspaper +open before him. Lucy was too shy as yet to talk without +encouragement, which Sophy did not give; and she felt it a relief when +Stella, with her unfailing loquacity, made her appearance. + +"You see it's Saturday morning, so one can have a little more sleep," +she said, yawning as if she had not had enough yet. + +"Then why don't you go to bed sooner at night, my dear, if you want +more sleep?" asked her father. + +But Stella quickly turned the conversation to another subject, and +kept up a full stream of talk till Mrs. Brooke and Ada appeared, and +soon afterwards Edwin sauntered in. + +"Lucy," said her aunt, as she left the breakfast table, "you must let +me see your dresses this morning; I am sure you'll want some new +things, and you must get them at once." + +"Aunt Mary thought I had all I should want for the winter," said Lucy, +colouring, for it was a point on which she was sensitive, not wishing +herself to spend any more on her dress than was absolutely necessary, +and desiring, if possible, not to increase her uncle's expenditure on +her account. + +"Well, we shall see," said Mrs. Brooke. "But you know you cannot dress +here exactly as you did at Ashleigh, and I want you to look as well as +your cousins." + +Lucy felt rather dismayed at the idea of being expected to wear such +stylish attire; and she could have cried, as one after another of the +articles on which she and Mrs. Steele had bestowed so much pains was +pronounced by Mrs. Brooke and Ada "quite out of date" and "not fit to +be seen." + +Mrs. Brooke, apart from her really kind intentions towards her +sister's orphan daughter, was determined that Lucy, who was to be +Stella's constant companion, should not, by shabby or old-fashioned +dress, disgrace the family in the eyes of her critical fashionable +associates; so it was determined, without reference to Lucy, that Ada +and Sophy should take her out forthwith on a shopping excursion, to +provide her with what Mrs. Brooke considered essential for her +creditable appearance as a member of her family. + +After her first uncomfortable feeling had worn off, Lucy really +enjoyed her expedition, everything--the busy streets, the crowded +buildings, the rattling carts and carriages; above all, the +gaily-decorated shop windows--having so much of the charm of novelty +for a country girl. The windows of the print-shops and book-stores in +particular she thought so attractive, that she wondered how the +hurrying passers-by could go on their way without even a glance at +their treasures. + +The shopping was easily accomplished under Ada's experienced +superintendence, and might have been accomplished much more quickly, +Lucy thought, had it not been that her cousins would spend so much +time in looking over articles which they had no intention of buying, +thereby, she thought, putting the obliging shopmen to an immense deal +of trouble, and sadly wasting their own morning. But neither of her +companions had much sense of the value of time, having no higher aim +in living than that of passing it as pleasantly as possible. + +At last the important business was concluded, just in time for them to +get home for lunch. Lucy felt very tired after her unwonted expedition +over the hard city streets, with their bewildering noise and +confusion, and was glad to get away as soon as possible to rest. She +soon fell asleep, and when she awoke she found Amy sitting quietly +beside her, playing with her doll. + +"Won't you look at my doll, Cousin Lucy?" she said. "I got her on my +birthday. Her name is Lucy, after _you_." + +"After _me_?" said Lucy, surprised. "Did you call her after me before +I came?" + +"Yes," replied Amy timidly; "for Stella said you were nice, and I +should love you." + +"I hope you will, dear," said Lucy, touched and gratified, and she +kissed her little cousin affectionately, looking pityingly at the +pale, delicate face and fragile form. She had always wished to have a +little sister of her own, and her heart was quite disposed to take the +little girl into a sister's place. She drew her closer, and after +talking a little about the doll, she said: + +"Does Amy love the good, kind Saviour, who came to die for her?" + +The child looked up with a puzzled expression. + +"Jesus, you know," added Lucy, thinking that name might be more +familiar. + +"That is Jesus that my hymn is about. Nurse taught me, 'Gentle Jesus, +meek and mild.'" + +"Yes. Well, don't you love Him, Amy? He loves you very much." + +"Does He love me?" asked Amy. "How do you know?" + +"Because He says so." + +"But He is up in heaven. Nurse said my little brother is up there with +Him." + +It was always "nurse." Amy did not seem to owe much knowledge of that +kind to any one else. Lucy tried to explain as simply as possible +that, although the Saviour is in heaven, He is as really near us as +when He was on earth; and that we have still in the Bible the very +words that He spoke while yet among men. + +"Are they in there?" asked Amy, looking at Lucy's Bible. + +"Yes, dear. You can't read yet, I suppose?" + +"Oh no! The doctor says I mustn't learn for a long while." + +"Then I will read to you some of the things that Jesus said. Would you +like that?" + +"Oh yes!" said Amy; and Lucy read the account of our Saviour blessing +the little children. She was pleased and surprised at the quiet +attention and deep interest with which Amy listened, and mentally +resolved to try to lead her to know more of that blessed Saviour, of +whom as yet she knew so little. Here was some work provided for her +already, she thought, and the feeling made her happier than she had +been since she left home. + +The evening passed away much as the former one had gone, except that +it was varied by the presence of visitors, among whom was a gentleman +who, Stella privately informed her cousin, was an "admirer" of +Sophy's. + +"But it's no use, if he knew it, for you know she's engaged already to +Mr. Langton. He's such a handsome, nice fellow, and has a large +plantation in the South, where he lives. I know she's as fond of him +as she can be, though she doesn't like people to think so. Look, now, +how she sings for Mr. Austin! I'm afraid he'll think she likes him." + +Sophy was by no means indifferent to any admiration, though she was, +as Stella had said, very much attached to her betrothed; and it did +not quite coincide with Lucy's ideas of love and lovers, founded, it +must be confessed, chiefly on books, to observe the seeming pleasure +and animation with which Sophy received the attentions and compliments +of this young man, whose partiality for her was so plain. + +"Surely it's very wrong in her if she deceives him, and let's him go +on liking her," thought Lucy, who, having never before seen an +instance of coquetry, did not know how venial many girls who might +know better consider the sin of trifling with an affection which must, +if encouraged, end in bitter disappointment. + +Next day was Sunday, the day always associated in Lucy's mind with the +happiest and holiest feelings of the week. In Mr. Raymond's household, +even the most careless sojourner could see that the day seemed +pervaded by an atmosphere of holy and peaceful rest from the secular +cares and occupations unavoidable on other days. All thoughts about +these were, as far as possible, laid aside. No arbitrary rules were +enforced, but it was plainly Mr. Raymond's earnest desire that the day +should be devoted especially to growing in the knowledge of the Lord, +and should be considered as sacred to Him who had set it apart. And by +providing pleasant and varied occupation suitable for the day, and +cultivating a spirit of Christian cheerfulness, he succeeded in making +his family feel it no hardship to carry out his wishes. Fred and Lucy, +indeed, had learned to love the Lord's day, and to appreciate the +privileges it brings with it. But in Mr. Brooke's family it was +decidedly a dull day,--a day which must be respectably observed, and +therefore not available for ordinary purposes, but a day to be got +through as easily as possible, shortened at both ends by late rising +and unusually early retiring, as well as by naps indulged in during +the day, when even the so-called Sunday reading proved somnolent in +its tendency. The necessary abstinence from ordinary occupations was +partly made up by the freedom with which the conversation was +permitted to run loose in secular matters, amusements, gossip, +criticisms on dress and conduct, most prejudicial to any good +influence that might have been derived from the public exercises of +the day, as well as deteriorating to the whole tone of the mind at any +time. No wonder, then, that divine truth, heard at church, fell on +inattentive ears, and failed to penetrate hearts filled up with the +"lusts of other things!" Through a medium so unyielding, how could the +soft dew of holy, spiritual influence descend upon the heart, to +nourish and fertilize it? + +Lucy was down at the usual breakfast-time, but had to wait more than +an hour before any one appeared, except Amy, who sat contentedly on +her knee, and listened to more reading out of Lucy's Testament, and +had even learned two verses of a hymn, before Stella at last appeared. + +"How foolish you were to get up so early!" she said, when Amy had told +her how long they had been down. "I think it is so nice to lie as long +as you like, Sunday mornings! I used to think it so hard at Ashleigh +that you _would_ always have breakfast as early as other days!" + +"We never saw any reason for being later on Sunday. Indeed, papa +always liked to have us earlier. He said it was the most precious day +of the week, and that, though he could excuse a hard-worked labouring +man for taking an extra sleep on Sunday, we had no such excuse; and to +try to shorten the day was dishonouring to Him who gave it." + +"What in the world would he have said of Edwin then," said Stella, +"who often sleeps till it is too late to go to church, and then he +stays at home and sleeps more?" + +Lucy could not help smiling; but as Sophy came in just then, she did +not need to make any reply. Amy was eager to repeat to her sister the +hymn she had just been learning, but Sophy did not seem to care about +it, and said to Lucy, "You had better not teach her any more hymns. +The doctor says she should not be allowed to study anything till her +constitution is stronger. Besides, I don't believe in filling +children's heads with things that make them think about death too +soon." + +Lucy felt a little vexed and a good deal surprised at what was to her +so new an experience. She had not dreamed that any one could object to +teaching a child those blessed gospel truths which will shed either on +life or on death the truest light. But while she felt a strong +interest in and attraction towards her cousin Sophy, she instinctively +felt that on such subjects she would be quite unapproachable. + +Mrs. Brooke surprised Lucy with the unexpected decision that her +deficiencies in dress must keep her at home that day. She felt as if +it was almost wrong to submit,--her dear father would have so much +disapproved of any one's staying away from the house of God for such a +reason. But then she remembered that while under her aunt's charge it +was her duty to yield a deference to her wishes, unless she absolutely +violated her conscience in so doing, and that her father would also +have said, "Ye younger, be subject to the elder," and would have told +her that, though prevented from going up to an earthly sanctuary, she +could worship God at home in the sanctuary of her heart. + +But she did not find this so easy, as Stella, glad of the excuse, +insisted on staying at home "to keep Lucy company," though Lucy tried +to make her understand that she was not desirous of having any +"company" while the rest were at church. In vain she tried to fix her +attention on her open Bible. Stella would continually break in with +some remark which, when answered, was sure to lead to another; and +though Lucy's remonstrances at length became somewhat impatient in +their tone, it was evidently hopeless to try to reduce her to silence. +She, however, at last succeeded in persuading her to listen while she +read to Amy, first one or two Bible stories, such as she thought would +interest her most, and then a simple story out of one of her own +Sunday books which she had brought with her. The earnestness with +which Amy drank in every word was a great contrast to Stella's +desultory way of listening; but even _she_ seemed a little interested +in Lucy's reading, and the morning did not seem altogether thrown +away. + +But in the afternoon Lucy found that trying to read in the +drawing-room was quite out of the question, her attention being +perpetually distracted by the frivolous conversation almost +continually going on there. First one topic was started, and then +another; and in spite of her efforts to the contrary, she would find +herself listening to the gossiping talk going on around her. At last +she took refuge in her own room to read there in quiet, though she was +before long followed thither by Stella. + +"Don't you think, Stella, I might go to church this evening? I don't +like staying at home all day, and no one would notice what I had on, +I'm sure," she asked her cousin. + +Stella opened her eyes. "Do you mean to say you really want to go?" +she asked. "I thought people only went to church because it was a +duty." + +"I used to go for that reason," Lucy replied, "but I should be sorry +if I only went on that account now." + +"But why? What pleasure can you find in it? The service always seems +to me so long, and the sermon so dry, that it makes me yawn so,--I +can't help it." + +Lucy hesitated a little before answering. It was not easy to explain. +"There are many things that make it pleasant. One always hears +something to do one good,--often the very thing one needs at the very +time. It always makes troubles seem lighter, and another world more +real and near. I always feel so much nearer papa when I am in +church," she added in a lower tone. + +"Oh! that is because you always used to hear him preach, I suppose!" +said Stella, not able to comprehend any other reason. "Well, since you +like it so much, I'll ask mamma if you can't go; but I don't know +whether any of the rest are going." + +Mrs. Brooke, though as much surprised as Stella at Lucy's strong wish, +felt that it ought to be respected. She suggested that, instead of +going to the large fashionable church which the family usually +attended, they should go to a small one in the neighbourhood, their +usual resort on stormy days. Edwin having got tired of the novel he +had been yawning over, good-naturedly offered to be her guide and +escort; and Stella made no objection when her mother told her she had +better go too, as she had not been out in the morning. + +The stars were twinkling brilliantly through the clear frosty +atmosphere, and the long vistas of gas-lamps, seen on all sides, were +a novelty to Lucy's country eyes. The streets were full of people, +encountering each other as they wended their way to church in opposite +directions. There were others, too, not going to church, but to very +different places of resort; but of these Lucy happily knew nothing. + +The first hymn was already being sung when they entered the church, a +small, plain building. Lucy was at once interested by the thoughtful, +earnest face of the clergyman, who reminded her a little of her +father. The first prayer, so simple, yet so full of petitions for the +things she most needed, carried her heart with it, till she forgot she +was not at home still. The text read was, "A very present help in +trouble," and the sermon was what might have been expected from the +tone of the preceding prayer. It was so full of Christ, pointing to +His constant presence,--to Him as the only true comforter and +sustainer either in sorrow and temptation,--that, simple as was the +language and unpretentious the style, it touched the deepest springs +in Lucy's heart, and she leaned back in her seat to hide the soothing, +happy tears. + +Edwin, however, from his end of the pew could see that she was crying, +and began, out of curiosity, to listen to the sermon, to find out what +it was that affected her so much. At first he thought it very odd that +she should have been so moved by it; but gradually, as he listened to +the earnest words in which the preacher, speaking evidently from his +own heart, dwelt upon all that Christ might be to the weary soul which +had tried earthly pleasures and found them wanting, earthly cisterns +and found them broken,--a fountain of refreshing, giving strength and +energy for the journey of life, the "shadow of a great rock in a weary +land," giving to the weary wayfarer rest and shelter from the burden +and heat of the day,--he began to feel, in spite of his indifference, +that there might be a nobler, happier ideal of life than that of +seeking to fill the hours as they passed with every variety of +pleasure within reach. But it was only a passing thought. Old habits +of thinking, so long indulged, came back to fill up his mind as soon +as the voice of the speaker had ceased. His plan of life was not +likely to be altered yet. + +Lucy walked very silently home, watching the starlight trembling +through the crystal air, and wondering in what remote, inconceivable +sphere are passed those beloved existences which are lost to us here. +And then came the happy thought that, though they seem so remote and +inaccessible, the Saviour is near at once to them and to those who are +left below, and that in communion with Him there may be a point of +contact, intangible, it is true, but none the less real. Edwin, as he +languidly wondered what his quiet cousin was thinking about, did not +know that there was a distance immeasurable between his thoughts and +hers. + +Next day Lucy accompanied her cousin to school, that she might be at +once introduced to her new classes and studies. When her acquirements +had been duly tested, she found that, while in some superficial +accomplishments she was considerably behind Stella, yet in other +studies, more solid in their nature, and requiring greater accuracy +and deeper thought, she was far in advance of her cousin. This might +have considerably increased the tendency she already had to a sense of +her own superiority, had it not been that the things in which she was +deficient were precisely those which were of most consequence at Mrs. +Wilmot's establishment, being more showy, and therefore more easily +appreciated. Her love of approbation made her very anxious to excel in +what was valued by those around her; and in her desire to make up lost +ground, she happily escaped an undue sense of superiority in what was +most valuable,--a proficiency which was the result chiefly of her +father's care. + +Fond of study for its own sake, she entered on her classwork with all +the zest of one who had never known school-life before, and who was +determined to make the most of her opportunities; and her enjoyment of +her studies and the stimulus of contest to a great extent counteracted +the uncongeniality of her new home, as well as the homesick feeling +which came over her when a letter from Mrs. Steele or Fred revived old +and happy associations. + + + + +XI. + +_A Start in Life._ + + "His path in life was lowly, + He was a working man; + Who knows the poor man's trials + So well as Jesus can?" + + +At Mill Bank Farm things were going on much as when Nelly Connor had +become an inmate there. Under the influence of her watchword, Bessie +was making good headway against her faults of idleness and +carelessness, and her mother declared she was growing a "real comfort" +to her. Under her teaching Nelly's reading had progressed so well, +that she could spell out very creditably a chapter in the New +Testament. Jenny and Jack had also been taught their letters; and +though they were not to go to Sunday school till the spring, they had +already learned from Bessie a good deal of Bible knowledge. Sam was +not nearly so often a truant now, that he knew his mother's watchful +eye was ready to discover any omission in attending Sunday school; and +the boys were gradually growing in respect for things on which they +could see their mother now placed so much importance. + +Nelly had never before known so much of comfort and happiness. She was +treated as one of the family, and the easy tasks which fell to her lot +were labours of love and gratitude. Even the irksome sewing, by dint +of patiently struggling with her constitutional restlessness, was +growing almost a pleasure, from her being able to do it so much +better. In the letters which Bessie occasionally received from Lucy, +there was always a kind message for Nelly, which would act as a +wonderful stimulus for days after it came. + +As the winter wore on, however, it was evident she was not greatly +needed by her kind friends. Bessie was growing stronger every day, and +more able to assist her mother, and Nelly could not help feeling that +she was kept only because she needed a home. One day, therefore, she +asked Mrs. Ford if she thought she was not now fit to take a place. + +"Well, you've got to be a good little worker, that's a fact; but +there's no hurry about your going. You're welcome to stay here as long +as you like." + +"It's very kind of you, ma'am; but perhaps if you'd be looking out you +might hear of some one that would take me, and give me whatever I was +worth," said Nelly, in whom the instinct of independence was strong. + +A few days after this Mrs. Ford was asked by her friend Mrs. Thompson +what she was going to do with her little Irish girl. "She is big +enough for a place," she said, "and there is no good in having a girl +like that learning idle ways. I think I know of a place that would +suit her very well." + +"What place is that?" asked Mrs. Ford. + +Mrs. Thompson replied that a friend of hers in the city had written to +inquire for a country girl about Nelly's age. She would have no hard +work, and would get such clothing as she required, instead of wages in +money. + +"You see servants are very hard to obtain in those large places," +remarked Mrs. Thompson, "and they always want the highest wages; and +this person isn't very well off, and keeps boarders to support +herself, so she can't afford a great deal." + +"But would she be good to Nelly?" inquired Mrs. Ford. + +Mrs. Thompson promised to inquire of the friend who had written to +her, in regard to this point. Her correspondent's reply was tolerably +satisfactory. Mrs. Williams, the person who wanted Nelly, was likely +to do whatever was right by any girl who might be sent her, as she was +a very respectable person, and "a church member." This last statement +weighed considerably with Mrs. Ford, and decided her to mention the +place to Nelly. + +Nelly could not help feeling a throb of regret at hearing that there +really was a place open to her, for she dreaded exceedingly the +prospect of leaving her kind friends; but of this she said nothing, +and tried to seem pleased with the idea of trying the place. One great +inducement it certainly had, that it was in the city in which Lucy now +resided. She hoped to see Miss Lucy sometimes, and she would help her +to be good and do well, she thought. Mrs. Ford also thought this +circumstance a favourable one, as Lucy could see for herself whether +Nelly was comfortably situated, and if not, could help her to find a +better place. So, after much consideration and some misgivings, it was +reluctantly settled that she should go. Mrs. Thompson's brother was +going to the city soon, and Nelly could accompany him. + +She did not need a great deal of time for preparation, though Mrs. +Ford kindly provided her with all that was necessary for her +respectable appearance in her new place, so that she went back to the +city which had been her former abode a very different-looking girl +from the barefooted, gipsy-like child, who had wandered, uncared for, +about its streets. "I know the place well, ma'am," she said to Mrs. +Ford; "it isn't as if I had never been there. I won't feel a bit +strange." And though the spring was approaching, and she was for many +reasons very sorry to leave Ashleigh, she did not dread the thought of +going to the great city, alone and friendless, as much as a thoroughly +country-bred girl would have done. + +When her travelling companion bade her good-bye at the railway +station, Nelly, not in the least frightened by the hurrying crowds and +the noisy streets, so familiar to her of old, took up her little +bundle, containing all the worldly goods she possessed, and set off +briskly to look for the address inscribed on the card she held in her +hand. She did not need to ask her way more than once, though it was a +half-hour's walk before she reached the street, and then she walked +slowly along, studying the numbers of the doors till she arrived at +the right one, bearing on a brass plate the words, "Mrs. Williams' +Boarding House." It was one of the most bare and uninviting of a dull +row, and not even the bright sunshine of the early spring could +enliven it much. Other houses had flowers or birds in the windows, or +at least pleasant glimpses of white curtains, but this one, with its +half-closed blinds, had almost a funereal aspect. Nelly had a keen +susceptibility of externals, and her heart sank a little; but she rang +the bell, determined to make the best of it. The door was opened by an +elderly woman in rusty black, with a hard, careworn face, which did +not relax into the slightest perceptible smile, as she regarded Nelly +scrutinizingly, saying at last, "Oh, you're the girl Mrs. Thompson was +to send, I suppose?" + +"Yes, ma'am," replied Nelly, who had not yet been invited to enter. + +"Well, you're not as big as I thought you'd be, and you don't look +very strong. Come in;" and she led the way into a dull, bare +dining-room, where she went on with her work of setting the table, +while she put Nelly through an examination as to her qualifications. +She either was, or appeared to be, dissatisfied, and after dryly +expressing a hope that she would suit, she told her to follow her down +to the kitchen. + +It was a dark, cellar-like place, with an equally cellar-like room of +very small dimensions opening off it, where Nelly was to sleep. Many +houses seem built on the principle--not the Christian one of loving +our neighbours as ourselves--that "anything is good enough for +servants," as if light, and air, and pleasant things to look out upon, +were not just as much needed by them as by their employers! Kitchens +and servants' rooms need not be luxurious. It would be doing servants +an injury to accustom them to luxuries of which they would some time +feel the privation; but many of them have been accustomed to pure, +free air, and a pleasant outlook, and feel the reverse far more than +is imagined by those who condemn them to live in underground cells. + +Nelly felt her abode very dismal after the light, airy farmhouse. Even +from her old attic-window she had a pleasant view of the river, and +could always see the moon and stars at night; while from this the +utmost she could see from the windows was a little bit of street +pavement. But when she unpacked her bundle, and came upon her +"watchword card," as Lucy had called it, her courage rose as she +remembered that her heavenly Friend was as near her here as in the +free, fresh country, and that where He was He could make it home. She +could not have put this feeling into words, but it was there, in her +heart, where doubtless He Himself had put it. + +It was some time before Mrs. Williams thought of inquiring whether she +had had any dinner. On her replying in the negative--she was beginning +to feel quite tired and faint--Mrs. Williams, with a half-reluctant +air, brought out of a locked cupboard some very dry-looking bread and +cold meat, which she set before Nelly. + +She was very hungry, so that even this was very acceptable, and she +did justice to the meal. Before she had finished, a voice called from +an upper story, "Mother, tell the new girl to bring up some water." + +Nelly was accordingly directed to fill the water-can and take it up to +the top of the house. After carrying it up three flights of stairs, +she saw a door open, and a girl of nineteen or twenty, apparently +engaged in performing an elaborate toilet, looked out from it. + +"How old are you?" she said, as she took the water from Nelly. + +"I'll soon be fourteen, miss." + +"Well, you don't look it. You'll have to look sharp here if you want +to suit us. Now, take these boots down to brush." + +She spoke in a quick, sharp way, a good deal like her mother's; and +her face, though tolerably comely, was sharp too. Miss Williams meant +to "get on" in the world if she could, and her face and manner showed +it. + +Nelly found various things to do before she got back to her unfinished +dinner, and then Mrs. Williams hurried her through, that she might get +the kitchen made "tidy." In the meantime Miss Williams departed, in +all the glories of a fashionable toilet, for her afternoon promenade, +her mother regarding her with much pride and complacency. It seemed +the one object of her hard-working, careworn life that her daughter +should look "like a lady," and a large proportion of her earnings and +savings went to effect this object. + +Nelly's services were at once called into requisition to assist in the +preparation of the dinner for the boarders--four gentlemen--who, her +mistress informed her, were "very particular," and liked everything +nice. She received a confusing multiplicity of directions as to +waiting at table, for Mrs. Williams rather prided herself on the +"stylishness" of her establishment. She got through her task tolerably +well, though somewhat bewildered between Mrs. Williams' quick, sharp +reminders and the "chaffing" of one or two of the gentlemen, who +thought it "good fun" to puzzle the "new hand" with ironical remarks, +some of them being aimed at their landlady through her servant. + +After the waiting at dinner, followed the preparation of tea for Mrs. +Williams and her daughter, who had come in, and was in the midst of +one of the evening performances on the piano, which were the dread of +the boarders; and then there were all the dishes used at dinner to +wash and put away. It was pretty late by the time all this had been +done, and Nelly was feeling very sleepy, and wondering how soon she +might go to bed, when her mistress came down with half-a-dozen pairs +of boots, to be cleaned either that evening or next morning. Now the +next day was Sunday, and at the farm Mrs. Ford had of late insisted on +the excellent rule of getting all done that could be done on Saturday +night, so as to leave the Lord's day as free as possible from secular +duties; so Nelly, sleepy as she was, took up her blacking brushes, and +proceeded to rub and polish with all her might. But fatigue was too +strong for her, and before she had got through the third pair, her +head sank down and she lost all consciousness, till she suddenly +started up, thinking Mrs. Ford was calling her to drive the cows to +pasture. It was impossible to rouse herself again to her work; she +just managed to put out her light, and, hastily undressing, she threw +herself on the bed with only a half-conscious attempt at her usual +evening prayer, which, however, He who knows the weakness of our frame +would surely accept. + +Next morning, she started up instantly at Mrs. Williams' impatient +call. She could hardly get ready quick enough to satisfy her mistress, +and had no time to kneel down and ask her heavenly Father's help for +the duties of the day. Mrs. Williams had not thought of this need for +herself, and still less for her little handmaid. She found there was +plenty of work before her, independently of the boots that remained to +be cleaned. By the time she had got through, the bells were ringing +for church, and it was time to think of getting the dinner ready, the +boarders dining early on Sunday. Mrs. Williams was not going to church +herself. The gentlemen always expected the dinner to be especially +good on that day, without much consideration what the cook's Sunday +might be; and it was much too important a matter to be left to Nelly's +inexperienced hands. But during the time when her mistress was +occupied in helping her daughter to dress her hair elaborately for +church, Nelly found a little quiet time to read part of a chapter, and +learn a verse, and ask God's help to do right during the day, and to +remember that it was His day, the best of all the week. + +So prepared, she found the difficult task of performing unaccustomed +duties to her mistress's satisfaction easier than it might otherwise +have been. For why should we consider anything too small to seek His +aid, by whom the hairs of our head are all numbered? And the very +attitude of trust and reliance on Him calms and clears the mind, and +strengthens the heart. + +There was no time for Nelly to go to church on that Sunday, at any +rate. She could not get through her work with her comparatively +unpractised hands, and it was with a very weary body and mind that +she read her evening verse, and repeated her favourite hymn, "I lay my +sins on Jesus," as a sort of substitute for her usual Sunday school +lessons, and then lay down to think of the kind friends she had left, +and to wonder when she should see Miss Lucy, till she fell asleep to +dream that she was at the farm again, and churning butter that would +not come. + +Bessie had written to Lucy, telling her of Nelly's departure, but had +forgotten to give her mistress's address, so that Lucy could not find +her out till she should go to see her at Mr. Brooke's; and for many +days this was impracticable. Day after day passed, filled with the +same unceasing routine of drudgery; and though her growing skill +enabled her to get through her work more quickly, this did not add to +her leisure, since, as her capabilities increased, her duties +increased also. Miss Williams, too, who objected to do anything for +herself when another could be got to do it, found Nelly very +convenient for all sorts of personal services. + +Nelly went through it all without grumbling, though she often went to +bed quite tired out. But youth and health came to her aid, and she +would wake in the morning to go singing about her work. She had an +uncommonly sweet voice, and the boarders used often to remark to each +other that there was more music in her untaught snatches of song than +in all Miss Williams' attempts at the piano. + +But, as weeks went on, the perpetual, unceasing strain began to wear +upon her, and her songs grew less and less frequent. Though she was +almost too busy to indulge in many longings for Ashleigh and its +pleasant fields, it was a little hard to know that the beautiful +budding spring was passing into summer, and that she could taste none +of the country pleasures she had so much enjoyed last year; that the +only sign by which she knew the advancement of the season was the +increasing heat, enervating her frame and undermining her +strength,--its effect in this respect being greatly heightened by the +close, heavy atmosphere in which she chiefly lived. Nature is stronger +than man, after all; and when the upper classes selfishly neglect the +comfort of their poorer brethren, they will find that inexorable +Nature will avenge the infringement of her laws, and will touch their +own interests in so doing. + +"I can't think what has come over Nelly!" Mrs. Williams would say to +her daughter. "She's not the same girl she was when she came here, and +she seems to grow lazier every day. Well, it's the way with them all. +A new broom sweeps clean." + +But Mrs. Williams might easily have found a truer explanation of +Nelly's failing energies than this convenient proverb, in the +unwholesome atmosphere she was breathing by night and day, as well as +in the quantity and quality of the food provided for her. Mrs. +Williams would have indignantly repelled the charge of starving Nelly, +but she forgot the requirements of a fast-growing girl. Everything +eatable was kept rigidly locked up,--that was a fundamental principle +of Mrs. Williams' housekeeping,--and Nelly's allowance was sometimes +so scanty, and at other times composed of such an uninviting +collection of scraps, that she often had not sufficient nourishment to +repair the waste of strength which she was continually undergoing. And +as she would rather suffer than ask more, her constitution was really +giving way for want of sufficient sustenance. + +So two or three months passed, and she had not yet seen Lucy. She had +only, indeed, been two or three times at church, for Mrs. Williams +never seemed to remember that her little servant had an immortal soul +to be nourished, though it must be admitted that she was not much more +mindful of her own spiritual welfare. As for getting out on week-days, +except on her mistress's errands, Mrs. Williams seemed to consider +that quite out of the question; and, indeed, Nelly could not easily +have found leisure for half-an-hour's absence. One evening, at last, +when most of the boarders were dining out, Mrs. Williams graciously +acceded to Nelly's request to be allowed to go out for an hour; "but +don't stay a minute longer," she added. Nelly had carefully kept +Lucy's address, and gladly set off, as fast as she could walk, towards +the quarter of the city in which she knew it to be. She steered her +course pretty straight, but had walked for fully half-an-hour before +she reached the door, on the brass plate of which she read "B. +Brooke." + +It was with a beating heart that she put the question, "Is Miss Lucy +Raymond at home?" to be answered in the negative by the servant, who +inwardly wondered what a girl so poorly dressed could want with Miss +Lucy. Waiting was out of the question,--she would be late enough in +getting back as it was,--so she sorrowfully turned away, without +leaving any message. It was a great disappointment, and, tired and +dispirited, she made her way back. + +There was another reason, besides want of time, to prevent her making +a second attempt. The clothes with which she had been provided on +leaving Mill Bank Farm were almost worn out with the hard work she had +to do, and Mrs. Williams had as yet done nothing towards fulfilling +her promise of giving her necessary clothing, although Nelly's +tattered frock was worn beyond all possibility of repairing. Nelly was +conscious of the doubtful look with which she was regarded when she +asked for Lucy, and she shrank from again encountering it, and perhaps +bringing discredit on Miss Lucy in the eyes of her city friends by her +own disreputable appearance. + +One afternoon in June--Mrs. Williams and her daughter being +out--Nelly, having a few minutes to spare, was standing at the open +door, listening to the plaintive strains of an organ-grinder who was +playing close by. His dark Italian face looked sad and careworn, and +the little girl beside him, evidently his daughter from the +resemblance between them, looked so pale and feeble, that it seemed as +if her little thin hands could scarcely support the tambourine she was +ringing in accompaniment to a little plaintive song. Nelly enjoyed the +performance exceedingly, but her admiration did not appear to be +shared by those whose applause was of more consequence, for not a +single penny found its way into the poor man's hat, either from the +inmates of the house or from the juvenile bystanders. His discouraged +air, and the sad, wistful eyes of the little girl, touched Nelly's +warm Irish heart, as he leaned on Mrs. Williams' doorsteps to rest +himself while he set down his organ, experience having taught him that +it was a useless waste of strength to play before that door. + +Nelly, seeing how hot and tired he looked, impulsively asked the poor +man whether he would walk in and sit down, never stopping to think +whether she had a right to do so. He looked up, surprised at the +invitation, but thankfully accepted it, and Nelly brought two chairs +into the hall for him and the little girl. Then, as the only +entertainment she was able to supply, she filled two glasses with the +coldest water she could find, and shyly offered them to her guests. + +"Ah, it is good," said the organ-grinder, when he had drained his +glass. "Many thanks," he added, in his foreign accent; and the little +girl looked up into Nelly's face with the sweetest, most expressive, +grateful smile. + +"Now," said the Italian, after having rested a little, "you love +music--is it not true?--or you would not be so kind to us. I will play +for you." + +And, taking up his instrument, he played an air sweeter than any Nelly +had yet heard from him, and the little girl sang, in her liquid voice, +a little song, the words of which she could not understand, for they +were Italian. + +"Now we must go," said the man. "Good-bye, my good girl; if I were +home in my country, I would do as much for you." And the father and +daughter pursued their weary way, Nelly's eyes following wistfully the +forms of those whom she regarded as friends already, for were they +not, like herself, poor, lonely strangers in a strange land? + +Then she began to wonder whether she had done wrong in asking them to +come in. She knew instinctively that she could not have done it had +Mrs. Williams been at home. But yet she could not feel such a simple, +common act of kindness to have been wrong. No harm had been done to +anything belonging to her mistress; and the "cup of cold water," had +she not a right to offer it to those who needed it so much? + +After that the organ-grinder and his child passed frequently through +that street, and whenever she could, Nelly would exchange a few kind +words with them, and the man would play for her, knowing well that she +had no pennies to offer in return; but at such times she used to wish +so much that she had a little money of her own. + +The Italian would sometimes look at her tattered dress, and her face, +gradually growing thinner and paler, as if he thought her quite as +forlorn as himself; and once, when he heard her mistress call her in, +and scold her for "talking to such characters in the street," he shook +his head, and muttered something in his native tongue. + +And so it came to pass that the poor Italian and his daughter became +Nelly's only friends in that great, busy city. + + + + +XII. + +_Ambition._ + + "Tell me the same old story, + When you have cause to fear + That this world's empty glory + Is costing me too dear." + + +Lucy's interest in her studies, and the zeal with which she pursued +them, had had a wonderful effect in reconciling her to her new +circumstances. She could sometimes hardly believe that only a few +short months lay between her and her old life, now seeming so far back +in the distance. Her progress in study had been very rapid, as her +abilities were above the average, and her love of study was much +greater than was usual among her companions, most of whom looked upon +their school education chiefly as a matter of form, which it was +expected of them to go through before entering on the real object of +life, the entrance into "society," with its pleasures and excitements. +That it was intended to be a means of disciplining their minds for +better doing their future duties, enlarging their range of thought, +and opening to them new sources of interest and delight, had never +entered into their heads. Lucy indeed pursued her studies more for the +sake of the pleasure they afforded her at the time than with any +ulterior views, though she did feel the advantages placed in her way +to be a sacred trust, and, like all other privileges, to be accounted +for to Him who had bestowed them. + +With her teachers, who found her a pupil after their own heart, she +was a much greater favourite than she was with some of her classmates, +who were so uncongenial, that she could not well enter into, or even +understand, the things which interested them. Nor could she always +refrain from showing her impatience of their frivolities, or her +contempt for the follies which so engrossed their minds; and this did +not, of course, tend to make her popular. This circumstance Lucy did +not care for so much even as she ought; for, though fond of +approbation, she cared only for the approbation of those she esteemed, +unlike her cousin Stella, who liked admiration from any source. + +When the bright, balmy days of spring came, bringing with them +thoughts of green fields and budding trees, there sometimes came over +her longings almost irresistible for her old home, so full of rural +sights and sounds, in such contrast to the stiff, straight city +streets and houses, the dust and noise, and the squares planted with +trees, which to her eyes seemed like caged birds, as the only +reminders that there were such things in the world. These longings +usually came to her most strongly in the long spring evenings, in +whose lengthening light she used to rejoice at Ashleigh, as enabling +her to prolong her pleasant country rambles. Now she must either walk +up and down the hard pavements between never-ending rows of houses, or +sit at the window, wistfully watching the sunset light falling golden +on the opposite walls. Now and then she accompanied the others in a +long drive; but the distance which they had to traverse before they +reached anything like the country seemed to her interminable; and when +they did catch a glimpse of fields and woods, it seemed hard to have +so soon to turn back and lose sight of them again. + +On her return from one of these drives, which had been protracted till +dusk, she was told that she had been inquired for by a girl very +poorly dressed, "almost like a beggar." She was puzzled at first, but +almost immediately it flashed across her that it must be Nelly Connor. +She had often thought of her since she had come to the city, but could +not find her, owing to Bessie's omission to give her mistress's +address,--an omission which Bessie, not being a good correspondent, +and naturally supposing that Nelly would soon find her way to Lucy, +had not yet remedied. "Oh, I wish I had seen her!" exclaimed Lucy, +much to the surprise both of the servants and her cousins, who could +not understand how a girl of that description should come to be so +interesting to her as to cause so much disappointment at having missed +her, and at having no clue to her place of abode. + +"I hope she will soon come again," was the reflection with which Lucy +consoled herself; and Stella explained to Sophy and Edwin: "It's a +little Irish _protegée_ of hers that she was crazy about at Ashleigh, +and she used to lecture me because I didn't think as much of her as +she did." Lucy laughed and tried to explain, but stopped, seeing that +her cousins took very little interest in the matter. + +Lucy did not come much in contact with her uncle and aunt. The former +was much absorbed in business, and though a kind and indulgent parent, +especially to his favourite Stella, he interfered but little in home +matters. Mrs. Brooke, who had always been a rather negative character, +had long given up to her elder daughters any sway she had ever held, +and was almost entirely guided by their judgment, of which they +naturally took advantage to indulge to the utmost their own love of +gaiety. Balls and parties in winter, and in summer gay picnics and +driving parties without end, engrossed their time and thoughts, to the +exclusion of higher objects of interest. Ada was fond of embroidery, +and would betake herself to it when nothing better was going on; and +Sophy was sometimes persuaded to paint for a fancy sale one of the +illuminations, in doing which she evinced great talent. They were +generally quotations from the poets which she selected; and as Lucy +watched the taste with which Sophy blended and contrasted the rich +colouring, she would long for the same skilful hand, in order to +clothe in such glowing colours some of the favourite texts which shone +for her like beams of light from heaven. + +But she had no talent for drawing; and though by diligent practice she +improved very much in playing and singing, she knew she should never +be able to do either like her cousin Sophy. How useful, she thought, +might she not be, if her heart were but actuated by love to Christ! +She felt she dared not speak to her on this subject, but she often +prayed to Him who can command the hearts of all, that He would touch +and renew that of her cousin Sophy. + +Between Stella and Lucy, dissimilar as they were, there existed a +strong cousinly affection. Stella, with all her bantering ways, would +never now go so far as seriously to annoy her, generally taking her +side when she thought the others were too much for her. But though +Lucy tried earnestly to draw her cousin towards the knowledge of her +Saviour, all such attempts seemed to glance off her, like raindrops +from an oiled surface. She was quite satisfied with herself as she +was, and had not yet found out the insufficiency of the earthly +pleasures which at present satisfied her. She believed, of course, in +another world, and the need of a preparation for it, but she thought +there was plenty of time for that; and it had never entered within the +range of her comprehension that the change of heart, which is the +necessary preparation for a future life, is as necessary to living +either well or happily in the present. So that Lucy was constantly +feeling that, in the most important matters of all, there could be no +genuine sympathy between them. + +Nor among her schoolmates was her longing for sympathy between them +more fully gratified. They were all actuated by the "spirit of this +world which passeth away," and avoided everything that could bring the +thought of another to their minds; so that she had not found one with +whom she could speak on the subjects most dear to her, or hold an +intercourse mutually helpful. + +There was, indeed, one of her schoolmates, a Miss Eastwood, a boarder +at Mrs. Wilmot's, in whom, from her sweet, serious manner and +appearance, and from some other tokens, she thought she might have +found a congenial friend. But Miss Eastwood was a little older than +herself, and Lucy's natural shyness was increased by the impression +that she rather avoided her and Stella, probably from knowing that Mr. +Brooke's was a thoroughly worldly family, and supposing that Lucy must +be like her cousins in this respect. Miss Eastwood in this was acting +conscientiously; yet such a determined avoidance of those who appear +to be worldly in their principles of action, though founded on the +desire of keeping out of temptation, sometimes leads to great +mistakes. Real Christian sympathy may sometimes be found where from +circumstances there may seem to be least appearance of it; and even +where it does not exist, influence for good might be exerted over +those whom distrust must necessarily repel. He who sat with publicans +and sinners, while He enjoins His followers to be "not of the world," +even as He was not of the world, cannot surely desire them to avoid +all opportunities, naturally occurring, of coming in contact with +those who may not be like-minded; and if Christians would always show +their true colours uncompromisingly, while coming near to others, as +God's providence opens opportunity, they would both do more good and +find sympathy and fellowship oftener than they expect. + +Of all the inmates of her uncle's house, little Amy was the one in +whom Lucy found the greatest congeniality. Her readings to her, and +her teaching about Jesus, seemed to have satisfied a craving of the +child's little heart, and she drank in the truths which Lucy tried to +explain to her, with the eagerness of one who had been thirsting for +the living water. Indeed she needed very little explanation; it +seemed as if the Spirit of God was her teacher, instructing her in +things that might have seemed too deep for so young a child to +grasp,--though indeed there may be less difference than we often +imagine between the mind of a child and that of the wisest man, as +regards their power of comprehending truths that are too infinitely +profound for the greatest human intellect to fathom. + +Amy had from her infancy been so delicate, that she had been in a +great measure confined to the nursery all her life; and not being +nearly so winning and attractive as Stella, she had never been so +great a favourite with her brothers and sisters, who, never having +taken the trouble of drawing her out, considered her rather +uninteresting. The death of a fine little boy, a little older than +Amy, had strangely had the effect upon her mother of making her turn +away, almost with a feeling of impatience, from the unattractive, +ailing child that had been spared, while her noble little boy, so full +of beauty and promise, had been taken. Amy had been left almost +entirely to her nurse, who had taught her some of the simple prayers +and hymns that she herself had learned at Sunday school, though she +had not spoken to her of Jesus, as Lucy had done. The story of His +love fell upon a heart that was unconsciously yearning for a fuller +measure of affection than it had ever received from human sources; and +the love which it excited in return, for Him whom the child seemed at +once to recognise as an ever near and present friend, became the most +powerful influence of her life. She never wearied of hearing about +Him, of asking questions about Him, particularly about His childhood, +which often threw light, in her young teacher's mind, upon things +which she had not considered before. The child's intense interest, +too, and the simplicity of her childish faith, were no small help to +Lucy, in the midst of much that might have drawn her heart and mind +away from her first love. For there were many temptations in her +way,--temptations which sometimes overcame her. Even her zeal in her +studies often unduly absorbed her mind, tempting her to leave the +fag-end of time and strength for prayer and the reading of God's word, +and her natural ambition often led her into unchristian feelings and +tempers. Then, when humbled and discouraged, and doubtful whether she +really was a child of God at all, some simple, loving remark of Amy's +would drive away the clouds, and she would come again, in penitence +and faith, to drink of the living water which alone can quench human +thirst. + +Sometimes the spiritual beauty of her little cousin's expression, and +her growing ripeness for a better country, would awaken a feeling of +regret that Amy was not more like other children, lest indeed she +might be ripening for an early removal. Yet the thought would recur: +"Amy is not fit for the roughness of the world; why should I wish her +stay upon it, instead of going home to rest in her Saviour's bosom?" + +Fred had paid a short visit to his sister as soon as his college +vacation commenced, but he had made an engagement for the summer as a +tutor, and he was obliged to hasten away to his duties before Lucy had +said half of what she wished to say, or asked his advice on half the +subjects on which she had been longing for it. However, short as his +visit was, it was very useful as well as very pleasant, reviving old +thoughts and habits of feeling which were in danger of falling into +the background, and stimulating her to follow the example of a brother +who was so stedfastly bent on following his Lord. + +As the time for the summer examinations at Mrs. Wilmot's drew near, +Lucy, bent on carrying off two or three of the prizes, redoubled her +application to her studies; but she allowed her desire to accomplish +her object to carry her too far. All her thoughts, all her time, were +so engrossed by it, that she had none to spare for anything else. She +would not join her cousins in any of their innocent recreations, and +became impatient and irritable when she met with claims upon her time +that could not be set aside. Even the Lord's day at last began to seem +an interruption to the work in which she was so eager. Her too intense +application began to affect her health: she was growing so nervous, +that Stella would sometimes declare that she was changing her +identity, and could not be the same Lucy Raymond as of old. Lucy could +indeed feel the change in herself, and this only increased the +irritation, instead of leading her to remove the cause, by moderating +the ambition which was leading her to a blameable excess in what would +otherwise have been praiseworthy diligence. But just at that time the +coveted prizes seemed to throw everything else into the shade, and she +had no watchful, judicious friend, to point out, in timely warning, +the snare into which she was falling. + +Even little Amy, for the first time, occasionally found herself +impatiently put aside, and her requests to be read to met with, "Not +now, Amy; I haven't time. Don't tease me now, like a good child;" and +would steal away, with a surprised look in her soft eyes, wondering +how it could be that Cousin Lucy should not have time to read to her +about Jesus. + +One of the prizes on which Lucy had most set her heart was that to be +given for History, one of her favourite studies. In ancient and +classical history she had been very thoroughly grounded by her father, +and had nothing to fear, most of the principal events being familiar +to her as household words. But her knowledge of modern history was not +so extensive, and she had a great deal of hard study before she could +feel at all at ease in competing with her classmates, some of whom +were considerably older than herself, and had given most of their +attention to modern history, the division in which the greater number +of questions were asked. + +Lucy had studied with so much diligence, and her daily recitations +were always so good, that she had great hopes of taking the first +prize; and her master, with whom she was a great favourite, did not +conceal his expectation of her success. Just the day before the +examination, when looking over the list of subjects for revision, she +found, to her dismay, that she had unaccountably overlooked one of +those prescribed. It was quite too late to hope to repair the omission +satisfactorily, but she hastily procured the proper book, and set to +work at once, to try to gain such a general knowledge of the subject +as would enable her to reply to the questions that were certain to be +asked upon it. But her overtasked mind refused to grasp the words that +swam before her eyes; and a headache, which had been annoying her for +days, became so severe, that she was obliged to shut the book and +throw herself on the bed, her oppressed mind relieving itself in a +burst of tears. + +While she was still crying, Amy came in, and, going up to her, stroked +her cheek with her loving little hands. "Are you hurt, Cousin Lucy?" +she asked wonderingly; and as her cousin shook her head, she asked in +a lower tone, "Were you naughty, Cousin Lucy?"--these being to her the +only conceivable causes for sorrow. + +"Yes, Amy, I've been naughty!" exclaimed Lucy impetuously. She saw now +how wrong she had been in allowing herself to be so led away by her +ambition, as to have sacrificed to it all else, even her habit of +watching in faith for + + "The service that Thy love appoints." + +Numerous instances rushed upon her mind, in which she had turned aside +from opportunities of usefulness, of showing kindness and forbearance +to others; she had been letting her oil run out, and her lamp burnt +faint and dim, and all that she might gain this petty prize, which she +was likely to lose after all! Had she not, in yielding to her peculiar +temptation, allowed herself to become as worldly as those whom in her +heart she had been condemning? + +Amy's gentle voice came to awaken more soothing thoughts. "But why do +you cry so, Lucy?" she said. "Won't Jesus forgive you, and make you +good?" + +Lucy's "bread upon the waters" had come back to her in spiritual +comfort, just when she most needed it. She put her arms round her +little monitor, and, as she kissed her, her thoughts formed an earnest +prayer that her Lord would indeed forgive her, and help her to begin +again, wiser for her experience, and strong in looking to Him for +strength. + +The quiet hours which her headache enforced were of great service to +her, in giving her time for thought and resolution. When at last she +rose, and arranged her hair to go down-stairs, her heart had grown so +much lighter and calmer, that she felt more like herself than she had +done for months, and she could now leave the matter of the prizes, +without undue anxiety, with Him who knew what was best for her, and +who, she was sure, would not refuse her any good thing. + +The examination in history was the first to come off. When Lucy looked +at the list of questions, she found that several of them were on the +part of the subject she had overlooked, and that these she could not +answer at all. She felt that all chance of the prize was over; but she +did not allow her mind to dwell on this circumstance, but wrote her +replies to the other questions, with a calmness and clearness which +would have been quite beyond her power, had she allowed herself to +remain in a condition of feverish suspense. + +When the examiners' decision was made known, it was found that the +first prize had been awarded to Miss Eastwood, who was quite taken by +surprise at receiving it; but that, as Miss Raymond's paper had been +so good in all except a very few points, the second prize, awarded to +her, was considered almost equal to the first. This was much better +than Lucy had expected; and as she received two first prizes in +subjects where she had felt by no means sure of success, she was on +the whole very well satisfied, as was Fred also, when her joyful +letter informed him of the result. + +Stella announced Lucy's success at home with almost as much pleasure +as if the success had been her own. Edwin congratulated her with +rather more animation than he was in the habit of showing, and Ada +declared that "It must be nice to be so smart." + +"Yes; but Lucy has been injuring her health by her close study," +remarked the more observant Sophy. "Look at her now, how pale and thin +she is, compared with what she was when she came!" + +"Oh, the holidays will set me all right again," Lucy declared, +laughing; but Mrs. Brooke decided that Lucy needed immediate change of +air. She had been hoping to be able to spend her holidays at Ashleigh, +among her old friends; and as the Brookes were all going to a +fashionable seaside resort, it seemed likely that nothing would occur +to prevent the hoped-for visit. But Amy's cough, as well as other +symptoms of delicacy of the lungs, had increased so much, that the +doctor declared the sea-air too keen for her, and that she had better +be sent, during the warm season, to a quiet inland place in the +neighbourhood, the air of which he thought particularly suited to her +constitution. But of course Amy could not be sent there alone, and +none of the rest would have been willing to give up their proposed +visit to the seaside, except Mrs. Brooke, who could not be spared from +her duties to her other daughters. + +Lucy therefore seemed the one who should accompany Amy, and she +herself felt that it was an occasion on which she might make some +return for the kindness she had met with in her uncle's family. So +her visit to Ashleigh was given up, and Amy's delight at finding that +she was to accompany her to Oakvale, was enough to make her forget any +disappointment which her decision had involved. They were to be +received into the family of a friend of the doctor's, a widow lady, +who frequently received invalids as boarders, with whom little Amy +would receive all the care and comfort she needed. + +A few days before their departure, Lucy at last received, through +Bessie Ford, the address of Nelly Connor's mistress. Stella, who, +notwithstanding her raillery at Lucy's _protegée_, had a sort of +latent interest in Nelly, from her association with her pleasant visit +to Ashleigh, accompanied her cousin in her long walk to look for the +house. On reaching it at last, tired and hot, the door was opened, not +by Nelly, as Lucy had hoped, but by an unprepossessing-looking woman, +whose hard face grew more rigid when informed what was the object of +her visit. + +"You needn't come here to look for her," she replied grimly; "she's +left this some time since, and I don't never want to set eyes on her +again." + +"Is she not here, then? Where is she gone?" + +"I don't know," was the reply, "and I don't want to know. A girl that +could behave as she done to one who took such pains with her, and kept +her so long, ain't a girl to my taste. I wash my hands of her." + +"But perhaps you could tell us what place she went to from you?" +persisted Lucy. "I am a friend of hers, and would like to find her +out." + +"Well, she is no credit to her friends," said the woman, rather +pleased at being able to give her a bad character where it might be of +some consequence. "And as for the vagrant character she went off with, +I'd be very sorry to have any acquaintance with him." + +Finding the uselessness of prosecuting her inquiries there, Lucy bade +Mrs. Williams good-day, feeling sure that Nelly's conduct had been +misrepresented,--an opinion shared by Stella, who had taken a strong +dislike to the woman's grim demeanour and spiteful tone,--and very +sorry for having lost the only clue to her _protegée_ once more. + + + + +XIII. + +_A Friendship._ + + "We had been girlish friends, + With hearts that, like the summer's half-oped buds, + Grew close, and hived their sweetness for each other." + + +Lucy and Amy were soon settled in Mrs. Browne's pleasant little +cottage at Oakvale, a pretty sheltered village surrounded by hills, +clothed principally with noble oaks, whence it derived its name. Mrs. +Browne's house lay a little way out of the village, amid green fields +and lanes, which, after the hot, dusty city streets, were +inexpressibly refreshing to Lucy, recalling old times at Ashleigh. + +Mrs. Browne was a kind, motherly person, a doctor's widow, herself +possessing a good deal of medical skill, which rendered her house +especially eligible for invalids, and she established a careful watch +over little Amy, whose very precarious condition her practised eye saw +at a glance. Whenever the child, feeling better than usual, would have +overtasked her failing strength in the quiet country rambles, which +were such a delightful novelty to one who had scarcely ever been +really in the country before, and when Lucy's inexperience might have +allowed her to injure herself without knowing it, Mrs. Browne would +interpose a gentle warning, which was always cheerfully obeyed. It was +with some surprise, indeed, that she noticed with what perfect +submission the little girl bore all the deprivations of innocent +pleasure which her weak state compelled, as well as the feverish +languor which often oppressed her in the hot August days. This +submission arose from the implicit belief which, child as she was, she +had, that everything that befell her was ordered by the kind Saviour, +who would send nothing that was not for her real good. Such a belief, +fully realized, would soon relieve most of us from the fretting cares +and corroding anxieties that arise from our "taking thought" about +things we cannot control. + +"I never saw a child like her," Mrs. Browne would say; "indeed, she's +more like an angel than a child, and it's my belief she'll soon be one +in reality. And I'm sure heaven's more the place for her than this +rough world." + +However, Amy seemed to improve under the healthful influences of +Oakvale, living almost wholly in the fresh open air, perfumed with +mignonette and other sweet summer flowers, sitting with Lucy under the +trees before Mrs. Browne's house, or in her shady verandah, where, +even on the warmest day, there was a breeze to cool the sultry air. +Lucy would read to her, sometimes some of Longfellow's simpler poems, +out of one of her prize-books, and sometimes out of more juvenile +story-books brought down for Amy's benefit, who was never tired of +hearing her favourites read over and over again, to which she would +listen with an abstracted, thoughtful expression, as if she were +interpreting the story in a spiritual fashion of her own. "Heaven is +about us in our infancy," says the poet; and it is nearer to some +children, by the grace of God, than older people often imagine. + +When Lucy wanted to read to herself, Amy would amuse herself quietly +for hours, dressing her dolls, and looking over the illustrations in +her story-books, supplying the story from memory. Lucy conscientiously +kept up her practising on Mrs. Browne's piano, and always ended by +playing and singing some hymns for Amy, who was passionately fond of +music, and loved to try to sing too, with her sweet, feeble voice. + +As Mrs. Browne, having but one servant, had a great deal to do +herself, Lucy volunteered to assist her a little. She had always been +accustomed to perform some household tasks at home, and it was quite +an amusement to her and Amy, bringing back old days of her childhood, +to vary their mornings by shelling the peas for dinner, or, when it +was not too warm, picking the fruit for Mrs. Browne's preserves. So +pleasant did Lucy find it, that she thought her city cousins really +missed a good deal of enjoyment, in never, by any chance, employing +themselves in anything of the kind, even when the busy servants were +really over-worked. Indeed it is somewhat surprising that domestics go +on as contentedly as they do in their constant treadmill of labour, +often too much for their strength, when so many healthy members of the +families for whose benefit they toil spend so large a portion of their +time in luxurious idleness, or in mere pleasure-seeking. + +In the fresh, cool morning, after their early breakfast, and in the +evening, when the heat of the day was over, Lucy and Amy always went +for a short ramble, climbing a little way up one of the hill-paths, or +wandering by the side of the stream, which, fringed with elm and +birch, wound through the village that lay on both sides of it, the +river being crossed in two or three places by rustic bridges. From the +point on the hillside which generally formed the limit of their walk, +and where they used to sit on a mossy stone to rest, they had an +extensive view over the surrounding country, diversified with +corn-fields, orchards, and deep green woods, and dotted with +farmhouses, while close at their feet lay the white cluster of +village-houses, with a few of higher pretensions scattered here and +there on the green slopes by the river-side, among their shrubberies +and embowering trees. + +The fields were beginning to wear the deeper and richer hues of +approaching autumn, and it was a perpetual pleasure to watch the +rippling motion of the golden grain waving in the breeze, or the rapid +changes of light and shade on the fields and woods, as the clouds +passed swiftly over the sky. To watch these were their morning +pleasures; but better still, perhaps, they loved the quiet sunset +hours, when the glowing tints of the sky seemed to clothe the +landscape in an unearthly glory, and then gradually each bright hue +would fade out from the sky and from the land below, leaving the scene +to the solemn repose of the shadowy evening, broken only by the +flitting fireflies, or to the flood of silver light shed by the rising +moon. But Amy was never to be allowed to be out in the night air, so +that their rambles had to be over before the damp night dews. They +generally found Mrs. Browne standing at the gate, awaiting their +return, anxious lest her charge should have ventured to remain out too +long. + +More than a week of their stay had passed rapidly by, when, one +evening that Lucy and Amy were spending in wandering by the river, the +former suddenly recognised approaching them the familiar form of her +classmate, Miss Eastwood, the winner of the first history prize. The +recognition was of course mutual, and in the surprise of meeting so +unexpectedly, and in explanations of how it had come about, the two +girls exchanged more words than they had ever done when in the same +classes at Mrs. Wilmot's. + +"And you did not know Oakvale was my home?" said Mary Eastwood, when +Lucy had told how she and her cousin came to be there. Lucy had never +heard where Miss Eastwood's home was, and it had not occurred to her +to connect the Dr. Eastwood, of whom Mrs. Browne often spoke, with the +name of her classmate. Mary showed them her father's house, +beautifully situated on the opposite sloping bank of the river, which, +with its shady trees and white gate, reminded her a good deal of her +own old home, though the house was larger and handsomer. Dr. Eastwood, +who was with his daughter, looked at little Amy with a good deal of +interest, asking a number of questions, while he held her delicate +hand in his, and watched her fair, pale face with his keen eye. He and +Mary walked back with them to Mrs. Browne's cottage, promising to come +and see them soon, and inviting them to visit Mary. + +This unexpected rencontre greatly added to Lucy's enjoyment of her +stay at Oakvale. The cousins very soon had the pleasure of spending an +afternoon in Dr. Eastwood's family,--a Christian household after +Lucy's own heart. Now that the first stiffness of their +school-relations had been brushed off by the surprise of their +meeting, the two girls found each other delightful companions, and +soon became fast friends. It was the first time Lucy had ever found a +congenial companion of her own sex, and their friendship afforded a +new and ever-increasing delight. They saw each other every day, and +often spent the long summer mornings, alike pleasantly and profitably, +in reading aloud by turns, from some interesting and improving book +out of Dr. Eastwood's excellent library. Mrs. Eastwood often sat by, +also enjoying the reading, and, by her judicious remarks, directing +the minds of her young companions to profitable thought. The book +selected was often a religious one, such as some people would have +considered only fit for Sundays; but it was not the less interesting +to them on that account, and gave rise to some of their happiest +discussions, when each perceived, with delight, how thoroughly the +other could appreciate and reciprocate her own deepest feelings. +Little Amy would listen attentively at such times, showing by her +interest that she comprehended more of what was said than could have +been expected. But whenever Mrs. Eastwood thought the conversation +beyond her depth, or her mind too much excited, she would send her +away to play with her own younger children, who were always glad to +place all their toys at her disposal, and do all in their power for +her amusement. + +At Dr. Eastwood's the readings generally went on under a spreading +walnut-tree on the lawn, and Amy would roam at large with the +children, or come and rest within hearing, just as she liked. +Sometimes she would lie still for hours on the cushions which Mrs. +Eastwood had laid on the grass for her benefit, gazing through the +flickering green leaves into the blue depths of the sky, her earnest +eyes looking as if they penetrated beyond things visible, and held +communion with thoughts not suggested by any mortal voice. + +Often in the afternoons, while Amy was safe and happy with her little +friends, Mary and Lucy would take a walk of some miles, carrying +perhaps some message or comfort for some of Dr. Eastwood's poor +patients, or driving with him on some of his distant rounds, or rowing +in a boat on the river with one of Mary's brothers, to gather +water-lilies, and bring home their snowy or golden flowers in their +waxlike beauty to delight little Amy, who was sensitively alive to all +natural loveliness. + +During these expeditions the two girls discussed almost every +conceivable topic of mutual interest, and gave each other the history +of their previous lives, though Mary's had flowed on almost as +uneventfully as Lucy's had done previous to her father's death. They +compared notes as to their favourite books, poetry, and theories, +their tastes being sufficiently different to give rise to many a +pleasant, good-humoured controversy. Sometimes, when deeper chords +were touched, they confided to each other some of their spiritual +history,--what influences had first brought them to know a Saviour's +love, and then led their hearts to Him who had given Himself for them. +Mary, who had a little class of her own at Oakvale, listened with +much interest to the account of Miss Preston's parting words to her +class, and the influence they had had on her scholars. + +About her dear departed father, too, and the beloved home-circle, Lucy +had much to tell. She said much less about the Brooke family; and +Mary, who could understand how little congenial was the atmosphere of +her uncle's house, respected her reticence. Lucy felt that she had no +right to communicate any unfavourable impression of those from whom +she had received so much kindness, and whose hospitality and kindness +she had enjoyed so long. + +"I always felt as if I wanted to know you better, Mary, when we were +at Mrs. Wilmot's," said Lucy one evening, as they were returning home +from a woodland walk, laden with wild-flowers and ferns. Mary coloured +a little, and hesitated. + +"I'm afraid I was very stiff and selfish, Lucy dear," she replied; +"but mamma used to give me so many cautions about mingling with +worldly people, that I thought it was best to keep apart from them +altogether. And I was told Mr. Brooke's family were so gay and +worldly, that I supposed you must be so too; and so I thought I ought +not to get into any intimacy that might lead me into temptation." + +"I suppose it is right to try to keep out of temptation," said Lucy +thoughtfully. + +"Yes; but now I can see that I wasn't right in being so distrustful as +to be afraid of what came naturally in my way. Mamma says that to be +afraid of what may involve temptation, when God's providence, +rightfully construed, leads us into it, is something like the dread +which keeps people from doing their duty in cases of infection; +whereas they should trust that, so long as they do not expose +themselves to it wilfully and needlessly, God will care for them in +the path by which He leads them, as well as in circumstances which +look more secure." + +"Yes, I'm sure that's true," said Lucy, thinking of what Fred had said +to her when she had felt afraid to venture into the temptations of her +uncle's house. "But then, whenever we get over our fear and feel +secure, we are sure to fall into some snare." + +"Yes," replied her friend, "because we forget our own dependence on +Christ for strength, and begin to walk in our own, instead of looking +to Him continually for help." + +"Do you know," said Lucy, "one of my greatest temptations was studying +for the history prize! I was so determined to have it--so set upon +it--that I let it come before everything else, and forgot to ask to be +kept from temptation in it, till, just before the examination, I found +I had forgotten part of what was to be studied; and then, in my +disappointment, I found out how wrong I had been." + +"Oh," exclaimed Mary, "I was almost sorry I got the first prize, which +I hadn't been expecting at all, for I was sure you would be dreadfully +disappointed. You had worked so hard for it--harder than I did." + +"No, I wasn't disappointed then; I was sure I shouldn't get it, and +didn't expect even the second prize; and I felt quite satisfied that +it should be so, for I had been working in so wrong a spirit, that I +could not have felt happy in getting the prize that had led me +astray." + +"Well, it's a relief to my mind to hear you say so," replied Mary, +laughing, "for I felt quite guilty whenever I looked at that book, +feeling as if I had by some incomprehensible accident taken it from +the one who really deserved it." + +Mary had as yet known but few temptations. Her life had been so calm +and sheltered, that she had had no experience of contrary winds, and +her natural disposition was so equable, that she had very little +consciously to struggle against. Perhaps her chief temptation lay in a +tendency to placid contemplative Christianity, without sufficient +active interest in others; and Lucy's opposite qualities acted as a +counteracting stimulus, while Mary's peaceful spirit of trusting faith +calmed and soothed Lucy's rather impatient disposition. Thus in all +true loving Christian companionship we may help each other on, making +up what is lacking in one another by mutual edification. + +One warm Sunday evening, after a very sultry day, Lucy and Amy were +sitting together in Mrs. Browne's verandah. Mary had just left them, +having walked home with Lucy from the evening service, and they had +been discussing the sermon, which had been chiefly on sin and its +hatefulness in the sight of God, as well as upon the fountain opened +to remove it. After she was gone, they had sat for some time in +silence, watching the fireflies glancing in and out of the dark trees. +Suddenly Amy said, "Lucy, do you expect to go to heaven when you die, +for sure?" + +"I am quite sure there is nothing to prevent my going there," said +Lucy, "for I know Jesus is able and willing to take me there." + +"Shall I go there when I die, Lucy?" she asked, with a solemn +earnestness that went to her cousin's heart. + +"Why should you not, dear Amy, when Jesus died that you might?" + +"But 'God will not look upon sin,' the Bible says, and I have a sinful +heart; I feel it," replied the child. + +"Well, why should Jesus have died for you if you had not? It was just +to take away sin that Jesus came to suffer." + +"But it isn't taken away; I know it's there," persisted Amy, who had +evidently been distressing herself with the question how a heart, +sinful on earth, could be fit for the pure atmosphere of heaven. + +Lucy explained, to the best of her knowledge and ability, that while +sin still clings to our mortal natures, Jesus has broken its power for +ever, and taken away its condemnation, so that when we receive Him +into our hearts by faith, God no longer looks upon us as sinful and +rebellious children, but as reconciled through the blood of Christ. +And the same blood will also purify our hearts; and when soul and body +are for ever separated, the last stain of sin will be taken away from +the ransomed spirit. + +Amy listened, and seemed satisfied,--at least she never recurred to +the subject; and, so far as Lucy knew, it was the last time that any +perplexing doubts clouded the sunshine of her happy, childlike faith. + +Pleasant as were the days of their stay at Oakvale, they came at last, +like all earthly things, to an end. The warm August weather had passed +away, and the September breezes blew cool and fresh, permitting them +to ramble about with comfort even during the hours which they had +before been obliged to spend entirely in the shade. The seaside party +had already been settled at home for a week or two, before it was +thought advisable that Amy should be brought back to the city. At +last, however, the summons came, and Lucy spent the last two or three +days in revisiting for the last time all the favourite haunts where +she had spent so many happy hours. She and her friend did not, +however, permit themselves to repine at the ending of what had been to +them both such a very delightful resting-place in their life-journey; +since + + "Not enjoyment and not sorrow + Is our destined end or way; + But to live, that each to-morrow + Finds us farther than to-day." + +Mary, who had delayed her own return to school on her friend's +account, was to accompany them to town, to begin her last year at Mrs. +Wilmot's. + +Amy had seemed so well during their stay at Oakvale, that Lucy had +become hopeful of her complete recovery. But Dr. Eastwood warned her +that the improvement might be merely temporary, and that in any case +it was, in his judgment, impossible that Amy could ever be quite +strong and well. "And I don't know," he said kindly to Lucy, who felt +a sharp pang at the thought of losing her dear little cousin, "that it +is well to set your heart on the prolongation of a life which can +scarcely be anything but one of weakness and suffering." + +So with many mingled feelings of hope, and fear, and regret, and many +kind farewells from all their Oakvale friends, the young party took +their departure, and found themselves soon again among city sights and +sounds. + + + + +XIV. + +_An Unexpected Recognition._ + + "For love's a flower that will not die + For lack of leafy screen; + And Christian hope can cheer the eye + That ne'er saw vernal green. + Then be ye sure that love can bless + Even in this crowded loneliness, + Where ever-moving myriads seem to say, + Go! thou art naught to us, nor we to thee; away!" + + +Mr. Brooke met the young travellers at the station, anxious about his +youngest daughter, whose improved appearance he was much pleased to +note; and Stella met them at the door with every demonstration of +delight. "It has been so dull here without you!" she exclaimed; "the +house seems so quiet, after all the fun we have been having at the +seaside. I've been teasing papa to let me go for you, and I would have +gone if you hadn't come soon!" + +She was looking prettier than ever, Lucy thought; so blooming, and +gay, and graceful, after her seaside sojourn. Her cousin could not +wonder that she won her way to most people's hearts, and was forced to +admit the contrast between her and her fragile little sister, whose +faint bloom even now did not remove the appearance of ill-health. But +there was on her pale face a spiritual beauty, a repose and peace, +which Stella, in all the loveliness of a pure rose-tinted complexion, +lustrous eyes, and gleaming golden hair, did not possess. It was the +reflection, outwardly, of the "peace of God which passeth +understanding." + +Stella talked all the evening without ceasing, and at night +accompanied Lucy to her room, there to go on talking still, enlarging, +in a lively, amusing strain, on the adventures of their seaside life; +the "fun," the "splendid bathing," the people who were there, their +dress, manners, and conversation; all the flirtations she had +observed, with the quick eye of a girl who as yet has no personal +interest in such matters. When at last Stella paused in her own +narration to ask questions about Oakvale, Lucy gladly took advantage +of the break to insist on postponing all further conversation until +the morrow, especially as, she urged, they were keeping Amy from the +sleep she needed so much after her long journey, and accustomed as she +had lately been to early hours. Lucy indeed felt determined that the +same thing must not happen again on any account, as the consequences +to Amy of having her mind and nervous system excited so late at night, +when she was always too much disposed to wakefulness, might be +exceedingly injurious. + +"Oh, how I wish Stella were more like dear Mary!" thought Lucy, as she +laid her head on her pillow, and compared Mary's kind thoughtfulness +with Stella's impulsive, flighty giddiness. As to externals, Stella +had very much the advantage, for Mary Eastwood could not be called +pretty, and was rather reserved in manner with those whom she did not +know well; but Lucy could not help feeling Mary's great superiority as +a companion, when she compared the state of mind in which Stella's +stream of gossip had left her, with the elevating, stimulating +tendency of her conversations with Mary on subjects more worthy of +immortal beings. They seemed mutually to draw each other on to a +sphere far above the petty frivolities on which so many fritter away +powers given for higher ends. Even when they did not touch on topics +directly religious, they seemed to be far nearer the Light that is +"inaccessible and full of glory," when discussing the working of God's +laws and providence in nature and history, than if their minds had +been lowered and discoloured by dwelling on the faults, follies, and +petty concerns of their neighbours. + +Sophy, who had been a little fagged and worn out by her incessant +round of gaiety, previous to her going to the seaside, was now looking +more brilliantly handsome, Lucy thought, than she had ever seen her. +Stella had informed her that Sophy's betrothed had been at the seaside +with them. "And oh, he's so delightful, you can't think! So handsome, +and good-natured, and obliging! I can tell you, Sophy looked proud of +him there! He gave her the loveliest emerald set; you'll see her wear +them. And I'm pretty sure they're to be married next spring, though +she won't tell me; but I'll coax it out of Ada." + +Lucy thought Sophy must be very happy; yet she could not help thinking +if both she and her lover were really Christians, how much happier +they would be! Nothing Stella had said led her to suppose that he was; +and if he were, what an alloy of anxiety and separation in the most +important points would mar the perfection of love! + +It was with increased zest, and a fuller appreciation of the interest +and value of her studies, that Lucy entered upon them once more. The +happy weeks at Oakvale had been of permanent benefit to her, in +opening new channels of thought and enlarging her sphere of mental +vision, both through the books she had been reading, and the comments +of Dr. and Mrs. Eastwood, both of whom had thoughtful, cultivated +minds. She now studied with very little reference to prizes, or even +the approbation of masters, but from a deep interest in the studies +themselves, and a feeling of their beneficial effect in leading her to +higher ranges of thought. Every new attainment was but a step to a +fresh starting-point in the never-ending pursuit of knowledge; and +Longfellow's beautiful lines often recurred to her mind,-- + + "The lofty pyramids of stone, + That, wedge-like, cleave the desert airs, + When nearer seen and better known, + Are but gigantic flights of stairs." + +Then the feeling grew to be more and more strong with her, that every +new acquisition--every step in mental discipline which God had given +her the opportunity of making--was a talent to be held in trust and +used in His service. Mrs. Eastwood had explained that, though we may +often have to study during the years of school life without seeing +what special use we may be called to make of our acquisitions, still +God will undoubtedly find some use for whatever power we have gained +while following the leading of His providence. "Therefore," she would +say, "the doubt whether such and such a thing will ever be of any use +to us is no excuse for sloth in acquiring it, when it is clearly our +duty to do so." + +Her studies were rendered doubly interesting by the companionship of +Mary Eastwood, who was animated by the same spirit, and in whose +friendship she found her greatest pleasure during the winter. Stella +was rather surprised at the affectionate greeting between her cousin +and Miss Eastwood the first day they met at school, for she had +scarcely given Lucy an opportunity of telling her more than that they +had met often at Oakvale. + +"Well, to think of your having all at once struck up such a violent +friendship with that stiff, quiet Miss Eastwood!" exclaimed Stella, +who thought her cousin's choice of a friend rather unaccountable. +Lucy's efforts to draw together her cousin and her friend were +unsuccessful, and perhaps this was quite as much Mary's fault as +Stella's, arising from her strong feeling against cultivating intimacy +with any one who was "of the world." It was almost the only practical +point on which she and Lucy disagreed, for Lucy tried to persuade her +that she might do real good if she would come more in contact with her +irreligious schoolmates. But Mary replied that this might do for some, +but she did not feel strong enough,--she might herself be led away. +She was not yet fully persuaded in her own mind. + +So Lucy gave up the point, and had a somewhat difficult position to +maintain between her cousin and her friend,--not that Mary was ever +jealous, but Stella did not at all like the affection her friends to +be diverted towards any one else; indeed, it was the only thing that +ever seemed really to a "put her out." She was conscious to some +extent that a much deeper sympathy existed between Lucy and Miss +Eastwood than between Lucy and her, and she feared that if it +increased, her cousin's regard for her must necessarily diminish. + +One bright, sunny October day, when the air was clear and bracing, and +the wind was tossing the red leaves that fell from the trees in the +squares, Lucy and Stella were on their way home from school, when they +heard at a slight distance the plaintive strains of a hand-organ, +carried by a meagre, careworn Italian, who seemed to be working his +instrument mechanically, while his eye had a fixed, sad, stedfast +gaze, unconscious, seemingly, of anything around him. Lucy was looking +compassionately at the dark, sorrowful face, and wondering what his +previous history might have been, when her eye was suddenly caught by +the familiar form and face of the girl who stood by with her +tambourine, singing a simple ditty, which somehow brought old days at +Ashleigh back to her mind. The figure she saw, though arrayed in +tattered garments, and the face, though sunburnt to a deep brown, were +not so much altered as to prevent almost instant recognition. Lucy +grasped Stella's arm, and exclaimed, "Why, it's Nelly!" and before the +astonished Stella comprehended her meaning, she hastily stepped +forward towards the tambourine-girl, who almost at the same moment +stopped singing and sprang forward, exclaiming, "Oh, it's Miss Lucy, +her own self!" + +Both were quite unconscious, in their surprise, of the bystanders +around them; but Stella was by no means so insensible to the +situation, and was somewhat scandalized at being connected with such a +scene "in the street." She begged Lucy to ask Nelly to follow them +home, which was not far off, and then they could have any number of +explanations at leisure. Lucy at once assented, and asked Nelly if she +could be spared for a little while. With a happy face, flushed with +her surprise and delight, Nelly went up to the organ-grinder and said +a few words, at which he smiled and nodded. She then followed her +friends home at a respectful distance, while the man went on his way +from house to house. + +Nelly's explanation of her present odd circumstances was very simple, +and, on the whole, satisfactory. In the hot July weather, when she +felt her overtasked strength failing, and could scarcely manage to +drag herself about to perform her daily round of duty, often scolded +for doing it inefficiently, the poor organ-grinder came one day with a +face more sorrowful than ever, and told Nelly, weeping, that his +daughter--his _povera picciola_--had been carried off by one of those +sudden attacks that so soon run their course and snap the thread of +weakly lives. He was so lonely now, he said, he could not bear it! +Would Nelly come and be his daughter, and take poor Teresa's forsaken +tambourine? She had a voice sweet as Teresa's own, and he would teach +her to sing when he played. She should have no hard work, and no +scolding, and they would take care of each other. + +It was a tempting offer to poor Nelly, pining under continual chilling +indifference and fault-finding. While she was hesitating, her +mistress, hearing a strange voice in the kitchen, came down in wrath +to dismiss the intruder, who rose instantly at the sound of her harsh +voice. "I go, signora," he said in his foreign English, "and this girl +goes with me. You give her too hard work and hard words. I will take +care for her, and she shall be to me as the _povera_ who is dead! +Come, _picciola_!" + +Mrs. Williams had by this time so far recovered from her amazement as +to find voice enough to demand of Nelly whether she was really going +to be so ungrateful as to leave a place where she had been so kindly +treated, and ruin herself for life, by going off with a wandering +character like that. But Nelly's reply was ready. "You said, ma'am, +you'd have to send me away because I couldn't do your work properly. +So I think I'd better go." + +And hurriedly collecting her few possessions, she was ready in two +minutes to accompany her newly-found protector. Mrs. Williams +endeavoured to detain her, threatening to "take the law of her." But +Nelly was determined. Anything was better than remaining there; and +Mrs. Williams, who was somewhat overawed by the Italian's determined +eye, gave up what she saw was a vain attempt. She shut the door after +them with expressive force, and then went up-stairs to discourse to +her daughter on the incredible ingratitude and heartlessness of such +creatures. + +Nelly had faithfully served Mrs. Williams to the utmost of her +strength and ability for five months, and her mistress had in return +given her food of the poorest quality, and one old print dress of her +own, worn almost to tatters. Yet Mrs. Williams, having herself a +pretty hard struggle to make both ends meet, was at least more +excusable than those who, themselves abounding in wealth and luxury, +grind down, so far as they can, the poor hirelings who may be in their +power. + +Since then Nelly had faithfully followed the poor Italian, whom, at +his own desire, she called "_padre_." It did not to her mean the same +as "father," nor would she have given to any one else the name sacred +to her own unforgotten father. But she was to the poor man as a +daughter; and her brown face, though still thin, had lost the pining, +wistful look which had been previously habitual to it. Lucy observed +the glow of pleasure that lighted up her face when she heard again the +familiar sound of the organ in the distance. The _padre_ was very good +to her, she said, and though they often had long weary rounds, with a +scant allowance of pennies, they always had enough to eat; and +hitherto it had been very pleasant, and she had no hard scrubbing or +washing to do. + +"I'd have died soon, Miss Lucy, if I'd stayed at Mrs. Williams'. Was +it wrong to come away?" + +Lucy could not say it was, in spite of the irregularity of the +precedent. + +"But the _padre_ won't be able to go about in the winter time, Miss +Lucy, for he has such a cough and pain in his breast whenever he gets +wet or cold; and some days he's hardly able to play his organ, and +then I don't know what he'll do. What could I do, Miss Lucy, to help +him?" + +Lucy promised to consider the matter. She had obtained leave to give +the organ-grinder and Nelly a good substantial meal in the kitchen, +which was greatly relished by both. She took down the name of the +street in which they lived, and got a minute description of the house, +promising soon to visit them. The man was evidently far from strong, +and his bright, hollow eye and haggard face, sometimes unnaturally +flushed, betokened too surely incipient disease. + +"And why did you never come to see me, Nelly? You knew where I was," +said Lucy, as they were going away. + +"Oh, Miss Lucy," exclaimed Nelly eagerly, "but I did, three times, but +you weren't in; I was ashamed to come any more. The last times they +said you were away in the country." + +"But why didn't you leave word where you were living, and I would have +found you out?" + +"Oh, Miss Lucy, I couldn't think you'd be at the trouble of coming to +see me!" + +"Well, I will come, though, now I know where you live," said Lucy as +she bade them good-bye. + +Little Amy had been very much interested in the history of Nelly, as +Lucy had told it to her, and had come down to see her. She stood by, +putting her thin hand on hers, and looking up wonderingly in her face, +exciting Nelly's compassion and interest by her sweet, delicate look. +"She's more like an angel than Miss Stella, though I used to think her +like one," thought Nelly. + +Amy asked many questions about Nelly and the "poor man," and begged +Lucy to take her when she went to see them. But so long a walk was out +of the question for Amy, nor would her mother have consented to let +either her or Stella go to such a quarter of the city. Even Lucy's +going was a matter for some consideration, but she begged hard to be +allowed to fulfil her promise. At last Edwin good-naturedly said he +"didn't mind going with Lucy, to see that she wasn't carried off for +her clothes, like the little girl in the story-books;" and they made +the expedition together, her cousin waiting outside while Lucy paid +her most welcome visit. + +They found the place a very quiet one, and the street, though poor, +not at all disreputable. Edwin gave the best account of it he could, +that Lucy might be able in future, without his escort, to visit Nelly, +as she occasionally did, accompanied by her friend Mary Eastwood, who +sometimes spent the Saturday afternoon with her at Mr. Brooke's. Their +visits and little gifts of money were very timely, for the poor +organ-grinder was growing less and less able to persevere in his +uncertain calling; and though Nelly was practising plain sewing, that +she might be able to earn something herself, it was not likely that +her exertions could bring in much. + +In these visits to Nelly the two friends soon found out other poor +people in the same locality, even more urgently needing a kind word +and a helping hand. In work of this kind, as in most other things, "it +is only the first step which costs." One has only to make a beginning, +and straightway one case leads to another, and that interest grows +with the work, until to some happy and highly-privileged people it +really becomes their meat and drink thus to do their Father's +business. + +This new kind of work was a great interest to Lucy, and in planning +how best to aid the poor in whom she was interested, and in diligent +and happy study, the autumn months passed rapidly away. + + + + +XV. + +_The Flower Fadeth._ + + "And yet His words mean more than they, + And yet He owns their praise; + Why should we think He turns away + From infants' simple lays?" + + +As the autumn deepened into winter, bringing cold, damp days, and +chilling, keen winds, little Amy's strength seemed steadily to +decrease, notwithstanding all the care taken to reinforce it by the +most nourishing diet that money could command. Every delicacy that +could tempt her appetite, every kind of nourishment that could +strengthen her system, was tried, without success. Dr. Eastwood had +been right in his augury, that her seeming improvement had been only +temporary, and that the delicately-organized constitution was not +meant for the wear and tear of long life. So evident at last did the +decline become, that a consultation was held as to whether it would +not be advisable to remove her for the winter to a warmer climate; +but the more experienced physicians were decidedly of opinion that +taking her away from her home and family would be a needless cruelty, +and that, since no human skill could now arrest the disease, it was +better to leave the little patient to live, as long as she might, +surrounded by the comforts and the kind nursing at home. This opinion +was not fully communicated to her parents, but they instinctively +felt, what was really the case, that their child was only left in +their home because she must ere long be removed from it for ever. + +Lucy had long taught herself to think of such an issue as at least a +probability; but her cousins by no means realized the advanced state +of Amy's disease. They persuaded themselves that, with care, she would +"get over" her delicacy, and they would not even think of the +possibility of a fatal termination of it. One cause of this was +probably the circumstance that the winter gaieties had commenced, and +that invitations, parties, and dress were now uppermost in their +minds. Had they been convinced that their little sister was dying, +they could hardly have had the heart to join in their usual round of +gaiety; but they easily persuaded themselves of the contrary, and felt +no scruples about going on as usual. + +Stella, who had shot up almost to womanly height within the last year, +had assumed the dress and appearance of a "young lady," as +distinguished from a little girl. The foretaste of gay life she had +had at the seaside had made her impatient to plunge into it at once, +and she besieged her parents with entreaties that she might be allowed +to "come out" that winter. She succeeded so far with her father, who +could seldom deny her anything, as to obtain leave to go to as many +private parties as she could, without interfering with her studies. +But of course, with a limit so indefinite, the bounds were often +overstepped. Her love of gaiety only grew with the indulgence of the +taste, and she felt really unhappy when she had to see her sisters go +to a party without her. + +But late hours and excitement very soon affected a constitution which +had never before been so severely tried; and as she would conceal any +indisposition when she thought it might keep her at home, the +consequences sometimes became serious. At last, her rashness in going +out, thinly dressed, one cold winter evening, when she was already +suffering from a slight cold, brought on a severe attack of +inflammation of the lungs, by which she was prostrated for several +weeks, and which left behind a slight cough. This, the doctor warned +her, would require the utmost care, to prevent its growing into what +might prove very serious indeed. + +Lucy, of course, owing to her deep mourning, and the school-work which +engrossed her mind and time, had had no temptation to mingle in any of +her cousins' amusements, though, had it been otherwise, she could not +conscientiously have frequented scenes of amusement which she had been +taught by her father to consider unworthy of those who have made up +their minds to leave all and follow Christ. For the same reason, she +had refused Stella's urgent solicitations to accompany her in +occasional visits to the opera and theatre, places of which her father +had often told her the spiritual atmosphere was entirely foreign to +that in which Christians should seek ever to dwell. Though Stella's +glowing descriptions sometimes excited the longing to see the magic +sights and hear the magnificent music of which they told, she felt +that she could not sincerely pray, "Lead us not into temptation," if +she wilfully went into it; nor could she from the heart have asked her +Saviour's blessing on the evening's amusement. + +During the general engrossment of the household with Stella's alarming +attack, Amy's rapid sinking of strength was not for some time much +noticed, except by Lucy, who felt, in spite of her hopes, that the end +was drawing near. + +Lucy had been forbidden to speak to her little cousin about death, as +if the avoidance of the thought could have anything to do with +delaying the event; but happily there was no need for doing so, since +her little heart was evidently resting on her Saviour, and she was +thus prepared for whatever He should send her. Her childlike faith, +and her vivid realization of heavenly things, seemed to grow stronger +as her bodily strength failed; and though she never specially referred +to death, the approach of which a child is not able to realize, her +mind was evidently full of thoughts about heaven, about its glories +and occupations, about Him who is "the resurrection and the life." She +was always asking questions about the childhood of Jesus,--questions +which Lucy often found it impossible to answer,--and was never tired +of hearing the few passages in the New Testament which referred to it. + +Some instances of childish sin seemed to weigh upon her conscience; +but Lucy reminded her that the Lamb of God had washed away her sins +with His own blood, and that the moment we come to Him by faith, we +are sure of the forgiveness of past sin, as well as of deliverance +from its present power. This perfectly satisfied her, and nothing else +seemed to trouble her. + +The little girl was intensely interested in the poor Italian, who was +sinking almost as fast as she was. He seldom now stirred from his +chair in the warmest corner of the room, and his cough had become +terribly harassing, especially at night. His breathing, too, was much +oppressed; and poor Nelly had often a heavy heart, as the conviction +forced itself upon her that she was about to lose the kind friend and +protector around whom her warm heart had closely entwined itself. She +tried hard to earn a little for his support and her own, by the sewing +which she occasionally got, often from people nearly as poor as +herself; but her utmost exertions in this way would not have sufficed +to keep them from starvation, had it not been for the timely aid +brought by Lucy and by Mary Eastwood, whose well-supplied purse was +always ready to furnish what was needed for their comfort. Lucy had +very little to give of her own, but Mrs. Brooke was sufficiently +interested in her account of the case to be very willing to help, for +she was not at all indisposed to benevolent actions, if she had had +the energy to discover the way. Amy, too, always insisted that a +portion of the delicacies prepared for her should be kept for "the +poor organ-grinder;" and one of her greatest pleasures was in hearing +from Lucy how the invalid liked what had been sent him, and how +gratefully he sent his thanks to the little "signorina." She asked +Lucy whether the poor man loved Jesus, and would go to heaven when he +died, and seemed much grieved at hearing of his praying to the Virgin, +the mother of Jesus. + +"What a pity!" she would say, "for she can't hear him, nor save him, +can she? And so his prayers will be of no use!" + +She lay still for a short time, considering the matter, and then said, +as if a ray of comfort had come to her, "But Jesus can hear him, and +perhaps He will give him what he needs, though he didn't ask Him." + +Lucy would hope so too, and agree with her that when he got to heaven +he would know better; for she had reason to believe, notwithstanding +Antonio's prayers to the Virgin,--the remnant of the superstitious +faith he had held from childhood,--that he was nevertheless gradually +coming to the knowledge of the Saviour as the only mediator and +sacrifice for sin. Nelly's treasured card was fastened up +conspicuously in their little room, and the rich colours in which the +text "Looking unto Jesus" was printed, pleased the Italian's southern +love of colour, and led his eye often to rest upon it, as he spent the +long hours sitting wearily in his chair. And gradually he came to +attach some real meaning to the words, which at first he had regarded +merely as a pleasant thing to look at. Nelly would sometimes tell him +some of the things Miss Preston said to her about it, which clung +tenaciously to her memory; and how the thought that Jesus was her +Friend and Saviour, to whom she must always look in her need, had been +her one comfort when left friendless and alone. She often read to him +a chapter out of the little Bible which was Lucy's parting gift when +she left Ashleigh, and had ever since been Nelly's dearest treasure. +And he would always listen with deep interest to the history of the +wonderful life which has come home to the hearts of thousands in all +the centuries which have elapsed since it was lived among the hills +and valleys of Palestine. He loved to hear Nelly sing, in her rich, +sweet voice, her favourite hymn, "I lay my sins on Jesus," and would +sometimes try to join in the strains himself as well as his feebleness +would let him. He showed his appreciation of the motto, in his own +way, by placing his crucifix above the card, and he would sit for +hours gazing silently at both. + +Lucy, in her frequent visits, often read to him the passages which +bear most directly on the love of Christ, and the full and free +forgiveness of sin through Him; and she sometimes added simple +comments of her own, preferring, however, in general, to leave God's +words to work their own way into his heart. His church prejudices she +never ventured to touch, feeling that to do so might arouse them +against the reception of the simple gospel, and do him harm, by +exciting his mind injuriously and bewildering him with conflicting +opinions. She avoided all collision with ideas which had been so long +closely intertwined with the only ideas of religion he had, feeling +sure that the light of gospel truth, once introduced into the heart, +would sooner or later disperse the darkness of error by its own power. + +Except for the one dark foreboding, that became, month by month, and +week by week, more distinct, these would have been very happy days for +Nelly. Her warm Irish heart found scope for its action, in +continually ministering to the comfort of one to whom she was bound by +ties of love and gratitude, and no harsh or unkind word now fell upon +her ear. The poor Italian, always of a gentle nature, except when +influenced by passion, had ever treated her with indulgent kindness, +and she had given him her warm affection in return. Her assiduous +attentions were labours of love, and so was the needlework at which +she stitched away with diligent though unpractised hands. Coarse, hard +sewing it was; but Nelly did not mind that, in the feeling that she +was earning something, however small. While she sat plying her needle +through the short days and long evenings of the winter, the invalid's +thoughts would wander back to long past, but unforgotten days, and he +would amuse Nelly with little bits of his past history. He would +describe, over and over again, his childhood's home in the lovely +_Riviera_, where the intense azure of the sky, and the pure sapphire +of the Mediterranean, contrasted sharply with the white glitter of the +rocks as they emerged in bold relief from their drapery of rich, +deep-hued vegetation. He would tell her about the white Italian +village, nestling among the vine-clad terraces and sloping hill-sides +clad with olive and myrtle, and about the trellised house where he was +born, and his father's little vineyard, where the rich purple and +amber clusters, such as little Amy now sent him as costly luxuries, +hung down in rich masses which any hand could pick. Such descriptions +were intensely fascinating to Nelly's quick Celtic imagination, and +she would speak in her turn of the breezy slopes by the sea where she +had so often played in days she could still vividly remember; of the +aromatic scent of the burning heaps of sea-weed, whose smouldering +fires she used to fan; of the fresh, bracing sea-air, and dancing blue +waves with their snowy crests of foam, and the distant white sails +winging their way to some unknown haven. + +Their talk always took a sadder tone when the Italian spoke of his +later life, and told how he left his quiet village, hoping to make his +fortune in the great world as a musician; how his hopes had been +gradually crushed down, and he wandered from place to place till he +emigrated to America, where the deadly cholera carried off his wife +and her infant boy, leaving him only his little daughter; how, since +then, dispirited and weary, he had managed to pick up a living as best +he could, gradually forsaking more ambitious instruments for his +barrel-organ, till the tide of life, gradually running low, was +reduced to its lowest ebb by the shock of his daughter's death, +superadded to the decline which had long been insidiously undermining +his system. + +"But it will soon be over now, my child," he said,--"all the trouble +and the nursing. You have been very good to the poor _forestiere_ +since the _povera_ went to the blessed saints. I shall soon see her +again, and Anita, and the little Giulio, in the better country that +the _signorina_ was reading about,--better, she says, than the +_patria_ itself, with its olives and vines. Ah! I think I see it +again, when I dream." + +Such a speech as this always melted poor Nelly into tears; and, seeing +the pain it gave her, he did not often refer to his approaching death. +To Lucy, however, he sometimes spoke of his concern for the future lot +of his adopted daughter, who was again to be left desolate. Lucy +herself had been thinking a good deal about it, and wondering whether +she could induce her aunt to take Nelly. Amy, however, arranged the +matter unexpectedly. She had been asking Lucy, with great earnestness, +what poor Nelly would do when the organ-grinder should die; and when +Mrs. Brooke next came into the room, she surprised her with the +question, "Mamma, may Nelly come and live here when the organ-grinder +dies?" + +Mrs. Brooke looked bewildered, until Lucy explained the matter. She +hesitated, and would have put Amy off with the promise that she "would +see about it." But Amy was so anxious to have the point settled, that +her mother at last gave the absolute promise she asked; and Lucy had +the satisfaction of announcing to poor Antonio, the next time she +visited him, to his great relief and satisfaction, that Nelly's future +home, so long as she desired it, should be with Mrs. Brooke. + + + + +XVI. + +_Darkness and Light._ + + "Tell me the old, old story, + If you would really be + In any time of trouble + A comforter to me." + + +Fred came to town for a few days in his Christmas vacation, just as +Stella was beginning to recover from the severe attack which had +prostrated her. Mr. Brooke's house being so full of sickness, Lucy, +though very unwilling to leave Amy, thought it best, on Fred's +account, to accept an urgent invitation from the Eastwoods that they +should both spend a week at Oakvale. He would thus have a pleasanter +vacation than under the circumstances he could have at his uncle's, +where he felt himself in the way, and where Lucy had so many demands +upon her time that she could see but little of a brother whose visits +were so rare. The change of scene was very much needed by her, for the +confinement and fatigue of her sick-room attendance had had a +depressing influence on her health and spirits. + +It was certainly, in spite of all her anxiety about Amy, a very +enjoyable change to the bright, cheerful, Christian atmosphere of Dr. +Eastwood's house, and the bracing influence of the outdoor exercise in +which the others made her participate. She felt as if it were wrong to +enjoy it so much, when Amy, she knew, was dying, and Stella as yet in +so precarious a condition. But God sometimes gives, in very trying +circumstances, a buoyancy and cheerfulness of feeling quite +independent of the circumstances, which seem specially sent to +communicate a strength that will be greatly needed in approaching days +of trial,--a pleasant "land of Beulah," before the watchers stand +quite on the shore of "the dark river." And it can never be right +sullenly to close the heart in determined sadness against the cheering +influences of God's light, and air, and bright sunshine; nor can we +usually, if we would, act so foolishly and ungratefully. That happy +week at Oakvale often seemed to Lucy a sort of oasis of sunshine, as +compared with the depressing weeks that preceded and followed it. + +Oakvale looked scarcely less beautiful now that the surrounding hills +wore their white mantle of snow, contrasting with the intense blue of +the winter sky and the dark green of the pines, while the little river +lay, a strip of glittering ice, under the trees, leafless now, which +overshadowed its ceaseless ripple in the warm summer days. The young +party had pleasant sleigh-rides to see old favourite spots in their +winter aspect, and Fred joined the younger children in their skating +and snowballing, though he enjoyed much more the walks in which he +accompanied his sister and her friend. Mary and he got on as well as +Lucy had expected, although she was disappointed that, after their +visit was over, she could not draw from him any enthusiastic praise +of Miss Eastwood; at which she would have been a little vexed, but for +the reflection that Fred, unlike most people, never said the half of +what he thought. He did not, however, leave Oakvale without a promise +to renew his visit during the summer vacation. + +Lucy, on her return home, found her little cousin evidently sinking +fast. Her strength was almost exhausted, and she suffered a good deal +from pain and restlessness; but scarcely a complaint ever escaped her +lips. She often talked now about going to Jesus, the thought on which +her mind seemed most to dwell. Mrs. Brooke, seeing this, at last sent +for the minister whose church the family usually attended on Sundays, +that being the extent of their connection with it. But he was a +stranger to Amy,--for his ministerial visits had never been desired or +encouraged,--and though she was grateful to him for coming to see her +and praying beside her bed, she could not speak to him, as she could +to Lucy, about her willingness to go to the happy home which her +Saviour was preparing for her. Still her visitor could see enough of +the change God had wrought in her heart, to make him marvel, as he +took his leave, at the wonderful way in which God sometimes raises up +to Himself a witness in the most worldly homes, and perfects praise +"out of the mouth of babes and sucklings." + +The little invalid was sometimes slightly delirious when the hectic +fever was at its height, but her wandering fancies were always of +gentle and pleasant things. She would ask if they did not hear the +sweet singing in her room; and when Lucy would ask what was sung, +would say, "Jerusalem," meaning "Jerusalem the Golden," her favourite +hymn next to the one she loved best of all, "I lay my sins on Jesus." + +One night, when she had been asleep for some time, with Lucy only +watching beside her, she suddenly awoke, a flash of joy lighting up +her face. "Lucy," she murmured faintly; but when Lucy bent over her, +she could catch but one word--"Jesus." Lucy saw a change come over her +countenance, which she had seen once before, and ere the others, +hastily summoned, could be with her, the little form lay lifeless, its +immortal tenant having escaped to the heavenly home, whither she had +been longing to go. + +No one could help being thankful that the sufferings of the patient +little invalid were over. Indeed, with the exception of Mrs. Brooke, +Lucy, and Stella, no one showed any profound grief for the death of a +child who had always been very much secluded, and but little +appreciated. But Mrs. Brooke's sorrow was mingled with some +self-reproach that she had not been to her departed child all that a +mother should have been, and she suffered now for the wilfulness +which, when deprived of one blessing, had turned petulantly from +another. Lucy constantly missed her little favourite, and her sorrow +for the loss of her father, never quite removed, seemed revived anew +by her cousin's death. But she could feel that Amy was infinitely +happier in her heavenly home than she could ever have been on earth; +and she felt not only that she should join her there, but also that +there might be an intercourse and communion of spirit in Christ, +incomprehensible to those who look only to things "seen and +temporal." + +It was Lucy's greatest solace to visit poor Antonio, and speak to him +of Amy's concern for him, and her desire that he should find rest and +peace in the love of that Saviour in whom she had so fully trusted. He +was deeply touched on hearing some of the things she had said, and the +tears came to his eyes when he spoke of her kindness in sending so +many things for his comfort. + +"But," he said with deep feeling, "it was very different for a +blessed, innocent child like her, and a sinful man like me." Lucy +explained that all are under the condemnation of sin, since none are +without it; and that no sins are too great to be taken away by the +Lamb of God once offered as a sacrifice for "the sin of the world." He +listened silently, while an expression of hope stole over his haggard +countenance; and Nelly told Miss Lucy, with much pleasure, that after +that he prayed much less to the Virgin, and his prayers were more +generally spontaneous ejaculations, expressing the deeply-felt need of +a Redeemer. + +Stella's grief for her little sister, partly owing, perhaps, to her +physical weakness, had seemed more violent than that of any one else. +The paroxysms of hysterical crying which frequently came on, and an +aversion to take necessary nourishment, very much retarded her +recovery, and prevented her regaining strength. As the acuteness of +her sorrow gradually wore itself out, the unaccustomed feelings of +weakness and depression brought on fits of fretfulness, in which all +Lucy's forbearance was called for; but she remembered how +good-naturedly her cousin had borne with her own fit of nervous +irritability, and she generally managed to soothe and pacify her, even +when she was most unreasonable, and tired out the patience of both +Sophy and Ada. + +After the first few weeks had passed, the shadowy hush and solemnity +brought by death gradually passed away, and except for the deep black +crape of the dresses, and the abstinence from all gaieties, the family +life seemed to have returned to its former tone. So far as external +signs went, there was no more realizing sense of that invisible world +to which one of their number had gone--no more "looking unto" Him who +had been her support in the dark valley--than there had been before. +And when a bereavement does not draw the heart nearer to God, there is +every reason to fear that it drives it farther from Him. + +But another heavy sorrow, to one at least of the number, soon +followed. One wild, stormy morning in March, when the letters were, as +usual, brought in at breakfast-time, Sophy quickly looked up for the +welcome letter, with its firm, manly superscription, which regularly +appeared twice or thrice a-week. There was one with the usual +postmark, but in a different handwriting, and addressed not to her, +but to Mr. Brooke. Sophy's misgivings were awakened at once, and on +seeing her father's expression as he hurriedly glanced through the +letter, she forgot her usual self-control, and exclaimed in agitated +tones, "O papa, what is it?" But his only reply was to lead her from +the room, signing to his wife to follow. + +Sophy did not appear again that day, and the atmosphere of gloom +seemed again to descend over the house. Lucy waited long alone, not +liking to intrude upon the family distress, till Stella at last +returned, still hysterically sobbing. + +"They say 'troubles never come singly,'" she said, "and I'm sure it's +true. Poor Sophy! Mr. Langton has been killed by the upsetting of his +carriage. The horse ran away, and he fell on his head, and never spoke +again. Poor Sophy is almost insensible. I don't believe she +understands yet what has happened. Oh, what will she do?" + +Lucy's heart was repeating the same question. All her sympathies were +called forth by so crushing a sorrow, and as she could do nothing else +for her cousin, she prayed earnestly that He who could, would bind up +the broken heart. + +Sophy remained for two days in her own room, and then came down again +to join the family circle, evidently trying her best to avoid any +outward demonstration of sorrow, though her deadly paleness, and eyes +which looked as if they never closed, told how acutely she was +suffering. She was not of a nature to encourage or even bear sympathy, +and almost resented any instance of special consideration which seemed +to spring from pity for her great sorrow. + +It was only when shut up in her own room that she gave way to the +bursts of agonized feeling which, to some extent, relieved the +constant pressure upon her heart. When in the family, she seemed to +seek constant employment, not in the light reading in which she had +been accustomed to indulge, but in books requiring much more thought, +and even some effort to master them. Lucy's class-books were called +into requisition, and her drawing was resumed, though she now shrank +from touching the disused piano. She had a good deal of artistic +talent; and had art ever been placed before her as an ennobling +pursuit, she might have attained very considerable excellence in some +of its departments. But hitherto she had confined herself to the +execution of a few graceful trifles, since her drawing-lessons had +been given up on leaving school. Now, however, she seemed to have +taken a fresh start, and copied studies and practised touches +indefatigably, without speaking or moving for hours. + +She would sit, too, for half the morning apparently absorbed in a +book; but Lucy noticed that, while thus seemingly occupied, she would +gaze abstractedly at a page for long intervals without seeming to turn +a leaf or get a line farther on. Lucy longed to be able to direct the +mourner to the "balm in Gilead," whose efficacy she knew by +experience,--to the kind Physician who can bind up so tenderly the +wounds that other healers cannot touch without aggravating. But she +dared not utter a word of the sympathies of which her heart was full, +and could only pray that a Higher Hand might deal with the sufferer. + +One wet Sunday evening in April, Lucy came down in her waterproof +cloak and rubbers, ready to set out for the neighbouring church, the +one to which she had gone on the first Sunday of her arrival, and +which she frequently attended when the weather was unfavourable, or +when she had to go alone. She was not sorry when circumstances made +this desirable, for she enjoyed the service and the sermon more than +she did at the church the family usually attended. The words of the +preacher seemed to come with more power and tenderness,--perhaps +because he had himself been brought through much tribulation to know +the God of all consolation, and had thus been made able to comfort +others "by the comfort wherewith he himself was comforted of God." At +all events, it was certain that of the consolation abounding in Christ +he was an earnest and able expounder. + +"What! are you going out when it is so very wet?" asked Stella, as her +cousin entered the room. Sophy, who had been gazing moodily into the +fire over the book she was holding, started up, saying, "I think I'll +go with you, Lucy. Wait a few minutes for me." Her mother remonstrated +a little; but Sophy's restless longing for change and action of some +kind was often uncontrollable, and the two girls set out through the +wind and rain, clinging closely together to support each other on the +wet and slippery pavement. + +How earnestly Lucy prayed in silence, as they traversed the short +distance, that the preacher they were going to hear might have a +special message to the troubled, heavy heart beside her, and how +intensely did she listen to the prayers the minister offered up, to +catch any petitions that might seem suited to her cousin's need! She +was slightly disappointed when he announced his text, "O Israel, thou +hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help found," for she had +hoped that it would be one of the many beautiful, comforting passages +in which the New Testament abounds. But her disappointment wore off as +he proceeded with his discourse. + +He first briefly sketched the history of the rebellion of Israel in +departing from the God of her help, and in transferring to the idols +of the heathen the allegiance which was due to the living God. He +vividly described the "destruction" which must be the natural result +of such a departure from the source of her highest life. Then he spoke +of the means by which God sought to bring her back,--of the purifying +judgments which He sent, in love and mercy, to restore her to +spiritual health, and of the inexhaustible supply of "help," of tender +compassion and restoring power, with which He was ready to meet her on +her return. + +Having finished this part of his subject, he drew a striking parallel +between the ancient Israel and the multitudes of human beings in every +age, who, instead of loving and serving the living God with all their +soul, are continually setting up for themselves earthly idols of every +variety, which fill up His place in their hearts, and exclude Him from +their thoughts. Wealth, splendour, position, power, fame, +pleasure,--even man's highest earthly blessing, human love +itself,--were set up and worshipped, as if they contained for their +worshipper the highest end and happiness of his soul. What was the +cause of all the broken hearts and blighted lives from which is +continually ascending such a wailing symphony of sorrow without hope? +What but the perverse determination of the heart to find repose +elsewhere than in its true resting-place,--to set up the very +blessings which flow from the hand of its God in the place of the +Giver? + +Then, in a few touching, earnest words, he showed how God must often, +in mercy to the soul, send severe judgments and afflictions to bring +the wanderers back to their "Help;" and of the depths of compassion, +of love, of tenderness, of healing, of purest happiness, which were +to be found in that divine Helper, who hath said, "Come unto me, all +ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." + +Never had Lucy heard the speaker more impressive, and she thanked God +in her heart her cousin should have been brought to listen to truths +which she had probably never before heard with any real understanding +of them. Sophy sat back in a corner of the seat, her head resting on +her hand, and her face hidden in her thick black veil. She remained +almost motionless until the sermon was concluded, and then they +silently left the church, Lucy not daring to speak to her. + +Before they reached home, however, Sophy suddenly broke the silence by +saying, in a low, agitated voice: + +"Lucy, you seem to be what people call a Christian. Can you say, from +your own heart and experience, that you believe all that is true about +Christ giving such peace and comfort in trouble?" + +Lucy replied, earnestly and sincerely, that she could,--that she had +felt that peace and comfort when sorrow had been sent her. + +"And how does it come? how do you get it?" Sophy asked. + +"I don't know any other way, Sophy dear, than by going to Him and +believing His own words. They often seem to come straight from Him, as +a message of comfort." + +Nothing more was said, but from that time Sophy's Bible was often in +her hands. Its study, indeed, took the place of her other self-chosen +labours, and she read it with an attention and interest it had never +awakened before. That she did not study it in vain, seemed evident in +her softened, gentler manner, in the more peaceful expression of her +countenance, and in the quiet thoughtfulness which she began to show +for others. She would sometimes ask Lucy what she thought about a +passage of Scripture in which she was interested, and the few words +she said about it would give her cousin a clue to the working of her +mind. But her habitual reserve had not yet worn off, and Lucy did not +venture to trespass upon it. + +She expressed a desire to accompany Lucy in some of her visits to the +poor Italian, who was perceptibly sinking fast with the advancing +spring. He had, however, grown much in trust in his Saviour, and in +spiritual knowledge, especially since Lucy had procured for him an +Italian Bible, which he could read with much more ease and profit than +an English one. He seemed now to have a deep sense of the evil of his +past careless life, when even the external forms of religion had been +given up, and he had been, like the prodigal, wandering in a far +country. + +"And how good is the Father in heaven, that He has a welcome home and +a fatted calf for His wanderer!" he would say earnestly, the tears +rising to the dark lustrous eyes, that sparkled so brightly in the +pale, sunken face. + +Sophy listened, half wonderingly, half wistfully, to the few and +broken, but earnest words in which he told of the pardon and peace he +had found in "Looking unto Jesus." "I see the blessed words there all +the day," he said, pointing to the wall, "and they make me glad." + +"Lucy, you have a card like that," said Sophy, as they left the house. +"I wish you would give it to me to keep in my room, to remind me of +that poor man's words." + +Lucy gladly complied with the request, though she missed her card a +good deal, and hoped that its motto might be of use to its new owner. +Sophy, however, painted the motto in much more elaborate and beautiful +workmanship, had it framed and glazed, and hung it up in her cousin's +room one day while she was out, with a little slip of paper attached, +bearing the inscription, "With Sophy's love and hearty thanks." + +One lovely day in May, when all nature seemed rejoicing in the +gladness of the approaching summer, Lucy went as usual to visit +Antonio, carrying some of the delicacies which Mrs. Brooke still +continued to send him, chiefly for Amy's sake. How often might the +rich greatly alleviate the sufferings of sickness in poverty, by +timely gifts of luxuries, which at such a time are almost necessaries, +yet which the poor cannot buy! + +Lucy found the patient unable now to rise, and struggling with the +suffocating sensation of oppressed breathing. He could scarcely speak, +but he listened with pleasure to the few words she read to him; and as +she left him, he pressed her hand convulsively, saying in a low, +expressive tone, "Good-bye." + +Lucy felt she should not see him again in life, and was not surprised +when Nelly came next day, crying bitterly, to tell her that her +adopted father's weary pilgrimage was ended. + +The poor girl remained in the now desolate home only until the simple +funeral was over, and then entered Mrs. Brooke's family, where her +warm, grateful heart found comfort in doing everything she could for +Miss Lucy, whose presence made her new place seem again a home. + + + + +XVII. + +_Home Again._ + + "And this was once my home; + The leaves, light rustling, o'er me whisper clear, + The sun but shines on thee where thou dost roam, + It smiled upon thee here!" + + +Stella had been losing instead of gaining strength since the warm +weather came on, and her parents were now really alarmed about her, +and were considering what would be the best and most bracing place to +send her to during the heat of the summer. But Stella, with an +invalid's capricious fancy, had formed a plan of her own, and she +insisted, with all her old wilfulness, on its being carried out. It +was, that Lucy and she should go together to Ashleigh, to stay at Mill +Bank Farm, if Mrs. Ford would consent to receive them as boarders. Her +former visit was connected in her mind with pure, healthful, and happy +associations, and she thought that the fresh country air, which she so +well remembered, and the delicious milk from Mrs. Ford's sleek cows, +would do her more good than anything else. It need not be said that +the project was a delightful one for Lucy; and as Ashleigh was +certainly a healthy place, it was decided that they should go thither +under the escort of Fred, who also wished to pay a short visit to his +old home. Bessie wrote that her mother would be delighted to receive +them; and Stella, with more of her old light-heartedness than she had +shown for a long time, hurried the preparations for her journey. + +Nelly was to remain in the house with a kind, trustworthy woman during +the absence of the rest of the family at the seaside. Although she was +sorry to lose her dear Miss Lucy, she was much interested in the +circumstance that she was going to Ashleigh, and sent many grateful +messages to Mrs. Ford and Bessie. To the latter she sent a present of +a little silk necktie, bought, with great satisfaction, out of her +first wages. + +Any one who has ever revisited a dearly loved home can easily imagine +Lucy's delight, when from the deck of the steamboat her straining eyes +caught the first glimpse of the white houses of Ashleigh and the grey +church on the hill; can imagine her delight at recognising the +well-known faces, and the familiar objects which, after her long +absence, seemed so strangely natural! But the happiness of being once +more among scenes so associated with early and happy recollections was +not untinged with sadness; for the vividness with which the old life +was recalled made the changes seem as vivid also, and stirred up in +all its acuteness the sense of loss, which had of late been partially +deadened by the exciting changes of her present life. Every step +called up her father's image with intense force in scenes so +interwoven with her memories of him. It was strange to see the house +which had been her home from infancy tenanted by strangers, and to +miss all the familiar faces of the home circle, whom she had almost +expected to find there still. It gave her a dreary sense of +loneliness, even in the midst of the many kind friends who were eager +to welcome back, both for her father's sake and her own, the daughter +of their beloved pastor. + +Stella's highest spirits seemed to return when she found herself +driving rapidly along the road to the farm in the conveyance which +Bessie and her eldest brother--whom Lucy would scarcely have +recognised--had brought to meet them. Bessie was not much changed. Her +good-humoured face had more sweetness and earnestness of expression +than it had once worn, and her manner at home had the considerate, +half-maternal air of an eldest daughter. Mrs. Ford, too, was less +bustling, with a quiet repose about her hospitable kindliness that +gave a feeling of rest and comfort, and was the result of being less +"cumbered about much serving," and more disposed to let her heart +dwell on the "better part," on which she now set a truer value. A more +perceptible regard for it, indeed, pervaded, the whole family, and +Bessie and her brother were, both of them, Sunday-school teachers now. + +Mrs. Ford and Bessie were much shocked at the change in Stella, whose +blooming appearance they well remembered. Lucy, had become so +accustomed to her cousin's altered looks, that she thought her looking +rather better than usual, under the influence of the change and +excitement. But Mrs. Ford shook her head mournfully over her in +private. "She looks to me in a decline," she said to her husband. +"I'm afraid she hasn't many years before her in this world!" + +But another change besides the external one had come over her, so +gradually that Lucy had not observed it till now, when the place +brought back so vividly the recollection of the gay, flippant Stella +of old. She had certainly grown more thoughtful, more quiet, even more +serious; and Lucy observed that her former levity had quite departed, +and that a flippant remark never now fell from her lips. Her old +wilfulness of manner continued to characterize her, but it was owing +chiefly to the caprice of disease. She was shy of joining in religious +conversation, but seemed to listen with great interest whenever Lucy +and Bessie spoke to each other of things connected with the "life +hidden with Christ in God." At such times she would look as if she +were trying to gain a clue to a mystery which puzzled, and yet +intensely interested her. + +It was with mingled pleasure and sadness that Lucy once more took her +seat in her father's church, and listened to the voice of another from +his old pulpit. His successor, Mr. Edwards, though a man of a +different stamp, resembled him a good deal in the earnestness of his +spirit and the simplicity of his gospel preaching. The message was the +same, though the mode of delivering it was slightly different. He +received with kindness and courtesy the daughter of his predecessor, +and invited her during her stay to take a share in the teaching of the +Sunday school,--an invitation which she willingly accepted, and had +the pleasure of finding in her new class a few of her old scholars. + +As Stella had a fancy for seeing the Sunday school, Lucy accepted the +invitation, given to them both by Mr. Edwards, to spend with his +family the interval between the morning and evening service. Stella's +zeal for seeing the Sunday school, however, died out with the first +Sunday; and after that she always remained with Mrs. Edwards, who, +being very delicate, and having a young infant, had been obliged to +resign her own class, the one now taken by Lucy. Mrs. Edwards was a +sweet, gentle woman, overflowing with Christian love and kindness; and +as Stella at once took a great fancy to her, she exercised a very +beneficial influence over one who was much more easily swayed by +kindness than by any other power. + +The celebration of the Lord's Supper was approaching, and as Bessie +was looking forward to participating for the first time in the holy +ordinance, Lucy gladly embraced the opportunity of making a formal +confession of her faith in Christ, and claiming the blessing attached +to the ordinance by Him who instituted it. It was pleasant, too, to do +so in the very place in which He had first, by the cords of love, +drawn her heart to Himself. Solemn as she knew the step to be, she had +lived too long on the principle of "looking unto Jesus" not to feel +that she had only to look to Him still to give her the fitting +preparation of heart for receiving the tokens of His broken body and +shed blood; and in this happy confidence she came forward to obey His +dying command. + +Stella had seemed much interested about the approaching communion, and +had asked a good many questions respecting it, and as to the nature of +the qualification for worthily partaking in it. At last, much to +Lucy's surprise, she asked her, with a timidity altogether new to +her, whether she thought _she_ might come forward also. + +It was with difficulty that Lucy could restrain the expression of her +surprise at the unexpected question, but she did repress it, and +replied: + +"It all depends on whether you have made up your mind to take Jesus +for your Lord and Saviour, and to follow Him, dear Stella!" + +"I should like to, if I knew how," she said. "I have been speaking to +Mrs. Edwards about it, and she thinks I might come. I know I'm not +what I ought to be, and that I've been very careless and wicked; but +Mrs. Edwards says if I'm really in earnest, and I think I am, I may +come to the communion, and that I shall be made fit, if I ask to be." + +Lucy had not lost her faith in the Hearer and Answerer of prayer, but +she had been so long accustomed to regard Stella as one who "cared for +none of these things," that she could scarcely believe in the reality +of so sudden a change. But it was not so very sudden, and Lucy's own +earnestness and simple faith had been one means of bringing it about. +Her daily intercourse with her cousin had, in spite of herself, +impressed Stella gradually with a conviction of the importance of what +she felt to be all-important. And Stella's illness and subsequent +weakness, with perhaps a sense of her precarious tenure of life, had +combined to make her realize its importance to herself personally, +more than she had ever done before. Amy's happy death had made her +feel how blessed a thing was that trust in Jesus which could remove +all fear of the mysterious change, so awful to those who have their +hope only in the visible world. Indeed, she told Lucy that one of her +chief reasons for wishing to come to Ashleigh was the vague feeling, +derived from her recollections of her former visit, that it would be +easier for her to be a Christian in a place so closely associated with +her first impressions of living Christianity. And He who never turns +away from any who seek Him, had answered her expectations, and sent +her a true helper in Mrs. Edwards, whose simple words seemed to come +to her with peculiar power; for, from some hidden sympathy of feeling, +one person often seems more specially adapted to help us on than +another, and Mrs. Edwards had been a special helper to Stella. + +Lucy, when she found her cousin so much in earnest, did not dare to +advise her on her own responsibility. Stella felt rather afraid of a +conversation with Mr. Edwards, but her cousin told her that he was the +best person to give her counsel in the matter. Her fear of him soon +vanished when the conversation was really entered upon, and she found +that she could speak to him much more freely than she had previously +thought. He talked with her long and kindly, and finding that she had +really a deep sense of sin, and that she desired to come to Christ in +humble penitence to have her sins forgiven and her darkness +enlightened, he felt that he had no right to discourage her from the +ordinance which is specially designed to enlighten and strengthen. At +the same time, he took care to explain to her most fully the nature of +the solemn vows in which she would take upon herself the +responsibilities and obligations of a follower of Christ. + +It was with a quiet, serious humility, very different from the former +mien of the once careless Stella, that she, with Lucy and Bessie, +reverently approached the Lord's table, where He graciously meets His +people, and gives the blessings suited to their special needs. As they +left the church at the close of the service, and Lucy glanced at her +cousin, whose delicacy was made more perceptible by the deep black of +her dress, she thought that, notwithstanding the loss of bloom and +brightness, the expression of serene happiness that now rested on her +face gave it a nobler beauty than she had ever seen it wear before. + +Before the stay of the cousins at Ashleigh came to an end, Lucy and +Bessie had the great pleasure of meeting once more their old teacher, +Mrs. Harris, who had come to pay a short visit to her former home. +What a pleasant meeting it was, and with what grateful gladness Mrs. +Harris found out how well her old scholars had followed out their +watchword, may easily be imagined; as well as the interest with which +the story of poor Nelly's changeful life and steady faith in the +Saviour, of whom Miss Preston had first told her, was narrated and +heard. + +Lucy did not forget to visit Nelly's stepmother, whose circumstances +remained much the same as in former times. She did not seem much +gratified by Lucy's praises of Nelly's good conduct. She had always +predicted that Nelly would "come to no good," and she did not like to +have her opinions in such matters proved fallacious. Lucy, however, +rather enjoyed dilating upon Nelly's industry and usefulness, that +Mrs. Connor might feel the mistake she had made, even in a worldly +point of view, by her heartless conduct. + +When the heat of the summer was subsiding into the coolness of +September, Lucy and Stella prepared to return home,--not, however, +without having revisited all the spots which had been the scenes of +former excursions, and, in particular, the scene of the "strawberry +picnic," where every little event of the happy summer afternoon, now +so long past, was eagerly recalled. + +"And do you remember, Lucy," asked Stella, "how hateful I was about +poor Nelly, when we discovered her here? Oh, how wicked and heartless +I used to be in those days! And I don't believe I should ever have +been any better if you hadn't come to live with us!" + +Her physical health had been very much benefited by her sojourn in the +country, under the kind, motherly care of Mrs. Ford, who had fed her +with cream and new milk till she declared she had grown quite fat. +That, however, was only a relative expression. She was still very far +from being the plump, blooming Stella of former times. + +But the chief benefit she had gained was not to be discerned by the +outward eye. It lay deep in her heart--the "pearl of great price," +which her wandering spirit had at last sought and found. + + + + +XVIII. + +_A Farewell Chapter._ + + "Come near and bless us when we wake. + Ere through the world our way we take, + Till in the ocean of Thy love + We lose ourselves in heaven above." + + +Though Mr. and Mrs. Brooke marked with much delight the improved +appearance of their darling Stella, her medical attendant was far from +considering the improvement a radical one, and strongly advised that +she should be removed to a warmer climate for the winter. On her +account, therefore, as well as on that of Sophy, who very much needed +change of scene, it was decided that the family should spend the +winter months in the south. Stella was anxious that her cousin should +accompany them; but just at this time Lucy received a summons--by no +means unwelcome--in another direction, in a letter from Mrs. Steele. + +Her aunt had been feeling her strength fail very much during the past +year, and expressed a very strong desire that her niece should come +to her again, for a time at least. Lucy owed her aunt almost a +daughter's affection; and as she had not seen her brother Harry for +nearly two years, and as her lessons at school must necessarily be +discontinued, it seemed the best arrangement that she should accede to +Mrs. Steele's request, and go to the West under the escort which had +been proposed for her,--that of a friend of Alick who had come +eastward for his wife, and was soon to return to his prairie home. + +There was some doubt as to what should be done with Nelly during the +long absence of all her friends, but an unexpected event which +happened previous to Lucy's departure settled that question most +satisfactorily. A young market-gardener, who had lately started in +business for himself, came to Mr. Brooke's to be paid for vegetables, +furnished during the summer. Lucy was sent down to pay him, and was +surprised to find Nelly, who had happened to pass through the hall +where he was waiting, staring at him in an unaccountable manner, with +an excited look in her dark eyes. + +"Miss Lucy," she said in a trembling undertone, seizing Lucy's dress +in her eagerness, "won't you please ask him his name?" + +Lucy, considerably bewildered, did as she desired, and was startled by +the answer. "Richard Connor," and equally so by the joyful exclamation +with which Nelly rushed forward: "Oh, it's my own brother Dick!" + +It turned out to be really Nelly's long-lost brother. He had followed +the rest of his family out to America by the next vessel in which he +could procure a passage, but had never been able to discover any +trace of them. Getting work for a time as he best could, he had at +last entered the service of a market-gardener, where he had done so +well as to be able in time to begin business on his own account. He +could not have recognised his little sister Nelly in the tall, +good-looking girl before him; but time had not changed him so +materially as to prevent Nelly's loving heart from recognising her +only relative, and the moment her eye fell upon him, a thrill of +almost certain recognition chained her to the spot. + +It is unnecessary to dwell upon the delight of both brother and sister +at their unexpected reunion, and the torrent of inquiries and replies +that followed. Dick had for so long a time given up all hope of +finding his kindred, that the joy of recovering Nelly overpowered his +sorrow at finding that she was the only one who survived to him; and +as the young gardener had been intending to live in a small cottage of +his own, he was only too glad to claim Nelly as his housekeeper. And +before Lucy went away, she had the pleasure of seeing Nelly +comfortably installed in a home which she could consider as really her +own. + +It was no small trial to Lucy, when the time came, to say a long +farewell to her aunt and cousins, especially to Sophy, between whom +and herself there was now a strong bond of attachment; and to Stella, +as to whom she felt a strong foreboding that she should never see her +again. Her only comfort was that she could leave the matter in the +hands of Him who knew best, and that Stella could safely be trusted to +that protecting love which will never leave nor forsake any who humbly +seek its true blessing. + +With Mary Eastwood, too, it was another hard parting. She spent a day +or two at Oakvale before her departure, and both long looked back to +that short visit as to a time tinged indeed with sadness, but charged +with many sweet and blessed memories. + +At last the preparations for the long journey were all made, the +packing completed, even to the stowing away of the little gifts from +each, and of the large packet of bonbons and cream-candy which Edwin +brought in at the last moment for his cousin's regalement during her +long journey. Then the cab was at the door before half had been said +that they wanted to say, and the long-dreaded good-bye was crowded +into such a brief space of time, that when Lucy found herself on the +way to the station, she could scarcely believe that the formidable +separation was really over, and that she had finally left her home of +nearly two years. She well remembered the winter afternoon of her +arrival, and thought with gratitude how many blessings had met her +there, and with what different feelings she left it from those with +which she arrived there. + +The sadness of her departure soon wore off amid the pleasant +excitement of the long and interesting journey, made doubly pleasant +by the lively and genial companionship of her new friends, who won her +heart at once by their warm praises of Alick and Harry; and she began +already to look forward to the happiness of their complete reunion as +a family,--for Fred was to follow her to the West at the close of his +theological studies, in the ensuing spring. + +When at last the somewhat fatiguing but very pleasant journey was at +an end, Lucy found Mrs. Steele ready to receive her with a warm +maternal welcome, and Harry wild with delight, as much grown and +improved as they all declared she was. Alick had grown considerably +older and graver-looking under the responsibilities of life and his +profession, though he still retained much of his old flow of spirits; +and Lucy had the very great pleasure of finding that he had become an +earnest Christian man, using his profession to the utmost of his power +as a means not only of doing temporal good, but of advancing his +Master's cause. + +Lucy soon saw that her household aid was so much needed by her aunt, +whose health had become very feeble, that she relinquished the plan +she had formed of endeavouring to get employment in teaching during +the winter; and between her housekeeping avocations and the claims of +Alick's poor patients, whom she often visited on errands of charity, +and the carrying on of her own studies, which she was anxious to +continue, the winter flew past with incredible rapidity. + +When the season of budding leaves and opening blossoms returned, there +came tidings--sad indeed, yet by no means unexpected--from the sandy +plains of Florida. Stella was dead, but she had died "looking unto +Jesus," and in the feeling of her perfect safety and happiness with +her Saviour. Lucy could acquiesce in the earthly separation from her. +She had seemed to be one over whom "things seen and temporal" held so +much power, that perhaps only the pressure of physical disease, and +the realization of the possible approach of death, could have brought +her to the invisible but ever-present Saviour. Her temporal loss had +thus been her great gain; yet still "more blessed are they" who +without such pressure "have believed." + +Our young friends have now arrived at an age when their history is +scarcely so well adapted for the youthful readers of these pages. But +as we all like to hear tidings of our friends after years have +elapsed, it may be pleasant to catch at least a glimpse of their later +life. Lucy never returned to her uncle's house: she became too +valuable a member of her cousin's household to be spared from it, and +she is now its mistress in a legal and permanent sense, aiding her +husband most efficiently in his labours of love. Fred has long since +finished his studies and been settled as the minister of a village +church near his sister's home. Thither he has lately brought Mary +Eastwood as the minister's wife, and has found that she admirably +fills that important post. The two old friends, united now by closer +ties than ever, still delight to maintain their Christian +companionship, and to revive, in the frequent visits interchanged, the +happy memories of former days. + +Nelly still keeps house for her brother, who would not know how to +dispense with her multifarious services in weeding his beds, gathering +his fruit for market, and tying up his flowers. But as some of his +friends are equally sensible of her good qualities, he has made up his +mind that, sooner or later, he will have to let her go. + +Ada Brooke has been married for several years, and is much, the same, +in her present luxurious home, as when we first made her acquaintance, +with no more aspiration beyond the transient pleasures of the world. +Sophy, who has remained faithful to the memory of her betrothed, is a +very angel of mercy, ministering continually to the poor and sick and +disconsolate, and finding therein a higher happiness than she ever +knew, even in the days when she was most admired and envied. Mr. and +Mrs. Brooke, since the death of their darling Stella, have thought +more of that unseen world into which she has entered, and less of the +present one, which formerly so completely engrossed them. And Edwin, +finding all earthly sources of pleasure to be but "broken cisterns," +has at last turned to drink of "the living water, of which if a man +drink he shall never thirst again." + +Bessie Ford is still the wise, motherly eldest daughter at Mill Bank +Farm. If, from the uneventful character of her quiet country life, she +has not filled so prominent a place in these pages as her classmates, +it is not that the watchword "Looking unto Jesus" has had less +influence on her life than on theirs; and though its fruits may have +been more obscure, they have been as real, in the thorough Christian +kindness and faithfulness, patience and industry, which make her a +much-prized blessing to her family and her friends. + +And now, my young reader, that you have seen the effect of taking +"Looking unto Jesus" for the watchword of life to some extent +illustrated, will you not, henceforward, take it as your own? + +If only you come by faith to that Saviour who is waiting to receive +you and to renew your sinful heart, and go on living by that faith in +Him, you will find, ever flowing from Him, a life-giving power, which +will furnish you with the strength that you need more than you now +know, for the battle of life before you. And though you may never be +called upon to do things which the world calls great and noble, you +will do common things in a noble spirit, which is the same thing to +Him who looks upon the heart, and + + "So make life, death, and the vast for ever, + One grand, sweet song." + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lucy Raymond, by Agnes Maule Machar + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUCY RAYMOND *** + +***** This file should be named 18248-8.txt or 18248-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/2/4/18248/ + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by the Canadian Institute for Historical +Microreproductions (www.canadiana.org)) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lucy Raymond + Or, The Children's Watchword + +Author: Agnes Maule Machar + +Release Date: April 24, 2006 [EBook #18248] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUCY RAYMOND *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by the Canadian Institute for Historical +Microreproductions (www.canadiana.org)) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_004.jpg" width="600" height="234" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<h1>Lucy Raymond;</h1> + +<h4 >OR,</h4> +<h3 >THE CHILDREN'S WATCHWORD.</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h4 >BY THE AUTHOR OF</h4> +<h4 >'KATIE JOHNSTONE'S CROSS.'</h4> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>TORONTO:</h3> + <h3> JAMES CAMPBELL AND SON.</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<table summary=""> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td>CHAP.</td><td class="tocpg">PAGE</td></tr> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td class="tocpg"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">I.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#I">MISS PRESTON'S LAST SUNDAY,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">II.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#II">LUCY'S HOME,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_12">12</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">III.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#III">MORE HOME SCENES,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">IV.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#IV">NELLY'S SUNDAY EVENING,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">V.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#V">STRAWBERRYING,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">VI.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#VI">A MISSION,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">VII.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#VII">TEMPTATIONS,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch"> VIII.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#VIII">PARTINGS,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">IX.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#IX">INTRODUCTIONS,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">X.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#X">NEW EXPERIENCES,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">XI.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#XI">A START IN LIFE,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_121">121</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">XII.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#XII">AMBITION,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch"> XIII.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#XIII">A FRIENDSHIP,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">XIV.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#XIV">AN UNEXPECTED RECOGNITION,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">XV.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#XV">THE FLOWER FADETH,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">XVI.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#XVI">DARKNESS AND LIGHT,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_184">184</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch"> XVII.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#XVII">HOME AGAIN,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">XVIII.</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#XVIII">A FAREWELL CHAPTER,</a></td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_207">207</a></td></tr> +</table> + + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> +<h2>LUCY RAYMOND.</h2> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><span class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><img src="images/image_008.jpg" width="600" height="206" alt="Decorative Image" /></span></div> +<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I.</h2> +<h3><i>Miss Preston's Last Sunday</i>.</h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Tell me the old, old story<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of unseen things above—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of Jesus and His glory,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of Jesus and His love."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_008_1.jpg" width="75" height="74" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p> he light of a lovely Sabbath afternoon in June lay on the rich green +woodlands, still bright with the vivid green of early summer, and +sparkled on the broad river, tossed by the breeze into a thousand +ripples, that swept past the village of Ashleigh. It would have been +oppressively warm, but for the breeze which was swaying the long +branches of the pine-trees around the little church, which from its +elevation on the higher ground looked down upon the straggling +clusters of white houses nestling in their orchards and gardens that +sloped away below. The same breeze, pleasantly laden with the mingled +fragrance of the pines<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> and of the newly-cut hay, fanned the faces of +the children, who in pretty little groups—the flickering shadows of +the pines falling on their light, fluttering summer dresses—were +approaching the church, the grave demeanour of a few of the elder ones +showing that their thoughts were already occupied by the pleasant +exercises of the Sunday school.</p> + +<p>Along a quiet, shady path, also leading to the church, a lady was +slowly and thoughtfully walking, on whose countenance a slight shade +of sadness, apparently, contended with happier thoughts. It was Mary +Preston's last Sunday in her old home, previous to exchanging it for +the new one to which she had been looking forward so long; and full as +her heart was of thankfulness to God for the blessings He had +bestowed, she could not take farewell of the Sunday school in which +she had taught for several years, without some regret and many +misgivings. Where, indeed, is the earnest teacher, however faithful, +who can lay down the self-imposed task without some such feelings? Has +the <i>heart</i> been in the work? Have thought and earnestness entered +into the weekly instruction? Has a Christian example given force to +the precepts inculcated? Above all, has there been earnest, +persevering prayer to the Lord of the harvest, in dependence on whom +alone the joyful reaping time can be expected?</p> + +<p>Such were some of the questions which had been passing through Miss +Preston's mind; and the smile with which she greeted her class as she +took her place was a little shadowed by her self-condemning +reflections—reflections which her fellow-teachers would have thought +quite uncalled for in one who had been the most zealous and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> +conscientious worker in that Sunday school. But Mary Preston little +thought of comparing herself with others. She knew that to whom "much +is given, of him shall be much required;" and judging herself by this +standard, she felt how little she had rendered to the Lord for His +benefits to her. As her wistful glance strayed during the opening hymn +to the faces of her scholars, she could not help wondering what +influence the remembrance of what she had tried to teach them would +exert on their future lives.</p> + +<p>As her class had been much diminished by recent changes, and in view +of her approaching departure the blanks had not been filled up, it +consisted on this Sunday of only three girls, of ages varying from +twelve to fourteen, but differing much in appearance, and still more +widely in character and in the circumstances of their lives.</p> + +<p>Close to Miss Preston, and watching every look of the teacher she +loved and grieved at losing, sat Lucy Raymond, the minister's +motherless daughter, a slight, delicate-looking girl, with dark hair +and bright grey eyes, full of energy and thought, but possessing a +good deal of self-will and love of approbation,—dangerous elements of +character unless modified and restrained by divine grace.</p> + +<p>Next to her sat fair, plump, rosy-cheeked, curly-haired Bessie Ford, +from the Mill Bank Farm—an amiable, kind-hearted little damsel, and a +favourite with all her companions, but careless and thoughtless, with +a want of steadiness and moral principle which made her teacher long +to see the taking root of the good seed, whose development might +supply what was lacking.</p> + +<p>Very different from both seemed the third member of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> the class—a +forlorn-looking child, who sat shyly apart from the others, shrinking +from proximity with their neat, tasteful summer attire, as if she felt +the contrast between her own dress and appearance and that of her +school-fellows. Poor Nelly Connor's dingy straw hat and tattered +cotton dress, as well as her pale, meagre face, with its bright hazel +eyes gleaming from under the tangled brown hair, showed evident signs +of poverty and neglect. She was a stranger there, having only recently +come to Ashleigh, and had been found wandering about, a Sunday or two +before, by Miss Preston, who had coaxed her into the Sunday school, +and had kept her in her own class until she should become a little +more familiar with scenes so strange and new. Curiosity and wonder +seemed at first to absorb all her faculties, and her senses seemed so +evidently engrossed with the novelty of what she saw around her, that +her teacher could scarcely hope she took in any of the instruction +which in the most simple words she tried to impress on her wandering +mind. And so very ignorant was she of the most elementary truths of +Christianity, that Miss Preston scarcely dared to ask her the simplest +question, for fear of drawing towards her the wondering gaze of her +more favoured classmates, who, accustomed from infancy to hear of a +Saviour's love and sacrifice for sin, could scarcely comprehend how +any child,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Born in Christian lands,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And not a heathen or a Jew,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>could have grown up to nearly their own age, ignorant of things which +were familiar to them as household words.</p> + +<p>Lucy and Bessie, in their happy ignorance and inexperi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>ence, little +dreamed how many thousands in Christian cities full of stately +churches, whose lofty spires seem to proclaim afar the Christianity of +the inhabitants, grow up even to manhood and womanhood with as little +knowledge of the glorious redemption provided to rescue them from +their sin and degradation as if they were sunk in the thickest +darkness of heathenism. Strange that congregations of professed +followers of Christ, whose consciences will not let them refuse to +contribute some small portion of their substance to convey the glad +tidings of the gospel to distant lands, will yet, as they seek their +comfortable churches, pass calmly by whole districts where so many of +their fellow-countrymen are perishing for lack of that very gospel, +without making one personal effort to save them! Will they not have to +give an account for these things?</p> + +<p>Nelly Connor's life had for the last two or three years been spent in +one of the lowest districts of the city in which her father had fixed +his abode after his emigration from the "old sod" to the New World. +The horrors of that emigration she could still remember—the +overcrowded steerage, where foul air bred the dreaded "ship-fever," +and where the moans of the sick and dying weighed down the hearts of +those whom the disease had spared. Her two little sisters had died +during that dreadful voyage; and her mother, heart-broken and worn out +with fatigue and watching, only lived to reach land and die in the +nearest hospital. An elder brother, who was to have accompanied them, +had by some accident lost his passage; and though he had, they +supposed, followed them in the next ship that sailed, they never +discovered any further trace of him. So, when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> Nelly's father had +followed his wife to the grave in the poor coffin he had with +difficulty provided for her, he and his daughter were all that +remained of the family which had set out from their dear Irish home, +hoping, in the strange land they sought, to lay the foundation of +happier fortunes.</p> + +<p>They led an uncomfortable, unsettled life for a year or two after +that, exchanging one miserable lodging for another—rarely for the +better. The father obtained an uncertain employment as a deck hand on +a steamboat during the summer, subsisting as best he could on odd jobs +during the winter, and too often drowning his sorrows and cares in the +tempting but fatal cup. Poor Nelly, left without any care or teaching, +soon forgot all she had ever learned; and running wild with the +neglected children around her, became, as might have been expected, a +little street Arab, full of shrewd, quick observation, and utter +aversion to restraint of any kind.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, to Nelly's consternation, her father brought home a second +wife, a comrade's widow, with two or three young children. In the new +household Nelly was at once expected to take the place of nurse and +general drudge, a part for which her habits of unrestrained freedom +and idleness had thoroughly disqualified her; and the results were +what might have been expected. There was a good deal of heedlessness +and neglect on Nelly's part, and nearly constant scolding on that of +her new mother. And as the latter was neither patient nor judicious, +and was, moreover, unreasonable in what she demanded from the child, +there was many a conflict ending in sharp blows, the physical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> pain of +which was nothing in comparison with the sense of injury and +oppression left on the child's mind. But she had no redress; for her +father being so much away from his home, had no opportunity of +opposing, as he would probably have done, his wife's severe method of +"managing" his motherless child.</p> + +<p>Things were in this condition when Mrs. Connor, who had formerly +belonged to Ashleigh, made up her mind to remove thither, in the +expectation both of living more cheaply, and of being able, among her +old acquaintances, to find more work to eke out her uncertain means of +living. Her husband was now working on a steamboat which passed up and +down the river on which Ashleigh was situated, so that he could not +see his family as often as before. They were now settled in a small, +rather dilapidated tenement, with a potato patch and pig-sty; and Mrs. +Connor, who was an energetic woman, had already succeeded in making +her family almost independent of the earnings which Michael Connor too +often spent in the public-house. This being the case, she had no +scruples in providing for her own children, without much consideration +for Nelly; so that the poor child was a forlorn-looking object when +Miss Preston had found her hovering wistfully about, attracted by the +sight of the children streaming towards the church, and had induced +her to come, for the first time in her life, into a Sunday school.</p> + +<p>And now, with these three girls before her, differing so much in +circumstances and culture, it was no wonder that Miss Preston should +feel it a matter for earnest consideration what parting words she +should say, which, even if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> unappreciated at the time, might +afterwards come back to their minds, associated with the remembrance +of a teacher they had loved, to help them in the conflict between good +and evil which must have its place in their future lives. But she felt +she could not possibly do better, in bidding farewell to her young +pupils, than to direct them to Him who would never leave nor forsake +them,—who was nearer, wiser, tenderer, than any earthly friend,—who, +if they would trust themselves to Him, would guide them into all +truth, and in His own way of peace.</p> + +<p>She had brought them each, as a little parting remembrancer, a pretty +gift-card, bearing on one side the illuminated motto, "<span class="smcap">Looking unto +Jesus</span>," a text the blessed influence of which she herself had long +experimentally known. And in words so simple as for the most part to +reach even little Nelly's comprehension, she spoke earnestly of the +loving Saviour to whom they were to "look,"—of that wonderful life +which, opening in the lowly manger of Bethlehem, and growing quietly +to maturity in the green valleys of Nazareth, reached its full +development in those unparalleled three years of "going about doing +good," healing, teaching, warning, rebuking, comforting; not +disdaining to stop and bless the little children, and at last dying to +atone for our sins.</p> + +<p>She explained to them, that although withdrawn from our earthly sight, +He was as really near to them now as He had been to those Jewish +children eighteen hundred years ago; that their lowest whisper could +reach Him; that if they would but ask Him, He would be their truest +Friend, ever at their side to help them to do right and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> resist +temptation, to comfort them in sorrow and sweeten their joy. Her +earnest tone and manner, even more than her words, impressed the +children, and fixed even Nelly Connor's bright hazel eyes in a +wondering gaze. It was very new and strange to her to hear about the +mysterious, invisible Friend who was so loving and kind; the idea of a +<i>friend</i> of any kind being novel to the lonely, motherless child, more +accustomed to harsh, unsparing reproof than to any other language. +Miss Preston, glad to see at least that her interest was excited, was +fain to leave the germs of truth to take root and develope in her +mind, under the silent influence of the divine Husbandman.</p> + +<p>"Now, my dear children," she said in conclusion, "whenever you are +tempted to be careless or unfaithful in duty, to think that <i>it +doesn't matter because no one will know</i>, remember that your <i>Saviour +knows</i>,—that whatever the duty before you may be, you have to do it +'as to the Lord, and not unto men.' Whenever you are tempted to get +tired of trying to do right and resist temptation, or when you may +feel sad for your sinfulness and unworthiness, think of the text I am +leaving you, '<span class="smcap">Looking unto Jesus</span>.' And if you really and earnestly +<i>look</i> to Him, you will always find help, and strength, and guidance, +and comfort."</p> + +<p>On the reverse side of the illuminated card she had brought for her +class was printed, in clear, distinct characters, the hymn,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I lay my sins on Jesus,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The spotless Lamb of God;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He bears them all, and frees us<br /></span> +<span class="i2">From the accursed load.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I lay my wants on Jesus,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">All fulness dwells in Him;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He heals all my diseases,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">He doth my soul redeem."<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> +<p>As Nelly could not read, Miss Preston made her say these verses +several times after her; and as she had a quick ear and a facility for +learning by heart, she could soon repeat them. That she could not +understand them at present, her teacher knew; but she thought it +something gained that the words at least should linger in her memory +till their meaning should dawn upon her heart. Then, telling Nelly she +must take care of her pretty card, and try to learn to read it for +herself, she bade her class an affectionate farewell, trusting that +the Friend of whom she had been teaching them would care for them when +<i>she</i> could not.</p> + +<p>"I'll learn the hymn, miss, and try to learn to read it, if anybody +'ll teach me," said Nelly, her bright brown eyes sparkling through +tears, for her warm Irish heart had been touched by the kind words and +tones of her teacher, whom she expected never to see again.</p> + +<p>Bessy Ford's sunshiny face also looked unusually sorrowful, and Lucy +Raymond's trembling lip bespoke a deeper emotion, with difficulty +repressed.</p> + +<p>"I shall see <i>you</i> again, Lucy," Miss Preston said, with a smile, as +she affectionately detained her a moment, for Lucy had been invited to +be present at her teacher's marriage, at which her father was to +officiate. Lucy and Bessie walked away together, the former with her +first experience of a "<i>last time</i>" weighing on her mind and spirits; +and Nelly Connor slowly stole away among the trees toward the spot she +called her "home."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bessie's momentary sadness quickly vanished as she engaged in a brisk +conversation with another girl about her own age, who was eager to +gossip about Miss Preston's approaching marriage, where she was going, +and what she was to wear. Lucy drew off from her companion as soon as +Nancy Parker joined them, partly from a real desire of thinking +quietly of her teacher's parting words, partly in proud disdain of +Bessie's frivolity. "How <i>can</i> she go on so," she thought, "after what +Miss Preston has been saying?" But she forgot that disdain is as far +removed from the spirit of the loving and pitying Saviour as even the +frivolity she despised.</p> + +<p>"Come, Lucy, don't be so stiff," said Nancy as they approached the +shady gate of the white house where Mr. Raymond lived; "can't you tell +us something about the wedding? You're going, aren't you?"</p> + +<p>Nancy's pert, familiar tones grated upon Lucy's ear with unusual +harshness, and she replied, rather haughtily, that she knew scarcely +anything about it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no doubt you think yourself very grand," Nancy rejoined, "but I +can find out all about it from my aunt, and no thanks to you. Come on, +Bessie." Bessie, somewhat ashamed of her companion, and instinctively +conscious of Lucy's disapproval, stopped at the gate to exchange a +good-bye with her friend, who for the moment was not very cordial.</p> + +<p>Thus Miss Preston and her class had separated, and future days alone +could reveal what had become of the seed she had tried to sow.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_004.jpg" width="600" height="234" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<h3><i>Lucy's Home.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Is the heart a living power?<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Self-entwined, its strength sinks low;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It can only live in loving,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And by serving, love will grow."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_019.jpg" width="75" height="74" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>s Lucy passed in under the acacias which shaded the gate, she was met +by a pretty, graceful-looking girl about her own age, who, with her +golden hair floating on her shoulders and her hat swinging listlessly +in her hand, was wandering through the shrubbery.</p> + +<p>"Why, Lucy," she exclaimed, "what a time you have been away! I've +tried everything I could think of to pass the time; looked over all +your books, and couldn't find a nice one I hadn't read; teased Alick +and Fred till they went off for peace, and pussy till she scratched my +arm. Just look there!"</p> + +<p>But Lucy's mind had been too much absorbed to descend at once to the +level of her cousin's trifling tone; and having<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> been vexed previously +at her refusal to accompany her to Sunday school, she now regretted +exceedingly that Stella had not been present to hear Miss Preston's +earnest words.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Stella," she said eagerly, "I do <i>so</i> wish you had been with me! +If you had only heard what Miss Preston said to us, it would have done +you good all your life."</p> + +<p>"Well, you know I don't worship Miss Preston," replied Stella, always +ready to tease, "she looks so demure. And as for dressing, why, Ada +and Sophy wouldn't be seen out in the morning in that common-looking +muslin she wore to church."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Stella, how can you go on so?" exclaimed Lucy impatiently. "If +you only had something better to think of, you wouldn't talk as if you +thought dress the one thing needful."</p> + +<p>"That's a quotation from one of Uncle Raymond's sermons, isn't it?" +rejoined Stella aggravatingly.</p> + +<p>Lucy drew her arm away from her cousin's and walked off alone to the +house, obliged to hear Stella's closing remark: "Well, I'm glad <i>I</i> +didn't go to Sunday school if it makes people come home cross and +sulky!" And then, unconscious of the sting her words had implanted, +Stella turned to meet little Harry, who was bounding home in his +highest spirits.</p> + +<p>Lucy slowly found her way to her own room, her especial sanctuary, +where she had a good deal of pleasure in keeping her various +possessions neatly arranged. At present it was shared by her young +visitor, whose careless, disorderly ways were a considerable drawback +to the pleasure so long<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> anticipated of having a companion of her own +age. Just now her eye fell at once on her ransacked bookcase all in +confusion, with the books scattered about the room. It was a trifle, +but trifles are magnified when the temper is already discomposed; and +throwing down her gloves and Bible, she hastily proceeded to rearrange +them, feeling rather unamiably towards her cousin.</p> + +<p>But as she turned back from the completed task, her card with its +motto met her eye, like a gentle reproof to her ruffled +spirit—"<span class="smcap">Looking unto Jesus</span>." Had she not forgotten that already? She +had come home enthusiastic—full of an ideal life she was to live, an +example and influence for good to all around her. But, mingled in her +aspirations, there was an unconscious desire for pre-eminence and an +insidious self-complacency—"little foxes" that will spoil the best +grapes. She had to learn that God will not be served with unhallowed +fire; that the heart must be freed from pride and self-seeking before +it can be fit for the service of the sanctuary. Already she knew she +had been impatient and unconciliatory, contemptuous to poor +ill-trained Nancy, whose home influences were very unfavourable; and +now, by her hastiness towards her cousin, whom she had been so anxious +to influence for good, she had probably disgusted her with the things +in which she most wanted to interest her.</p> + +<p>She did not turn away, however, from the lights conscience brought to +her. Nurtured in a happy Christian home, under the watchful eye of the +loving father whose care had to a great extent supplied the want of +the mother she could scarcely remember, she could not have specified<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +the time when she first began to look upon Christ as her Saviour, and +to feel herself bound to live unto <i>Him</i>, and not to herself. But her +teacher's words had given her a new impulse—a more definite +realization of the strength by which the Christian life was to be +lived—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The mind to blend with outward life,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">While keeping at Thy side."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Humbled by her failure, she honestly confessed it, and asked for more +of the strength which every earnest seeker shall receive.</p> + +<p>With a much lighter heart and clearer brow, Lucy went to rejoin +Stella, whom she found amusing herself with Harry and his rabbits, +having forgotten all about Lucy's hastiness. Lucy seated herself on +the grass beside them, joining readily in the admiration with which +Stella, no less than Harry, was caressing the soft, white, downy +creature with pink eyes, which was her brother's latest acquisition.</p> + +<p>"I want him to call it Blanche—such a pretty name, isn't it, Lucy?" +said Stella.</p> + +<p>"I won't," declared the perverse Harry, "because I don't like it;" and +so saying, he rushed off to join "the boys," as he called them.</p> + +<p>"What have you got there?" asked Stella, holding out her hand for +Lucy's card, which she had brought down. "Yes, it's pretty, but Sophy +does much prettier ones; you should see some lovely ones she has +done!"</p> + +<p>"Has she?" asked Lucy with interest,—thinking Stella's sister must +care more for the Bible than she herself did, if she painted +illuminated texts. "I was going to tell you this was what Miss Preston +was speaking to us about."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't see that she could say much about that, it's so short. I +don't see what it means; Jesus is in heaven now, and we can't see +Him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but," exclaimed Lucy eagerly, overcoming her shy reluctance to +speak, "He is <i>always near</i>, though we can't see Him, and is ready to +help us when we do right, and grieved and displeased when we do wrong. +I forget that myself, Stella," she added with an effort, "or I +shouldn't have been so cross when I came home."</p> + +<p>Stella had already forgotten all about that, and felt a little +uncomfortable at her cousin's entering on subjects which she had been +accustomed to consider were to be confined to the pulpit, or at any +rate were above her comprehension. She believed, of course, in a +general way, that Christ had died for sinners, as she had often heard +in church, and that in some vague way <i>she</i> was to be saved and taken +to heaven, when she should be obliged to leave this world; but it had +never occurred to her that the salvation of which she had been told +was to influence her life now, or awaken any love from <i>her</i> in +response to the great love which had been shown toward her. Not daring +to reply, she glanced listlessly over the hymn on the card, but took +up none of its meaning. She had never been conscious of any heavy +burden of sin to be "laid on Jesus." Petted and praised at home for +her beauty and lively winning ways, her faults overlooked and her good +qualities exaggerated, she had no idea of the evil that lay +undeveloped in her nature, shutting out from her heart the love of the +meek and lowly Jesus. She could scarcely feel her need of strength for +a warfare on which she had never entered;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> and Lucy's words, spoken +out of the realizing experience she had already had, were to her +incomprehensible.</p> + +<p>She was a good deal relieved when the tea-bell rang, and Lucy's two +brothers, Fred and Harry, with her tall cousin Alick Steele, joined +them as they obeyed the summons to the cool, pleasant dining-room, +where Alick's mother, Mr. Raymond's sister, who had superintended his +family since Mrs. Raymond's death, was already seated at the +tea-table. Her quiet, gentle face, in the plain widow's cap, greeted +them with a smile, brightening with a mother's pride and pleasure as +she glanced towards her son Alick, just now spending a brief holiday +at Ashleigh on the completion of his medical studies. He was a +handsome high-spirited youth, affectionate, candid, and full of +energy, though as yet his mother grieved at his carelessness as to the +"better part" which she longed to see him choose. He had always spent +his vacations at Ashleigh, and was such a favourite that his visits +were looked forward to as the pleasantest events of the year.</p> + +<p>"Girls," said Alick, "I saw such quantities of strawberries this +afternoon."</p> + +<p>"Where?" interrupted Harry eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Was anybody speaking to you?" asked his cousin, laughing. "But I'll +tell you if you won't go and eat them all up. Over on the edge of the +woods by Mill Bank Farm. I could soon have filled a basket if I had +had one, and if mother wouldn't have said it was Sabbath-breaking!"</p> + +<p>"Alick, my boy," said his mother gravely, "you mustn't talk so +thoughtlessly. What would your uncle say?"</p> + +<p>"He'd say it was a pity so good a mother hadn't a better<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> son. But +never mind, mother dear, you'll see I'll come all right yet. As for +these strawberries, Lucy, I vote we have a strawberry picnic, and give +Stella a taste of real country life. They'll give us cream at the +farm, and the Fords would join us."</p> + +<p>Stella looked a little of the surprise she felt at the idea of the +farmer's children being added to the party, but she did not venture to +say anything, as Alick was by no means sparing in bringing his powers +of raillery to bear on what he called her "town airs and graces."</p> + +<p>"Well, you needn't make all the arrangements to-night," interposed +Mrs. Steele; "you know your uncle doesn't like Sunday planning of +amusements."</p> + +<p>And just then Mr. Raymond entered the room, his grave, quiet face, +solemnized by the thoughts with which he had been engrossed, +exercising an unconsciously subduing influence over the lively +juniors. Mr. Raymond never frowned upon innocent joyousness, and even +the boisterous little Harry was never afraid of his father; yet there +was about him a certain realization of the great truths he preached, +which checked any approach to levity in his presence, and impressed +even the most thoughtless; although, not tracing it to its real +source, they generally set it down simply to his "being a clergyman." +His children looked up to him with devoted affection and deep +reverence; even Stella could not help feeling that her uncle must be a +<i>very</i> good man; and to Alick, who under all his nonsense had a strong +appreciation of practical religion, he was the embodiment of Christian +excellence.</p> + +<p>"Well, Stella," said her uncle, turning kindly to his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> niece, "I hope +you had a pleasant afternoon. I suppose our little Sunday school looks +very small after the great city ones."</p> + +<p>"We never go to Sunday school at home, uncle," said Stella, with one +of her winning smiles; "there are so many <i>common</i> children."</p> + +<p>"Oh, indeed!" exclaimed Alick, seizing the opportunity of putting down +Stella's airs. "Why don't you get up a select one, then, attended only +by young ladies of the best families?"</p> + +<p>Stella coloured at the sarcastic tone, but Mr. Raymond only said +kindly, "Did you ever think, my dear child, how many of these poor +common children, as you call them, you will have to meet in heaven?"</p> + +<p>It was certainly a new idea to Stella, and made her feel rather +uncomfortable; indeed she never cared much to think about heaven, of +which her ideas were the vaguest possible.</p> + +<p>As they went to evening service, Alick did not omit to rally Stella on +her want of candour in leaving her uncle under the impression that she +had been at Sunday school that afternoon.</p> + +<p>"Why, Alick!" she exclaimed in surprise, "I didn't say I had been at +Sunday school. If Uncle Raymond supposed so, it wasn't my fault."</p> + +<p>"Only, you answered him as if his supposition was correct. I have +always understood that intentionally confirming a false impression was +at least the next thing to telling a story."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm sure Stella didn't think of that," interposed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> Lucy +good-naturedly, noticing the rising colour of vexation on Stella's +countenance.</p> + +<p>"How tiresome they all are here!" thought Stella; "always finding out +harm in things. I'm sure it wasn't my business to tell Uncle William I +hadn't been at Sunday school. Sophy and Ada often tell the housemaid +to say they are not at home when they are, and don't think it any +harm. What would Alick say to that?"</p> + +<p>By one of those coincidences which sometimes happen—sent, we may be +sure, in God's providence—Mr. Raymond took for his text that evening +the words, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." +The coincidence startled Lucy, and made her listen with more than +ordinary attention to her father's sermon, though, to do her justice, +she was not usually either sleepy or inattentive. Mr. Raymond began by +alluding to the "race set before us," which the apostle had spoken of +in the previous verse,—the race which all who will follow Christ must +know, but only in the strength He will supply. The young and strong +might think themselves sufficient for it, but the stern experience of +life would soon teach them that it must be often run with a heavy +heart and weary feet; that "even the youths shall faint and be weary, +and the young men utterly fall;" and that it is only they who wait on +the Lord, "looking unto Jesus," who shall "mount up on wings as +eagles," who shall "run and not be weary, and shall walk and not +faint."</p> + +<p>Then he spoke of the Helper ever near—the "dear Jesus ever at our +side," in looking to whom in faith and prayer, not trying to walk in +our own strength, we may get<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"the daily strength,<br /> +</span> +<span class="i0">To none who ask denied,"—<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>the strength to overcome temptation and conquer sloth, and do whatever +work He gives us to do. Something, too, he said of what that work is: +First, the faithful discharge of daily duty, whatever its nature; then +the more voluntary work for Christ and our fellow-men with which the +corners of the busiest life may be filled up—the weak and weary to be +helped, the mourner to be sympathized with, the erring brother or +sister to be sought out and brought back, the cup of cold water to be +given for Christ's sake, which should not lose its reward.</p> + +<p>He ended by speaking of the grounds on which Jesus is the "author and +finisher of our faith," the great salvation won by Him for us on the +cross,—a salvation to be entered upon now, so that during this life +we may begin that glorious eternal life which is to go on for ever. +Then he besought his hearers, by the greatness of that love which had +prompted the infinite sacrifice, by the endurance of that mysterious +depth of suffering which the Son of God bore for men, that He might +"save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him," to come at +once to have their sins washed away in the Redeemer's blood, which +alone could "purge their consciences from dead works to serve the +living God."</p> + +<p>Many and many a time during Lucy's after-life did the words of that +sermon come back to her mind, associated with her father's earnest, +solemn tones, with the peaceful beauty of that summer Sabbath +evening—with the old church, its high seats and pulpit and +time-stained walls,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> and the old familiar faces whom all her life she +had been wont to see, Sunday after Sunday, in the same familiar seats.</p> + +<p>And what of the others? Bessie Ford, too, had noticed the coincidence, +and had listened to the sermon as attentively as a somewhat volatile +mind would allow her, and had gathered from it more than she could +have put into conscious thought, though it was destined to bring forth +fruit.</p> + +<p>And far back, in a dusky corner of the little gallery, gleamed the +bright brown eyes of little Nelly, who had ventured back to the +church, and, hearing the familiar sound of the text, listened intently +and picked up some things which, though only half understood, yet +awakened the chords which had been already touched to a trembling +response.</p> + +<p>Even little Harry in some measure abstained from indulging in his +ordinary train of meditation during church-time, consisting chiefly of +planning fishing excursions and games for the holidays. How many older +and wiser heads are prone to the same kind of reverie, and could not +have given a better account of "papa's sermon" than he was usually +able to do! Fred, the quiet student, listened with kindling eye and +deep enthusiasm to his father's earnest exposition of the divine truth +which had already penetrated his own mind and heart; and Alick heard +it with a reverent admiration for the beautiful gospel which could +prompt such noble sentiments, and with a vague determination that +"some time" he would think about it in earnest.</p> + +<p>Stella alone, of all the young group, carried away nothing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> of the +precious truth which had been sounding in her ears. She had gone to +church merely as a matter of form, without any expectation of +receiving a blessing there; and during the service her wandering eyes +had been employed in taking a mental inventory of the various odd and +old-fashioned costumes that she saw around her, to serve for her +sister's amusement when she should return home. It is thus that the +evil one often takes away the good seed before it has sunk into our +hearts. Stella would have been surprised had it been suggested to her +that the words of the last hymn, which rose sweetly through the church +in the soft summer twilight, could possibly apply to her that evening:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"If some poor wandering child of thine<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Have spurned to-day the voice divine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now, Lord, the gracious work begin;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let him no more lie down in sin!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/image_030.jpg" width="150" height="125" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><span class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><img src="images/image_031.jpg" width="600" height="209" alt="Decorative Image" /></span></div> + +<h3><i>More Home Scenes.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Tell me the story often.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For I forgot so soon;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The early dew of morning<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Has passed away at noon."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_031_1.jpg" width="75" height="72" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>hen Bessie Ford parted from Lucy at the gate, she had still a long +walk before reaching home. Mill Bank Farm was a good mile and a half +from the village if you went by the road, but Bessie shortened it very +considerably by striking across the fields a little way beyond the +village. There were one or two fences to climb, but Bessie did not +mind that any more than she minded the placid cows browsing in the +pasture through which her way led. The breezy meadows, white with +ox-eye daisies, and in some places yellow with buttercups, with the +blue river flowing rapidly past on one side, afforded a pleasant walk +at any time, and the rest of the way was still prettier. Just within +the boundary of Mill Bank Farm the ground ascended slightly, and then +descended into a narrow glen or ravine, with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> steep, rocky sides +luxuriantly draped with velvet moss and waving ferns, while along the +bottom of it a little stream flowed quietly enough towards the river, +though a little higher up it came foaming and dashing down the rocks +and turned a small saw-mill on the farm. The sides of the ravine were +shady with hemlocks, spreading their long, waving boughs over the +rocks, with whose dark, solemn foliage maples and birches contrasted +their fresh vivid green. In spring, what a place it was for wild +flowers!—as Lucy Raymond and her brothers well knew, having often +brought home thence great bunches of dielytras and convallarias and +orchises; and at any time some bright blossoms were generally to be +found gleaming through the shade.</p> + +<p>Bessie, however, did not linger now to look for them, but picking her +way across the stepping-stones which lay in the bed of the stream, she +quickly climbed the opposite bank by a natural pathway which wound up +among the rocks—easily found by her accustomed feet—and passing +through the piece of woodland that lay on the other side, came out on +the sunny expanse of meadows and corn-fields, in the midst of which +stood the neat white farmhouse, with its little array of farm +buildings, and the fine old butternut tree, under the shade of which +Mrs. Ford sat milking her sleek, gentle cows, little Jenny and Jack +sitting on the ground beside her. The instant that they espied their +sister coming through the fields, they dashed off at the top of their +speed to see who should reach her first, and were soon trotting along +by her side, confiding to her their afternoon's adventures, and how +Jack had found nine eggs<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> in an unsuspected nest in the barn, but had +broken three in carrying them in.</p> + +<p>"But me wouldn't have," insisted Jack sturdily, "if Jenny hadn't +knocked up against me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Jack! Now you know I only touched you the least little bit," +retorted the aggrieved Jenny.</p> + +<p>"Well, don't jump up and down so, or I will let go your hand," said +Bessie. "You almost pull my arm off! I wish you could see how quietly +little Mary Thomson sits in Sunday school, and she is no bigger than +you."</p> + +<p>"Why can't I go to Sunday school, then?" demanded Jenny; "I'd be quiet +too."</p> + +<p>"And me too!" vociferated Jack; the circumstance that they were not +considered old enough yet to go to Sunday school giving it a wonderful +charm in their eyes. Then, as they set off again on another race +toward their mother, it occurred to Bessie for the first time that +these little ones were quite old enough to learn the things that other +little children learned at Sunday school, and that although they were +not strong enough for the long walk, and her mother's time and +thoughts were always so fully engrossed with the round of domestic +duties, <i>she</i> might easily find time to teach her little brother and +sister as much as they could understand about the Saviour, who had +died that they might be made good, and who when on earth had blessed +little children. Something Miss Preston had said about home +duties—about helping to teach and guide the little brothers and +sisters—now recurred to her mind, and conscience told her that these +duties she had hitherto failed of performing. She had never herself +really taken Christ for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> her own Saviour and Guide, although she often +felt a vague wish that she were "good," and the desire of pleasing +Christ entered but little, if at all, into the motives and actions of +her daily life. But she generally <i>knew</i> what was right, and +occasionally, while the impulse from some good influence was still +fresh, would try to <i>do</i> it.</p> + +<p>"I know Miss Preston would say I ought to teach Jenny and Jack some +verses and hymns on Sunday," she thought. "I'll begin to-night, when +mother and the boys are gone to church;" for a certain shyness about +seeming "good" made her wish to begin her teaching without witnesses.</p> + +<p>"Here, Bessie," said Mrs. Ford as Bessie approached, "do run and get +the tea ready—there's a good girl. I shan't be through yet for half +an hour, for I've the calves to see to; and your father and the boys +'ll be in from watering the horses, and if we don't get tea soon +they'll be late for church."</p> + +<p>Bessie went in to change her dress, with her usually good-humoured +face contracted into a dissatisfied expression. She was tired; it +would have been nice to sit down and read her Sunday-school book till +tea-time. But of course nothing could be said; so she hurriedly pulled +off her walking things, grumbling a little in her own mind at the +difference between her own lot and that of Lucy Raymond, who, she felt +sure, had none of these tiresome things to do. She had never +thought—what, indeed, older people often lose sight of—that God so +arranges the work of all His children who will do what He gives them +to do, that while some may seem to have more leisure than others, all +have their appointed work, of the kind best suited to discipline,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> and +fit them for the higher sphere of nobler work, in which will probably +be found much of the blessedness of eternity.</p> + +<p>Before Bessie went down to her unwelcome task, she recollected that +she must put her pretty card safe out of the children's way; so with a +strong pin she fastened it up securely on the wall, on which it formed +a tasteful decoration. As she did so, the motto brought back to her +memory what Miss Preston had said about "looking unto Jesus" in every +time of temptation, great or small, as well when inclined to be +discontented or impatient, as in greater emergencies. The evil +principle in her nature rose against her doing so now, but the other +power was stronger; and perhaps for the first time in her life, though +she regularly "said her prayers," Bessie really asked Jesus to help +her to be more like Himself. Then with a new, strange happiness in her +heart, that was at once the result of her self-conquest and the answer +to her prayer, she ran down cheerfully to do her work, singing in a +low tone the first verse of her hymn:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I long to be like Jesus,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Meek, loving, lowly, mild;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I long to be like Jesus,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The Father's holy child."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Jenny and Jack came running in to help her—small assistants, whom it +required a good deal of patience to manage, neither allowing them to +hurt themselves or anything else, nor driving them into a fit of +screaming by despotically thwarting their good intentions; and +Bessie's patience was not always equal to the ordeal. But on this +occasion Mrs. Ford was left to pursue her dairy avocations in peace, +without being called by Jack's screams to settle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> some fierce dispute +between him and his sister, whose interference was not always very +judiciously applied.</p> + +<p>The tea was soon ready,—not, however, before Mr. Ford and his two +eldest boys had come in, accompanied by Bessie's younger brother Sam, +next in age to herself, who ought to have been at Sunday school, but +had managed to escape going, as he often did. His mother being on +Sundays, as on other days, "cumbered with much serving," and his +sister generally remaining with some of her friends in the village +during the interval between the morning service and Sunday school, it +was comparatively easy for Master Sam to play truant, as indeed he +sometimes did from the day school, where his chances of punishment +were much greater, Mr. Ford being far more alive to the advantages of +a "good education" than to the need of the knowledge which "maketh +wise unto salvation." So that, when Bessie began her usual "Why, Sam, +you weren't at Sunday school!" Sam had some plausible excuse all +ready, the ingenuity of which would amuse his father so much as to +lead him to overlook the offence.</p> + +<p>"Well, Bessie," her mother exclaimed when they were all seated, "I +really believe you haven't forgotten anything, for <i>once</i>. I should +not wonder if you were to turn out a decent housekeeper yet."</p> + +<p>For it was Mrs. Ford's great complaint of Bessie, that she was so +"heedless" and "needed so much minding," though she would always add, +modifying her censure, "But then you can't put an old head on young +shoulders, and the child has a real good <i>heart</i>." And being a +thoroughly active and diligent housekeeper, she generally found it +less<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> trouble to supply Bessie's shortcomings herself, so that +Bessie's home education was likely to suffer by her mother's very +proficiency, unless she should come to see that to do all things well +was a duty she owed "unto the Lord, and not unto men."</p> + +<p>"So, Bessie, you're going to lose your teacher?" said her father. "I +hear she's to be married on Thursday."</p> + +<p>"Yes, father, she bade us all good-bye to-day; and she gave us such +pretty cards, mother, with a text and a hymn;" and on the impulse of +the moment she ran up for hers, and brought it down for inspection. It +was handed round the table, eliciting various admiring comments, and +exciting Jack's desire to get it into his own hands, which being +thwarted, he was with difficulty consoled by an extra supply of bread +and butter.</p> + +<p>"And, mother," asked Bessie, somewhat doubtfully, "may I go to-morrow +and get the things to work a book-mark for Miss Preston? I'd like to +do it for a new Bible the teachers are going to give her."</p> + +<p>"I don't care," said Mrs. Ford, "if you'll only not neglect everything +else while you're doing it. I don't believe in girls fiddling away +their time with such things, and not knowing how to make good cheese +and butter. But I wouldn't hinder you from making a present to Miss +Preston, for she has been a good teacher to you."</p> + +<p>Bessie looked delighted, but the expression quickly changed when her +mother said, as they rose from table, "Bessie, I guess I'll not go to +church to-night. I've had so much to do that I feel tired out; and if +I did go, I'm sure I'd just go to sleep. Besides, I don't like the way +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> dun cow is looking; so you'd better get ready and go with father +and the boys."</p> + +<p>Now Bessie had expected to remain at home that evening, as she usually +did. She had planned to teach the children for a while, according to +her new resolution, and then, when they had gone to bed, to sit down +to read her Sunday-school book, which seemed unusually inviting. +Bessie's Sunday reading was generally confined to her Sunday-school +book, for she had not yet learned to love to read the Bible, and +regarded it rather as a lesson-book than as the spiritual food which +those who know it truly find "sweeter than honey" to their taste. So +it was not a very pleasant prospect to have to hurry off to church +again, and she felt very much inclined to make the most of the slight +fatigue she felt, and say she was too tired to go, in which case her +mother would have willingly assented to her remaining. But conscience +told her she was able to go, and ought to go; and remembering her +motto and her prayer, she cheerfully prepared to accompany her father +and brothers to church, and she had reason to be grateful for her +choice. The words of the sermon deepened and expanded the impressions +of the afternoon, and left an abiding influence on the current of her +life.</p> + +<p>When Mrs. Ford had got through her evening duties, and the little ones +were hushed in sound slumber, she sat down near the open window to +rest, her eye falling, as she did so, on Bessie's card. The motto upon +it carried her thoughts away to the time when, as a newly-married +wife, she had listened to a sermon on that very text,—a time when, +rejoicing in the happiness of her new life, she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> had felt her heart +beat with gratitude to Him who had so freely given her all things, and +with a sincere desire to live to His glory. How had the desire been +carried out? A very busy life hers had been, and still was. The +innumerable cares and duties of her family and farm and dairy had +filled it with never-ceasing active occupations, as was natural and +right; but was it right that these occupations should have so crowded +out the very principle that would have given a holy harmony to her +life, and been a fountain of strength to meet the cares and worries +that will fret the stream of the most prosperous course? Sacred words, +learned in her childhood, recurred to her mind: "And the cares of this +world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things, +entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful." Had not that +been her own experience? Where were the fruits that might have been +expected from "the word" in her?—the Christian influence and training +which might have made her household what a Christian household ought +to be?</p> + +<p>Had not the "cares of this world" been made the chief concern—the +physical and material well-being of her family made far more prominent +than the development of a life hid with Christ in God? Had not the +very smoothness and prosperity of her life, and her self-complacency +in her own good management, been a snare to her? Her husband, good and +kind as he was, was, she knew, wholly engrossed with the things of +this life; and her boys—steadier, she often thought with pride, than +half the boys of the neighbourhood—had never yet been made to feel +that they were not their own, but bought with the price of a +Saviour's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> blood. Such higher knowledge as Bessie had was due to Miss +Preston, for, like many mothers, she had not scrupled to devolve her +own responsibilities on the Sunday-school teachers, and thought her +duty done when she had seen her children, neatly dressed, set off to +school on Sunday afternoon. And the little ones she had just left +asleep—had she earnestly commended them to the Lord, and tried to +teach them such simple truths about their Saviour as their infant +minds could receive?</p> + +<p>All these thoughts came crowding into her mind, as they sometimes will +when the voice of the Spirit can find an entrance into our usually +closed hearts; and she shrank from the thought of the account she +should have to give of the responsibilities abused, the trust +unfulfilled. Happily, she did not forget that "if we confess our sins, +He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins;" and that quiet hour +of meditation, and confession, and humble resolve was one of the most +profitable seasons Mrs. Ford had ever known. For God, unlike man, can +work without as well as with outward instrumentality.</p> + +<p>When the others returned from church, it was with some surprise that +Mrs. Ford heard from Bessie the words of the text.</p> + +<p>"I heard Mr. Raymond preach from that same text long ago, just after +we were married, John," she said.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you remember it, it's more than I do. But if he did preach +the same sermon over again, it is well worth hearing twice."</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed," said his wife. "I wish I had minded it better. It would +have been better for us all if we had.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> Bessie, are you too tired to +read a chapter as soon as the boys come in? We don't any of us read +the Bible enough, I'm afraid."</p> + +<p>And Bessie, struck by something unusual in her mother's tone and +manner, cheerfully read aloud, at Mrs. Ford's request, the thirteenth +of Matthew and the tenth of Hebrews, although the tempting +Sunday-school book still lay unread on the table up-stairs.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/image_041.jpg" width="150" height="141" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_042.jpg" width="600" height="198" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<h3><i>Nelly's Sunday Evening.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Oh, say not, dream not, heavenly notes<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To childish ears are vain,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That the young mind at random floats,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And cannot catch the strain."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_042_1.jpg" width="75" height="71" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>n the meantime let us go back to Nelly Connor, and see how <i>she</i> +spent her Sunday afternoon.</p> + +<p>When she had wistfully watched the last of the groups of children +disappearing in the distance, she walked slowly away toward her +"home"—a dilapidated-looking cottage in a potato patch, enclosed by a +broken-down fence, patched up by Nelly and her new mother with old +barrel-staves and branches of trees. The outdoor work which fell to +her lot Nelly did not so much dislike. It was the nursing of a +screaming baby, or scrubbing dingy, broken boards—work often imposed +upon her—which sorely tried her childish strength and patience.</p> + +<p>Nelly found the house deserted. Sunday being Mrs. Connor's idle day, +she usually went to visit some of her friends in the village, taking +her children with her. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> piece of bread and a mug of sour milk on the +table were all that betokened any preparation for Nelly's supper; but +she was glad enough to miss the harsh scolding tones that were her +usual welcome home.</p> + +<p>Nelly sat down on the doorstep to eat her crust, watching, as she did +so, a little bird which was bringing their evening meal to its +chirping little ones in a straggling old plum-tree near the house. For +in animal life there is no such discord as sin introduces into human +life, marring the beauty of God's arrangements for His creatures' +happiness. Then, having nothing to keep her at home, she took up her +dingy, tattered straw hat, and strolled slowly along towards the +village, keeping to the shady lanes on its outskirts till she came out +upon the fields across which Bessie had taken her way home.</p> + +<p>On her way she passed Mr. Raymond's pretty shrubbery, and stood for a +while quite still by the white railings, looking at the group +within—Lucy and her cousin sitting under the trees on the green turf, +with Harry and the rabbit close beside them. Nelly thought she had +never seen anything so pretty as Stella, with her rose-leaf complexion +and sunny golden hair. The two might have served a painter for a +contrast, both as to externals and as to the effect of the surrounding +influences which mould human life: the one, from her cradle so +tenderly and luxuriously nurtured, petted, and caressed; the other, +accustomed from her earliest years to privation and hardship, to harsh +tones and wicked words, to all the evil influences which surround a +child left to pick up its education on the city streets. Strange +mystery of the "election of circumstances!"—one of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> strangest in +our mystery-surrounded life, never to be cleared up till all crooked +things shall be made straight. Only let the privileged ones, whose +lines have fallen in pleasant places, remember that "to whom much is +given, of them much shall be required."</p> + +<p>A forlorn little figure Nelly looked as she strolled along the +field-paths which Bessie had taken an hour before. But she did not +trouble herself much about externals, except when in company with +others whose better attire made her painfully conscious of the defects +in her own; and being of a nature open to every impression from +surrounding objects, she was at that moment far from being an unhappy +child. It was not often that she was completely free to wander at +will; and the fresh breezy fields, the sweet scents of the clover and +the pines, the blue rippling river, and the cows that looked calmly at +her with their patient, wistful eyes, were all novelties to the town +child, whose first summer it was in the country. Some faint +recollections she still had of the grassy slopes of her native hills, +in the days of her early childhood; but since then all her experiences +of summer had been the hot, hard pavements and stifling dust of a +large city.</p> + +<p>She had never before extended her wanderings in the direction of Mill +Bank Farm so far as to reach the ravine through which the little +stream flowed into the river; and now, when she came to the edge of +the steep slope and looked down into the luxuriant depth of foliage +and fern and ragged moss-clad rock, she felt a sense of delight more +intense than Bessie Ford or Lucy Raymond, familiar all their lives +with such scenes, had ever experienced. She<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> stood spell-bound at +first, and then, scrambling down among rock and fern, reached the +little stream, and was soon wading about in its bed, enjoying the +sensation of the soft, warm water flowing over her bare feet, and +pulling the little flowering water-plants that raised their heads +among the moss-grown logs and stones which lay in the bed of the +stream. Then she began to climb up on the other side, stopping to +examine with admiring eyes every velvety cushion of moss, and cluster +of tiny ferns, and fairy-like baby pine or maple, and picking with +eager hands the wild roses and other blossoms which she espied among +the tangled underwood.</p> + +<p>At last, tired with her wanderings, and with hands full of her +treasures, she threw herself down on a bed of dry moss that carpeted +the top of a high bank of rock which overlooked the river winding away +beneath, while overhead, through the feathery sprays of the long, +straggling pine boughs, the slanting sunbeams flickered on the turf +below.</p> + +<p>There, in that solitary stillness—all the stiller for the confused +murmur of soft sounds, and the fresh, sweet breath of the woods +perfuming the air—unaccustomed thoughts came into the little girl's +mind,—thoughts which, in the din and bustle of the city, where the +tide of human interests sufficed to fill up her undeveloped mind, had +scarcely ever entered it. But here, where the direct works of God +alone were around her, her mind was irresistibly drawn towards Him of +whom Miss Preston had told her, that He had made her and all she saw +around her, and who lived, she supposed, somewhere beyond that blue +sky.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> With so many pleasant things around her, the thought of their +Maker was pleasant too. But then Miss Preston had told her that God +loved what was good, but hated what was bad; and did not her new +mother constantly tell her she was a "bad child?"—an accusation in +which her conscience told her there was much truth. So God could not +love her, she thought.</p> + +<p>But Miss Preston had said that God did love her—that He cared for her +continually, and wished to make her good and happy—that He had even, +in some strange way which she could not understand, sent His Son to +die for her, that she might be made good. It was all new and strange, +but she had faith in Miss Preston; and because she had told her, she +believed it must be true, that she, who had come to think +herself—poor child—too bad for any one to care for, had really a +great, kind Friend near her, though she could not see Him, and loving +her more than the mother whose warm caress she could still remember. +It was an idea that might seem beyond the grasp of a poor untaught +child, were it not that He who reveals Himself to babes and sucklings +can speak to the heart He has made in ways beyond our power to trace. +The idea in Nelly's mind of that wonderful love which she so sorely +needed, was more enlightened than many a philosopher's conception of +divinity, and the dark eyes filled with tears as a half-formed prayer +awoke from her heart to the loving Jesus, who, Miss Preston had told +her, would hear and answer her.</p> + +<p>And who could doubt that He did hear and answer the desolate, +uncared-for child, scarcely knowing as yet what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> "good" meant, since +her knowledge had been only of evil! Her conscience, however, was not +dead, though neglected; she knew at least what "wrong" was, and felt +she must leave off doing it if the Saviour was to be her friend. But +how should she be able to leave off her bad, idle ways, and become a +good, industrious girl, such as her new mother said most of the little +girls in Ashleigh were? Then she remembered the words which Miss +Preston had made her repeat, "Looking unto Jesus," and "I lay my sins +on Jesus," and that Miss Preston had told her she must ask Jesus to +take away her sins and make her good. But she thought the right place +for speaking to Jesus must be in the church, as most of the people she +had known in the city used to go to church "to confess," and she +supposed that must have something to do with it.</p> + +<p>Just then she saw the Fords passing at a little distance on their way +to church, and it occurred to her that she would go too; and perhaps +Jesus would hear her there, and show her how she was to be made good. +So she started up, and was speedily on the other side of the ravine, +almost overtaking the Fords before they reached the village. The +service was beginning when she crept stealthily into one of the +farthest back seats, half afraid lest she was doing wrong in thus +trespassing where she had no right. Then, crouched in a corner, with +her face bent forward and her elf-locks half covering her eyes, she +listened with intense earnestness, trying to take in all she could of +what was so new, yet already not unfamiliar to her, and half disposed +to think that the kindly-looking gentleman who stood there and spoke +in such solemn tones might be Jesus Himself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> + +<p>Let not the more favoured ones, on whom from their cradles the blessed +light of divine truth has steadily shone, smile at this poor child's +ignorance, but rather try to show their gratitude for higher +privileges, by seeking to impart some of the light shed on them so +abundantly to those who are still wandering in darkness.</p> + +<p>On Nelly's listening heart Mr. Raymond's sermon did not fall so +fruitlessly as some might have expected. For God is, for all, the +hearer and answerer of prayer, and He never leaves unheard the weakest +cry to Him. As the lonely child once more sought her comfortless home, +she felt a stirring of new hope within her, and scarcely minded her +mother's rough words when she demanded, "What have you been doing out +so late? No good, I am sure!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Connor had been enlarging, among sympathizing friends, on the +hardship of her having to support her husband's child when he did so +little himself for his family. "My goodness! all he gives us wouldn't +half pay Nelly's board," she had declared; and as her grievances were +still fresh in her mind, she greeted her step-child with even more +asperity than usual.</p> + +<p>But as Nelly crept away to her hard little bed, perhaps some angel, +sent to minister to the motherless child, may have known that the +"good-for-nothing," ignorant little girl, oppressed with the feeling +of her own sinfulness, and full of the thought of her new-found +heavenly Friend, was nearer the kingdom of heaven than the petted, +admired, winning Stella Brooke, who had never yet learned her need of +the Saviour, who came "not to call the righteous, but sinners to +repentance."</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><img src="images/image_049.jpg" width="600" height="228" alt="Decorative Image" /></div> + +<h3><i>Strawberrying</i>.</h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Why should we fear youth's draught of joy,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">If pure, would sparkle less?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Why should the cup the sooner cloy<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Which God has deigned to bless?"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_008_1.jpg" width="75" height="74" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>he "strawberry picnic" proposed by Alick Steele had been fixed for +the following Tuesday should it prove fine. Alick and Fred had been +over at Mill Bank Farm, and the younger Fords had agreed to meet them +at the ravine, with their contribution of milk and cream, and various +other things which Mrs. Ford's zealous housewifery would not be +prevented from sending, though Fred assured her that it was +unnecessary.</p> + +<p>"I know what young folks can eat, Mr. Fred," she replied, "and you may +as well have plenty;" and Alick laughingly assured her she was quite +right. Alick Steele, or the "young doctor," as his old friends now +began to call him, had been an acceptable guest at many a picnic and +merry-making, but he had never entered into anything<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> of the kind with +more spirit and zeal than he now threw into this simple gypsying +excursion with his country cousins.</p> + +<p>"He's no end of a fellow for a picnic," declared Harry +enthusiastically, "and ten times as good as Fred;" the quiet nature of +the latter always shrinking from any unusual bustle, while Alick's +unfailing flow of animal spirits found a congenial outlet in any +little extra excitement, especially when it was connected with the +procuring of enjoyment for others. He and Harry were busy all Monday +in exploring the ground and selecting the most eligible place for the +repast; and Harry averred, when they returned home, that they would +have a "splendid time" next day, if it were only fine.</p> + +<p>Next morning opened as fair and bright as the excursionists could +desire,—not too hot, but tempered by a pleasant breeze—"just the day +for the woods, and not too rough for the water." For Stella had +manifested such consternation at the idea of going through the +pasture—"cows always frightened her so"—that, notwithstanding the +raillery and the representations of Alick and Harry, it was evident +that her pleasure would be spoiled if she were obliged to go by the +field-path. Alick therefore had good-naturedly hunted up a boat, which +would save them a long dusty walk by the road, and greatly enhance the +pleasure of the excursion, besides carrying the "<i>impedimenta</i>," as +Fred classically termed the baskets of provisions. Marion Wood, a +playmate of Lucy's, was to accompany them in the boat, while Mrs. +Steele and the boys walked across the fields.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p> + +<p>As soon as the early dinner could be got over, the boat's cargo was +taken on board, the passengers embarked, and after some little screams +from Stella, who had a habit of being "nervous," the little bark shot +off, swift and straight, impelled by Alick's firm, skillful strokes. +The water-party reached the mouth of the ravine considerably sooner +than the others; and while awaiting their arrival, Alick rowed them to +a little fairy islet near the shore, where they landed to explore it, +and twine their hats with the graceful creepers and ferns growing +among its rocks. Then re-embarking, they floated at leisure up and +down the glassy shaded water, fringed with tall reeds, the girls +alternately trying their hands at the oars, till a shout from Harry +and the waving of handkerchiefs announced the arrival of the rest of +the party.</p> + +<p>The strawberry-pickers had soon begun their search. Fred, who +preferred rowing to strawberry-picking, undertook to take charge of +Harry, who was as eager for the water as a young duck; while Mrs. +Steele, taking out her knitting, sat down beside the baskets under a +spreading oak, on a knoll overlooking the river, to wait until there +should be a demand for tea.</p> + +<p>Very quickly the time sped away, while the children pursued their busy +but not laborious quest of the tempting berries, half hidden under +their spreading leaves; and many an exclamation, half of annoyance, +half of amusement, was uttered as one of them made a dart at a bright +spot of crimson, fancying it a rich cluster of berries, and finding +only a leaf.</p> + +<p>"Why in the world do strawberries have red leaves, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> wonder!" +exclaimed Harry, who, tired at last of boating, was pretending to help +them, though they all declared he ate as many as he picked.</p> + +<p>"To inure you to the disappointments of life," responded Alick +oracularly. "You'll find, as you go along, there are more red +strawberry leaves than berries all through."</p> + +<p>And Alick half sighed, as if he had already learned the lesson by +experience.</p> + +<p>"There's one thing, Alick, of which that remark doesn't hold good," +remarked Fred to his cousin in an undertone. "My father says <i>that</i> +sheet-anchor will bear us up through all the disappointments of life; +and I believe it."</p> + +<p>"Well, very likely you're right,—well for those who can feel it so. +But at present I can't say I belong to that happy number. Some time or +other, perhaps. You know my head has been full of all sorts of ologies +except theology for a good while back."</p> + +<p>"The 'more convenient season,' Alick," replied Fred, with a half +smile.</p> + +<p>"Here, a truce to moralizing. Who's got the most strawberries? The +premium is to be the finest bunch in the collection," shouted Alick.</p> + +<p>And after the prize had been with much ceremony and mirth adjudged to +Bessie Ford, it was time to think about tea.</p> + +<p>"Come," said Alick, "shoulder arms, that is, baskets, and march!"</p> + +<p>All were very ready to obey Alick's word of command, and the merry +party were soon collected around the snowy tablecloth spread on the +turf, on which Mrs. Steele had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> arranged the tempting repast of pies +and cakes, curds and cream, to which a fine large dish of +strawberries—a contribution from the farm—formed a tempting +addition.</p> + +<p>Fred, at his aunt's request, asked a blessing, and then the good +things were welcomed by the appetites sharpened by fresh air and +exercise; and the feast was enlivened by the innocent glee and frolic +which usually enliven such simple country parties, unfettered by form, +and unsophisticated by any of the complications which creep into more +elaborate picnics. Even Stella, though she felt the whole +affair—especially the presence of the farmer's children—rather below +her dignity as an embryo city belle, gave herself up unrestrainedly to +the enjoyment of the occasion, and was more natural and free from what +Alick called "airs" than she had been at any time during her visit. +But the party were quite unconscious that they were watched, through +the thickly drooping boughs of a large hickory, by a pair of bright, +dark eyes, which were wistfully regarding them. The eyes were those of +Nelly Connor, who, having been unexpectedly left free that afternoon +to follow her own devices, had wandered away in the direction of the +spot which had so fascinated her on Sunday.</p> + +<p>When the tea was fairly over, and cups, dishes, and other +paraphernalia were being packed up by Mrs. Steele and the girls, +Stella, who, not being inclined to assist in such a menial occupation, +was wandering aimlessly about, made a discovery.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Lucy," she exclaimed, coming hurriedly up to her, "there is such +a ragged, bold-looking little girl sitting over there! She has been +watching us the whole time."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, her watching wouldn't hurt us," said Lucy, smiling at her +cousin's consternation. "I hope she was pleased with what she saw. +Why, it's Nelly Connor!" she added as the little girl emerged from her +hiding-place. "What can have brought <i>her</i> here? I'll get Aunt Mary to +give her something to eat. I daresay she's hungry enough, for Miss +Preston told me she didn't think her new mother gave her enough to +eat."</p> + +<p>"I think she ought to be scolded and sent away," said Stella +decidedly. "You are just encouraging her impertinence in coming here +to watch us."</p> + +<p>But Lucy had already run off to her aunt, and was soon carrying a +plate heaped with good things to the astonished Nelly, who, frightened +at being discovered, and at Stella's frowning looks, was thinking how +she might make good her escape. Stella had only spoken as she had been +accustomed to hear those around her speak. She had been brought up to +look upon poverty and rags as something almost wicked in themselves, +and had never realized that feelings the same as her own might lie +under an exterior she despised. She had never been taught the meaning +of "I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave +me drink." Lucy, on the contrary, had been taught to consider it the +highest privilege and gratification to impart a share of the bounties +bestowed upon herself to the poor and needy whom our Saviour has left +as a legacy to His followers, and had already tasted the happiness of +lightening somewhat the load of poverty and hardship which press upon +some during all their lives.</p> + +<p>She soon reassured Nelly, and had the satisfaction of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> seeing her +enjoy the food with the zest of one to whom such delicacies were rare +indeed, and whose appetite was very seldom fully satisfied at home. +She explained to the rest that Nelly was in her class at Sunday +school; and Stella mentally put it down as another objection to going +there, that it involved the possibility of such undesirable +acquaintanceships. Alick was much interested in the little wanderer; +and even after the rest had set off towards the farmhouse, which they +were to visit before returning, he remained beside her, drawing from +her, bit by bit, her touching history, until she began to remember how +late it was, and started homeward, much astonished and cheered by the +kindness and sympathy she had met with.</p> + +<p>Alick found the rest of the party exploring the farmyard, admiring the +cows, particularly Mrs. Ford's sleek, glossy black favourite; while +Harry was, to his intense delight, cantering up and down the road to +the gate, on the stout little pony which the farmer usually rode to +market.</p> + +<p>As there was a full moon, there was no hurry about returning; and on +the arrival of Mr. Raymond, who had walked over to meet them, Mrs. +Ford insisted on their coming in for a while. And before they took +their leave she brought out her large family Bible for evening +worship, with the request that Mr. Raymond would read and pray before +his departure; "for," she said, "I know we don't mind these things +half enough, and we'd be all the better of a word or two from you."</p> + +<p>Mr. Raymond read the last chapter of Ecclesiastes, making a few brief +but impressive comments on the insufficiency for true happiness of the +enjoyments which this life can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> furnish, fair and good gifts of God +though such enjoyments may be. "The time would come, even in this +life," he said, "when the joys of this world would be found wanting. +And after this life, what would be their condition who had made this +world their portion, and had 'not remembered their Creator in the days +of their youth?'" Doubt-less the thought of his own youthful circle, +and of the strong, ruddy young Fords, all so full of health and life +and joyous spirits, was strongly upon him when he dwelt so earnestly +upon the words: "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart +cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart +and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these +things God will bring thee into judgment."</p> + +<p>Then, reading part of the third chapter of the First Epistle of John, +he directed his hearers to the wonderful privileges provided for them, +so far transcending all mere temporal gifts—to the "love the Father +hath bestowed, that we should be called the sons of God,"—showing how +these privileges were to be grasped through faith in the love which +laid down life for us; and how that love, flowing into the heart, was +to purify the life by enabling us to do the things which are pleasing +in His sight.</p> + +<p>The solemn, earnest words—few, but well chosen—seeming to come with +peculiar power after the day of joyous excitement, touched responsive +chords in the hearts of most of the young party, who looked earnest +and thoughtful; though who could tell whether the impression should be +an abiding one, or should pass away like the "early dew?" Lucy and +Bessie listened with real interest—the latter,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> especially, with much +more than she would have felt a few days before; and Mrs. Ford +silently renewed her good resolutions to seek to influence her family +to choose the "better part, which could not be taken away from them."</p> + +<p>Lucy could not help glancing at Stella when the verses in the chapter +about want of compassion for the brother or sister in need were read; +but Stella looked placidly unconscious, and indeed her thoughts were +far away,—considering how she should best impress Marian Wood, on +their way home, with a due sense of the grandeur of her city life.</p> + +<p>After many kind parting salutations, and warm invitations from Mrs. +Ford to come soon and spend an afternoon at the farm, the party took +leave; one division proceeding homeward by the winding road, lying +white in the full moonlight, as the fields were now wet with dew, +while the others took the shortest cut to the river, where the boat +was lying. Very little was said during most of the way, except some +subdued exclamations of delight as they passed out from the deep +shadow of the overhanging rocks into the broad river, which glittered +in the moonlight like a sheet of dazzling silver, roughened by the +slightest ripple, and past point after point of luxuriant foliage, +looking dream-like and unreal in the light that silvered their +glistening leaves.</p> + +<p>As they neared the village, Lucy suddenly recollected their unexpected +guest. "I wonder how Nelly got home! Did she stay long after we left, +Alick?" she said.</p> + +<p>"No; she said her mother would be angry if she were out late, so she +set off at a run."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Lucy," said Stella, "I wonder how you can have anything to do with +such a vagabond-looking child! I'm sure she was watching to see +whether she could pick up anything; and she looked just like a gipsy."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Stella! how can you be so suspicious?" exclaimed Lucy +indignantly. "I don't believe Nelly would do any such thing! No wonder +the poor child was watching us while we were at tea; didn't you see +how hungry she was?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I know we've had things stolen by just such children, and papa +says it's best to keep such people down; for they're sure to impose on +those who are kind to them, and charity is quite thrown away upon +them."</p> + +<p>"A convenient belief to save trouble," Lucy was just going to say, but +wisely repressed the impulse, feeling that it would not sound very +respectful to Stella's father, who, she felt, must be a very different +man from her own.</p> + +<p>"Stella," said Alick, "did it ever occur to you what you might have +been if you had been left, motherless and almost fatherless, to run +all day on the streets, listening to bad words and seeing all sorts of +evil, without any one to say a kind word to you and teach you what is +right? I wish you could have heard the poor little thing's story as +she told it to me." And in a few words he gave them an outline of +Nelly's history.</p> + +<p>"Papa says you never can believe their stories," objected the +city-hardened Stella.</p> + +<p>"I know you can't always," replied Alick; "but I think I'm not easily +taken in, and I'm willing to stake my judgment on this being no sham. +And how would <i>you</i> have turned out from such a bringing-up, +Mademoiselle Stella?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And where is her father?" Lucy asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, her father works on a boat, and is seldom at home. They came to +live here because it is cheaper, and they can have a pig and raise +potatoes."</p> + +<p>"I wonder whether she can read," said Lucy.</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't think so, for she never was at school in her life, nor at +church either, since they left Ireland, till last Sunday."</p> + +<p>"I wonder," said Stella, "whether she understood anything she heard."</p> + +<p>"Possibly she might be able to give as good an account of the sermon +as some other people," remarked Alick mischievously. "Come, Stella, +what was the text?"</p> + +<p>"I don't believe you know yourself," retorted Stella, colouring; and, +fortunately for her, Alick's attention was just then directed to the +care of landing his passengers.</p> + +<p>As they walked home, Stella and Marian in front, eagerly engrossed in +a children's party which the former was describing, Lucy remarked +impatiently to Alick, "How can Stella talk in that hard, unfeeling way +about poor people?"</p> + +<p>"Poor girl!" said Alick, "it is sad to see any one so spoiled by +living in a cold worldly atmosphere. As you know more of the world, +Lucy, you will be more and more thankful for such a home as you have +always had."</p> + +<p>Lucy was silent. Her cousin's words made her feel that she had been +indulging in self-righteous and uncharitable feelings, and she felt +humbled at the lesson which she had thus received from one who did not +profess to be a Christian, in one of a Christian's most important +graces. But she accepted the rebuke, and she added to her evening<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +prayer the petition that she might be made more humble, and less ready +to condemn; as well as that Stella's heart might be opened to receive +the love of Christ, and, through this, of her poor earthly brothers +and sisters.</p> + +<p>The little party were soon assembled at home, and after cheerful +"good-nights,"—Harry remarking that "he was awful tired, but there +never had been a nicer picnic,"—the wearied excursionists soon lost +all sense of fatigue in peaceful slumbers and happy dreams.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/image_060.jpg" width="150" height="138" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><img src="images/image_061.jpg" width="600" height="213" alt="Decorative Image" /></div> + +<h3><i>A Mission.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And if this simple message<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Has now brought peace to you,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Make known the old, old story,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For others need it too."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_008_1.jpg" width="75" height="74" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>wo days after the picnic was the day fixed upon for Miss Preston's +wedding, to which, as has been said, Lucy had been invited to +accompany her father and aunt. Stella had not been included in the +invitation, which she privately thought a great omission. It would +have been such a good opportunity for showing the Ashleigh people how +they dress in the city, and she felt sure that, tastefully attired in +a lovely white grenadine, which would have been just the thing for the +occasion, she and her dress would have added no small <i>éclat</i> to the +wedding.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless she behaved very amiably to Lucy, who, when she pressed +her to wear one of her own pretty white dresses, and offered to lend +her any of her ornaments which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> she fancied, felt somewhat ashamed of +her own condemnatory feelings toward her cousin, since it is a very +natural tendency in all of us to make our own estimate of others +depend to a considerable extent upon their treatment of ourselves.</p> + +<p>However, she adhered to her original determination of wearing the +simple India muslin, which had been her own dear mother's bridal dress +(its trimmings having been worked by her own hands), and all Stella's +representations that it was "old-fashioned" failed to produce any +effect. She would indeed have felt it treason to admit its inferiority +to any of her cousin's more stylish dresses. But, to please Stella, +she accepted the loan of a sash pressed upon her by her cousin, who +took a considerable amount of trouble in the arrangement of her +toilet, and in weaving, with innate skill, a graceful wreath of +delicate pink rosebuds and green leaves, which she fastened on Lucy's +dark hair, and pronounced the effect "charming," while Alick +complimented her on her skill. Lucy was conscious of looking better +than she had ever done before. It made her think just a little too +much about her appearance, and then she felt humbled at seeing in +herself the germ of the very feeling she had despised in her cousin.</p> + +<p>The wedding arrangements were very quiet and simple. Lucy, who had +never been present on so important an occasion, enjoyed it very much, +notwithstanding her sorrow at parting with her teacher, whom she +thought the very ideal of a bride in her simple bridal dress. Its +simplicity, indeed, would probably have scandalized Stella, but Miss +Preston was not going to be rich, or mingle in gay society,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> and she +wisely thought show and finery quite out of place. But she had long +made it her chief aim to possess that best ornament of "a meek and +quiet spirit," which, we are told, "in the sight of God is of great +price."</p> + +<p>Before her departure she took Lucy apart to say a few words of loving +counsel.</p> + +<p>"I hope you will try to work for Christ, dear Lucy," she said, "as He +gives you opportunity. Remember, a Christian who does not work is only +half a Christian. Now I think if you tried, you might do Nelly Connor +some good. She wants a friend very much, and is easily won by +kindness."</p> + +<p>"I should be glad to do anything I could," said Lucy; "but what would +be best to try?"</p> + +<p>"Well, poor Nelly can't read a word, you know, and I am afraid her +stepmother would not spare her to go to school. But suppose you were +to get her to come to you for half an hour a day. I think her mother +might be induced to let her do that. And a short reading-lesson every +day would soon bring her on."</p> + +<p>Lucy was a little disappointed. It seemed such common-place drudgery +to drill an untaught child in the alphabet and spelling-book. Her +vague idea of "work for Christ" had been of a more exalted nature. But +her friend added: "I don't mean that you should not teach her better +things also. You could, little by little, teach her a good deal about +Christ in the course of your daily lessons. But sometimes we may serve +Him best by doing His commonest work. And think what you will do for +this poor child by putting it in her power to read the Bible for +herself, and have access at all times to our Saviour's own words!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> + +<p>Lucy willingly promised to try, and then Mrs. Harris, as Miss Preston +was now called, bade her an affectionate farewell, before going to +exchange the parting words with the members of her own family. Lucy +watched by the gate till she saw the carriage drive off, and then, +overcome by the reaction from the excitement of the occasion, hurried +home through the quiet shady lane, and disregarding Stella's call, +never stopped till she reached her own room.</p> + +<p>There the astonished Stella found her lying on her bed, crying +bitterly, and asked in alarm the cause of her distress. That the +parting from a Sunday-school teacher, a friend so much older than +herself, could have called forth such emotion, Stella could not +comprehend; and it was difficult for Lucy to explain it to so +unsympathetic a listener.</p> + +<p>"Why, I'm sure I shan't cry so when Sophy is married and goes south, a +great deal farther away than Miss Preston. Now tell me how she was +dressed."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Stella! I can't just now," sobbed Lucy, whose crying was partly +the result of nervous excitement, as well as of her realizing for the +first time Miss Preston's departure. And Stella, finding her attempts +to soothe her unavailing, returned to her story-book, until the +arrival of Mrs. Steele, whom she found more communicative.</p> + +<p>"And where is Lucy?" inquired her aunt, after satisfying Stella's +curiosity. "She must have slipped away very quietly."</p> + +<p>"Oh, she's in her own room. She was crying so, it was no use to speak +to her. I don't know what for."</p> + +<p>"She is very fond of her teacher, and I don't wonder at her crying on +losing her. She is a great loss to us all."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What a fuss they all <i>do</i> make over her! I'm sure she didn't seem +anything particular," thought Stella as she accompanied Mrs. Steele +up-stairs. Lucy had fallen asleep, but awoke on their entrance, and +started up to arrange her disordered dress and hair before going to +tea.</p> + +<p>"Just look how you have crushed your nice dress now!" exclaimed Stella +reproachfully. "And the wreath too! It might have been fresh all the +evening. You might have taken them off if you wanted to lie down."</p> + +<p>"I didn't think of it," said Lucy apologetically, somewhat remorseful +for not having treated the result of Stella's labour with more +respect. "But I shouldn't have worn it all the evening, at any rate, +for after tea I am going to see Nelly Connor."</p> + +<p>"What! that girl we saw in the wood? What are you going to see her +for?" exclaimed Stella.</p> + +<p>"Miss Preston—I mean Mrs. Harris—wants me to try to get her to come +to learn to read, if papa and Aunt Mary have no objection; and I'm +sure they won't."</p> + +<p>It was to Stella a bewildering phenomenon, that Lucy should really go +out of her way to invite such a girl to the house. However, partly +from curiosity, and partly from having nothing better to do, she +acceded to Lucy's invitation to accompany her; and after tea the girls +set off, Mrs. Steele warning Lucy to be very conciliatory to Mrs. +Connor, or she would not accomplish her object.</p> + +<p>They soon reached the side of the green slope on the river bank, on +which the Connors' cottage stood, and were following the path to the +house, when they encountered Nelly herself, struggling up the hill +with a heavy pail of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> water. Her brown, weather-tanned face lighted up +with a glad smile when she recognised Lucy, and in reply to her +inquiry she said she was carrying up water for the next day's washing.</p> + +<p>"And do you carry it all up from the river?" said Lucy.</p> + +<p>"Yes, miss, every drop," replied Nelly, with a weary little sigh.</p> + +<p>"Nelly, would you like to learn to read?" asked Lucy, plunging at once +into her errand.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, miss," was the rather doubtful reply.</p> + +<p>"Why, wouldn't you like to be able to read that nice hymn Miss Preston +gave you, for yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, miss, I'd like to be able, but I don't know if I'd like the +learning."</p> + +<p>Lucy laughed, as did Stella also, and Nelly herself.</p> + +<p>"Well, as you can't be able to do it without learning, don't you think +you'd better try?" asked Lucy.</p> + +<p>"I don't think mother would let me; and I must hurry now, or she'll be +angry at me keeping her waiting, with the baby to mind."</p> + +<p>But just then a large dog, rushing down the hill, upset poor Nelly's +pail.</p> + +<p>"Holy Mary!" she exclaimed, using the ejaculation she had been +accustomed to hear from infancy, "there's all my water spilt;" and +seizing her pail, she had run down to refill it, before Lucy was able +to begin an intended reproof.</p> + +<p>The girls watched her refill her pail, and return towards the cottage +by a nearer though steeper path. Mrs. Connor, a tall, bony, +discontented-looking woman, had come to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> door to look for Nelly. +Not seeing the young ladies, who were approaching the house from the +other side, she screamed out in a harsh voice as Nelly approached:</p> + +<p>"What have you been doing all this time, keeping me waiting with the +child in my arms?"</p> + +<p>"It was a dog," began Nelly, setting down her pail. But before she +could finish her sentence she was roughly shaken, and sharp blows +descended about her ears.</p> + +<p>"I'll teach you to spend your time playing with dogs when I'm waiting +for you. There, be off, and mind the baby;" and Nelly, putting up her +hands to her face, ran crying into the house.</p> + +<p>Lucy stood for an instant pale with indignation, and then, the impulse +of the moment making her forget all her aunt's warnings as to being +conciliatory, and her own prudent resolves, she announced her presence +by exclaiming, in a voice unsteady with emotion: "Mrs. Connor, it's a +shame to beat Nelly like that, when she hasn't been doing any harm. It +was my fault she was so long, for I stopped her to speak to her, and +then a dog overturned her pail."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Connor was startled at finding there had been spectators of her +violence; but she did not betray any shame she might have felt, and +coolly regarding Lucy, she replied:</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't see what business it is of yours, anyhow. If young +ladies hain't nothin' better to do than meddle with other folks' +children, they'd better let that be!"</p> + +<p>"What an impertinent woman!" said Stella, quite loud enough for her to +hear. "Lucy, can't you come away and let her alone?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Lucy, though a good deal discomposed by her reception, was +determined not to be easily moved from her object; and having by this +time remembered her conciliatory resolve, she said, as quietly as she +could:</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Connor, my father is Mr. Raymond, the clergyman. I came to see +if you would let Nelly come to our house every day to learn to read. +It's a great pity she shouldn't know how."</p> + +<p>"I don't care who your father is," retorted the woman in the same +insolent tone. "I don't see what you've got to do with it, whether +it's a pity or not. The child's lazy enough already, without havin' +them idees put into her head; and better people than her do without +book-learning."</p> + +<p>"Lucy, do come away! I shan't stop to listen to her impudence," +exclaimed Stella as she turned and walked away with a haughty air. +Mrs. Connor's quick eye followed her, and she half muttered to +herself, "A city gal!" Then, taking up the pail which Nelly had set +down, she went into the house without vouchsafing another look at +Lucy, who, seeing the uselessness of pressing her point, hastened to +join her cousin.</p> + +<p>"Now you see, Lucy, you only get yourself insulted trying to do any +good to such people," said Stella triumphantly. "I remember one of +Sophy's friends once wanted her to go visiting poor people with her, +and papa said he wouldn't have her go on any account; it was all +nonsense running all sorts of risks to do good to people who didn't +want it."</p> + +<p>"But it wasn't Mrs. Connor, but Nelly, that I wanted to do good to, +and she can't help what her odious step<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>mother does. Only think what +it must be to live with her!"</p> + +<p>"I'd run away! But you see Nelly herself didn't seem to care about +learning to read."</p> + +<p>"Because she didn't know the good of it," replied Lucy. "But what +should you or I have done if we hadn't been made to learn, whether we +liked it or not?"</p> + +<p>"That's quite different. This girl will always have to work, I +suppose, and would get on well enough without learning to read. I know +mamma was always complaining that our servants were reading trashy +novels, that filled their heads with nonsense and made them +discontented."</p> + +<p>"But you could have given them something better to read," suggested +Lucy.</p> + +<p>Stella said nothing in reply to this; nor did she enlighten Lucy as to +the fact that in reading "trashy novels" the servants were only +following their young mistresses' example. Lucy in the meantime was +thinking what up-hill work doing good was, and how hard it was to know +how to do it. Suddenly she remembered her motto; she had been +forgetting that the difficulties of the way were to be met in a +strength not her own. Perhaps it was because she had not first asked +for that strength, that she had met with so little success; and she +regretted having so soon departed from her resolution of "looking to +Jesus" in everything.</p> + +<p>But Stella soon roused from her "brown study," as she called it, by +various questions as to Mrs. Harris's route of travel, and also as to +her travelling dress, which Lucy was very ill prepared to answer, +having cast hardly a passing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> glance at it, in her sorrow for her +teacher's departure. On their way home they overtook Mrs. Steele and +Alick, to whom were soon related the particulars of their mission, +Stella imitating Mrs. Connor's tone and manner to the life, as she +graphically reproduced the conversation, much to Alick's amusement, +though he ground his teeth with indignation on hearing of the violent +treatment Nelly had received.</p> + +<p>"What a woman! You mustn't leave the poor child to her tender mercies. +What can she turn out, brought up under such a termagant? Suppose I +try and bring the old lady round with a little judicious flattery?"</p> + +<p>"I think I can manage the matter," said Mrs. Steele. "I shall make a +bargain with Mrs. Connor, and promise to give her a day's work once a +fortnight, provided she will let Nelly come here for half an hour +every day. But do you think the child herself will be willing to +come?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm sure she'll be willing to come where any one is kind to her, +she has so little kindness at home," replied Lucy.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Steele proved right. By her more judicious management and +substantial inducement, Mrs. Connor was persuaded to give an +ungracious assent to the plan proposed for Nelly's benefit. But, as if +to be as disagreeable as possible, even in consenting, she fixed upon +the time which Lucy would least have chosen for the task. The only +time when she could spare Nelly, she said, was in the evening, after +the children were in bed. It was the time when Lucy most enjoyed being +out, watering her flowers, or taking an evening walk, or row with the +others. But the choice lay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> between doing the work then, or not at +all; and when she thought how light was the task given her to do, and +how slight the sacrifice, she felt ashamed of her inclination to +murmur at it.</p> + +<p>So Nelly's education began with the alphabet; and though it was a +drudgery both for teacher and pupil, reciprocal kindness and gratitude +helped on the task, and before many weeks had passed Nelly was +spelling words of two syllables, and had learned some truths, at +least, of far greater importance.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/image_071.jpg" width="150" height="139" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_008.jpg" width="600" height="203" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<h3><i>Temptations.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Or rather help us, Lord, to choose the good—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To pray for naught, to seek to none but Thee;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor by our 'daily bread' mean common food;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Nor say, 'From this world's evil set us free.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_008_1.jpg" width="75" height="74" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>he Sunday school was again assembled on another Sunday afternoon, +some weeks later. The day was even warmer than the one on which our +story opened, and all the church windows were opened to their widest +extent, to admit every breath of air which came in through the waving +pine boughs. Lucy had been promoted to teach a small class of her own, +in which Nelly Connor had willingly taken her place. She was indeed +advancing faster in spiritual than in secular learning; for in the +first she had the best of all teachers, to whose teaching her simple +heart was open—the Holy Spirit Himself.</p> + +<p>Bessie Ford had found another teacher, and beside her sat Stella, who, +partly from finding her Sunday afternoons<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> dull, and partly from +feeling that it was her uncle's wish that she should accompany Lucy to +Sunday school, had overcome her objection to it so far as to go with +her cousin. And having found out on the first Sunday how deficient she +herself was in Bible knowledge, and never liking to appear inferior to +others in anything, she took some pains to prepare her lessons, at +least so far that her ignorance might not lower her in the eyes of her +classmates. It was a poor motive, certainly; still, seeds of divine +truth were gradually finding their way into her heart, which might in +time germinate and bear fruit. And her stay in Mr. Raymond's +household, where "serving the Lord" was avowedly the ruling principle, +had already exercised a healthful influence over her impressionable +nature.</p> + +<p>On this particular Sunday the interesting announcement was made, that +the annual "picnic" or Sunday-school excursion was to take place on +the following Wednesday, the place being a beautiful oak wood about a +mile from the church, in the opposite direction from Mill Bank Farm. +As little groups clustered together on leaving the church door, there +was a general buzz of talk about the picnic.</p> + +<p>Lucy stopped Nelly Connor to ask her whether she thought her mother +would let her go to the picnic.</p> + +<p>Poor Nelly looked very doubtful as she replied, "I don't know; I'm +afraid not."</p> + +<p>"Well, Nelly, I'll see what can be done about it," said Lucy +encouragingly.</p> + +<p>"But I haven't anything decent to wear to it, miss," replied Nelly, +looking dolefully down on the tattered frock, which her mother never +took the trouble to mend, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> which she, poor child, could not, +except in the most bungling fashion.</p> + +<p>Lucy walked home thoughtfully, and, as the fruit of her meditation, a +print dress of her own was next morning produced, and a consultation +was held with her aunt as to the practicability of altering it to fit +Nelly. "I only wonder I didn't think of it before," she said, "for she +is always so miserably dressed. Will you help me to make it up, +Stella?"</p> + +<p>"My dear, I wouldn't know how! The most I ever sewed in my life was to +hem a pocket-handkerchief."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Steele looked shocked at such deficiency in what she rightly +considered a most important part of female education. She had always +taken care that Lucy should spare enough time from her more congenial +studies, to learn at least to sew neatly.</p> + +<p>"Why, Stella!" Lucy exclaimed, "you're almost as bad as poor Nelly, +who said she had never learned to sew because 'nobody had teached +her.'"</p> + +<p>"I've never had time to learn. I like embroidery better; and mamma +said we should never need to do plain sewing, so she didn't see the +use of our taking up our time with it."</p> + +<p>"No one knows what she may have to do," remarked Mrs. Steele gently. +"It is always best to know how, at any rate."</p> + +<p>"Well, I hope I shall never have to, for I should hate it!"</p> + +<p>However, when Lucy was fairly at work on the little frock, Stella +good-naturedly offered to help her a little, though, never having been +trained to perseverance in anything, her assistance was not very +efficient.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bessie Ford had gone home from Sunday school with her head turned by +hearing some foolish talk about her dress. Alas! how often it is that +Sunday scholars, on leaving the school, instead of giving one thought +to the divine truths they have been hearing, allow their attention to +be absorbed with the petty frivolities in which their thoughts run +wild!</p> + +<p>"Mother," said Bessie, after she had duly announced the intended +picnic, "can't I have a new pink sash for my white frock? Nancy Parker +is going to have ever so many new things."</p> + +<p>"No, child," said her mother, "you don't need a new sash. Your frock +looks quite well enough without one. But I've been thinking you'd be +the better of a new hat, for the one you have looks a little brown. +And as you've been a pretty good girl, and a deal less forgetful of +late, I wouldn't mind getting you a new hat, if you'll hurry and +finish up that plain sewing you've had in hand so long. It's time it +was done and put away."</p> + +<p>Bessie looked a little disappointed. The new hat was not so attractive +as the sash would have been. Suddenly her mother's remark on the +brownness of her hat suggested the image of Nelly's tattered, dingy +one, which she had noticed that afternoon.</p> + +<p>"What would you do with my old hat, mother," she said, "if I get a new +one?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. You've your sun-bonnet for wearing about the farm. Put +it by for Jenny, perhaps," suggested the thrifty Mrs. Ford.</p> + +<p>"Might I give it to Nelly Connor, mother? Hers will hardly stay +together."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Ford had never seen Nelly, but she knew something of her forlorn +situation. "I'm sure," she said, "I shouldn't mind if you did. I dare +say it would be charity to her, poor thing." And it occurred to her to +think whether she, a well-to-do farmer's wife, had been as abundant in +deeds of charity as she might have been.</p> + +<p>Bessie considered the matter settled, and next day set to work with +renewed zeal on the "plain sewing," which had been getting on very +languidly; for Bessie was not fond of long, straight seams, or of +sitting still for any length of time. She set herself a task as she +took her seat under the spreading butternut-tree; and Jenny and Jack +came to beg for "a story." Bessie's story-telling powers had been +largely developed of late, to make the Sunday lessons she had begun to +give the restless little things more palatable to them. Only the +promise of "a story" could fix their attention long enough to commit +to memory a simple verse. And her powers once found out, she soon had +demands upon her for stories to a greater extent than her patience was +always equal to satisfying.</p> + +<p>Bessie had become, as her mother had noticed, much more thoughtful of +late. Her card, hung up in her room, kept always before her mind her +resolution to "look to Jesus" for help to live to please Him. And +though she still often forgot and yielded to temptation, yet, on the +whole, she was steadily advancing in that course in which all must be +either going forward or backward. Her mother noticed that this decided +improvement dated from the day when she had brought home the card,—a +day which had not been without influence on herself,—although, when +worldly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> principles have been long suffered to hold undisputed sway, +it is difficult at once to overcome old habits; and lost ground is not +less hard to retrieve in spiritual than in earthly things.</p> + +<p>Bessie was still diligently working at her "task," when she saw Nancy +Parker running up across the fields.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bessie," she said breathlessly, "get ready and come right away. +My cousins have come to spend the day, and we're going boating up the +river, and then home to supper. The rest are all waiting in the boat +down there, and I ran up to get you. So be quick!"</p> + +<p>Bessie hesitated. If she went with Nancy, a considerable portion of +the work she had set herself to do would be left undone. Besides, her +mother had gone to Ashleigh, leaving her in charge; and Bessie was not +at all sure that, had she been at home, she would approve of her +joining the party.</p> + +<p>To be sure, she could not be absolutely certain of her mother's +disapproval, and she could easily run down for Sam to come and stay +with the children. At the worst, she did not think her mother would be +much displeased; and the thought of the pleasant row, and the merry +party, and all the "fun" they would have, offered no small temptation.</p> + +<p>"Quick, Bessie!" Nancy urged, impatient of her delay.</p> + +<p>"I don't think I can go, Nancy. Mother's out, and I've a lot of sewing +to do."</p> + +<p>"Bother the sewing! Your mother wouldn't mind, I'm sure. Mine lets me +do exactly as I like. Come and get ready;" and she pulled Bessie from +her seat, and drew her, half-resisting, towards the house.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p> + +<p>They went up-stairs together, Bessie feeling far from satisfied with +herself for yielding where conscience told her she ought not to yield.</p> + +<p>"My!" said Nancy, whose quick eyes had been glancing round the room, +"what a grand ticket you've got hanging up there! Where did you get +it?"</p> + +<p>Bessie's eye turned to her motto, and she stood for a minute looking +at it in silence. Then, instead of replying to the question, she said, +"Nancy, I cannot go; it wouldn't be right."</p> + +<p>"Well, that's a nice way to treat me!" said Nancy angrily. "After my +waiting so long, too. Why, don't you know your own mind? Come, you +can't change now; I'm not going to be cheated, after all my trouble."</p> + +<p>"I'm very sorry, Nancy; but I oughtn't to have said I would go at all. +Don't wait any longer. But I'll go down to the boat with you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't trouble yourself; I can do without your company." And off +she ran, before Bessie could say any more.</p> + +<p>Bessie felt sorry at having vexed Nancy, and thought a little +wistfully of the afternoon's pleasure that she might have had. But she +felt satisfied that she had done right, and felt thankful that she had +had strength given to resist a temptation to which she now felt she +would have done very wrong to yield. So she went back to her shady +seat with a light heart, and stitched away diligently, not repining +although she heard the merry voices of the party, borne to her from +the river.</p> + +<p>As her mother had not returned by the time her task was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> completed, +she went in and got tea ready; and then calling up two of the gentlest +cows, she had milked them by the time Mrs. Ford appeared, tired and +dusty from her long walk. Her pleased surprise at Bessie's thoughtful +industry in getting through so much of the work which she thought was +still before her, was in itself sufficient reward for the self-denial; +and Bessie felt what a shame it would have been if her mother, +fatigued as she was, had had everything to do on her return, while +<i>she</i> was away on a pleasure-party.</p> + +<p>Of course Mrs. Ford was soon informed of Nancy's visit and invitation. +"Oh, my child!" she exclaimed, "I am so glad you refused to go. Mrs. +Thompson, in the village, was just telling me about these cousins of +Nancy's, and says they are the wildest set in Burford, and that their +society wouldn't do Nancy any good. So, if you had gone, I should have +been very sorry. I'm so glad you didn't!"</p> + +<p>How glad Bessie was that she had been enabled to resist the +temptation! But she felt she could not take the credit to herself; so +she said:</p> + +<p>"I had the greatest mind to go, mother, but something told me I +shouldn't, just as I was almost going."</p> + +<p>"Well, it's all the same to me, as you didn't go. And you were a real +good girl, Bessie, to stay!"</p> + +<p>What a safeguard is a definite duty conscientiously pursued! If Bessie +had not had her task of sewing to finish, with the feeling that it was +her duty to do it, she might have been more easily led away against +her better judgment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> + +<p>Nelly Connor had had her temptation, too, the same evening. Her mother +had sent her to take home some clothes she had been washing; and as +Nelly was carrying the basket, she noticed a pretty pink printed frock +lying on the top, which looked as if it would exactly fit her. How +nice it would be, she thought, if she had such a frock to wear to the +picnic! Then came one of the evil suggestions which the tempter is so +ready to put into the heart: what if she should keep it till the +picnic was over, and wear it just that once? She could hide it, and +put it on somewhere out of her stepmother's sight; and then, perhaps, +if she were dressed so nicely, some of the other little girls might be +willing to play with her; for the poor child felt her isolated +position.</p> + +<p>Then conscience said, "Would it be right?" Had she not been learning, +"Thou shalt not steal?" And had not Miss Lucy explained to her that +that meant taking anything, even the least, that was not her own? A +short time ago Nelly would have appropriated any trifle that came in +her way, without thinking twice about it; but some light had visited +her mind now, and she could distinguish what was darkness. But then +this would not be stealing, it would only be borrowing the frock! At +last she was so near the house, that she was obliged to make up her +mind at once; so, scarcely giving herself time to think, she wrapped +up the frock in the smallest possible compass, hid it behind a stone, +and ran on to leave her basket, hurrying nervously back, lest some one +should inquire for the missing article.</p> + +<p>She found it quite safe, however, and managed to convey<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> it unseen to +her little attic-room. But Nelly felt far more unhappy than she had +ever been when her harsh mother had beaten her most severely. She +could not understand how it was that she should feel so miserable. She +was glad that she could not go for her lesson to-night, for she should +have been ashamed to face Miss Lucy. One of the children just then +began to cry, and she ran down-stairs, glad of something to do, and +took the utmost pains to do her evening work particularly well, by way +of making up for the wrong of which she was inwardly conscious.</p> + +<p>But when she went to bed, Nelly, for the first time in her life, +tossed about, unable to sleep. All sorts of possibilities of detection +and disgrace occurred to her, and, above all, the voice of conscience +told her she was little better than a thief. She had knelt down to say +the simple prayer she had been first taught by Miss Preston, "O Lord, +take away my sin, and make me Thy child, for Jesus Christ's sake;" but +indulged sin had come between her and the Father to whom she prayed, +so that her prayer was only a formal one. She fell asleep at last, but +only to dream uneasy dreams, in which the pink frock was always +prominent; and when she awoke in the early morning, it was with an +uneasy sense of something wrong, soon defined into a distinct +recollection. As she lay watching the early sunbeams slanting golden +into her dingy attic, her eye fell upon the card pinned up against the +wall, "<span class="smcap">Looking unto Jesus</span>," which she could now spell out herself. Had +she not been told to "look to Jesus" when unhappy or naughty, and He +would deliver her? She knew now that she could speak to Jesus +anywhere; so, springing out of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> bed and kneeling down, she simply but +heartily asked Him to help her to be good. Then, putting on her +clothes with all the haste she could, for fear she might be tempted to +change her mind, she ran off unobserved, carrying with her the coveted +frock, which she handed, without a word, to the servant who was +sweeping the steps, and who, recognising her, supposed her stepmother +had forgotten to send it home with the rest of the washing.</p> + +<p>Nelly ran off with a heart so much lighter, that she did not mind even +the box on the ear which she received on her return for being out +"idling about," instead of lighting the fire for the breakfast. She +felt she had deserved much more than that, and she contentedly +accepted it as a slight punishment for her wrongdoing.</p> + +<p>That day, when Mrs. Connor was working at Mr. Raymond's, Mrs. Steele, +showing her the frock which was now completed, told her it was to be +given to Nelly on condition of her being allowed to go to the picnic. +Mrs. Connor of course grumbled a good deal about the inconvenience of +having to spare Nelly for a whole afternoon, but the frock tempted +her; and reflecting that the opportune arrival of this frock would do +away with any necessity for getting Nelly a new one for a long time to +come, she ungraciously gave her consent that she should go.</p> + +<p>When Nelly came that evening for her lesson, Lucy gladly informed her +that she was to be allowed to go to the picnic, and presented her with +the frock which had been provided for her. Lucy was prepared for her +look of surprise, but not so for her covering her face with her hands +and bursting into tears. With some trouble she drew from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> her a +confused account of the cause of her trouble—the sin she had been led +into, and which touched her generous nature all the more now that the +frock she had been wishing for was so opportunely provided.</p> + +<p>Lucy was at first somewhat shocked that Kelly had been capable of +taking such a liberty with what was not her own, not being able to +realize the strength of such a temptation to a child whose possessions +were so few; and she privately resolved not to tell Stella, who would +scarcely have thought how nobly she overcame the temptation.</p> + +<p>However, she commended and encouraged Nelly, and told her always to +resort to the same sure Helper in time of temptation, and to do it in +the first place. "And Jesus is always ready to hear and help you," she +added.</p> + +<p>"An' it was Him told you to give me the frock too, wasn't it? And I'm +rightly thankful to Him, and you too, Miss Lucy."</p> + +<p>And Nelly carried home her new acquisition, with very different +feelings from those with which she had taken the frock she had +coveted.</p> + +<p>"How glad I am I thought of getting it ready for her!" thought Lucy as +she watched her depart, her own heart full of the pleasure of doing a +much-needed kindness,—the only drawback being her regret that Nelly +had not a new hat likewise.</p> + +<p>The much-watched-for day on which the picnic was to be held turned out +as fine as the most eager young hearts could desire, notwithstanding +one or two slight showers that fell in the early morning. But these +only cleared the air and laid the dust, and made the foliage so fresh +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> glistening that its early summer beauty seemed for a time +revived.</p> + +<p>The fine old oak grove where the feast was to be held, was, even +before the appointed hour, astir with bright little groups of happy +children. The teachers and some of the elder girls were already busy +at a roughly constructed table, unpacking and arranging cups and +saucers, filling the latter with the ripe-red berries which had been +brought in in great abundance, and cutting up the piles of buns and +cakes. Bessie Ford was superintending the distribution of the cream +which had come in large jars from the farmhouses, and of which Mill +Bank Farm had contributed the richest and finest. Lucy of course was +among the working party, her position as Mr. Raymond's daughter giving +her a degree of importance far from disagreeable to her. Stella, +seated with her friend Marian Wood in the centre of a mass of flowers, +was daintily arranging them in tiny bouquets to be given to the +children.</p> + +<p>At last Bessie, who with Nelly's new hat beside her had been watching +the various arrivals, descried the little solitary figure, with its +dark, hanging locks, for which she had been looking. When she +approached her, she was quite surprised at the change in her +appearance produced by the fresh, pretty frock; and when her old hat +was removed, and the new one placed upon her dark hair, which had been +smoothly combed and brushed out and put back from her eyes, she really +looked as nice as most of the children there. Her dark eyes danced +with pleasure as Bessie, herself almost as happy, took her to a group +of girls about her own age and introduced her to them as a stranger, +to whom they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> must try to make the picnic as pleasant as possible. +Bessie was a favourite with all the girls, and they willingly promised +what she asked; so that Nelly, for the first time in many months, had +a really good game of play with children of her own age,—an intense +pleasure to her social, kindly Irish nature, which, with her ready +wit, soon made her the life of the little group.</p> + +<p>Two or three hours passed rapidly by. Lucy and Bessie went from one +part of the ground to another, encouraging the little ones to run and +romp, bringing forward shy or isolated children, and watching that the +ruder and stronger did not oppress the weaker,—or sitting down to +talk with some of the elder girls, who preferred a quiet chat. Stella, +in her airy muslin flounces, a tiny hat with floating blue ribbons +crowning her golden tresses, flitted about with a winning grace, which +made her the admired of all observers. She felt herself a sort of +princess on the occasion; and as she dearly loved popularity, even +among rustics, she spared no pains to be affable and agreeable, and +felt quite rewarded when she heard such speeches as, "What a sweet, +pretty young lady Miss Lucy's cousin is!" "Isn't she, for all the +world, just like a picture?"</p> + +<p>Alick watched with some amusement the patronizing air which mingled +with her affability, and perhaps added to her consequence with those +who could not appreciate the higher beauty of simplicity of manner. +Lucy could not repress a slight feeling of annoyance at seeing how +easily her cousin won her way, and how far her more adventitious +advantages threw into the shade her own real exertions for the +pleasure of those around her. Not that the exertions had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +prompted by a desire for praise; but she was not yet unselfish enough +to be satisfied that they had gained the desired end, although not +fully appreciated by those for whom they had been made. The difference +between the cousins was, that Lucy liked approbation, when she did +what was right for its own sake, while Stella's conduct was chiefly +prompted by the desire of admiration.</p> + +<p>"Lucy," said Stella, coming up to her during the afternoon, "do you +see that ridiculous imitation of my dress that Nancy Parker has on? I +suppose she wanted to be dressed just like me; but I'm glad I wore a +different one to-day." Yet, though Stella professed some annoyance, +she was secretly a little flattered at Nancy's thus recognising her as +a leader of fashion.</p> + +<p>Alick and Harry were invaluable aids in promoting the enjoyment of the +boys, as was Fred also in his quieter way. Towards the close of the +afternoon Mr. Raymond appeared, and, after a pleasant greeting +interchanged with his older parishioners present, the children +assembled in the centre of the ground to listen to a few kind and +earnest words from their pastor. He took as his subject the +"remembering their Creator in the days of their youth;" and after +reminding them to whom they owed the innocent pleasures which had been +provided for them, he spoke earnestly of the Creator and Redeemer they +were to "remember," to whom they should now bring their young hearts, +that He might take them and make them His. The sunshine of His +gracious presence would, he said, hallow and sweeten their joyous +hours, and be a stay and support even when the "evil days" should +come, and all other sources of happiness should fail<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> them. His +address was not so long as to weary even the most impatient, and when +it was concluded, the children stood up and sang a hymn, which, to +Nelly's great delight, was her favourite—"I lay my sins on Jesus." +Then, after Mr. Raymond had briefly asked a blessing on the food of +which they were about to partake, and the intercourse they had had, +and were still to have, the children quietly dispersed into little +groups, and sat down on the grass to enjoy the good things that were +liberally provided for them.</p> + +<p>The distribution kept the assistants busy, and some care had to be +exercised lest too large a share of the cakes should be appropriated +by some of the more greedy,—alas that there should be such among +Sunday-school children! Nelly Connor had seldom had a treat in her +life, but she would not for the world have taken one cake more than +her share, or have hidden one away in her pocket, as she saw some +better-dressed children doing.</p> + +<p>At last, when the dew was beginning to moisten the grass, and the +fast-lengthening shadows told that the long summer day was drawing to +a close, a bell sounded to collect the children, and after singing the +evening hymn, and having been commended by Mr. Raymond to the care of +Him who neither slumbers nor sleeps, all quietly dispersed to their +homes. The "picnic" so eagerly looked forward to was over, as all +earthly pleasures must sooner or later be. Not a single incident had +marred its harmony, and, to Nelly Connor in particular, the day had +been one of unmingled and unprecedented enjoyment. How different from +what it would have been had she not, in a strength from above, +overcome the temptation to which she had so nearly yielded!</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_004.jpg" width="600" height="234" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<h3><i>Partings.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Only, since our souls will shrink<br /></span> +<span class="i2">At the touch of natural grief,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When our earthly loved ones sink,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Lend us, Lord, Thy sure relief,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Patient hearts, their pain to see,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And Thy grace, to follow Thee."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_088.jpg" width="75" height="73" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>tella's visit was now drawing to a close. She had very much enjoyed +its novelty, and had, during her stay, made some acquisitions, though +not of a kind that she yet appreciated, or was even conscious of. It +was impossible for her to be so long in a household where every day +was begun and closed by invoking God's presence and guidance, where +His blessing and approbation were steadily regarded as the best of all +good, where the standard of action was that laid down in His word, and +where His strengthening grace was looked upon as the most necessary +equipment for daily life, without receiving a deeper impression of the +importance of these things than she had ever before felt. And though +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> members of her uncle's family had their share of human +imperfections, yet on the whole the example she had seen around her +had been sufficiently consistent to show her, almost against her will, +the beauty of a Christian life, as contrasted with one based wholly on +worldly principles. Some seeds of good, at all events, she carried +back with her, though she was far from having profited as she might +have done, had her heart been more open to receive the influences +around her.</p> + +<p>It had been a new thing to Lucy to have a companion of her own age and +sex; she had become really attached to her winsome cousin, and all the +transient irritation which Stella had often caused her passed into +oblivion now that they were really about to part. Alick was to escort +Stella to the residence of a friend whom she was to visit on her way +home; and the cousins parted with affectionate hopes of a visit from +Stella next summer, and also of a winter visit which Mr. Raymond had +half promised that Lucy should make to her cousin's city home.</p> + +<p>The loss of Stella's restless and vivacious presence made no small +blank in the house—a blank to be still further increased by the +permanent departure of Alick soon after his return from escorting +Stella. He had at last decided on the place in which he was to +settle—a new and rising village in the far West—and had already been +claiming his mother's promise, that so soon as he should be able to +provide a home for her, she would come and preside in it. Mrs. Steele +felt that it would be her duty to comply with her son's desire; and +Mr. Raymond, while very sorry to lose his sister's kind, motherly +supervision of his family, felt that he could not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> dissuade her from +an arrangement so right and natural, and to which he had long looked +forward as a probability. However, she was not to leave them for some +months at least, and during that time Lucy was to learn all she could +about housekeeping, in order to be able to fill her aunt's place as +well as a young beginner could do.</p> + +<p>To Lucy, indeed, there mingled with her regret for her aunt's expected +departure, a certain latent satisfaction at the increased importance +of her own place in the household; and her ambition was so much +stimulated by the hope of fulfilling her new duties in the most +exemplary manner, that it somewhat alleviated her sorrow at the +thought of losing the kind aunt who had filled a mother's place.</p> + +<p>Many were the regrets when the time came for Alick's final departure +from Ashleigh to his distant sphere of duty; and Mr. Raymond, in +bidding him a kind farewell, added in an earnest tone the not unneeded +admonition: "Alick, my boy, don't forget who says, 'Seek ye first the +kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things shall be +added unto you.'"</p> + +<p>And so the happy party, who had enjoyed together at Ashleigh the +pleasant summer days, were scattered, never again to meet there under +the same circumstances; for the autumn, bringing the cold blasts and +nipping frosts that scattered the rich summer foliage and made the +earth bleak and bare, brought other changes, far sadder than these.</p> + +<p>Nelly was the first to whose life came a sudden change. A rumour +reached the village that a deck-hand on one of the river steamers had +lost his life by a fatal accident, and that the man's name was Michael +Connor. It seldom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> happens that such reports turn out groundless; and +when Mrs. Connor, having heard of it, hastened to the wharf to +discover what truth there might be in it, she met a comrade of her +husband's who had come to announce to his family the sad fact.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Connor did not profess any deep regret for a husband whom she had +often asserted to be a good-for-nothing scamp. She looked at the +matter chiefly in a pecuniary point of view, and, on making a rapid +calculation, came to the conclusion that any deficiency caused by the +loss of the small fraction of his earnings that came into her +possession would be more than made up by her being relieved of the +maintenance of Nelly, for whom she did not consider it her duty any +longer to provide.</p> + +<p>But in Nelly herself Michael Connor had at least one true mourner. She +forgot all her father's carelessness and neglect, and remembered only +that he was her father, who used in days long past, when her mother +was alive, to take her on his knee and call her his "darlint." When it +broke fully on her mind that she should never see him again—that he +had left her for ever, as her mother had done—her grief for a while +knew no control. Poor child, she had literally no one in the world +"belonging to her," so far as she knew, and she felt utterly desolate +and forlorn. Finding but little comfort at home, where her new +mother's cold, unfeeling remarks only aggravated her sorrow, she +betook herself to Lucy, who had just heard, with great concern, of +Nelly's bereavement. She did her best to comfort her; and though at +first the kind words only seemed to make the tears flow faster, by +degrees the child was soothed and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> calmed, and able to listen to Mr. +Raymond when he laid his hand kindly on her head and told her that she +must look to God as her Father now, and must go and "tell Jesus" all +her troubles. Then he made her repeat after him the verse, "When my +father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up."</p> + +<p>"But, Miss Lucy," said Nelly, as she was going away, "where is it I'm +going to live now?"</p> + +<p>"Why, is your mother going away?"</p> + +<p>"Niver a bit, miss; but she says she's kept me long enough now, and +she won't keep me any longer."</p> + +<p>Lucy could scarcely believe that this could be more than one of Mrs. +Connor's meaningless threats, and tried to reassure Nelly that it +would be all right. But Mrs. Steele, knowing Mrs. Connor's hard, +selfish nature, was by no means so sure that there might not be +something in it, and was not surprised when she appeared next day to +say that she thought Nelly's grand friends might do something for her +now her poor father was gone, and she had no one to look to her.</p> + +<p>"But she has you, of course," Mrs. Steele replied. "We shall be very +glad to help you as far as possible, but you have shown yourself well +able to support your family."</p> + +<p>"She ain't one of my family," replied Mrs. Connor, "and I've kept her +long enough for all the good I've ever got out of her; so I don't see +that it's any of my business to take the bit out of my children's +mouths and put it into hers."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Connor would probably not have come to this decision had she not +been less dependent than formerly on Nelly's assistance. But as her +youngest child was now able to run<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> alone, and the eldest could, on an +emergency, take care of the rest, and as she now took in most of her +washing, she had less need for an additional worker, involving an +additional mouth to be fed. Besides, Nelly was a "growing girl," she +reflected, and would be always costing her more for food and clothing, +so that to be rid of her maintenance would be so much clear gain. She +was therefore inexorable in her determination that Nelly should not +remain with her, unless, indeed, the ladies would pay for her board—a +proposition which Mrs. Steele declined to entertain.</p> + +<p>It was taken seriously into consideration by Lucy and her aunt what +could be done to provide Nelly with a home. Lucy was eager that she +should be at once taken into their own household, to be trained for +domestic service; but this Mrs. Steele thought impracticable at +present, as she knew that their own busy, capable handmaid would +strongly object to have her time taken up in teaching a girl who would +give her so much additional trouble.</p> + +<p>"But there are other people," she said, "who would be very glad of a +child like Nelly, who would cost nothing for wages, to train and make +useful. I am going to Mill Bank Farm this afternoon to see about some +butter, and I'll see if Mrs. Ford knows of any one who would take +her."</p> + +<p>Lucy assented rather reluctantly. It would have been so nice, she +thought, to have her protegée immediately under her own charge, to +teach and train into a model servant. She had not yet learned the +distrust in her own powers which experience gives, and she saw only +the bright side of the plan, not the difficulties in its execution.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ford's motherly heart was at once roused to pity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> for the little +orphan's forlorn condition, and to indignation at Mrs. Connor's +heartless conduct.</p> + +<p>"After all the work she's got out of her, too!" she said; "making that +poor child drudge away morning, noon, and night. I'm sure she's been +worth a deal more to her than the little bit of meat and drink she's +given her—with a grudge, as I hear from the neighbours. Well, well, +it's a queer world."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ford promised to try to find out a good place for Nelly, and +early next morning she made her appearance, having taken the long walk +on one of her busiest days, in order to "talk over Nelly's business," +as she said. She proposed to take the orphan into her own family, for +a time at least, until some more permanent situation should turn up. +"We'll never miss the little she'll want," she said; "and if we did, +I've been often thinking of late that we've been too much taken up +with doing the most we could for this world, and been caring too +little for the poor that our Saviour says are to be always with us. So +my mind would be easier if I were doing this much, at any rate, and +the poor thing'll be more likely to get a good steady place if I take +her in hand and teach her a bit myself."</p> + +<p>So it was settled, and Nelly, to her surprise and delight, found +herself an inmate, for a time at least, of Mill Bank Farm, though she +was made to understand that the arrangement was not a permanent one. +The present comfort and happiness were enough for her, however, for +she was not given to spoiling the enjoyments of to-day by thoughts +about the morrow; and she certainly had never, so far as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> her +recollection went, been half so happy as she now was under Mrs. Ford's +motherly care, with Bessie for a half-companion, half-teacher, and +removed from the sound of the harsh words and tones which had so long +been the constant accompaniments of her life.</p> + +<p>One of Mrs. Ford's first cares was to provide her with some needed +clothing from Bessie's outgrown garments, which otherwise would have +been stowed thriftily away for little Jenny. Lucy added her +contribution for the same object, and it was considered a good +opportunity for teaching her what she so much needed to learn—plain +sewing. Mrs. Ford, who was a capital seamstress as well as housewife, +undertook to make Nelly a good needlewoman, if she would be diligent +in trying to learn; and she was too grateful, and too anxious to +please, not to try her best, though the long, tedious seams often +tried her restless, active spirit. When she found herself getting so +impatient that she felt as if she could not sit still any longer, or, +at any rate, could not force herself to do the work with patience and +care, she would remember the injunction to "tell Jesus" her troubles +and difficulties, and the restless spirit would become quiet, and the +strength to fulfil her good resolutions would come back. As it was too +far for her to go to Lucy now for her daily lessons, Lucy resigned her +to Bessie's tuition, though somewhat unwillingly, for her teaching had +become a source of real pleasure to her, and she felt that in it she +was doing some definite work for her Saviour. She had not yet got into +the habit of looking upon everything she was called in duty to do as +work done for Christ, just in proportion as it was done in a spirit +of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> cheerful faith and dependence, "looking unto Jesus" both as the +master and the friend.</p> + +<p>But dark days were at hand for Lucy too,—days when she would need all +the support her faith could give. Mr. Raymond's never robust +constitution had been for some time gradually failing, though Lucy, +seeing him daily, and accustomed to consider her father "not very +strong," had not observed it. Late in November, a long, cold drive in +sleet and rain to visit a dying parishioner brought on symptoms of +fever, which rapidly increased, till the doctor, who had been summoned +to attend him, looked very anxious, and pronounced his patient in a +most critical condition. Lucy had been so long accustomed to his +occasional illnesses, that she was slow to admit the idea of danger to +her father, the possibility of losing whom had scarcely ever occurred +to her mind. Therefore, though she could not help seeing her aunt's +extreme anxiety, she resolutely turned her thoughts to the happier +prospect of her father's recovery, when he would again occupy his +wonted place, and the house would be like itself again.</p> + +<p>Even when Mr. Raymond's extreme weakness forced the others to give up +hope, Lucy still hoped and prayed, by the sick-bed and in her own +chamber, as she had never prayed before. Surely, she thought, if she +prayed humbly and earnestly, her prayer would not be denied by Him who +has said, "Ask, and ye shall receive;" and her father would be +restored to her. She did not consider that as regards earthly things +the promise must be limited, or the conditions of human life would +have to be altered. If our prayers that our dear ones should be spared +to us were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> always to be granted, when would they ever attain that +blessed rest in the Father's house—the haven they have been looking +for through all the cares and troubles of their mortal pilgrimage?</p> + +<p>Mr. Raymond had often longed for the time when his earthly work should +be done, and he should be called to the presence of his Saviour—to +reunion with his early-lost wife. And now, though in the +unconsciousness of his exhausted powers he knew it not, that time had +come. His "falling asleep" was as peaceful as the sinking of a child +into its nightly slumber; and Lucy did not realize that it was death, +till, in the dark December morning, she stood by the cold white couch +on which lay the inanimate form to which, from her earliest days, she +had always looked as her protector and guide. It was hard to persuade +herself that that cold form was not her father, but that all that had +made the living, sentient being had passed to another state of +existence beyond her power to follow—beyond her power to conceive. In +the strange awe that came upon her, she lost for a time the sense of +the desolation of her bereavement—lost all thought for herself, in +trying to pierce the darkness which hung between her and the +"undiscovered lands" in which both her parents now were. With Fred it +was much the same,—an awestruck solemnity at first repressing in both +the natural feeling of personal loss. Harry was the only one whose +bitter, childish grief broke forth uncontrolled.</p> + +<p>But there was time in the blank, desolate days that followed to +realize the full bitterness of the bereavement. Once out of the still, +solemn chamber, which seemed to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> hush all violent emotion, there were +associations at every step, in every room, of him whose place should +know him no more, to call forth the uncontrollable agony of tears that +had for a time been repressed. And when the still form had been +carried to its last resting-place, and the heavy consciousness made +itself felt that he was gone, never in any possible event to return to +them, it seemed to Lucy as if it would have been too terrible to bear +but for the Saviour, to whom she carried her grief, and found that, +though He does not always at our asking restore our sick to this +mortal life, yet that, when He takes them away, He can and will be a +very present "help in time of trouble."</p> + +<p>But there was already another grief looming darkly in the distance, +which Lucy almost shrank from facing. The home that had been hers from +her birth must be broken up. The external surroundings in which her +life had been always set were to be torn from it; and any other phase +of life seemed as if it must be a dreary blank. She could not then +realize the possibility of ever forming new associations, or taking +root in any other home. And indeed it is doubtful whether one ever +does take root again in the same sense as in the home of childhood, +which is linked with the earliest associations of opening thought, and +with all the hallowed ties that cluster around a child's happy home. +Other houses are but places of abode, made home by association: <i>that</i> +seemed absolutely and in itself <i>home</i>.</p> + +<p>Alick had come to Ashleigh as soon as possible after his uncle's +death, and was anxious to take his mother at once to the new home he +had been preparing for her. As to Lucy,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> there seemed to be but one +course advisable. As Mr. Raymond could leave only a very slender +provision for his family, he had always been anxious that Lucy should +have an education sufficiently thorough to put her in a position to +gain her own livelihood by teaching, and a way seemed opened for her +to carry out his wishes in this respect. Mr. Brooke, urged thereto by +his daughter Stella, had written to Mrs. Steele, offering to receive +Lucy into his own family for the next two or three years, in order to +give her the advantage of a first-class education, which was, he +remarked, "the best he could do for her, as it would give her the +ability to do for herself."</p> + +<p>Lucy shrank from the prospect of so long a residence in a home so +unlike the one she was leaving, as from Stella's remarks she felt sure +it must be. But to go with Harry to live with Mrs. Steele and Alick, +as they kindly invited her to do, in case she could not make up her +mind to go to Mr. Brooke's, would, she felt, be imposing far too great +a burden on Alick's kindness, though it seemed just the right home for +Harry. Fred, who had been summoned from college to his father's +deathbed, must return to resume his theological studies, for they all +insisted that he should not think of giving up the career which had +been his father's desire for him as well as his own. The more Lucy +thought about the matter, the more distinctly she saw that there was +no other way rightly open to her, especially as, even could she think +it right to accompany Mrs. Steele and Alick, she could not, in the new +village in the West, expect any educational advantages. But it was +with much reluctance, and after many prayers to be strengthened to +meet the new ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>periences before her, that she gave her decision to go +to live for the present in her Cousin Stella's home.</p> + +<p>Fred, to whom she confided her extreme shrinking from venturing into +an atmosphere which her fancy pictured as so cold and uncongenial, +endeavoured to reassure her, by reminding her of what she knew, +indeed, but found it difficult to realize, that her Saviour could be +as near her in the crowded city as in her quiet country home, since +His love is</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">"A flower that cannot die<br /> +</span> +<span class="i0">For lack of leafy screen;"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and that it was a sickly Christianity which must necessarily fade and +droop when removed from the atmosphere in which it had been originally +nurtured.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said at last disconsolately, "it doesn't matter so very +much. I can never be very happy again, now papa is gone; and the best +thing is to think most about the home he has gone to, and try to +follow him there."</p> + +<p>Something of this kind she wrote to her old friend and teacher, Mrs. +Harris, who had sent her a letter of loving sympathy. She smiled half +sadly when she read Lucy's disconsolate reply. Mrs. Harris had seen +enough of life to know that a young heart is not permanently depressed +by a first grief; and she feared for Lucy, if she should trust to the +influence of sorrow alone to keep her "unspotted from the world."</p> + +<p>"My dear Lucy," she wrote, "while it is well that you should always +cherish your dear father's memory, and keep his counsels and his +example always with you as a protecting influence, beware of trusting +too much to this. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> himself would have told you that it is not him +you are to follow, but Him whom he followed, 'Jesus Christ, the same +yesterday, to-day, and for ever.' This alone can be our strength. Time +is strong against our deepest sorrow, and no influence can permanently +hold, except the constraining love of Christ. Never lose the habit of +looking steadily to Him, and to Him alone, for daily and hourly +strength."</p> + +<p>It was wise counsel, and Lucy in time came to find out how true it +was.</p> + +<p>It is needless to dwell upon the pain of the breaking up,—the packing +up and stowing away treasured possessions, so closely associated with +the times now passed away; the sorrowful leave-takings of old friends, +who felt as if they were losing the last link with their beloved +minister in the departure of his family; the sad farewell looks at all +the well-known home objects, the flower-beds, the gravel walks, the +shrubs and trees, every twig of which had such a familiar look. Many a +time it seemed as if it must be only a sad dream, that all these +things were about to pass from her daily life into a vision of memory. +Happily it was winter. Had it been in the fair flush of summer, when +her home looked its loveliest, the parting would have been far harder. +As it was, it was hard enough; but she tried to conceal her sorrow +from those to whose pain it would have added, though many a tear was +secretly shed over even the old grey cat and the gentle petted cow, +which were almost home friends.</p> + +<p>At last all the preparations were completed. The house, stripped of +most of its familiar furnishings, wore already a strange, +uncomfortable aspect, full of packing-cases and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> confusion. Fred had +already been obliged to return to college, and Lucy was to be the next +to go. Alick was to escort her to the next railway station, and see +her on the train which was to take her to the city. It was the first +time she had ever travelled alone, and she rather dreaded it; but she +knew that it would be very inconvenient for Alick to accompany her the +whole way, and she would not admit that she thought the solitary +journey at all a formidable one.</p> + +<p>Poor Nelly, who grieved as much for her friend's departure as she had +done for her father's death, came on the last morning to say good-bye, +although Lucy had already taken leave of her and Bessie at Mill Bank +Farm, and had made the latter promise to write to her sometimes.</p> + +<p>"And it's sorry I am, Miss Lucy, you're going, and you so good to me," +sobbed Nelly, when she felt the parting moment was really come.</p> + +<p>"Well, Nelly, we must both try to remember our Friend in heaven, who +has been so good to us both. You love Him, I hope, Nelly, and pray to +Him always?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I do, and I always pray God to bless you, Miss Lucy."</p> + +<p>"Well, I won't forget to pray for you, Nelly, and we know He will hear +our prayers," replied Lucy kindly.</p> + +<p>Acts of Christian kindness often bring their reward even in this life: +the "cup of cold water" we give sometimes returns to refresh our own +parched lips. It was some comfort to Lucy, even in this time of +sorrow, to feel that she had been enabled to help Nelly to know the +Saviour, whom the poor, friendless child seemed to have received into +her heart with a true and simple faith.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_031.jpg" width="600" height="209" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<h3><i>Introductions.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"My God, my Father, while I stray<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Far from my home in life's rough way,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oh teach me from my heart to say,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">'Thy will be done.'"<br /> +</span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_008_1.jpg" width="75" height="74" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>he short January afternoon was closing in when Lucy's train drew near +its destination. Gradually thickening clusters of houses, a momentary +glimpse of distant steeples, a general commotion and hunting-up of +tickets, packages, and bandboxes, betokened, even to Lucy's +inexperienced eyes, that the city was nearly reached.</p> + +<p>She had made no acquaintances on the way; but a polite elderly +gentleman, who had been sitting beside her, and had occasionally +exchanged a kind word with her, seeing that she was alone, stopped to +hand her out with great courtesy.</p> + +<p>"Any one to meet you?" he asked, seeing that she seemed at a loss what +to do next.</p> + +<p>"Yes—that is—I expect"—faltered Lucy, looking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> round to see if +Stella was not to be seen among the hurrying crowd. But no familiar +face was to be seen; and the gentleman, who had caught only the first +word of her answer, hurried off with a friend he met, forgetting all +about Lucy.</p> + +<p>It seemed to her a long time that she stood there, wistfully watching +the people who were meeting their friends, or hurrying away alone; and +her spirits, temporarily excited by the journey, began to sink fast. +It seemed so strange that no one should be there to meet her, as her +uncle had promised; and if no one should appear, what was she to do?</p> + +<p>At last, after about five minutes had elapsed, a slight, +delicate-looking young man, very fashionably dressed, with an eyeglass +at one eye and a cigar in his mouth, sauntered along, lightly swinging +his cane and looking leisurely around him. Presently he came up to +Lucy, and, after a scrutinizing glance, he said, touching his hat:</p> + +<p>"My cousin Lucy Raymond, I presume?" and seeing he was right, he +added, with a nonchalant air, "Glad to see you; been waiting long?"</p> + +<p>"About a quarter of an hour," Lucy replied, thinking she was speaking +the exact truth.</p> + +<p>"Hardly that," he replied. "I expected to have been here in time, but +these trains are never to be depended on."</p> + +<p>Then he motioned to a cabman, who advanced and asked for the checks +for the luggage.</p> + +<p>Lucy had forgotten all about them, and her cousin mentally set her +down as "green," while she nervously searched for them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Take your time," he said good-humouredly.</p> + +<p>They were found at last, and everything being collected, Lucy and her +cousin were soon driving away from the station.</p> + +<p>"You are cousin Edwin, I suppose?" Lucy ventured to say timidly.</p> + +<p>"The same, at your service. I suppose Stella posted you up about us +all? You've never been in a place as big as this, have you?" he said, +observing her eager, watching look.</p> + +<p>"No, never; Ashleigh is hardly more than a village. How is Stella?"</p> + +<p>"Stella! Oh, she's quite well; she was out walking when I left."</p> + +<p>Lucy's heart sank at the apparent coldness of her reception. Had +Stella been coming to visit <i>her</i>, she would have been watching for +the steamboat for an hour before its arrival!</p> + +<p>"Left all well at home?" inquired Edwin. "Oh, I forgot; I suppose +you're all broken up there now?" he added, glancing at her black dress +and crape veil. "Fred's gone to college again, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Lucy. She could not have added a word more. It was all +she could do to keep back the tears that started to her eyes, as the +sad realization that she had no longer a home came back to her. Edwin, +however, had happily exhausted his stock of conversation for the +present, and Lucy did not try to renew it.</p> + +<p>After driving, as it seemed to her, an interminably long way, they +stopped opposite a tall stone house, one of a row<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> all just alike, and +looking very monotonous and sombre to Lucy's eyes, accustomed to the +variety of the Ashleigh houses.</p> + +<p>Light gleamed already through the hall-door, which was speedily +opened; and the next moment Stella, looking as pretty as ever, rushed +down the wide staircase, and met her cousin with an affectionate +embrace.</p> + +<p>"Mamma, here's Lucy," she said as she led the way up the staircase. At +its head stood a lady, who reminded Lucy strongly of the pictures of +her dear mother, except that there was the difference of expression +between a worldly and an unworldly character. Mrs. Brooke never had +had—perhaps now never could have—the pure spiritual beauty which had +been Mrs. Raymond's chief charm; but she was a graceful, +stylish-looking woman, rather languid and unenergetic in appearance, +as she was in character. Her kiss was affectionate, as she told Lucy +that she was very glad to see her, and that she reminded her a little +of her poor mother; "though you're much more like your papa," she +added.</p> + +<p>"And here are Ada and Sophy, just in time," exclaimed Stella, as two +young ladies, very fashionably attired in walking dress, ascended the +stairs and were duly introduced. Ada, who was the smaller of the two, +resembled her mother and Stella, with all their softness and winning +grace of manner. Sophy was a tall, handsome girl, with a somewhat +haughty air, and her greeting was colder and more dignified. She +suggested that Stella should take her cousin at once to her room, +saying she should think Lucy would wish to rest for awhile before +dinner,—a proposal to which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> she was only too glad to accede, feeling +somewhat uncomfortable in the heavy travelling attire, which was such +a contrast to her cousins' elegant dresses.</p> + +<p>Stella led the way to a room much larger and more handsomely furnished +than Lucy's old one at home, though it all looked so strange and +unfamiliar, that she wondered whether it would ever seem home to her. +Stella showed her all its conveniences and arrangements for her +comfort, and then observed, "But you're not to have it all to +yourself;" which Lucy heard with some disappointment, for she had been +always accustomed at home to have a room to herself, and hoped to have +one still.</p> + +<p>"Amy's to sleep with you, and I think you'll like her. She's a good +little thing, though she's not a bit pretty; and she's named after +your mamma, you know, who was my Aunt Amy. It sounds odd, doesn't it? +Ada and I sleep together, because we get on best; and Sophy can't be +troubled with a child sleeping with her, especially as Amy is +delicate, and sometimes restless at night. Do you think you'll mind +having her?"</p> + +<p>"Oh no!" said Lucy, somewhat relieved. "I always used to think I +should like to have a little sister of my own."</p> + +<p>"Here she is, to speak for herself," said Stella, as the door opened, +and a fragile-looking little girl of about seven timidly peeped in.</p> + +<p>"Come in, Amy, and be introduced."</p> + +<p>The child stole quietly in, encouraged by Lucy's smile, and held out +to her a hand so thin and tiny, that she thought she had never felt +anything like it before. Amy had fair hair and a colourless +complexion; but when the soft grey eyes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> looked up wistfully at Lucy, +and a sweet smile lighted up the pale face, her cousin thought Stella +hardly justified in calling her "not a bit pretty."</p> + +<p>"So you're my little cousin Amy?" said Lucy, kissing her. "And you're +going to sleep with me and be my little sister, are you not?"</p> + +<p>Amy nodded. She evidently had not Stella's flow of language.</p> + +<p>"Shall I help you to unpack, Lucy?" interposed her loquacious cousin, +"or would you rather lie down and rest awhile?"</p> + +<p>Lucy preferred the latter. She wanted to be alone; and as she was very +tired with the fatigue and excitement of the journey and arrival, it +is scarcely to be wondered at that, when she was left alone, she found +relief in a hearty fit of crying. However, she soon remembered she +could do something better than that, so she knelt to thank her +heavenly Father for His protecting care during her journey. She asked, +too, that as she was far away from all dear home friends and familiar +surroundings, she might be helped to love those around her now, and to +do her duty in her new circumstances.</p> + +<p>Her heart was much lighter and calmer now, and she was nearly ready to +go down to dinner, when Stella came in to help her, and to insist on +arranging her hair in a new fashion she had lately learned, before +escorting her down to the dining-room. Lucy had dreaded a good deal +her introduction to her uncle, of whom she had not a very pleasant +impression. He was a brisk, shrewd-looking man, a great contrast to +his listless-looking son; and his manner, though<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> patronizing, was not +ungenial, as Lucy had feared it would be, from his harsh opinions, +quoted by Stella, in regard to the poor. All the rest of the family +she had already seen, Edwin being the only son who had survived, and +on that account, probably, a good deal spoilt.</p> + +<p>Lucy could not help noticing the very slight mourning worn by the +family, if indeed it could be called mourning at all. But even this +slight mark of respect would hardly have been accorded to Mr. +Raymond's memory, but for Lucy's coming among them in her deep +mourning. "People would notice, and it wouldn't look well," Sophy had +said; and this decided the question, though the girls grumbled a good +deal at the inconvenience of it, especially at a time of the year when +they were usually so gay, and wanted to wear colours. Stella was the +only one who did not object. She had imbibed a strong respect for her +uncle, and wore her black dress with a certain satisfaction, in the +feeling that she was doing honour to his memory.</p> + +<p>There was a good deal of lively talk during dinner, almost +unintelligible, however, to Lucy, from her ignorance of the persons +and things talked about. The tone of conversation, however, was as +uncongenial as were the subjects. Edwin had a cynical air, partly +real, partly affected; and the girls' remarks were characterized by +the same sort of flippancy which had often jarred upon her in Stella.</p> + +<p>After dinner Edwin disappeared, Mr. Brooke became absorbed in his +newspapers, Sophy was soon engrossed with a novel, and Ada and her +mother employed themselves in some very pretty worsted embroidery. +Lucy, of course, had no work as yet, and Stella resorted to her old +fashion of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> lounging about doing nothing in particular, except +talking. She expatiated largely, for Lucy's benefit, upon the classes +and masters in the fashionable school to which her cousin was to +accompany her, giving her various scraps of information respecting her +future classmates, with a list of their foibles and peculiarities +amusingly described, but rather wearisome to a stranger. Mrs. Brooke +questioned Lucy about her previous studies, looking doubtful when she +heard of Latin and mathematics, and saying she was afraid "she had +been made a little of a blue." At her aunt's request, she sat down at +the handsome piano, and rather nervously got through a simple air, the +only one she knew by heart. She felt she had not done herself justice, +and Stella said apologetically, "You know she never had any teacher +but Mrs. Steele, and she has no style."</p> + +<p>Lucy's cheek flushed at the disparaging remark, but Mrs. Brooke only +said, "I hope you will play better than that, my dear, when you have +had Signor Goldoni for awhile. Do you sing?"</p> + +<p>"Only hymns, aunt. We often sing them on Sundays at home."</p> + +<p>"Well, if you have anything of a voice, you will soon do better than +that. Any one can sing hymns."</p> + +<p>Lucy made no reply, but she privately thought that very few could sing +them like her Aunt Mary. Then, recollecting that Stella had told her +how well Sophy played and sang, she turned rather timidly to her with +the request, "Won't you sing, Cousin Sophy?"</p> + +<p>"Do, Sophy," added her mother and Stella, both at once.</p> + +<p>But Sophy, reclining in a luxurious easy-chair near the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> fire, and +absorbed in a sensational novel, was too comfortable to think of +moving.</p> + +<p>"I really can't just now," she said rather coldly. "I'm tired, and I'm +just at the most interesting place in this book."</p> + +<p>"Sophy never will sing to please any one but herself and—<i>some</i> +people," said Stella mischievously. "And then, sometimes, if she takes +the notion, there's no stopping her. Now, if a certain person I know +were here—"</p> + +<p>Ada laughed. Sophy just said haughtily, "I'll be much obliged to you, +Stella, not to disturb me;" at which Stella, with mock gravity, put +her finger on her lip.</p> + +<p>"Well, I am tired," Mrs. Brooke at last said, rising; "and I am sure +Lucy must be so too. Lucy, I advise you to go to bed at once; and, +Stella, don't stay in your cousin's room talking, and don't wake Amy, +if she is asleep."</p> + +<p>It seemed very strange to Lucy that the family circle should break up +for the night without the united acknowledgment of the protecting +kindness which had carried them in safety through the day—without +invoking the same protecting care through the watches of the +night—without the acknowledgment of the sins of the day, and the +prayer for forgiveness, and the petitions for dear absent ones—to +which she had always been accustomed. It was plain that no custom of +the kind existed in Mr. Brooke's family.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding her mother's prohibition, Stella did linger long in +Lucy's room, chattering about one thing after another, Amy's wide-open +eyes watching them from her pillow. "I'm going just in a minute," she +would say, when Lucy reminded her of what her mother had said, and +then she would rush into some new subject. Lucy was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> tired, and was +longing to have a little quiet time to herself; but Stella, who was +undressing beside her, and would be in bed and asleep as soon as she +should go back to her own room, did not consider that.</p> + +<p>"There's Stella chattering away yet," said Ada, as she and Sophy came +up-stairs. "Stella, how naughty of you to stay here so long, keeping +Lucy up!"</p> + +<p>"I was just talking about two or three things," said Stella.</p> + +<p>"I have no doubt of that," Sophy remarked; "but I'm sure Lucy would +prefer to have the conversation postponed till to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Ada was examining the various little possessions of Lucy's, which were +already on the dressing-table. "Well, if she hasn't got her Bible out +already!" she exclaimed. "What a good child it is! Does it read it +every night?"</p> + +<p>"I thought every one did," said Lucy simply, though her cheek flushed +at the tone of the remark.</p> + +<p>Ada laughed, and Sophy smiled satirically, though she did not speak.</p> + +<p>"Well, you are a simple little thing," said Ada. "When you've lived in +town for awhile you'll know better."</p> + +<p>"Oh, they're all such good people in Ashleigh! I never knew I did so +many wicked things till I was there," said Stella.</p> + +<p>Lucy looked pained, and Sophy interposed. "Well, you've shocked Lucy +enough for one night, and it's high time she and you too were in bed. +So come at once, Stella."</p> + +<p>Ada and Stella kissed Lucy affectionately, as they fol<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>lowed Sophy out +of the room, and Lucy was left alone, to think with surprise and +distress of the total want of religious feeling which her cousins' +remarks betrayed. When she had once more thanked God for His goodness, +and implored His supporting help, and had read a few comforting verses +out of her Bible, she did not forget to pray that her cousins, who so +little appreciated its treasures of divine counsel and consolation, +might yet be led to know them for themselves. But the fatigue and +excitement of the day had thoroughly tired her out, and almost as soon +as her head sank on the pillow she was fast asleep, dreaming of the +happy times past, and the dear friends now so far away.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/image_113.jpg" width="150" height="132" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>X.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_042.jpg" width="600" height="198" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<h3><i>New Experiences.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I need Thy presence every passing hour;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Who but Thyself can foil the tempter's power?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Help of the helpless, Lord, abide with me!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_114.jpg" width="75" height="73" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>ucy could hardly understand where she was when she awoke the next +morning. She had scarcely ever been absent from home in her life; and +the strange and unfamiliar aspect of everything around her quite +bewildered her, till little Amy's gentle touch recalled the events of +the preceding day. Her home-sickness returned for a time; but the +strength came for which she prayed, and she was able to go down to +breakfast with a cheerful face.</p> + +<p>Sophy and her father were the only ones who appeared at the nominal +breakfast hour. Stella had always been late for breakfast at Ashleigh +in summer, so it was not surprising that in winter she should be one +of the last to appear. But it did not apparently matter much, for the +different members of the family seemed to come to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> breakfast table +just as it suited them, and the meal could scarcely be called a social +one. Neither Sophy nor her father talked much, he having his newspaper +open before him. Lucy was too shy as yet to talk without +encouragement, which Sophy did not give; and she felt it a relief when +Stella, with her unfailing loquacity, made her appearance.</p> + +<p>"You see it's Saturday morning, so one can have a little more sleep," +she said, yawning as if she had not had enough yet.</p> + +<p>"Then why don't you go to bed sooner at night, my dear, if you want +more sleep?" asked her father.</p> + +<p>But Stella quickly turned the conversation to another subject, and +kept up a full stream of talk till Mrs. Brooke and Ada appeared, and +soon afterwards Edwin sauntered in.</p> + +<p>"Lucy," said her aunt, as she left the breakfast table, "you must let +me see your dresses this morning; I am sure you'll want some new +things, and you must get them at once."</p> + +<p>"Aunt Mary thought I had all I should want for the winter," said Lucy, +colouring, for it was a point on which she was sensitive, not wishing +herself to spend any more on her dress than was absolutely necessary, +and desiring, if possible, not to increase her uncle's expenditure on +her account.</p> + +<p>"Well, we shall see," said Mrs. Brooke. "But you know you cannot dress +here exactly as you did at Ashleigh, and I want you to look as well as +your cousins."</p> + +<p>Lucy felt rather dismayed at the idea of being expected<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> to wear such +stylish attire; and she could have cried, as one after another of the +articles on which she and Mrs. Steele had bestowed so much pains was +pronounced by Mrs. Brooke and Ada "quite out of date" and "not fit to +be seen."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brooke, apart from her really kind intentions towards her +sister's orphan daughter, was determined that Lucy, who was to be +Stella's constant companion, should not, by shabby or old-fashioned +dress, disgrace the family in the eyes of her critical fashionable +associates; so it was determined, without reference to Lucy, that Ada +and Sophy should take her out forthwith on a shopping excursion, to +provide her with what Mrs. Brooke considered essential for her +creditable appearance as a member of her family.</p> + +<p>After her first uncomfortable feeling had worn off, Lucy really +enjoyed her expedition, everything—the busy streets, the crowded +buildings, the rattling carts and carriages; above all, the +gaily-decorated shop windows—having so much of the charm of novelty +for a country girl. The windows of the print-shops and book-stores in +particular she thought so attractive, that she wondered how the +hurrying passers-by could go on their way without even a glance at +their treasures.</p> + +<p>The shopping was easily accomplished under Ada's experienced +superintendence, and might have been accomplished much more quickly, +Lucy thought, had it not been that her cousins would spend so much +time in looking over articles which they had no intention of buying, +thereby, she thought, putting the obliging shopmen to an immense deal +of trouble, and sadly wasting their own morning. But neither of her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +companions had much sense of the value of time, having no higher aim +in living than that of passing it as pleasantly as possible.</p> + +<p>At last the important business was concluded, just in time for them to +get home for lunch. Lucy felt very tired after her unwonted expedition +over the hard city streets, with their bewildering noise and +confusion, and was glad to get away as soon as possible to rest. She +soon fell asleep, and when she awoke she found Amy sitting quietly +beside her, playing with her doll.</p> + +<p>"Won't you look at my doll, Cousin Lucy?" she said. "I got her on my +birthday. Her name is Lucy, after <i>you</i>."</p> + +<p>"After <i>me</i>?" said Lucy, surprised. "Did you call her after me before +I came?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Amy timidly; "for Stella said you were nice, and I +should love you."</p> + +<p>"I hope you will, dear," said Lucy, touched and gratified, and she +kissed her little cousin affectionately, looking pityingly at the +pale, delicate face and fragile form. She had always wished to have a +little sister of her own, and her heart was quite disposed to take the +little girl into a sister's place. She drew her closer, and after +talking a little about the doll, she said:</p> + +<p>"Does Amy love the good, kind Saviour, who came to die for her?"</p> + +<p>The child looked up with a puzzled expression.</p> + +<p>"Jesus, you know," added Lucy, thinking that name might be more +familiar.</p> + +<p>"That is Jesus that my hymn is about. Nurse taught me, 'Gentle Jesus, +meek and mild.'"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes. Well, don't you love Him, Amy? He loves you very much."</p> + +<p>"Does He love me?" asked Amy. "How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Because He says so."</p> + +<p>"But He is up in heaven. Nurse said my little brother is up there with +Him."</p> + +<p>It was always "nurse." Amy did not seem to owe much knowledge of that +kind to any one else. Lucy tried to explain as simply as possible +that, although the Saviour is in heaven, He is as really near us as +when He was on earth; and that we have still in the Bible the very +words that He spoke while yet among men.</p> + +<p>"Are they in there?" asked Amy, looking at Lucy's Bible.</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear. You can't read yet, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Oh no! The doctor says I mustn't learn for a long while."</p> + +<p>"Then I will read to you some of the things that Jesus said. Would you +like that?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes!" said Amy; and Lucy read the account of our Saviour blessing +the little children. She was pleased and surprised at the quiet +attention and deep interest with which Amy listened, and mentally +resolved to try to lead her to know more of that blessed Saviour, of +whom as yet she knew so little. Here was some work provided for her +already, she thought, and the feeling made her happier than she had +been since she left home.</p> + +<p>The evening passed away much as the former one had gone, except that +it was varied by the presence of visitors,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> among whom was a gentleman +who, Stella privately informed her cousin, was an "admirer" of +Sophy's.</p> + +<p>"But it's no use, if he knew it, for you know she's engaged already to +Mr. Langton. He's such a handsome, nice fellow, and has a large +plantation in the South, where he lives. I know she's as fond of him +as she can be, though she doesn't like people to think so. Look, now, +how she sings for Mr. Austin! I'm afraid he'll think she likes him."</p> + +<p>Sophy was by no means indifferent to any admiration, though she was, +as Stella had said, very much attached to her betrothed; and it did +not quite coincide with Lucy's ideas of love and lovers, founded, it +must be confessed, chiefly on books, to observe the seeming pleasure +and animation with which Sophy received the attentions and compliments +of this young man, whose partiality for her was so plain.</p> + +<p>"Surely it's very wrong in her if she deceives him, and let's him go +on liking her," thought Lucy, who, having never before seen an +instance of coquetry, did not know how venial many girls who might +know better consider the sin of trifling with an affection which must, +if encouraged, end in bitter disappointment.</p> + +<p>Next day was Sunday, the day always associated in Lucy's mind with the +happiest and holiest feelings of the week. In Mr. Raymond's household, +even the most careless sojourner could see that the day seemed +pervaded by an atmosphere of holy and peaceful rest from the secular +cares and occupations unavoidable on other days. All thoughts about +these were, as far as possible, laid aside.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> No arbitrary rules were +enforced, but it was plainly Mr. Raymond's earnest desire that the day +should be devoted especially to growing in the knowledge of the Lord, +and should be considered as sacred to Him who had set it apart. And by +providing pleasant and varied occupation suitable for the day, and +cultivating a spirit of Christian cheerfulness, he succeeded in making +his family feel it no hardship to carry out his wishes. Fred and Lucy, +indeed, had learned to love the Lord's day, and to appreciate the +privileges it brings with it. But in Mr. Brooke's family it was +decidedly a dull day,—a day which must be respectably observed, and +therefore not available for ordinary purposes, but a day to be got +through as easily as possible, shortened at both ends by late rising +and unusually early retiring, as well as by naps indulged in during +the day, when even the so-called Sunday reading proved somnolent in +its tendency. The necessary abstinence from ordinary occupations was +partly made up by the freedom with which the conversation was +permitted to run loose in secular matters, amusements, gossip, +criticisms on dress and conduct, most prejudicial to any good +influence that might have been derived from the public exercises of +the day, as well as deteriorating to the whole tone of the mind at any +time. No wonder, then, that divine truth, heard at church, fell on +inattentive ears, and failed to penetrate hearts filled up with the +"lusts of other things!" Through a medium so unyielding, how could the +soft dew of holy, spiritual influence descend upon the heart, to +nourish and fertilize it?</p> + +<p>Lucy was down at the usual breakfast-time, but had to wait more than +an hour before any one appeared, except<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> Amy, who sat contentedly on +her knee, and listened to more reading out of Lucy's Testament, and +had even learned two verses of a hymn, before Stella at last appeared.</p> + +<p>"How foolish you were to get up so early!" she said, when Amy had told +her how long they had been down. "I think it is so nice to lie as long +as you like, Sunday mornings! I used to think it so hard at Ashleigh +that you <i>would</i> always have breakfast as early as other days!"</p> + +<p>"We never saw any reason for being later on Sunday. Indeed, papa +always liked to have us earlier. He said it was the most precious day +of the week, and that, though he could excuse a hard-worked labouring +man for taking an extra sleep on Sunday, we had no such excuse; and to +try to shorten the day was dishonouring to Him who gave it."</p> + +<p>"What in the world would he have said of Edwin then," said Stella, +"who often sleeps till it is too late to go to church, and then he +stays at home and sleeps more?"</p> + +<p>Lucy could not help smiling; but as Sophy came in just then, she did +not need to make any reply. Amy was eager to repeat to her sister the +hymn she had just been learning, but Sophy did not seem to care about +it, and said to Lucy, "You had better not teach her any more hymns. +The doctor says she should not be allowed to study anything till her +constitution is stronger. Besides, I don't believe in filling +children's heads with things that make them think about death too +soon."</p> + +<p>Lucy felt a little vexed and a good deal surprised at what was to her +so new an experience. She had not dreamed that any one could object to +teaching a child those blessed gospel truths which will shed either on +life or on death the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> truest light. But while she felt a strong +interest in and attraction towards her cousin Sophy, she instinctively +felt that on such subjects she would be quite unapproachable.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brooke surprised Lucy with the unexpected decision that her +deficiencies in dress must keep her at home that day. She felt as if +it was almost wrong to submit,—her dear father would have so much +disapproved of any one's staying away from the house of God for such a +reason. But then she remembered that while under her aunt's charge it +was her duty to yield a deference to her wishes, unless she absolutely +violated her conscience in so doing, and that her father would also +have said, "Ye younger, be subject to the elder," and would have told +her that, though prevented from going up to an earthly sanctuary, she +could worship God at home in the sanctuary of her heart.</p> + +<p>But she did not find this so easy, as Stella, glad of the excuse, +insisted on staying at home "to keep Lucy company," though Lucy tried +to make her understand that she was not desirous of having any +"company" while the rest were at church. In vain she tried to fix her +attention on her open Bible. Stella would continually break in with +some remark which, when answered, was sure to lead to another; and +though Lucy's remonstrances at length became somewhat impatient in +their tone, it was evidently hopeless to try to reduce her to silence. +She, however, at last succeeded in persuading her to listen while she +read to Amy, first one or two Bible stories, such as she thought would +interest her most, and then a simple story out of one of her own +Sunday books which she had brought with her. The earnestness with +which Amy drank in every word was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> a great contrast to Stella's +desultory way of listening; but even <i>she</i> seemed a little interested +in Lucy's reading, and the morning did not seem altogether thrown +away.</p> + +<p>But in the afternoon Lucy found that trying to read in the +drawing-room was quite out of the question, her attention being +perpetually distracted by the frivolous conversation almost +continually going on there. First one topic was started, and then +another; and in spite of her efforts to the contrary, she would find +herself listening to the gossiping talk going on around her. At last +she took refuge in her own room to read there in quiet, though she was +before long followed thither by Stella.</p> + +<p>"Don't you think, Stella, I might go to church this evening? I don't +like staying at home all day, and no one would notice what I had on, +I'm sure," she asked her cousin.</p> + +<p>Stella opened her eyes. "Do you mean to say you really want to go?" +she asked. "I thought people only went to church because it was a +duty."</p> + +<p>"I used to go for that reason," Lucy replied, "but I should be sorry +if I only went on that account now."</p> + +<p>"But why? What pleasure can you find in it? The service always seems +to me so long, and the sermon so dry, that it makes me yawn so,—I +can't help it."</p> + +<p>Lucy hesitated a little before answering. It was not easy to explain. +"There are many things that make it pleasant. One always hears +something to do one good,—often the very thing one needs at the very +time. It always makes troubles seem lighter, and another world more +real and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> near. I always feel so much nearer papa when I am in +church," she added in a lower tone.</p> + +<p>"Oh! that is because you always used to hear him preach, I suppose!" +said Stella, not able to comprehend any other reason. "Well, since you +like it so much, I'll ask mamma if you can't go; but I don't know +whether any of the rest are going."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brooke, though as much surprised as Stella at Lucy's strong wish, +felt that it ought to be respected. She suggested that, instead of +going to the large fashionable church which the family usually +attended, they should go to a small one in the neighbourhood, their +usual resort on stormy days. Edwin having got tired of the novel he +had been yawning over, good-naturedly offered to be her guide and +escort; and Stella made no objection when her mother told her she had +better go too, as she had not been out in the morning.</p> + +<p>The stars were twinkling brilliantly through the clear frosty +atmosphere, and the long vistas of gas-lamps, seen on all sides, were +a novelty to Lucy's country eyes. The streets were full of people, +encountering each other as they wended their way to church in opposite +directions. There were others, too, not going to church, but to very +different places of resort; but of these Lucy happily knew nothing.</p> + +<p>The first hymn was already being sung when they entered the church, a +small, plain building. Lucy was at once interested by the thoughtful, +earnest face of the clergyman, who reminded her a little of her +father. The first prayer, so simple, yet so full of petitions for the +things she most needed, carried her heart with it, till she forgot she +was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> not at home still. The text read was, "A very present help in +trouble," and the sermon was what might have been expected from the +tone of the preceding prayer. It was so full of Christ, pointing to +His constant presence,—to Him as the only true comforter and +sustainer either in sorrow and temptation,—that, simple as was the +language and unpretentious the style, it touched the deepest springs +in Lucy's heart, and she leaned back in her seat to hide the soothing, +happy tears.</p> + +<p>Edwin, however, from his end of the pew could see that she was crying, +and began, out of curiosity, to listen to the sermon, to find out what +it was that affected her so much. At first he thought it very odd that +she should have been so moved by it; but gradually, as he listened to +the earnest words in which the preacher, speaking evidently from his +own heart, dwelt upon all that Christ might be to the weary soul which +had tried earthly pleasures and found them wanting, earthly cisterns +and found them broken,—a fountain of refreshing, giving strength and +energy for the journey of life, the "shadow of a great rock in a weary +land," giving to the weary wayfarer rest and shelter from the burden +and heat of the day,—he began to feel, in spite of his indifference, +that there might be a nobler, happier ideal of life than that of +seeking to fill the hours as they passed with every variety of +pleasure within reach. But it was only a passing thought. Old habits +of thinking, so long indulged, came back to fill up his mind as soon +as the voice of the speaker had ceased. His plan of life was not +likely to be altered yet.</p> + +<p>Lucy walked very silently home, watching the starlight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> trembling +through the crystal air, and wondering in what remote, inconceivable +sphere are passed those beloved existences which are lost to us here. +And then came the happy thought that, though they seem so remote and +inaccessible, the Saviour is near at once to them and to those who are +left below, and that in communion with Him there may be a point of +contact, intangible, it is true, but none the less real. Edwin, as he +languidly wondered what his quiet cousin was thinking about, did not +know that there was a distance immeasurable between his thoughts and +hers.</p> + +<p>Next day Lucy accompanied her cousin to school, that she might be at +once introduced to her new classes and studies. When her acquirements +had been duly tested, she found that, while in some superficial +accomplishments she was considerably behind Stella, yet in other +studies, more solid in their nature, and requiring greater accuracy +and deeper thought, she was far in advance of her cousin. This might +have considerably increased the tendency she already had to a sense of +her own superiority, had it not been that the things in which she was +deficient were precisely those which were of most consequence at Mrs. +Wilmot's establishment, being more showy, and therefore more easily +appreciated. Her love of approbation made her very anxious to excel in +what was valued by those around her; and in her desire to make up lost +ground, she happily escaped an undue sense of superiority in what was +most valuable,—a proficiency which was the result chiefly of her +father's care.</p> + +<p>Fond of study for its own sake, she entered on her classwork with all +the zest of one who had never known school<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>-life before, and who was +determined to make the most of her opportunities; and her enjoyment of +her studies and the stimulus of contest to a great extent counteracted +the uncongeniality of her new home, as well as the homesick feeling +which came over her when a letter from Mrs. Steele or Fred revived old +and happy associations.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/image_127.jpg" width="150" height="154" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>XI.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_049.jpg" width="600" height="228" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<h3><i>A Start in Life.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"His path in life was lowly,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">He was a working man;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who knows the poor man's trials<br /></span> +<span class="i2">So well as Jesus can?"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_019.jpg" width="75" height="74" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>t Mill Bank Farm things were going on much as when Nelly Connor had +become an inmate there. Under the influence of her watchword, Bessie +was making good headway against her faults of idleness and +carelessness, and her mother declared she was growing a "real comfort" +to her. Under her teaching Nelly's reading had progressed so well, +that she could spell out very creditably a chapter in the New +Testament. Jenny and Jack had also been taught their letters; and +though they were not to go to Sunday school till the spring, they had +already learned from Bessie a good deal of Bible knowledge. Sam was +not nearly so often a truant now, that he knew his mother's watchful +eye was ready to discover any omission in attending Sunday school; and +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> boys were gradually growing in respect for things on which they +could see their mother now placed so much importance.</p> + +<p>Nelly had never before known so much of comfort and happiness. She was +treated as one of the family, and the easy tasks which fell to her lot +were labours of love and gratitude. Even the irksome sewing, by dint +of patiently struggling with her constitutional restlessness, was +growing almost a pleasure, from her being able to do it so much +better. In the letters which Bessie occasionally received from Lucy, +there was always a kind message for Nelly, which would act as a +wonderful stimulus for days after it came.</p> + +<p>As the winter wore on, however, it was evident she was not greatly +needed by her kind friends. Bessie was growing stronger every day, and +more able to assist her mother, and Nelly could not help feeling that +she was kept only because she needed a home. One day, therefore, she +asked Mrs. Ford if she thought she was not now fit to take a place.</p> + +<p>"Well, you've got to be a good little worker, that's a fact; but +there's no hurry about your going. You're welcome to stay here as long +as you like."</p> + +<p>"It's very kind of you, ma'am; but perhaps if you'd be looking out you +might hear of some one that would take me, and give me whatever I was +worth," said Nelly, in whom the instinct of independence was strong.</p> + +<p>A few days after this Mrs. Ford was asked by her friend Mrs. Thompson +what she was going to do with her little Irish girl. "She is big +enough for a place," she said, "and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> there is no good in having a girl +like that learning idle ways. I think I know of a place that would +suit her very well."</p> + +<p>"What place is that?" asked Mrs. Ford.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thompson replied that a friend of hers in the city had written to +inquire for a country girl about Nelly's age. She would have no hard +work, and would get such clothing as she required, instead of wages in +money.</p> + +<p>"You see servants are very hard to obtain in those large places," +remarked Mrs. Thompson, "and they always want the highest wages; and +this person isn't very well off, and keeps boarders to support +herself, so she can't afford a great deal."</p> + +<p>"But would she be good to Nelly?" inquired Mrs. Ford.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thompson promised to inquire of the friend who had written to +her, in regard to this point. Her correspondent's reply was tolerably +satisfactory. Mrs. Williams, the person who wanted Nelly, was likely +to do whatever was right by any girl who might be sent her, as she was +a very respectable person, and "a church member." This last statement +weighed considerably with Mrs. Ford, and decided her to mention the +place to Nelly.</p> + +<p>Nelly could not help feeling a throb of regret at hearing that there +really was a place open to her, for she dreaded exceedingly the +prospect of leaving her kind friends; but of this she said nothing, +and tried to seem pleased with the idea of trying the place. One great +inducement it certainly had, that it was in the city in which Lucy now +resided. She hoped to see Miss Lucy sometimes, and she would help her +to be good and do well, she thought. Mrs. Ford also<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> thought this +circumstance a favourable one, as Lucy could see for herself whether +Nelly was comfortably situated, and if not, could help her to find a +better place. So, after much consideration and some misgivings, it was +reluctantly settled that she should go. Mrs. Thompson's brother was +going to the city soon, and Nelly could accompany him.</p> + +<p>She did not need a great deal of time for preparation, though Mrs. +Ford kindly provided her with all that was necessary for her +respectable appearance in her new place, so that she went back to the +city which had been her former abode a very different-looking girl +from the barefooted, gipsy-like child, who had wandered, uncared for, +about its streets. "I know the place well, ma'am," she said to Mrs. +Ford; "it isn't as if I had never been there. I won't feel a bit +strange." And though the spring was approaching, and she was for many +reasons very sorry to leave Ashleigh, she did not dread the thought of +going to the great city, alone and friendless, as much as a thoroughly +country-bred girl would have done.</p> + +<p>When her travelling companion bade her good-bye at the railway +station, Nelly, not in the least frightened by the hurrying crowds and +the noisy streets, so familiar to her of old, took up her little +bundle, containing all the worldly goods she possessed, and set off +briskly to look for the address inscribed on the card she held in her +hand. She did not need to ask her way more than once, though it was a +half-hour's walk before she reached the street, and then she walked +slowly along, studying the numbers of the doors till she arrived at +the right one, bearing on a brass plate the words, "Mrs. Williams' +Boarding House." It was one of the most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> bare and uninviting of a dull +row, and not even the bright sunshine of the early spring could +enliven it much. Other houses had flowers or birds in the windows, or +at least pleasant glimpses of white curtains, but this one, with its +half-closed blinds, had almost a funereal aspect. Nelly had a keen +susceptibility of externals, and her heart sank a little; but she rang +the bell, determined to make the best of it. The door was opened by an +elderly woman in rusty black, with a hard, careworn face, which did +not relax into the slightest perceptible smile, as she regarded Nelly +scrutinizingly, saying at last, "Oh, you're the girl Mrs. Thompson was +to send, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, ma'am," replied Nelly, who had not yet been invited to enter.</p> + +<p>"Well, you're not as big as I thought you'd be, and you don't look +very strong. Come in;" and she led the way into a dull, bare +dining-room, where she went on with her work of setting the table, +while she put Nelly through an examination as to her qualifications. +She either was, or appeared to be, dissatisfied, and after dryly +expressing a hope that she would suit, she told her to follow her down +to the kitchen.</p> + +<p>It was a dark, cellar-like place, with an equally cellar-like room of +very small dimensions opening off it, where Nelly was to sleep. Many +houses seem built on the principle—not the Christian one of loving +our neighbours as ourselves—that "anything is good enough for +servants," as if light, and air, and pleasant things to look out upon, +were not just as much needed by them as by their employers! Kitchens +and servants' rooms need not be luxurious. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> would be doing servants +an injury to accustom them to luxuries of which they would some time +feel the privation; but many of them have been accustomed to pure, +free air, and a pleasant outlook, and feel the reverse far more than +is imagined by those who condemn them to live in underground cells.</p> + +<p>Nelly felt her abode very dismal after the light, airy farmhouse. Even +from her old attic-window she had a pleasant view of the river, and +could always see the moon and stars at night; while from this the +utmost she could see from the windows was a little bit of street +pavement. But when she unpacked her bundle, and came upon her +"watchword card," as Lucy had called it, her courage rose as she +remembered that her heavenly Friend was as near her here as in the +free, fresh country, and that where He was He could make it home. She +could not have put this feeling into words, but it was there, in her +heart, where doubtless He Himself had put it.</p> + +<p>It was some time before Mrs. Williams thought of inquiring whether she +had had any dinner. On her replying in the negative—she was beginning +to feel quite tired and faint—Mrs. Williams, with a half-reluctant +air, brought out of a locked cupboard some very dry-looking bread and +cold meat, which she set before Nelly.</p> + +<p>She was very hungry, so that even this was very acceptable, and she +did justice to the meal. Before she had finished, a voice called from +an upper story, "Mother, tell the new girl to bring up some water."</p> + +<p>Nelly was accordingly directed to fill the water-can and take it up to +the top of the house. After carrying it up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> three flights of stairs, +she saw a door open, and a girl of nineteen or twenty, apparently +engaged in performing an elaborate toilet, looked out from it.</p> + +<p>"How old are you?" she said, as she took the water from Nelly.</p> + +<p>"I'll soon be fourteen, miss."</p> + +<p>"Well, you don't look it. You'll have to look sharp here if you want +to suit us. Now, take these boots down to brush."</p> + +<p>She spoke in a quick, sharp way, a good deal like her mother's; and +her face, though tolerably comely, was sharp too. Miss Williams meant +to "get on" in the world if she could, and her face and manner showed +it.</p> + +<p>Nelly found various things to do before she got back to her unfinished +dinner, and then Mrs. Williams hurried her through, that she might get +the kitchen made "tidy." In the meantime Miss Williams departed, in +all the glories of a fashionable toilet, for her afternoon promenade, +her mother regarding her with much pride and complacency. It seemed +the one object of her hard-working, careworn life that her daughter +should look "like a lady," and a large proportion of her earnings and +savings went to effect this object.</p> + +<p>Nelly's services were at once called into requisition to assist in the +preparation of the dinner for the boarders—four gentlemen—who, her +mistress informed her, were "very particular," and liked everything +nice. She received a confusing multiplicity of directions as to +waiting at table, for Mrs. Williams rather prided herself on the +"stylishness" of her establishment. She got through her task tolerably +well,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> though somewhat bewildered between Mrs. Williams' quick, sharp +reminders and the "chaffing" of one or two of the gentlemen, who +thought it "good fun" to puzzle the "new hand" with ironical remarks, +some of them being aimed at their landlady through her servant.</p> + +<p>After the waiting at dinner, followed the preparation of tea for Mrs. +Williams and her daughter, who had come in, and was in the midst of +one of the evening performances on the piano, which were the dread of +the boarders; and then there were all the dishes used at dinner to +wash and put away. It was pretty late by the time all this had been +done, and Nelly was feeling very sleepy, and wondering how soon she +might go to bed, when her mistress came down with half-a-dozen pairs +of boots, to be cleaned either that evening or next morning. Now the +next day was Sunday, and at the farm Mrs. Ford had of late insisted on +the excellent rule of getting all done that could be done on Saturday +night, so as to leave the Lord's day as free as possible from secular +duties; so Nelly, sleepy as she was, took up her blacking brushes, and +proceeded to rub and polish with all her might. But fatigue was too +strong for her, and before she had got through the third pair, her +head sank down and she lost all consciousness, till she suddenly +started up, thinking Mrs. Ford was calling her to drive the cows to +pasture. It was impossible to rouse herself again to her work; she +just managed to put out her light, and, hastily undressing, she threw +herself on the bed with only a half-conscious attempt at her usual +evening prayer, which, however, He who knows the weakness of our frame +would surely accept.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> + +<p>Next morning, she started up instantly at Mrs. Williams' impatient +call. She could hardly get ready quick enough to satisfy her mistress, +and had no time to kneel down and ask her heavenly Father's help for +the duties of the day. Mrs. Williams had not thought of this need for +herself, and still less for her little handmaid. She found there was +plenty of work before her, independently of the boots that remained to +be cleaned. By the time she had got through, the bells were ringing +for church, and it was time to think of getting the dinner ready, the +boarders dining early on Sunday. Mrs. Williams was not going to church +herself. The gentlemen always expected the dinner to be especially +good on that day, without much consideration what the cook's Sunday +might be; and it was much too important a matter to be left to Nelly's +inexperienced hands. But during the time when her mistress was +occupied in helping her daughter to dress her hair elaborately for +church, Nelly found a little quiet time to read part of a chapter, and +learn a verse, and ask God's help to do right during the day, and to +remember that it was His day, the best of all the week.</p> + +<p>So prepared, she found the difficult task of performing unaccustomed +duties to her mistress's satisfaction easier than it might otherwise +have been. For why should we consider anything too small to seek His +aid, by whom the hairs of our head are all numbered? And the very +attitude of trust and reliance on Him calms and clears the mind, and +strengthens the heart.</p> + +<p>There was no time for Nelly to go to church on that Sunday, at any +rate. She could not get through her work with her comparatively +unpractised hands, and it was with a very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> weary body and mind that +she read her evening verse, and repeated her favourite hymn, "I lay my +sins on Jesus," as a sort of substitute for her usual Sunday school +lessons, and then lay down to think of the kind friends she had left, +and to wonder when she should see Miss Lucy, till she fell asleep to +dream that she was at the farm again, and churning butter that would +not come.</p> + +<p>Bessie had written to Lucy, telling her of Nelly's departure, but had +forgotten to give her mistress's address, so that Lucy could not find +her out till she should go to see her at Mr. Brooke's; and for many +days this was impracticable. Day after day passed, filled with the +same unceasing routine of drudgery; and though her growing skill +enabled her to get through her work more quickly, this did not add to +her leisure, since, as her capabilities increased, her duties +increased also. Miss Williams, too, who objected to do anything for +herself when another could be got to do it, found Nelly very +convenient for all sorts of personal services.</p> + +<p>Nelly went through it all without grumbling, though she often went to +bed quite tired out. But youth and health came to her aid, and she +would wake in the morning to go singing about her work. She had an +uncommonly sweet voice, and the boarders used often to remark to each +other that there was more music in her untaught snatches of song than +in all Miss Williams' attempts at the piano.</p> + +<p>But, as weeks went on, the perpetual, unceasing strain began to wear +upon her, and her songs grew less and less frequent. Though she was +almost too busy to indulge in many longings for Ashleigh and its +pleasant fields, it was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> little hard to know that the beautiful +budding spring was passing into summer, and that she could taste none +of the country pleasures she had so much enjoyed last year; that the +only sign by which she knew the advancement of the season was the +increasing heat, enervating her frame and undermining her +strength,—its effect in this respect being greatly heightened by the +close, heavy atmosphere in which she chiefly lived. Nature is stronger +than man, after all; and when the upper classes selfishly neglect the +comfort of their poorer brethren, they will find that inexorable +Nature will avenge the infringement of her laws, and will touch their +own interests in so doing.</p> + +<p>"I can't think what has come over Nelly!" Mrs. Williams would say to +her daughter. "She's not the same girl she was when she came here, and +she seems to grow lazier every day. Well, it's the way with them all. +A new broom sweeps clean."</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Williams might easily have found a truer explanation of +Nelly's failing energies than this convenient proverb, in the +unwholesome atmosphere she was breathing by night and day, as well as +in the quantity and quality of the food provided for her. Mrs. +Williams would have indignantly repelled the charge of starving Nelly, +but she forgot the requirements of a fast-growing girl. Everything +eatable was kept rigidly locked up,—that was a fundamental principle +of Mrs. Williams' housekeeping,—and Nelly's allowance was sometimes +so scanty, and at other times composed of such an uninviting +collection of scraps, that she often had not sufficient nourishment to +repair the waste of strength which she was continually undergoing. And +as she would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> rather suffer than ask more, her constitution was really +giving way for want of sufficient sustenance.</p> + +<p>So two or three months passed, and she had not yet seen Lucy. She had +only, indeed, been two or three times at church, for Mrs. Williams +never seemed to remember that her little servant had an immortal soul +to be nourished, though it must be admitted that she was not much more +mindful of her own spiritual welfare. As for getting out on week-days, +except on her mistress's errands, Mrs. Williams seemed to consider +that quite out of the question; and, indeed, Nelly could not easily +have found leisure for half-an-hour's absence. One evening, at last, +when most of the boarders were dining out, Mrs. Williams graciously +acceded to Nelly's request to be allowed to go out for an hour; "but +don't stay a minute longer," she added. Nelly had carefully kept +Lucy's address, and gladly set off, as fast as she could walk, towards +the quarter of the city in which she knew it to be. She steered her +course pretty straight, but had walked for fully half-an-hour before +she reached the door, on the brass plate of which she read "B. +Brooke."</p> + +<p>It was with a beating heart that she put the question, "Is Miss Lucy +Raymond at home?" to be answered in the negative by the servant, who +inwardly wondered what a girl so poorly dressed could want with Miss +Lucy. Waiting was out of the question,—she would be late enough in +getting back as it was,—so she sorrowfully turned away, without +leaving any message. It was a great disappointment, and, tired and +dispirited, she made her way back.</p> + +<p>There was another reason, besides want of time, to prevent her making +a second attempt. The clothes with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> which she had been provided on +leaving Mill Bank Farm were almost worn out with the hard work she had +to do, and Mrs. Williams had as yet done nothing towards fulfilling +her promise of giving her necessary clothing, although Nelly's +tattered frock was worn beyond all possibility of repairing. Nelly was +conscious of the doubtful look with which she was regarded when she +asked for Lucy, and she shrank from again encountering it, and perhaps +bringing discredit on Miss Lucy in the eyes of her city friends by her +own disreputable appearance.</p> + +<p>One afternoon in June—Mrs. Williams and her daughter being +out—Nelly, having a few minutes to spare, was standing at the open +door, listening to the plaintive strains of an organ-grinder who was +playing close by. His dark Italian face looked sad and careworn, and +the little girl beside him, evidently his daughter from the +resemblance between them, looked so pale and feeble, that it seemed as +if her little thin hands could scarcely support the tambourine she was +ringing in accompaniment to a little plaintive song. Nelly enjoyed the +performance exceedingly, but her admiration did not appear to be +shared by those whose applause was of more consequence, for not a +single penny found its way into the poor man's hat, either from the +inmates of the house or from the juvenile bystanders. His discouraged +air, and the sad, wistful eyes of the little girl, touched Nelly's +warm Irish heart, as he leaned on Mrs. Williams' doorsteps to rest +himself while he set down his organ, experience having taught him that +it was a useless waste of strength to play before that door.</p> + +<p>Nelly, seeing how hot and tired he looked, impulsively<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> asked the poor +man whether he would walk in and sit down, never stopping to think +whether she had a right to do so. He looked up, surprised at the +invitation, but thankfully accepted it, and Nelly brought two chairs +into the hall for him and the little girl. Then, as the only +entertainment she was able to supply, she filled two glasses with the +coldest water she could find, and shyly offered them to her guests.</p> + +<p>"Ah, it is good," said the organ-grinder, when he had drained his +glass. "Many thanks," he added, in his foreign accent; and the little +girl looked up into Nelly's face with the sweetest, most expressive, +grateful smile.</p> + +<p>"Now," said the Italian, after having rested a little, "you love +music—is it not true?—or you would not be so kind to us. I will play +for you."</p> + +<p>And, taking up his instrument, he played an air sweeter than any Nelly +had yet heard from him, and the little girl sang, in her liquid voice, +a little song, the words of which she could not understand, for they +were Italian.</p> + +<p>"Now we must go," said the man. "Good-bye, my good girl; if I were +home in my country, I would do as much for you." And the father and +daughter pursued their weary way, Nelly's eyes following wistfully the +forms of those whom she regarded as friends already, for were they +not, like herself, poor, lonely strangers in a strange land?</p> + +<p>Then she began to wonder whether she had done wrong in asking them to +come in. She knew instinctively that she could not have done it had +Mrs. Williams been at home. But yet she could not feel such a simple, +common act of kindness to have been wrong. No harm had been done to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +anything belonging to her mistress; and the "cup of cold water," had +she not a right to offer it to those who needed it so much?</p> + +<p>After that the organ-grinder and his child passed frequently through +that street, and whenever she could, Nelly would exchange a few kind +words with them, and the man would play for her, knowing well that she +had no pennies to offer in return; but at such times she used to wish +so much that she had a little money of her own.</p> + +<p>The Italian would sometimes look at her tattered dress, and her face, +gradually growing thinner and paler, as if he thought her quite as +forlorn as himself; and once, when he heard her mistress call her in, +and scold her for "talking to such characters in the street," he shook +his head, and muttered something in his native tongue.</p> + +<p>And so it came to pass that the poor Italian and his daughter became +Nelly's only friends in that great, busy city.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/image_142.jpg" width="150" height="136" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>XII.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_061.jpg" width="600" height="213" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<h3><i>Ambition.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Tell me the same old story,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When you have cause to fear<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That this world's empty glory<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Is costing me too dear."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_114.jpg" width="75" height="73" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>ucy's interest in her studies, and the zeal with which she pursued +them, had had a wonderful effect in reconciling her to her new +circumstances. She could sometimes hardly believe that only a few +short months lay between her and her old life, now seeming so far back +in the distance. Her progress in study had been very rapid, as her +abilities were above the average, and her love of study was much +greater than was usual among her companions, most of whom looked upon +their school education chiefly as a matter of form, which it was +expected of them to go through before entering on the real object of +life, the entrance into "society," with its pleasures and excitements. +That it was intended to be a means of disciplining their minds for +better doing their future duties, enlarging their range of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> thought, +and opening to them new sources of interest and delight, had never +entered into their heads. Lucy indeed pursued her studies more for the +sake of the pleasure they afforded her at the time than with any +ulterior views, though she did feel the advantages placed in her way +to be a sacred trust, and, like all other privileges, to be accounted +for to Him who had bestowed them.</p> + +<p>With her teachers, who found her a pupil after their own heart, she +was a much greater favourite than she was with some of her classmates, +who were so uncongenial, that she could not well enter into, or even +understand, the things which interested them. Nor could she always +refrain from showing her impatience of their frivolities, or her +contempt for the follies which so engrossed their minds; and this did +not, of course, tend to make her popular. This circumstance Lucy did +not care for so much even as she ought; for, though fond of +approbation, she cared only for the approbation of those she esteemed, +unlike her cousin Stella, who liked admiration from any source.</p> + +<p>When the bright, balmy days of spring came, bringing with them +thoughts of green fields and budding trees, there sometimes came over +her longings almost irresistible for her old home, so full of rural +sights and sounds, in such contrast to the stiff, straight city +streets and houses, the dust and noise, and the squares planted with +trees, which to her eyes seemed like caged birds, as the only +reminders that there were such things in the world. These longings +usually came to her most strongly in the long spring evenings, in +whose lengthening light she used to rejoice at Ashleigh, as enabling +her to prolong her pleasant country<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> rambles. Now she must either walk +up and down the hard pavements between never-ending rows of houses, or +sit at the window, wistfully watching the sunset light falling golden +on the opposite walls. Now and then she accompanied the others in a +long drive; but the distance which they had to traverse before they +reached anything like the country seemed to her interminable; and when +they did catch a glimpse of fields and woods, it seemed hard to have +so soon to turn back and lose sight of them again.</p> + +<p>On her return from one of these drives, which had been protracted till +dusk, she was told that she had been inquired for by a girl very +poorly dressed, "almost like a beggar." She was puzzled at first, but +almost immediately it flashed across her that it must be Nelly Connor. +She had often thought of her since she had come to the city, but could +not find her, owing to Bessie's omission to give her mistress's +address,—an omission which Bessie, not being a good correspondent, +and naturally supposing that Nelly would soon find her way to Lucy, +had not yet remedied. "Oh, I wish I had seen her!" exclaimed Lucy, +much to the surprise both of the servants and her cousins, who could +not understand how a girl of that description should come to be so +interesting to her as to cause so much disappointment at having missed +her, and at having no clue to her place of abode.</p> + +<p>"I hope she will soon come again," was the reflection with which Lucy +consoled herself; and Stella explained to Sophy and Edwin: "It's a +little Irish <i>protegée</i> of hers that she was crazy about at Ashleigh, +and she used to lecture me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> because I didn't think as much of her as +she did." Lucy laughed and tried to explain, but stopped, seeing that +her cousins took very little interest in the matter.</p> + +<p>Lucy did not come much in contact with her uncle and aunt. The former +was much absorbed in business, and though a kind and indulgent parent, +especially to his favourite Stella, he interfered but little in home +matters. Mrs. Brooke, who had always been a rather negative character, +had long given up to her elder daughters any sway she had ever held, +and was almost entirely guided by their judgment, of which they +naturally took advantage to indulge to the utmost their own love of +gaiety. Balls and parties in winter, and in summer gay picnics and +driving parties without end, engrossed their time and thoughts, to the +exclusion of higher objects of interest. Ada was fond of embroidery, +and would betake herself to it when nothing better was going on; and +Sophy was sometimes persuaded to paint for a fancy sale one of the +illuminations, in doing which she evinced great talent. They were +generally quotations from the poets which she selected; and as Lucy +watched the taste with which Sophy blended and contrasted the rich +colouring, she would long for the same skilful hand, in order to +clothe in such glowing colours some of the favourite texts which shone +for her like beams of light from heaven.</p> + +<p>But she had no talent for drawing; and though by diligent practice she +improved very much in playing and singing, she knew she should never +be able to do either like her cousin Sophy. How useful, she thought, +might she not be, if her heart were but actuated by love to Christ! +She felt she dared not speak to her on this subject, but she often +prayed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> to Him who can command the hearts of all, that He would touch +and renew that of her cousin Sophy.</p> + +<p>Between Stella and Lucy, dissimilar as they were, there existed a +strong cousinly affection. Stella, with all her bantering ways, would +never now go so far as seriously to annoy her, generally taking her +side when she thought the others were too much for her. But though +Lucy tried earnestly to draw her cousin towards the knowledge of her +Saviour, all such attempts seemed to glance off her, like raindrops +from an oiled surface. She was quite satisfied with herself as she +was, and had not yet found out the insufficiency of the earthly +pleasures which at present satisfied her. She believed, of course, in +another world, and the need of a preparation for it, but she thought +there was plenty of time for that; and it had never entered within the +range of her comprehension that the change of heart, which is the +necessary preparation for a future life, is as necessary to living +either well or happily in the present. So that Lucy was constantly +feeling that, in the most important matters of all, there could be no +genuine sympathy between them.</p> + +<p>Nor among her schoolmates was her longing for sympathy between them +more fully gratified. They were all actuated by the "spirit of this +world which passeth away," and avoided everything that could bring the +thought of another to their minds; so that she had not found one with +whom she could speak on the subjects most dear to her, or hold an +intercourse mutually helpful.</p> + +<p>There was, indeed, one of her schoolmates, a Miss Eastwood, a boarder +at Mrs. Wilmot's, in whom, from her sweet, serious manner and +appearance, and from some other tokens,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> she thought she might have +found a congenial friend. But Miss Eastwood was a little older than +herself, and Lucy's natural shyness was increased by the impression +that she rather avoided her and Stella, probably from knowing that Mr. +Brooke's was a thoroughly worldly family, and supposing that Lucy must +be like her cousins in this respect. Miss Eastwood in this was acting +conscientiously; yet such a determined avoidance of those who appear +to be worldly in their principles of action, though founded on the +desire of keeping out of temptation, sometimes leads to great +mistakes. Real Christian sympathy may sometimes be found where from +circumstances there may seem to be least appearance of it; and even +where it does not exist, influence for good might be exerted over +those whom distrust must necessarily repel. He who sat with publicans +and sinners, while He enjoins His followers to be "not of the world," +even as He was not of the world, cannot surely desire them to avoid +all opportunities, naturally occurring, of coming in contact with +those who may not be like-minded; and if Christians would always show +their true colours uncompromisingly, while coming near to others, as +God's providence opens opportunity, they would both do more good and +find sympathy and fellowship oftener than they expect.</p> + +<p>Of all the inmates of her uncle's house, little Amy was the one in +whom Lucy found the greatest congeniality. Her readings to her, and +her teaching about Jesus, seemed to have satisfied a craving of the +child's little heart, and she drank in the truths which Lucy tried to +explain to her, with the eagerness of one who had been thirsting for +the living water. Indeed she needed very little explanation; it +seemed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> as if the Spirit of God was her teacher, instructing her in +things that might have seemed too deep for so young a child to +grasp,—though indeed there may be less difference than we often +imagine between the mind of a child and that of the wisest man, as +regards their power of comprehending truths that are too infinitely +profound for the greatest human intellect to fathom.</p> + +<p>Amy had from her infancy been so delicate, that she had been in a +great measure confined to the nursery all her life; and not being +nearly so winning and attractive as Stella, she had never been so +great a favourite with her brothers and sisters, who, never having +taken the trouble of drawing her out, considered her rather +uninteresting. The death of a fine little boy, a little older than +Amy, had strangely had the effect upon her mother of making her turn +away, almost with a feeling of impatience, from the unattractive, +ailing child that had been spared, while her noble little boy, so full +of beauty and promise, had been taken. Amy had been left almost +entirely to her nurse, who had taught her some of the simple prayers +and hymns that she herself had learned at Sunday school, though she +had not spoken to her of Jesus, as Lucy had done. The story of His +love fell upon a heart that was unconsciously yearning for a fuller +measure of affection than it had ever received from human sources; and +the love which it excited in return, for Him whom the child seemed at +once to recognise as an ever near and present friend, became the most +powerful influence of her life. She never wearied of hearing about +Him, of asking questions about Him, particularly about His childhood, +which often threw light, in her young teacher's mind, upon things +which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> she had not considered before. The child's intense interest, +too, and the simplicity of her childish faith, were no small help to +Lucy, in the midst of much that might have drawn her heart and mind +away from her first love. For there were many temptations in her +way,—temptations which sometimes overcame her. Even her zeal in her +studies often unduly absorbed her mind, tempting her to leave the +fag-end of time and strength for prayer and the reading of God's word, +and her natural ambition often led her into unchristian feelings and +tempers. Then, when humbled and discouraged, and doubtful whether she +really was a child of God at all, some simple, loving remark of Amy's +would drive away the clouds, and she would come again, in penitence +and faith, to drink of the living water which alone can quench human +thirst.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the spiritual beauty of her little cousin's expression, and +her growing ripeness for a better country, would awaken a feeling of +regret that Amy was not more like other children, lest indeed she +might be ripening for an early removal. Yet the thought would recur: +"Amy is not fit for the roughness of the world; why should I wish her +stay upon it, instead of going home to rest in her Saviour's bosom?"</p> + +<p>Fred had paid a short visit to his sister as soon as his college +vacation commenced, but he had made an engagement for the summer as a +tutor, and he was obliged to hasten away to his duties before Lucy had +said half of what she wished to say, or asked his advice on half the +subjects on which she had been longing for it. However, short as his +visit was, it was very useful as well as very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> pleasant, reviving old +thoughts and habits of feeling which were in danger of falling into +the background, and stimulating her to follow the example of a brother +who was so stedfastly bent on following his Lord.</p> + +<p>As the time for the summer examinations at Mrs. Wilmot's drew near, +Lucy, bent on carrying off two or three of the prizes, redoubled her +application to her studies; but she allowed her desire to accomplish +her object to carry her too far. All her thoughts, all her time, were +so engrossed by it, that she had none to spare for anything else. She +would not join her cousins in any of their innocent recreations, and +became impatient and irritable when she met with claims upon her time +that could not be set aside. Even the Lord's day at last began to seem +an interruption to the work in which she was so eager. Her too intense +application began to affect her health: she was growing so nervous, +that Stella would sometimes declare that she was changing her +identity, and could not be the same Lucy Raymond as of old. Lucy could +indeed feel the change in herself, and this only increased the +irritation, instead of leading her to remove the cause, by moderating +the ambition which was leading her to a blameable excess in what would +otherwise have been praiseworthy diligence. But just at that time the +coveted prizes seemed to throw everything else into the shade, and she +had no watchful, judicious friend, to point out, in timely warning, +the snare into which she was falling.</p> + +<p>Even little Amy, for the first time, occasionally found herself +impatiently put aside, and her requests to be read to met with, "Not +now, Amy; I haven't time. Don't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> tease me now, like a good child;" and +would steal away, with a surprised look in her soft eyes, wondering +how it could be that Cousin Lucy should not have time to read to her +about Jesus.</p> + +<p>One of the prizes on which Lucy had most set her heart was that to be +given for History, one of her favourite studies. In ancient and +classical history she had been very thoroughly grounded by her father, +and had nothing to fear, most of the principal events being familiar +to her as household words. But her knowledge of modern history was not +so extensive, and she had a great deal of hard study before she could +feel at all at ease in competing with her classmates, some of whom +were considerably older than herself, and had given most of their +attention to modern history, the division in which the greater number +of questions were asked.</p> + +<p>Lucy had studied with so much diligence, and her daily recitations +were always so good, that she had great hopes of taking the first +prize; and her master, with whom she was a great favourite, did not +conceal his expectation of her success. Just the day before the +examination, when looking over the list of subjects for revision, she +found, to her dismay, that she had unaccountably overlooked one of +those prescribed. It was quite too late to hope to repair the omission +satisfactorily, but she hastily procured the proper book, and set to +work at once, to try to gain such a general knowledge of the subject +as would enable her to reply to the questions that were certain to be +asked upon it. But her overtasked mind refused to grasp the words that +swam before her eyes; and a headache, which had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> been annoying her for +days, became so severe, that she was obliged to shut the book and +throw herself on the bed, her oppressed mind relieving itself in a +burst of tears.</p> + +<p>While she was still crying, Amy came in, and, going up to her, stroked +her cheek with her loving little hands. "Are you hurt, Cousin Lucy?" +she asked wonderingly; and as her cousin shook her head, she asked in +a lower tone, "Were you naughty, Cousin Lucy?"—these being to her the +only conceivable causes for sorrow.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Amy, I've been naughty!" exclaimed Lucy impetuously. She saw now +how wrong she had been in allowing herself to be so led away by her +ambition, as to have sacrificed to it all else, even her habit of +watching in faith for</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The service that Thy love appoints."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Numerous instances rushed upon her mind, in which she had turned aside +from opportunities of usefulness, of showing kindness and forbearance +to others; she had been letting her oil run out, and her lamp burnt +faint and dim, and all that she might gain this petty prize, which she +was likely to lose after all! Had she not, in yielding to her peculiar +temptation, allowed herself to become as worldly as those whom in her +heart she had been condemning?</p> + +<p>Amy's gentle voice came to awaken more soothing thoughts. "But why do +you cry so, Lucy?" she said. "Won't Jesus forgive you, and make you +good?"</p> + +<p>Lucy's "bread upon the waters" had come back to her in spiritual +comfort, just when she most needed it. She put her arms round her +little monitor, and, as she kissed her, her thoughts formed an earnest +prayer that her Lord<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> would indeed forgive her, and help her to begin +again, wiser for her experience, and strong in looking to Him for +strength.</p> + +<p>The quiet hours which her headache enforced were of great service to +her, in giving her time for thought and resolution. When at last she +rose, and arranged her hair to go down-stairs, her heart had grown so +much lighter and calmer, that she felt more like herself than she had +done for months, and she could now leave the matter of the prizes, +without undue anxiety, with Him who knew what was best for her, and +who, she was sure, would not refuse her any good thing.</p> + +<p>The examination in history was the first to come off. When Lucy looked +at the list of questions, she found that several of them were on the +part of the subject she had overlooked, and that these she could not +answer at all. She felt that all chance of the prize was over; but she +did not allow her mind to dwell on this circumstance, but wrote her +replies to the other questions, with a calmness and clearness which +would have been quite beyond her power, had she allowed herself to +remain in a condition of feverish suspense.</p> + +<p>When the examiners' decision was made known, it was found that the +first prize had been awarded to Miss Eastwood, who was quite taken by +surprise at receiving it; but that, as Miss Raymond's paper had been +so good in all except a very few points, the second prize, awarded to +her, was considered almost equal to the first. This was much better +than Lucy had expected; and as she received two first prizes in +subjects where she had felt by no means sure<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> of success, she was on +the whole very well satisfied, as was Fred also, when her joyful +letter informed him of the result.</p> + +<p>Stella announced Lucy's success at home with almost as much pleasure +as if the success had been her own. Edwin congratulated her with +rather more animation than he was in the habit of showing, and Ada +declared that "It must be nice to be so smart."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but Lucy has been injuring her health by her close study," +remarked the more observant Sophy. "Look at her now, how pale and thin +she is, compared with what she was when she came!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, the holidays will set me all right again," Lucy declared, +laughing; but Mrs. Brooke decided that Lucy needed immediate change of +air. She had been hoping to be able to spend her holidays at Ashleigh, +among her old friends; and as the Brookes were all going to a +fashionable seaside resort, it seemed likely that nothing would occur +to prevent the hoped-for visit. But Amy's cough, as well as other +symptoms of delicacy of the lungs, had increased so much, that the +doctor declared the sea-air too keen for her, and that she had better +be sent, during the warm season, to a quiet inland place in the +neighbourhood, the air of which he thought particularly suited to her +constitution. But of course Amy could not be sent there alone, and +none of the rest would have been willing to give up their proposed +visit to the seaside, except Mrs. Brooke, who could not be spared from +her duties to her other daughters.</p> + +<p>Lucy therefore seemed the one who should accompany Amy, and she +herself felt that it was an occasion on which she might make some +return for the kindness she had met<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> with in her uncle's family. So +her visit to Ashleigh was given up, and Amy's delight at finding that +she was to accompany her to Oakvale, was enough to make her forget any +disappointment which her decision had involved. They were to be +received into the family of a friend of the doctor's, a widow lady, +who frequently received invalids as boarders, with whom little Amy +would receive all the care and comfort she needed.</p> + +<p>A few days before their departure, Lucy at last received, through +Bessie Ford, the address of Nelly Connor's mistress. Stella, who, +notwithstanding her raillery at Lucy's <i>protegée</i>, had a sort of +latent interest in Nelly, from her association with her pleasant visit +to Ashleigh, accompanied her cousin in her long walk to look for the +house. On reaching it at last, tired and hot, the door was opened, not +by Nelly, as Lucy had hoped, but by an unprepossessing-looking woman, +whose hard face grew more rigid when informed what was the object of +her visit.</p> + +<p>"You needn't come here to look for her," she replied grimly; "she's +left this some time since, and I don't never want to set eyes on her +again."</p> + +<p>"Is she not here, then? Where is she gone?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," was the reply, "and I don't want to know. A girl that +could behave as she done to one who took such pains with her, and kept +her so long, ain't a girl to my taste. I wash my hands of her."</p> + +<p>"But perhaps you could tell us what place she went to from you?" +persisted Lucy. "I am a friend of hers, and would like to find her +out."</p> + +<p>"Well, she is no credit to her friends," said the woman,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> rather +pleased at being able to give her a bad character where it might be of +some consequence. "And as for the vagrant character she went off with, +I'd be very sorry to have any acquaintance with him."</p> + +<p>Finding the uselessness of prosecuting her inquiries there, Lucy bade +Mrs. Williams good-day, feeling sure that Nelly's conduct had been +misrepresented,—an opinion shared by Stella, who had taken a strong +dislike to the woman's grim demeanour and spiteful tone,—and very +sorry for having lost the only clue to her <i>protegée</i> once more.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/image_030.jpg" width="150" height="125" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>XIII.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_008.jpg" width="600" height="206" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<h3><i>A Friendship.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"We had been girlish friends,<br /> +</span> +<span class="i0">With hearts that, like the summer's half-oped buds,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Grew close, and hived their sweetness for each other."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_114.jpg" width="75" height="73" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>ucy and Amy were soon settled in Mrs. Browne's pleasant little +cottage at Oakvale, a pretty sheltered village surrounded by hills, +clothed principally with noble oaks, whence it derived its name. Mrs. +Browne's house lay a little way out of the village, amid green fields +and lanes, which, after the hot, dusty city streets, were +inexpressibly refreshing to Lucy, recalling old times at Ashleigh.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Browne was a kind, motherly person, a doctor's widow, herself +possessing a good deal of medical skill, which rendered her house +especially eligible for invalids, and she established a careful watch +over little Amy, whose very precarious condition her practised eye saw +at a glance. Whenever the child, feeling better than usual, would have +overtasked her failing strength in the quiet country rambles, which +were such a delightful novelty to one who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> scarcely ever been +really in the country before, and when Lucy's inexperience might have +allowed her to injure herself without knowing it, Mrs. Browne would +interpose a gentle warning, which was always cheerfully obeyed. It was +with some surprise, indeed, that she noticed with what perfect +submission the little girl bore all the deprivations of innocent +pleasure which her weak state compelled, as well as the feverish +languor which often oppressed her in the hot August days. This +submission arose from the implicit belief which, child as she was, she +had, that everything that befell her was ordered by the kind Saviour, +who would send nothing that was not for her real good. Such a belief, +fully realized, would soon relieve most of us from the fretting cares +and corroding anxieties that arise from our "taking thought" about +things we cannot control.</p> + +<p>"I never saw a child like her," Mrs. Browne would say; "indeed, she's +more like an angel than a child, and it's my belief she'll soon be one +in reality. And I'm sure heaven's more the place for her than this +rough world."</p> + +<p>However, Amy seemed to improve under the healthful influences of +Oakvale, living almost wholly in the fresh open air, perfumed with +mignonette and other sweet summer flowers, sitting with Lucy under the +trees before Mrs. Browne's house, or in her shady verandah, where, +even on the warmest day, there was a breeze to cool the sultry air. +Lucy would read to her, sometimes some of Longfellow's simpler poems, +out of one of her prize-books, and sometimes out of more juvenile +story-books brought down for Amy's benefit, who was never tired of +hearing her favourites read over and over again, to which she would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> +listen with an abstracted, thoughtful expression, as if she were +interpreting the story in a spiritual fashion of her own. "Heaven is +about us in our infancy," says the poet; and it is nearer to some +children, by the grace of God, than older people often imagine.</p> + +<p>When Lucy wanted to read to herself, Amy would amuse herself quietly +for hours, dressing her dolls, and looking over the illustrations in +her story-books, supplying the story from memory. Lucy conscientiously +kept up her practising on Mrs. Browne's piano, and always ended by +playing and singing some hymns for Amy, who was passionately fond of +music, and loved to try to sing too, with her sweet, feeble voice.</p> + +<p>As Mrs. Browne, having but one servant, had a great deal to do +herself, Lucy volunteered to assist her a little. She had always been +accustomed to perform some household tasks at home, and it was quite +an amusement to her and Amy, bringing back old days of her childhood, +to vary their mornings by shelling the peas for dinner, or, when it +was not too warm, picking the fruit for Mrs. Browne's preserves. So +pleasant did Lucy find it, that she thought her city cousins really +missed a good deal of enjoyment, in never, by any chance, employing +themselves in anything of the kind, even when the busy servants were +really over-worked. Indeed it is somewhat surprising that domestics go +on as contentedly as they do in their constant treadmill of labour, +often too much for their strength, when so many healthy members of the +families for whose benefit they toil spend so large a portion of their +time in luxurious idleness, or in mere pleasure-seeking.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the fresh, cool morning, after their early breakfast, and in the +evening, when the heat of the day was over, Lucy and Amy always went +for a short ramble, climbing a little way up one of the hill-paths, or +wandering by the side of the stream, which, fringed with elm and +birch, wound through the village that lay on both sides of it, the +river being crossed in two or three places by rustic bridges. From the +point on the hillside which generally formed the limit of their walk, +and where they used to sit on a mossy stone to rest, they had an +extensive view over the surrounding country, diversified with +corn-fields, orchards, and deep green woods, and dotted with +farmhouses, while close at their feet lay the white cluster of +village-houses, with a few of higher pretensions scattered here and +there on the green slopes by the river-side, among their shrubberies +and embowering trees.</p> + +<p>The fields were beginning to wear the deeper and richer hues of +approaching autumn, and it was a perpetual pleasure to watch the +rippling motion of the golden grain waving in the breeze, or the rapid +changes of light and shade on the fields and woods, as the clouds +passed swiftly over the sky. To watch these were their morning +pleasures; but better still, perhaps, they loved the quiet sunset +hours, when the glowing tints of the sky seemed to clothe the +landscape in an unearthly glory, and then gradually each bright hue +would fade out from the sky and from the land below, leaving the scene +to the solemn repose of the shadowy evening, broken only by the +flitting fireflies, or to the flood of silver light shed by the rising +moon. But Amy was never to be allowed to be out in the night air, so +that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> their rambles had to be over before the damp night dews. They +generally found Mrs. Browne standing at the gate, awaiting their +return, anxious lest her charge should have ventured to remain out too +long.</p> + +<p>More than a week of their stay had passed rapidly by, when, one +evening that Lucy and Amy were spending in wandering by the river, the +former suddenly recognised approaching them the familiar form of her +classmate, Miss Eastwood, the winner of the first history prize. The +recognition was of course mutual, and in the surprise of meeting so +unexpectedly, and in explanations of how it had come about, the two +girls exchanged more words than they had ever done when in the same +classes at Mrs. Wilmot's.</p> + +<p>"And you did not know Oakvale was my home?" said Mary Eastwood, when +Lucy had told how she and her cousin came to be there. Lucy had never +heard where Miss Eastwood's home was, and it had not occurred to her +to connect the Dr. Eastwood, of whom Mrs. Browne often spoke, with the +name of her classmate. Mary showed them her father's house, +beautifully situated on the opposite sloping bank of the river, which, +with its shady trees and white gate, reminded her a good deal of her +own old home, though the house was larger and handsomer. Dr. Eastwood, +who was with his daughter, looked at little Amy with a good deal of +interest, asking a number of questions, while he held her delicate +hand in his, and watched her fair, pale face with his keen eye. He and +Mary walked back with them to Mrs. Browne's cottage, promising to come +and see them soon, and inviting them to visit Mary.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> + +<p>This unexpected rencontre greatly added to Lucy's enjoyment of her +stay at Oakvale. The cousins very soon had the pleasure of spending an +afternoon in Dr. Eastwood's family,—a Christian household after +Lucy's own heart. Now that the first stiffness of their +school-relations had been brushed off by the surprise of their +meeting, the two girls found each other delightful companions, and +soon became fast friends. It was the first time Lucy had ever found a +congenial companion of her own sex, and their friendship afforded a +new and ever-increasing delight. They saw each other every day, and +often spent the long summer mornings, alike pleasantly and profitably, +in reading aloud by turns, from some interesting and improving book +out of Dr. Eastwood's excellent library. Mrs. Eastwood often sat by, +also enjoying the reading, and, by her judicious remarks, directing +the minds of her young companions to profitable thought. The book +selected was often a religious one, such as some people would have +considered only fit for Sundays; but it was not the less interesting +to them on that account, and gave rise to some of their happiest +discussions, when each perceived, with delight, how thoroughly the +other could appreciate and reciprocate her own deepest feelings. +Little Amy would listen attentively at such times, showing by her +interest that she comprehended more of what was said than could have +been expected. But whenever Mrs. Eastwood thought the conversation +beyond her depth, or her mind too much excited, she would send her +away to play with her own younger children, who were always glad to +place all their toys at her disposal, and do all in their power for +her amusement.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> + +<p>At Dr. Eastwood's the readings generally went on under a spreading +walnut-tree on the lawn, and Amy would roam at large with the +children, or come and rest within hearing, just as she liked. +Sometimes she would lie still for hours on the cushions which Mrs. +Eastwood had laid on the grass for her benefit, gazing through the +flickering green leaves into the blue depths of the sky, her earnest +eyes looking as if they penetrated beyond things visible, and held +communion with thoughts not suggested by any mortal voice.</p> + +<p>Often in the afternoons, while Amy was safe and happy with her little +friends, Mary and Lucy would take a walk of some miles, carrying +perhaps some message or comfort for some of Dr. Eastwood's poor +patients, or driving with him on some of his distant rounds, or rowing +in a boat on the river with one of Mary's brothers, to gather +water-lilies, and bring home their snowy or golden flowers in their +waxlike beauty to delight little Amy, who was sensitively alive to all +natural loveliness.</p> + +<p>During these expeditions the two girls discussed almost every +conceivable topic of mutual interest, and gave each other the history +of their previous lives, though Mary's had flowed on almost as +uneventfully as Lucy's had done previous to her father's death. They +compared notes as to their favourite books, poetry, and theories, +their tastes being sufficiently different to give rise to many a +pleasant, good-humoured controversy. Sometimes, when deeper chords +were touched, they confided to each other some of their spiritual +history,—what influences had first brought them to know a Saviour's +love, and then led their hearts to Him who had given Himself for them. +Mary, who had a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> little class of her own at Oakvale, listened with +much interest to the account of Miss Preston's parting words to her +class, and the influence they had had on her scholars.</p> + +<p>About her dear departed father, too, and the beloved home-circle, Lucy +had much to tell. She said much less about the Brooke family; and +Mary, who could understand how little congenial was the atmosphere of +her uncle's house, respected her reticence. Lucy felt that she had no +right to communicate any unfavourable impression of those from whom +she had received so much kindness, and whose hospitality and kindness +she had enjoyed so long.</p> + +<p>"I always felt as if I wanted to know you better, Mary, when we were +at Mrs. Wilmot's," said Lucy one evening, as they were returning home +from a woodland walk, laden with wild-flowers and ferns. Mary coloured +a little, and hesitated.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I was very stiff and selfish, Lucy dear," she replied; +"but mamma used to give me so many cautions about mingling with +worldly people, that I thought it was best to keep apart from them +altogether. And I was told Mr. Brooke's family were so gay and +worldly, that I supposed you must be so too; and so I thought I ought +not to get into any intimacy that might lead me into temptation."</p> + +<p>"I suppose it is right to try to keep out of temptation," said Lucy +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"Yes; but now I can see that I wasn't right in being so distrustful as +to be afraid of what came naturally in my way. Mamma says that to be +afraid of what may involve temptation, when God's providence, +rightfully construed, leads us into it, is something like the dread +which keeps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> people from doing their duty in cases of infection; +whereas they should trust that, so long as they do not expose +themselves to it wilfully and needlessly, God will care for them in +the path by which He leads them, as well as in circumstances which +look more secure."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm sure that's true," said Lucy, thinking of what Fred had said +to her when she had felt afraid to venture into the temptations of her +uncle's house. "But then, whenever we get over our fear and feel +secure, we are sure to fall into some snare."</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied her friend, "because we forget our own dependence on +Christ for strength, and begin to walk in our own, instead of looking +to Him continually for help."</p> + +<p>"Do you know," said Lucy, "one of my greatest temptations was studying +for the history prize! I was so determined to have it—so set upon +it—that I let it come before everything else, and forgot to ask to be +kept from temptation in it, till, just before the examination, I found +I had forgotten part of what was to be studied; and then, in my +disappointment, I found out how wrong I had been."</p> + +<p>"Oh," exclaimed Mary, "I was almost sorry I got the first prize, which +I hadn't been expecting at all, for I was sure you would be dreadfully +disappointed. You had worked so hard for it—harder than I did."</p> + +<p>"No, I wasn't disappointed then; I was sure I shouldn't get it, and +didn't expect even the second prize; and I felt quite satisfied that +it should be so, for I had been working in so wrong a spirit, that I +could not have felt happy in getting the prize that had led me +astray."</p> + +<p>"Well, it's a relief to my mind to hear you say so," replied<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> Mary, +laughing, "for I felt quite guilty whenever I looked at that book, +feeling as if I had by some incomprehensible accident taken it from +the one who really deserved it."</p> + +<p>Mary had as yet known but few temptations. Her life had been so calm +and sheltered, that she had had no experience of contrary winds, and +her natural disposition was so equable, that she had very little +consciously to struggle against. Perhaps her chief temptation lay in a +tendency to placid contemplative Christianity, without sufficient +active interest in others; and Lucy's opposite qualities acted as a +counteracting stimulus, while Mary's peaceful spirit of trusting faith +calmed and soothed Lucy's rather impatient disposition. Thus in all +true loving Christian companionship we may help each other on, making +up what is lacking in one another by mutual edification.</p> + +<p>One warm Sunday evening, after a very sultry day, Lucy and Amy were +sitting together in Mrs. Browne's verandah. Mary had just left them, +having walked home with Lucy from the evening service, and they had +been discussing the sermon, which had been chiefly on sin and its +hatefulness in the sight of God, as well as upon the fountain opened +to remove it. After she was gone, they had sat for some time in +silence, watching the fireflies glancing in and out of the dark trees. +Suddenly Amy said, "Lucy, do you expect to go to heaven when you die, +for sure?"</p> + +<p>"I am quite sure there is nothing to prevent my going there," said +Lucy, "for I know Jesus is able and willing to take me there."</p> + +<p>"Shall I go there when I die, Lucy?" she asked, with a solemn +earnestness that went to her cousin's heart.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why should you not, dear Amy, when Jesus died that you might?"</p> + +<p>"But 'God will not look upon sin,' the Bible says, and I have a sinful +heart; I feel it," replied the child.</p> + +<p>"Well, why should Jesus have died for you if you had not? It was just +to take away sin that Jesus came to suffer."</p> + +<p>"But it isn't taken away; I know it's there," persisted Amy, who had +evidently been distressing herself with the question how a heart, +sinful on earth, could be fit for the pure atmosphere of heaven.</p> + +<p>Lucy explained, to the best of her knowledge and ability, that while +sin still clings to our mortal natures, Jesus has broken its power for +ever, and taken away its condemnation, so that when we receive Him +into our hearts by faith, God no longer looks upon us as sinful and +rebellious children, but as reconciled through the blood of Christ. +And the same blood will also purify our hearts; and when soul and body +are for ever separated, the last stain of sin will be taken away from +the ransomed spirit.</p> + +<p>Amy listened, and seemed satisfied,—at least she never recurred to +the subject; and, so far as Lucy knew, it was the last time that any +perplexing doubts clouded the sunshine of her happy, childlike faith.</p> + +<p>Pleasant as were the days of their stay at Oakvale, they came at last, +like all earthly things, to an end. The warm August weather had passed +away, and the September breezes blew cool and fresh, permitting them +to ramble about with comfort even during the hours which they had +before been obliged to spend entirely in the shade. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> seaside party +had already been settled at home for a week or two, before it was +thought advisable that Amy should be brought back to the city. At +last, however, the summons came, and Lucy spent the last two or three +days in revisiting for the last time all the favourite haunts where +she had spent so many happy hours. She and her friend did not, +however, permit themselves to repine at the ending of what had been to +them both such a very delightful resting-place in their life-journey; +since</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Not enjoyment and not sorrow<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Is our destined end or way;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But to live, that each to-morrow<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Finds us farther than to-day."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Mary, who had delayed her own return to school on her friend's +account, was to accompany them to town, to begin her last year at Mrs. +Wilmot's.</p> + +<p>Amy had seemed so well during their stay at Oakvale, that Lucy had +become hopeful of her complete recovery. But Dr. Eastwood warned her +that the improvement might be merely temporary, and that in any case +it was, in his judgment, impossible that Amy could ever be quite +strong and well. "And I don't know," he said kindly to Lucy, who felt +a sharp pang at the thought of losing her dear little cousin, "that it +is well to set your heart on the prolongation of a life which can +scarcely be anything but one of weakness and suffering."</p> + +<p>So with many mingled feelings of hope, and fear, and regret, and many +kind farewells from all their Oakvale friends, the young party took +their departure, and found themselves soon again among city sights and +sounds.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>XIV.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_042.jpg" width="600" height="198" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<h3><i>An Unexpected Recognition.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">"For love's a flower that will not die<br /></span> +<span class="i4">For lack of leafy screen;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And Christian hope can cheer the eye<br /></span> +<span class="i4">That ne'er saw vernal green.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Then be ye sure that love can bless<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Even in this crowded loneliness,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where ever-moving myriads seem to say,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Go! thou art naught to us, nor we to thee; away!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_170.jpg" width="75" height="72" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>r. Brooke met the young travellers at the station, anxious about his +youngest daughter, whose improved appearance he was much pleased to +note; and Stella met them at the door with every demonstration of +delight. "It has been so dull here without you!" she exclaimed; "the +house seems so quiet, after all the fun we have been having at the +seaside. I've been teasing papa to let me go for you, and I would have +gone if you hadn't come soon!"</p> + +<p>She was looking prettier than ever, Lucy thought; so blooming, and +gay, and graceful, after her seaside sojourn.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> Her cousin could not +wonder that she won her way to most people's hearts, and was forced to +admit the contrast between her and her fragile little sister, whose +faint bloom even now did not remove the appearance of ill-health. But +there was on her pale face a spiritual beauty, a repose and peace, +which Stella, in all the loveliness of a pure rose-tinted complexion, +lustrous eyes, and gleaming golden hair, did not possess. It was the +reflection, outwardly, of the "peace of God which passeth +understanding."</p> + +<p>Stella talked all the evening without ceasing, and at night +accompanied Lucy to her room, there to go on talking still, enlarging, +in a lively, amusing strain, on the adventures of their seaside life; +the "fun," the "splendid bathing," the people who were there, their +dress, manners, and conversation; all the flirtations she had +observed, with the quick eye of a girl who as yet has no personal +interest in such matters. When at last Stella paused in her own +narration to ask questions about Oakvale, Lucy gladly took advantage +of the break to insist on postponing all further conversation until +the morrow, especially as, she urged, they were keeping Amy from the +sleep she needed so much after her long journey, and accustomed as she +had lately been to early hours. Lucy indeed felt determined that the +same thing must not happen again on any account, as the consequences +to Amy of having her mind and nervous system excited so late at night, +when she was always too much disposed to wakefulness, might be +exceedingly injurious.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how I wish Stella were more like dear Mary!" thought Lucy, as she +laid her head on her pillow, and compared Mary's kind thoughtfulness +with Stella's impulsive,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> flighty giddiness. As to externals, Stella +had very much the advantage, for Mary Eastwood could not be called +pretty, and was rather reserved in manner with those whom she did not +know well; but Lucy could not help feeling Mary's great superiority as +a companion, when she compared the state of mind in which Stella's +stream of gossip had left her, with the elevating, stimulating +tendency of her conversations with Mary on subjects more worthy of +immortal beings. They seemed mutually to draw each other on to a +sphere far above the petty frivolities on which so many fritter away +powers given for higher ends. Even when they did not touch on topics +directly religious, they seemed to be far nearer the Light that is +"inaccessible and full of glory," when discussing the working of God's +laws and providence in nature and history, than if their minds had +been lowered and discoloured by dwelling on the faults, follies, and +petty concerns of their neighbours.</p> + +<p>Sophy, who had been a little fagged and worn out by her incessant +round of gaiety, previous to her going to the seaside, was now looking +more brilliantly handsome, Lucy thought, than she had ever seen her. +Stella had informed her that Sophy's betrothed had been at the seaside +with them. "And oh, he's so delightful, you can't think! So handsome, +and good-natured, and obliging! I can tell you, Sophy looked proud of +him there! He gave her the loveliest emerald set; you'll see her wear +them. And I'm pretty sure they're to be married next spring, though +she won't tell me; but I'll coax it out of Ada."</p> + +<p>Lucy thought Sophy must be very happy; yet she could not help thinking +if both she and her lover were really<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> Christians, how much happier +they would be! Nothing Stella had said led her to suppose that he was; +and if he were, what an alloy of anxiety and separation in the most +important points would mar the perfection of love!</p> + +<p>It was with increased zest, and a fuller appreciation of the interest +and value of her studies, that Lucy entered upon them once more. The +happy weeks at Oakvale had been of permanent benefit to her, in +opening new channels of thought and enlarging her sphere of mental +vision, both through the books she had been reading, and the comments +of Dr. and Mrs. Eastwood, both of whom had thoughtful, cultivated +minds. She now studied with very little reference to prizes, or even +the approbation of masters, but from a deep interest in the studies +themselves, and a feeling of their beneficial effect in leading her to +higher ranges of thought. Every new attainment was but a step to a +fresh starting-point in the never-ending pursuit of knowledge; and +Longfellow's beautiful lines often recurred to her mind,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The lofty pyramids of stone,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That, wedge-like, cleave the desert airs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When nearer seen and better known,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Are but gigantic flights of stairs."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Then the feeling grew to be more and more strong with her, that every +new acquisition—every step in mental discipline which God had given +her the opportunity of making—was a talent to be held in trust and +used in His service. Mrs. Eastwood had explained that, though we may +often have to study during the years of school life without seeing +what special use we may be called to make of our acquisitions, still +God will undoubtedly find some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> use for whatever power we have gained +while following the leading of His providence. "Therefore," she would +say, "the doubt whether such and such a thing will ever be of any use +to us is no excuse for sloth in acquiring it, when it is clearly our +duty to do so."</p> + +<p>Her studies were rendered doubly interesting by the companionship of +Mary Eastwood, who was animated by the same spirit, and in whose +friendship she found her greatest pleasure during the winter. Stella +was rather surprised at the affectionate greeting between her cousin +and Miss Eastwood the first day they met at school, for she had +scarcely given Lucy an opportunity of telling her more than that they +had met often at Oakvale.</p> + +<p>"Well, to think of your having all at once struck up such a violent +friendship with that stiff, quiet Miss Eastwood!" exclaimed Stella, +who thought her cousin's choice of a friend rather unaccountable. +Lucy's efforts to draw together her cousin and her friend were +unsuccessful, and perhaps this was quite as much Mary's fault as +Stella's, arising from her strong feeling against cultivating intimacy +with any one who was "of the world." It was almost the only practical +point on which she and Lucy disagreed, for Lucy tried to persuade her +that she might do real good if she would come more in contact with her +irreligious schoolmates. But Mary replied that this might do for some, +but she did not feel strong enough,—she might herself be led away. +She was not yet fully persuaded in her own mind.</p> + +<p>So Lucy gave up the point, and had a somewhat difficult position to +maintain between her cousin and her friend,—not that Mary was ever +jealous, but Stella did not at all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> like the affection her friends to +be diverted towards any one else; indeed, it was the only thing that +ever seemed really to a "put her out." She was conscious to some +extent that a much deeper sympathy existed between Lucy and Miss +Eastwood than between Lucy and her, and she feared that if it +increased, her cousin's regard for her must necessarily diminish.</p> + +<p>One bright, sunny October day, when the air was clear and bracing, and +the wind was tossing the red leaves that fell from the trees in the +squares, Lucy and Stella were on their way home from school, when they +heard at a slight distance the plaintive strains of a hand-organ, +carried by a meagre, careworn Italian, who seemed to be working his +instrument mechanically, while his eye had a fixed, sad, stedfast +gaze, unconscious, seemingly, of anything around him. Lucy was looking +compassionately at the dark, sorrowful face, and wondering what his +previous history might have been, when her eye was suddenly caught by +the familiar form and face of the girl who stood by with her +tambourine, singing a simple ditty, which somehow brought old days at +Ashleigh back to her mind. The figure she saw, though arrayed in +tattered garments, and the face, though sunburnt to a deep brown, were +not so much altered as to prevent almost instant recognition. Lucy +grasped Stella's arm, and exclaimed, "Why, it's Nelly!" and before the +astonished Stella comprehended her meaning, she hastily stepped +forward towards the tambourine-girl, who almost at the same moment +stopped singing and sprang forward, exclaiming, "Oh, it's Miss Lucy, +her own self!"</p> + +<p>Both were quite unconscious, in their surprise, of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> bystanders +around them; but Stella was by no means so insensible to the +situation, and was somewhat scandalized at being connected with such a +scene "in the street." She begged Lucy to ask Nelly to follow them +home, which was not far off, and then they could have any number of +explanations at leisure. Lucy at once assented, and asked Nelly if she +could be spared for a little while. With a happy face, flushed with +her surprise and delight, Nelly went up to the organ-grinder and said +a few words, at which he smiled and nodded. She then followed her +friends home at a respectful distance, while the man went on his way +from house to house.</p> + +<p>Nelly's explanation of her present odd circumstances was very simple, +and, on the whole, satisfactory. In the hot July weather, when she +felt her overtasked strength failing, and could scarcely manage to +drag herself about to perform her daily round of duty, often scolded +for doing it inefficiently, the poor organ-grinder came one day with a +face more sorrowful than ever, and told Nelly, weeping, that his +daughter—his <i>povera picciola</i>—had been carried off by one of those +sudden attacks that so soon run their course and snap the thread of +weakly lives. He was so lonely now, he said, he could not bear it! +Would Nelly come and be his daughter, and take poor Teresa's forsaken +tambourine? She had a voice sweet as Teresa's own, and he would teach +her to sing when he played. She should have no hard work, and no +scolding, and they would take care of each other.</p> + +<p>It was a tempting offer to poor Nelly, pining under continual chilling +indifference and fault-finding. While<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> she was hesitating, her +mistress, hearing a strange voice in the kitchen, came down in wrath +to dismiss the intruder, who rose instantly at the sound of her harsh +voice. "I go, signora," he said in his foreign English, "and this girl +goes with me. You give her too hard work and hard words. I will take +care for her, and she shall be to me as the <i>povera</i> who is dead! +Come, <i>picciola</i>!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Williams had by this time so far recovered from her amazement as +to find voice enough to demand of Nelly whether she was really going +to be so ungrateful as to leave a place where she had been so kindly +treated, and ruin herself for life, by going off with a wandering +character like that. But Nelly's reply was ready. "You said, ma'am, +you'd have to send me away because I couldn't do your work properly. +So I think I'd better go."</p> + +<p>And hurriedly collecting her few possessions, she was ready in two +minutes to accompany her newly-found protector. Mrs. Williams +endeavoured to detain her, threatening to "take the law of her." But +Nelly was determined. Anything was better than remaining there; and +Mrs. Williams, who was somewhat overawed by the Italian's determined +eye, gave up what she saw was a vain attempt. She shut the door after +them with expressive force, and then went up-stairs to discourse to +her daughter on the incredible ingratitude and heartlessness of such +creatures.</p> + +<p>Nelly had faithfully served Mrs. Williams to the utmost of her +strength and ability for five months, and her mistress had in return +given her food of the poorest quality, and one old print dress of her +own, worn almost to tatters. Yet Mrs. Williams, having herself a +pretty hard struggle to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> make both ends meet, was at least more +excusable than those who, themselves abounding in wealth and luxury, +grind down, so far as they can, the poor hirelings who may be in their +power.</p> + +<p>Since then Nelly had faithfully followed the poor Italian, whom, at +his own desire, she called "<i>padre</i>." It did not to her mean the same +as "father," nor would she have given to any one else the name sacred +to her own unforgotten father. But she was to the poor man as a +daughter; and her brown face, though still thin, had lost the pining, +wistful look which had been previously habitual to it. Lucy observed +the glow of pleasure that lighted up her face when she heard again the +familiar sound of the organ in the distance. The <i>padre</i> was very good +to her, she said, and though they often had long weary rounds, with a +scant allowance of pennies, they always had enough to eat; and +hitherto it had been very pleasant, and she had no hard scrubbing or +washing to do.</p> + +<p>"I'd have died soon, Miss Lucy, if I'd stayed at Mrs. Williams'. Was +it wrong to come away?"</p> + +<p>Lucy could not say it was, in spite of the irregularity of the +precedent.</p> + +<p>"But the <i>padre</i> won't be able to go about in the winter time, Miss +Lucy, for he has such a cough and pain in his breast whenever he gets +wet or cold; and some days he's hardly able to play his organ, and +then I don't know what he'll do. What could I do, Miss Lucy, to help +him?"</p> + +<p>Lucy promised to consider the matter. She had obtained leave to give +the organ-grinder and Nelly a good substantial meal in the kitchen, +which was greatly relished by both.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> She took down the name of the +street in which they lived, and got a minute description of the house, +promising soon to visit them. The man was evidently far from strong, +and his bright, hollow eye and haggard face, sometimes unnaturally +flushed, betokened too surely incipient disease.</p> + +<p>"And why did you never come to see me, Nelly? You knew where I was," +said Lucy, as they were going away.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Lucy," exclaimed Nelly eagerly, "but I did, three times, but +you weren't in; I was ashamed to come any more. The last times they +said you were away in the country."</p> + +<p>"But why didn't you leave word where you were living, and I would have +found you out?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Lucy, I couldn't think you'd be at the trouble of coming to +see me!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I will come, though, now I know where you live," said Lucy as +she bade them good-bye.</p> + +<p>Little Amy had been very much interested in the history of Nelly, as +Lucy had told it to her, and had come down to see her. She stood by, +putting her thin hand on hers, and looking up wonderingly in her face, +exciting Nelly's compassion and interest by her sweet, delicate look. +"She's more like an angel than Miss Stella, though I used to think her +like one," thought Nelly.</p> + +<p>Amy asked many questions about Nelly and the "poor man," and begged +Lucy to take her when she went to see them. But so long a walk was out +of the question for Amy, nor would her mother have consented to let +either her or Stella go to such a quarter of the city. Even Lucy's +going was a matter for some consideration, but she begged hard to be +allowed to fulfil her promise. At last Edwin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> good-naturedly said he +"didn't mind going with Lucy, to see that she wasn't carried off for +her clothes, like the little girl in the story-books;" and they made +the expedition together, her cousin waiting outside while Lucy paid +her most welcome visit.</p> + +<p>They found the place a very quiet one, and the street, though poor, +not at all disreputable. Edwin gave the best account of it he could, +that Lucy might be able in future, without his escort, to visit Nelly, +as she occasionally did, accompanied by her friend Mary Eastwood, who +sometimes spent the Saturday afternoon with her at Mr. Brooke's. Their +visits and little gifts of money were very timely, for the poor +organ-grinder was growing less and less able to persevere in his +uncertain calling; and though Nelly was practising plain sewing, that +she might be able to earn something herself, it was not likely that +her exertions could bring in much.</p> + +<p>In these visits to Nelly the two friends soon found out other poor +people in the same locality, even more urgently needing a kind word +and a helping hand. In work of this kind, as in most other things, "it +is only the first step which costs." One has only to make a beginning, +and straightway one case leads to another, and that interest grows +with the work, until to some happy and highly-privileged people it +really becomes their meat and drink thus to do their Father's +business.</p> + +<p>This new kind of work was a great interest to Lucy, and in planning +how best to aid the poor in whom she was interested, and in diligent +and happy study, the autumn months passed rapidly away.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2><a name="XV" id="XV"></a>XV.</h2> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_049.jpg" width="600" height="228" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<h3><i>The Flower Fadeth.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And yet His words mean more than they,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And yet He owns their praise;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Why should we think He turns away<br /></span> +<span class="i2">From infants' simple lays?"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_019.jpg" width="75" height="74" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>s the autumn deepened into winter, bringing cold, damp days, and +chilling, keen winds, little Amy's strength seemed steadily to +decrease, notwithstanding all the care taken to reinforce it by the +most nourishing diet that money could command. Every delicacy that +could tempt her appetite, every kind of nourishment that could +strengthen her system, was tried, without success. Dr. Eastwood had +been right in his augury, that her seeming improvement had been only +temporary, and that the delicately-organized constitution was not +meant for the wear and tear of long life. So evident at last did the +decline become, that a consultation was held as to whether it would +not be advisable to remove her for the winter to a warmer climate; +but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> the more experienced physicians were decidedly of opinion that +taking her away from her home and family would be a needless cruelty, +and that, since no human skill could now arrest the disease, it was +better to leave the little patient to live, as long as she might, +surrounded by the comforts and the kind nursing at home. This opinion +was not fully communicated to her parents, but they instinctively +felt, what was really the case, that their child was only left in +their home because she must ere long be removed from it for ever.</p> + +<p>Lucy had long taught herself to think of such an issue as at least a +probability; but her cousins by no means realized the advanced state +of Amy's disease. They persuaded themselves that, with care, she would +"get over" her delicacy, and they would not even think of the +possibility of a fatal termination of it. One cause of this was +probably the circumstance that the winter gaieties had commenced, and +that invitations, parties, and dress were now uppermost in their +minds. Had they been convinced that their little sister was dying, +they could hardly have had the heart to join in their usual round of +gaiety; but they easily persuaded themselves of the contrary, and felt +no scruples about going on as usual.</p> + +<p>Stella, who had shot up almost to womanly height within the last year, +had assumed the dress and appearance of a "young lady," as +distinguished from a little girl. The foretaste of gay life she had +had at the seaside had made her impatient to plunge into it at once, +and she besieged her parents with entreaties that she might be allowed +to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> "come out" that winter. She succeeded so far with her father, who +could seldom deny her anything, as to obtain leave to go to as many +private parties as she could, without interfering with her studies. +But of course, with a limit so indefinite, the bounds were often +overstepped. Her love of gaiety only grew with the indulgence of the +taste, and she felt really unhappy when she had to see her sisters go +to a party without her.</p> + +<p>But late hours and excitement very soon affected a constitution which +had never before been so severely tried; and as she would conceal any +indisposition when she thought it might keep her at home, the +consequences sometimes became serious. At last, her rashness in going +out, thinly dressed, one cold winter evening, when she was already +suffering from a slight cold, brought on a severe attack of +inflammation of the lungs, by which she was prostrated for several +weeks, and which left behind a slight cough. This, the doctor warned +her, would require the utmost care, to prevent its growing into what +might prove very serious indeed.</p> + +<p>Lucy, of course, owing to her deep mourning, and the school-work which +engrossed her mind and time, had had no temptation to mingle in any of +her cousins' amusements, though, had it been otherwise, she could not +conscientiously have frequented scenes of amusement which she had been +taught by her father to consider unworthy of those who have made up +their minds to leave all and follow Christ. For the same reason, she +had refused Stella's urgent solicitations to accompany her in +occasional visits to the opera and theatre, places of which her father +had often told her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> the spiritual atmosphere was entirely foreign to +that in which Christians should seek ever to dwell. Though Stella's +glowing descriptions sometimes excited the longing to see the magic +sights and hear the magnificent music of which they told, she felt +that she could not sincerely pray, "Lead us not into temptation," if +she wilfully went into it; nor could she from the heart have asked her +Saviour's blessing on the evening's amusement.</p> + +<p>During the general engrossment of the household with Stella's alarming +attack, Amy's rapid sinking of strength was not for some time much +noticed, except by Lucy, who felt, in spite of her hopes, that the end +was drawing near.</p> + +<p>Lucy had been forbidden to speak to her little cousin about death, as +if the avoidance of the thought could have anything to do with +delaying the event; but happily there was no need for doing so, since +her little heart was evidently resting on her Saviour, and she was +thus prepared for whatever He should send her. Her childlike faith, +and her vivid realization of heavenly things, seemed to grow stronger +as her bodily strength failed; and though she never specially referred +to death, the approach of which a child is not able to realize, her +mind was evidently full of thoughts about heaven, about its glories +and occupations, about Him who is "the resurrection and the life." She +was always asking questions about the childhood of Jesus,—questions +which Lucy often found it impossible to answer,—and was never tired +of hearing the few passages in the New Testament which referred to it.</p> + +<p>Some instances of childish sin seemed to weigh upon her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> conscience; +but Lucy reminded her that the Lamb of God had washed away her sins +with His own blood, and that the moment we come to Him by faith, we +are sure of the forgiveness of past sin, as well as of deliverance +from its present power. This perfectly satisfied her, and nothing else +seemed to trouble her.</p> + +<p>The little girl was intensely interested in the poor Italian, who was +sinking almost as fast as she was. He seldom now stirred from his +chair in the warmest corner of the room, and his cough had become +terribly harassing, especially at night. His breathing, too, was much +oppressed; and poor Nelly had often a heavy heart, as the conviction +forced itself upon her that she was about to lose the kind friend and +protector around whom her warm heart had closely entwined itself. She +tried hard to earn a little for his support and her own, by the sewing +which she occasionally got, often from people nearly as poor as +herself; but her utmost exertions in this way would not have sufficed +to keep them from starvation, had it not been for the timely aid +brought by Lucy and by Mary Eastwood, whose well-supplied purse was +always ready to furnish what was needed for their comfort. Lucy had +very little to give of her own, but Mrs. Brooke was sufficiently +interested in her account of the case to be very willing to help, for +she was not at all indisposed to benevolent actions, if she had had +the energy to discover the way. Amy, too, always insisted that a +portion of the delicacies prepared for her should be kept for "the +poor organ-grinder;" and one of her greatest pleasures was in hearing +from Lucy how the invalid liked what had been sent him, and how +gratefully<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> he sent his thanks to the little "signorina." She asked +Lucy whether the poor man loved Jesus, and would go to heaven when he +died, and seemed much grieved at hearing of his praying to the Virgin, +the mother of Jesus.</p> + +<p>"What a pity!" she would say, "for she can't hear him, nor save him, +can she? And so his prayers will be of no use!"</p> + +<p>She lay still for a short time, considering the matter, and then said, +as if a ray of comfort had come to her, "But Jesus can hear him, and +perhaps He will give him what he needs, though he didn't ask Him."</p> + +<p>Lucy would hope so too, and agree with her that when he got to heaven +he would know better; for she had reason to believe, notwithstanding +Antonio's prayers to the Virgin,—the remnant of the superstitious +faith he had held from childhood,—that he was nevertheless gradually +coming to the knowledge of the Saviour as the only mediator and +sacrifice for sin. Nelly's treasured card was fastened up +conspicuously in their little room, and the rich colours in which the +text "Looking unto Jesus" was printed, pleased the Italian's southern +love of colour, and led his eye often to rest upon it, as he spent the +long hours sitting wearily in his chair. And gradually he came to +attach some real meaning to the words, which at first he had regarded +merely as a pleasant thing to look at. Nelly would sometimes tell him +some of the things Miss Preston said to her about it, which clung +tenaciously to her memory; and how the thought that Jesus was her +Friend and Saviour, to whom she must always look in her need, had been +her one comfort when left friendless and alone. She<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> often read to him +a chapter out of the little Bible which was Lucy's parting gift when +she left Ashleigh, and had ever since been Nelly's dearest treasure. +And he would always listen with deep interest to the history of the +wonderful life which has come home to the hearts of thousands in all +the centuries which have elapsed since it was lived among the hills +and valleys of Palestine. He loved to hear Nelly sing, in her rich, +sweet voice, her favourite hymn, "I lay my sins on Jesus," and would +sometimes try to join in the strains himself as well as his feebleness +would let him. He showed his appreciation of the motto, in his own +way, by placing his crucifix above the card, and he would sit for +hours gazing silently at both.</p> + +<p>Lucy, in her frequent visits, often read to him the passages which +bear most directly on the love of Christ, and the full and free +forgiveness of sin through Him; and she sometimes added simple +comments of her own, preferring, however, in general, to leave God's +words to work their own way into his heart. His church prejudices she +never ventured to touch, feeling that to do so might arouse them +against the reception of the simple gospel, and do him harm, by +exciting his mind injuriously and bewildering him with conflicting +opinions. She avoided all collision with ideas which had been so long +closely intertwined with the only ideas of religion he had, feeling +sure that the light of gospel truth, once introduced into the heart, +would sooner or later disperse the darkness of error by its own power.</p> + +<p>Except for the one dark foreboding, that became, month by month, and +week by week, more distinct, these would have been very happy days for +Nelly. Her warm Irish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> heart found scope for its action, in +continually ministering to the comfort of one to whom she was bound by +ties of love and gratitude, and no harsh or unkind word now fell upon +her ear. The poor Italian, always of a gentle nature, except when +influenced by passion, had ever treated her with indulgent kindness, +and she had given him her warm affection in return. Her assiduous +attentions were labours of love, and so was the needlework at which +she stitched away with diligent though unpractised hands. Coarse, hard +sewing it was; but Nelly did not mind that, in the feeling that she +was earning something, however small. While she sat plying her needle +through the short days and long evenings of the winter, the invalid's +thoughts would wander back to long past, but unforgotten days, and he +would amuse Nelly with little bits of his past history. He would +describe, over and over again, his childhood's home in the lovely +<i>Riviera</i>, where the intense azure of the sky, and the pure sapphire +of the Mediterranean, contrasted sharply with the white glitter of the +rocks as they emerged in bold relief from their drapery of rich, +deep-hued vegetation. He would tell her about the white Italian +village, nestling among the vine-clad terraces and sloping hill-sides +clad with olive and myrtle, and about the trellised house where he was +born, and his father's little vineyard, where the rich purple and +amber clusters, such as little Amy now sent him as costly luxuries, +hung down in rich masses which any hand could pick. Such descriptions +were intensely fascinating to Nelly's quick Celtic imagination, and +she would speak in her turn of the breezy slopes by the sea where she +had so often played in days she could still vividly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> remember; of the +aromatic scent of the burning heaps of sea-weed, whose smouldering +fires she used to fan; of the fresh, bracing sea-air, and dancing blue +waves with their snowy crests of foam, and the distant white sails +winging their way to some unknown haven.</p> + +<p>Their talk always took a sadder tone when the Italian spoke of his +later life, and told how he left his quiet village, hoping to make his +fortune in the great world as a musician; how his hopes had been +gradually crushed down, and he wandered from place to place till he +emigrated to America, where the deadly cholera carried off his wife +and her infant boy, leaving him only his little daughter; how, since +then, dispirited and weary, he had managed to pick up a living as best +he could, gradually forsaking more ambitious instruments for his +barrel-organ, till the tide of life, gradually running low, was +reduced to its lowest ebb by the shock of his daughter's death, +superadded to the decline which had long been insidiously undermining +his system.</p> + +<p>"But it will soon be over now, my child," he said,—"all the trouble +and the nursing. You have been very good to the poor <i>forestiere</i> +since the <i>povera</i> went to the blessed saints. I shall soon see her +again, and Anita, and the little Giulio, in the better country that +the <i>signorina</i> was reading about,—better, she says, than the +<i>patria</i> itself, with its olives and vines. Ah! I think I see it +again, when I dream."</p> + +<p>Such a speech as this always melted poor Nelly into tears; and, seeing +the pain it gave her, he did not often refer to his approaching death. +To Lucy, however, he sometimes spoke of his concern for the future lot +of his adopted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> daughter, who was again to be left desolate. Lucy +herself had been thinking a good deal about it, and wondering whether +she could induce her aunt to take Nelly. Amy, however, arranged the +matter unexpectedly. She had been asking Lucy, with great earnestness, +what poor Nelly would do when the organ-grinder should die; and when +Mrs. Brooke next came into the room, she surprised her with the +question, "Mamma, may Nelly come and live here when the organ-grinder +dies?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brooke looked bewildered, until Lucy explained the matter. She +hesitated, and would have put Amy off with the promise that she "would +see about it." But Amy was so anxious to have the point settled, that +her mother at last gave the absolute promise she asked; and Lucy had +the satisfaction of announcing to poor Antonio, the next time she +visited him, to his great relief and satisfaction, that Nelly's future +home, so long as she desired it, should be with Mrs. Brooke.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/image_113.jpg" width="150" height="132" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a>XVI.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_042.jpg" width="600" height="198" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<h3><i>Darkness and Light.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Tell me the old, old story,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">If you would really be<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In any time of trouble<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A comforter to me."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_191.jpg" width="75" height="73" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>red came to town for a few days in his Christmas vacation, just as +Stella was beginning to recover from the severe attack which had +prostrated her. Mr. Brooke's house being so full of sickness, Lucy, +though very unwilling to leave Amy, thought it best, on Fred's +account, to accept an urgent invitation from the Eastwoods that they +should both spend a week at Oakvale. He would thus have a pleasanter +vacation than under the circumstances he could have at his uncle's, +where he felt himself in the way, and where Lucy had so many demands +upon her time that she could see but little of a brother whose visits +were so rare. The change of scene was very much needed by her, for the +confinement and fatigue of her sick-room attendance had had a +depressing influence on her health and spirits.</p> + +<p>It was certainly, in spite of all her anxiety about Amy,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> a very +enjoyable change to the bright, cheerful, Christian atmosphere of Dr. +Eastwood's house, and the bracing influence of the outdoor exercise in +which the others made her participate. She felt as if it were wrong to +enjoy it so much, when Amy, she knew, was dying, and Stella as yet in +so precarious a condition. But God sometimes gives, in very trying +circumstances, a buoyancy and cheerfulness of feeling quite +independent of the circumstances, which seem specially sent to +communicate a strength that will be greatly needed in approaching days +of trial,—a pleasant "land of Beulah," before the watchers stand +quite on the shore of "the dark river." And it can never be right +sullenly to close the heart in determined sadness against the cheering +influences of God's light, and air, and bright sunshine; nor can we +usually, if we would, act so foolishly and ungratefully. That happy +week at Oakvale often seemed to Lucy a sort of oasis of sunshine, as +compared with the depressing weeks that preceded and followed it.</p> + +<p>Oakvale looked scarcely less beautiful now that the surrounding hills +wore their white mantle of snow, contrasting with the intense blue of +the winter sky and the dark green of the pines, while the little river +lay, a strip of glittering ice, under the trees, leafless now, which +overshadowed its ceaseless ripple in the warm summer days. The young +party had pleasant sleigh-rides to see old favourite spots in their +winter aspect, and Fred joined the younger children in their skating +and snowballing, though he enjoyed much more the walks in which he +accompanied his sister and her friend. Mary and he got on as well as +Lucy had expected, although she was disappointed that, after their +visit was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> over, she could not draw from him any enthusiastic praise +of Miss Eastwood; at which she would have been a little vexed, but for +the reflection that Fred, unlike most people, never said the half of +what he thought. He did not, however, leave Oakvale without a promise +to renew his visit during the summer vacation.</p> + +<p>Lucy, on her return home, found her little cousin evidently sinking +fast. Her strength was almost exhausted, and she suffered a good deal +from pain and restlessness; but scarcely a complaint ever escaped her +lips. She often talked now about going to Jesus, the thought on which +her mind seemed most to dwell. Mrs. Brooke, seeing this, at last sent +for the minister whose church the family usually attended on Sundays, +that being the extent of their connection with it. But he was a +stranger to Amy,—for his ministerial visits had never been desired or +encouraged,—and though she was grateful to him for coming to see her +and praying beside her bed, she could not speak to him, as she could +to Lucy, about her willingness to go to the happy home which her +Saviour was preparing for her. Still her visitor could see enough of +the change God had wrought in her heart, to make him marvel, as he +took his leave, at the wonderful way in which God sometimes raises up +to Himself a witness in the most worldly homes, and perfects praise +"out of the mouth of babes and sucklings."</p> + +<p>The little invalid was sometimes slightly delirious when the hectic +fever was at its height, but her wandering fancies were always of +gentle and pleasant things. She would ask if they did not hear the +sweet singing in her room; and when Lucy would ask what was sung, +would say, "Jeru<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>salem," meaning "Jerusalem the Golden," her favourite +hymn next to the one she loved best of all, "I lay my sins on Jesus."</p> + +<p>One night, when she had been asleep for some time, with Lucy only +watching beside her, she suddenly awoke, a flash of joy lighting up +her face. "Lucy," she murmured faintly; but when Lucy bent over her, +she could catch but one word—"Jesus." Lucy saw a change come over her +countenance, which she had seen once before, and ere the others, +hastily summoned, could be with her, the little form lay lifeless, its +immortal tenant having escaped to the heavenly home, whither she had +been longing to go.</p> + +<p>No one could help being thankful that the sufferings of the patient +little invalid were over. Indeed, with the exception of Mrs. Brooke, +Lucy, and Stella, no one showed any profound grief for the death of a +child who had always been very much secluded, and but little +appreciated. But Mrs. Brooke's sorrow was mingled with some +self-reproach that she had not been to her departed child all that a +mother should have been, and she suffered now for the wilfulness +which, when deprived of one blessing, had turned petulantly from +another. Lucy constantly missed her little favourite, and her sorrow +for the loss of her father, never quite removed, seemed revived anew +by her cousin's death. But she could feel that Amy was infinitely +happier in her heavenly home than she could ever have been on earth; +and she felt not only that she should join her there, but also that +there might be an intercourse and communion of spirit in Christ, +incomprehensible to those who look only to things "seen and +temporal."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was Lucy's greatest solace to visit poor Antonio, and speak to him +of Amy's concern for him, and her desire that he should find rest and +peace in the love of that Saviour in whom she had so fully trusted. He +was deeply touched on hearing some of the things she had said, and the +tears came to his eyes when he spoke of her kindness in sending so +many things for his comfort.</p> + +<p>"But," he said with deep feeling, "it was very different for a +blessed, innocent child like her, and a sinful man like me." Lucy +explained that all are under the condemnation of sin, since none are +without it; and that no sins are too great to be taken away by the +Lamb of God once offered as a sacrifice for "the sin of the world." He +listened silently, while an expression of hope stole over his haggard +countenance; and Nelly told Miss Lucy, with much pleasure, that after +that he prayed much less to the Virgin, and his prayers were more +generally spontaneous ejaculations, expressing the deeply-felt need of +a Redeemer.</p> + +<p>Stella's grief for her little sister, partly owing, perhaps, to her +physical weakness, had seemed more violent than that of any one else. +The paroxysms of hysterical crying which frequently came on, and an +aversion to take necessary nourishment, very much retarded her +recovery, and prevented her regaining strength. As the acuteness of +her sorrow gradually wore itself out, the unaccustomed feelings of +weakness and depression brought on fits of fretfulness, in which all +Lucy's forbearance was called for; but she remembered how +good-naturedly her cousin had borne with her own fit of nervous +irritability, and she generally managed to soothe and pacify her, even +when she was most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> unreasonable, and tired out the patience of both +Sophy and Ada.</p> + +<p>After the first few weeks had passed, the shadowy hush and solemnity +brought by death gradually passed away, and except for the deep black +crape of the dresses, and the abstinence from all gaieties, the family +life seemed to have returned to its former tone. So far as external +signs went, there was no more realizing sense of that invisible world +to which one of their number had gone—no more "looking unto" Him who +had been her support in the dark valley—than there had been before. +And when a bereavement does not draw the heart nearer to God, there is +every reason to fear that it drives it farther from Him.</p> + +<p>But another heavy sorrow, to one at least of the number, soon +followed. One wild, stormy morning in March, when the letters were, as +usual, brought in at breakfast-time, Sophy quickly looked up for the +welcome letter, with its firm, manly superscription, which regularly +appeared twice or thrice a-week. There was one with the usual +postmark, but in a different handwriting, and addressed not to her, +but to Mr. Brooke. Sophy's misgivings were awakened at once, and on +seeing her father's expression as he hurriedly glanced through the +letter, she forgot her usual self-control, and exclaimed in agitated +tones, "O papa, what is it?" But his only reply was to lead her from +the room, signing to his wife to follow.</p> + +<p>Sophy did not appear again that day, and the atmosphere of gloom +seemed again to descend over the house. Lucy waited long alone, not +liking to intrude upon the family distress, till Stella at last +returned, still hysterically sobbing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p> + +<p>"They say 'troubles never come singly,'" she said, "and I'm sure it's +true. Poor Sophy! Mr. Langton has been killed by the upsetting of his +carriage. The horse ran away, and he fell on his head, and never spoke +again. Poor Sophy is almost insensible. I don't believe she +understands yet what has happened. Oh, what will she do?"</p> + +<p>Lucy's heart was repeating the same question. All her sympathies were +called forth by so crushing a sorrow, and as she could do nothing else +for her cousin, she prayed earnestly that He who could, would bind up +the broken heart.</p> + +<p>Sophy remained for two days in her own room, and then came down again +to join the family circle, evidently trying her best to avoid any +outward demonstration of sorrow, though her deadly paleness, and eyes +which looked as if they never closed, told how acutely she was +suffering. She was not of a nature to encourage or even bear sympathy, +and almost resented any instance of special consideration which seemed +to spring from pity for her great sorrow.</p> + +<p>It was only when shut up in her own room that she gave way to the +bursts of agonized feeling which, to some extent, relieved the +constant pressure upon her heart. When in the family, she seemed to +seek constant employment, not in the light reading in which she had +been accustomed to indulge, but in books requiring much more thought, +and even some effort to master them. Lucy's class-books were called +into requisition, and her drawing was resumed, though she now shrank +from touching the disused piano. She had a good deal of artistic +talent; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> had art ever been placed before her as an ennobling +pursuit, she might have attained very considerable excellence in some +of its departments. But hitherto she had confined herself to the +execution of a few graceful trifles, since her drawing-lessons had +been given up on leaving school. Now, however, she seemed to have +taken a fresh start, and copied studies and practised touches +indefatigably, without speaking or moving for hours.</p> + +<p>She would sit, too, for half the morning apparently absorbed in a +book; but Lucy noticed that, while thus seemingly occupied, she would +gaze abstractedly at a page for long intervals without seeming to turn +a leaf or get a line farther on. Lucy longed to be able to direct the +mourner to the "balm in Gilead," whose efficacy she knew by +experience,—to the kind Physician who can bind up so tenderly the +wounds that other healers cannot touch without aggravating. But she +dared not utter a word of the sympathies of which her heart was full, +and could only pray that a Higher Hand might deal with the sufferer.</p> + +<p>One wet Sunday evening in April, Lucy came down in her waterproof +cloak and rubbers, ready to set out for the neighbouring church, the +one to which she had gone on the first Sunday of her arrival, and +which she frequently attended when the weather was unfavourable, or +when she had to go alone. She was not sorry when circumstances made +this desirable, for she enjoyed the service and the sermon more than +she did at the church the family usually attended. The words of the +preacher seemed to come with more power and tenderness,—perhaps +because he had himself been brought through much tribulation to know +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> God of all consolation, and had thus been made able to comfort +others "by the comfort wherewith he himself was comforted of God." At +all events, it was certain that of the consolation abounding in Christ +he was an earnest and able expounder.</p> + +<p>"What! are you going out when it is so very wet?" asked Stella, as her +cousin entered the room. Sophy, who had been gazing moodily into the +fire over the book she was holding, started up, saying, "I think I'll +go with you, Lucy. Wait a few minutes for me." Her mother remonstrated +a little; but Sophy's restless longing for change and action of some +kind was often uncontrollable, and the two girls set out through the +wind and rain, clinging closely together to support each other on the +wet and slippery pavement.</p> + +<p>How earnestly Lucy prayed in silence, as they traversed the short +distance, that the preacher they were going to hear might have a +special message to the troubled, heavy heart beside her, and how +intensely did she listen to the prayers the minister offered up, to +catch any petitions that might seem suited to her cousin's need! She +was slightly disappointed when he announced his text, "O Israel, thou +hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help found," for she had +hoped that it would be one of the many beautiful, comforting passages +in which the New Testament abounds. But her disappointment wore off as +he proceeded with his discourse.</p> + +<p>He first briefly sketched the history of the rebellion of Israel in +departing from the God of her help, and in transferring to the idols +of the heathen the allegiance which was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> due to the living God. He +vividly described the "destruction" which must be the natural result +of such a departure from the source of her highest life. Then he spoke +of the means by which God sought to bring her back,—of the purifying +judgments which He sent, in love and mercy, to restore her to +spiritual health, and of the inexhaustible supply of "help," of tender +compassion and restoring power, with which He was ready to meet her on +her return.</p> + +<p>Having finished this part of his subject, he drew a striking parallel +between the ancient Israel and the multitudes of human beings in every +age, who, instead of loving and serving the living God with all their +soul, are continually setting up for themselves earthly idols of every +variety, which fill up His place in their hearts, and exclude Him from +their thoughts. Wealth, splendour, position, power, fame, +pleasure,—even man's highest earthly blessing, human love +itself,—were set up and worshipped, as if they contained for their +worshipper the highest end and happiness of his soul. What was the +cause of all the broken hearts and blighted lives from which is +continually ascending such a wailing symphony of sorrow without hope? +What but the perverse determination of the heart to find repose +elsewhere than in its true resting-place,—to set up the very +blessings which flow from the hand of its God in the place of the +Giver?</p> + +<p>Then, in a few touching, earnest words, he showed how God must often, +in mercy to the soul, send severe judgments and afflictions to bring +the wanderers back to their "Help;" and of the depths of compassion, +of love, of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> tenderness, of healing, of purest happiness, which were +to be found in that divine Helper, who hath said, "Come unto me, all +ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."</p> + +<p>Never had Lucy heard the speaker more impressive, and she thanked God +in her heart her cousin should have been brought to listen to truths +which she had probably never before heard with any real understanding +of them. Sophy sat back in a corner of the seat, her head resting on +her hand, and her face hidden in her thick black veil. She remained +almost motionless until the sermon was concluded, and then they +silently left the church, Lucy not daring to speak to her.</p> + +<p>Before they reached home, however, Sophy suddenly broke the silence by +saying, in a low, agitated voice:</p> + +<p>"Lucy, you seem to be what people call a Christian. Can you say, from +your own heart and experience, that you believe all that is true about +Christ giving such peace and comfort in trouble?"</p> + +<p>Lucy replied, earnestly and sincerely, that she could,—that she had +felt that peace and comfort when sorrow had been sent her.</p> + +<p>"And how does it come? how do you get it?" Sophy asked.</p> + +<p>"I don't know any other way, Sophy dear, than by going to Him and +believing His own words. They often seem to come straight from Him, as +a message of comfort."</p> + +<p>Nothing more was said, but from that time Sophy's Bible was often in +her hands. Its study, indeed, took the place<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> of her other self-chosen +labours, and she read it with an attention and interest it had never +awakened before. That she did not study it in vain, seemed evident in +her softened, gentler manner, in the more peaceful expression of her +countenance, and in the quiet thoughtfulness which she began to show +for others. She would sometimes ask Lucy what she thought about a +passage of Scripture in which she was interested, and the few words +she said about it would give her cousin a clue to the working of her +mind. But her habitual reserve had not yet worn off, and Lucy did not +venture to trespass upon it.</p> + +<p>She expressed a desire to accompany Lucy in some of her visits to the +poor Italian, who was perceptibly sinking fast with the advancing +spring. He had, however, grown much in trust in his Saviour, and in +spiritual knowledge, especially since Lucy had procured for him an +Italian Bible, which he could read with much more ease and profit than +an English one. He seemed now to have a deep sense of the evil of his +past careless life, when even the external forms of religion had been +given up, and he had been, like the prodigal, wandering in a far +country.</p> + +<p>"And how good is the Father in heaven, that He has a welcome home and +a fatted calf for His wanderer!" he would say earnestly, the tears +rising to the dark lustrous eyes, that sparkled so brightly in the +pale, sunken face.</p> + +<p>Sophy listened, half wonderingly, half wistfully, to the few and +broken, but earnest words in which he told of the pardon and peace he +had found in "Looking unto Jesus." "I see the blessed words there all +the day," he said, pointing to the wall, "and they make me glad."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Lucy, you have a card like that," said Sophy, as they left the house. +"I wish you would give it to me to keep in my room, to remind me of +that poor man's words."</p> + +<p>Lucy gladly complied with the request, though she missed her card a +good deal, and hoped that its motto might be of use to its new owner. +Sophy, however, painted the motto in much more elaborate and beautiful +workmanship, had it framed and glazed, and hung it up in her cousin's +room one day while she was out, with a little slip of paper attached, +bearing the inscription, "With Sophy's love and hearty thanks."</p> + +<p>One lovely day in May, when all nature seemed rejoicing in the +gladness of the approaching summer, Lucy went as usual to visit +Antonio, carrying some of the delicacies which Mrs. Brooke still +continued to send him, chiefly for Amy's sake. How often might the +rich greatly alleviate the sufferings of sickness in poverty, by +timely gifts of luxuries, which at such a time are almost necessaries, +yet which the poor cannot buy!</p> + +<p>Lucy found the patient unable now to rise, and struggling with the +suffocating sensation of oppressed breathing. He could scarcely speak, +but he listened with pleasure to the few words she read to him; and as +she left him, he pressed her hand convulsively, saying in a low, +expressive tone, "Good-bye."</p> + +<p>Lucy felt she should not see him again in life, and was not surprised +when Nelly came next day, crying bitterly, to tell her that her +adopted father's weary pilgrimage was ended.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span></p> + +<p>The poor girl remained in the now desolate home only until the simple +funeral was over, and then entered Mrs. Brooke's family, where her +warm, grateful heart found comfort in doing everything she could for +Miss Lucy, whose presence made her new place seem again a home.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/image_041.jpg" width="150" height="141" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII"></a>XVII.</h2> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_049.jpg" width="600" height="228" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<h3><i>Home Again.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And this was once my home;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The leaves, light rustling, o'er me whisper clear,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The sun but shines on thee where thou dost roam,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">It smiled upon thee here!"<br /> +</span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_205.jpg" width="75" height="72" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>tella had been losing instead of gaining strength since the warm +weather came on, and her parents were now really alarmed about her, +and were considering what would be the best and most bracing place to +send her to during the heat of the summer. But Stella, with an +invalid's capricious fancy, had formed a plan of her own, and she +insisted, with all her old wilfulness, on its being carried out. It +was, that Lucy and she should go together to Ashleigh, to stay at Mill +Bank Farm, if Mrs. Ford would consent to receive them as boarders. Her +former visit was connected in her mind with pure, healthful, and happy +associations, and she thought that the fresh country air, which she so +well remembered, and the delicious milk from Mrs. Ford's sleek cows, +would do her more good than anything else. It need not be said that +the project was a delightful one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> for Lucy; and as Ashleigh was +certainly a healthy place, it was decided that they should go thither +under the escort of Fred, who also wished to pay a short visit to his +old home. Bessie wrote that her mother would be delighted to receive +them; and Stella, with more of her old light-heartedness than she had +shown for a long time, hurried the preparations for her journey.</p> + +<p>Nelly was to remain in the house with a kind, trustworthy woman during +the absence of the rest of the family at the seaside. Although she was +sorry to lose her dear Miss Lucy, she was much interested in the +circumstance that she was going to Ashleigh, and sent many grateful +messages to Mrs. Ford and Bessie. To the latter she sent a present of +a little silk necktie, bought, with great satisfaction, out of her +first wages.</p> + +<p>Any one who has ever revisited a dearly loved home can easily imagine +Lucy's delight, when from the deck of the steamboat her straining eyes +caught the first glimpse of the white houses of Ashleigh and the grey +church on the hill; can imagine her delight at recognising the +well-known faces, and the familiar objects which, after her long +absence, seemed so strangely natural! But the happiness of being once +more among scenes so associated with early and happy recollections was +not untinged with sadness; for the vividness with which the old life +was recalled made the changes seem as vivid also, and stirred up in +all its acuteness the sense of loss, which had of late been partially +deadened by the exciting changes of her present life. Every step +called up her father's image with intense force in scenes so +interwoven with her memories of him. It was strange to see<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> the house +which had been her home from infancy tenanted by strangers, and to +miss all the familiar faces of the home circle, whom she had almost +expected to find there still. It gave her a dreary sense of +loneliness, even in the midst of the many kind friends who were eager +to welcome back, both for her father's sake and her own, the daughter +of their beloved pastor.</p> + +<p>Stella's highest spirits seemed to return when she found herself +driving rapidly along the road to the farm in the conveyance which +Bessie and her eldest brother—whom Lucy would scarcely have +recognised—had brought to meet them. Bessie was not much changed. Her +good-humoured face had more sweetness and earnestness of expression +than it had once worn, and her manner at home had the considerate, +half-maternal air of an eldest daughter. Mrs. Ford, too, was less +bustling, with a quiet repose about her hospitable kindliness that +gave a feeling of rest and comfort, and was the result of being less +"cumbered about much serving," and more disposed to let her heart +dwell on the "better part," on which she now set a truer value. A more +perceptible regard for it, indeed, pervaded, the whole family, and +Bessie and her brother were, both of them, Sunday-school teachers now.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ford and Bessie were much shocked at the change in Stella, whose +blooming appearance they well remembered. Lucy, had become so +accustomed to her cousin's altered looks, that she thought her looking +rather better than usual, under the influence of the change and +excitement. But Mrs. Ford shook her head mournfully over her in +private. "She looks to me in a decline," she said to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> her husband. +"I'm afraid she hasn't many years before her in this world!"</p> + +<p>But another change besides the external one had come over her, so +gradually that Lucy had not observed it till now, when the place +brought back so vividly the recollection of the gay, flippant Stella +of old. She had certainly grown more thoughtful, more quiet, even more +serious; and Lucy observed that her former levity had quite departed, +and that a flippant remark never now fell from her lips. Her old +wilfulness of manner continued to characterize her, but it was owing +chiefly to the caprice of disease. She was shy of joining in religious +conversation, but seemed to listen with great interest whenever Lucy +and Bessie spoke to each other of things connected with the "life +hidden with Christ in God." At such times she would look as if she +were trying to gain a clue to a mystery which puzzled, and yet +intensely interested her.</p> + +<p>It was with mingled pleasure and sadness that Lucy once more took her +seat in her father's church, and listened to the voice of another from +his old pulpit. His successor, Mr. Edwards, though a man of a +different stamp, resembled him a good deal in the earnestness of his +spirit and the simplicity of his gospel preaching. The message was the +same, though the mode of delivering it was slightly different. He +received with kindness and courtesy the daughter of his predecessor, +and invited her during her stay to take a share in the teaching of the +Sunday school,—an invitation which she willingly accepted, and had +the pleasure of finding in her new class a few of her old scholars.</p> + +<p>As Stella had a fancy for seeing the Sunday school,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> Lucy accepted the +invitation, given to them both by Mr. Edwards, to spend with his +family the interval between the morning and evening service. Stella's +zeal for seeing the Sunday school, however, died out with the first +Sunday; and after that she always remained with Mrs. Edwards, who, +being very delicate, and having a young infant, had been obliged to +resign her own class, the one now taken by Lucy. Mrs. Edwards was a +sweet, gentle woman, overflowing with Christian love and kindness; and +as Stella at once took a great fancy to her, she exercised a very +beneficial influence over one who was much more easily swayed by +kindness than by any other power.</p> + +<p>The celebration of the Lord's Supper was approaching, and as Bessie +was looking forward to participating for the first time in the holy +ordinance, Lucy gladly embraced the opportunity of making a formal +confession of her faith in Christ, and claiming the blessing attached +to the ordinance by Him who instituted it. It was pleasant, too, to do +so in the very place in which He had first, by the cords of love, +drawn her heart to Himself. Solemn as she knew the step to be, she had +lived too long on the principle of "looking unto Jesus" not to feel +that she had only to look to Him still to give her the fitting +preparation of heart for receiving the tokens of His broken body and +shed blood; and in this happy confidence she came forward to obey His +dying command.</p> + +<p>Stella had seemed much interested about the approaching communion, and +had asked a good many questions respecting it, and as to the nature of +the qualification for worthily partaking in it. At last, much to +Lucy's surprise, she asked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> her, with a timidity altogether new to +her, whether she thought <i>she</i> might come forward also.</p> + +<p>It was with difficulty that Lucy could restrain the expression of her +surprise at the unexpected question, but she did repress it, and +replied:</p> + +<p>"It all depends on whether you have made up your mind to take Jesus +for your Lord and Saviour, and to follow Him, dear Stella!"</p> + +<p>"I should like to, if I knew how," she said. "I have been speaking to +Mrs. Edwards about it, and she thinks I might come. I know I'm not +what I ought to be, and that I've been very careless and wicked; but +Mrs. Edwards says if I'm really in earnest, and I think I am, I may +come to the communion, and that I shall be made fit, if I ask to be."</p> + +<p>Lucy had not lost her faith in the Hearer and Answerer of prayer, but +she had been so long accustomed to regard Stella as one who "cared for +none of these things," that she could scarcely believe in the reality +of so sudden a change. But it was not so very sudden, and Lucy's own +earnestness and simple faith had been one means of bringing it about. +Her daily intercourse with her cousin had, in spite of herself, +impressed Stella gradually with a conviction of the importance of what +she felt to be all-important. And Stella's illness and subsequent +weakness, with perhaps a sense of her precarious tenure of life, had +combined to make her realize its importance to herself personally, +more than she had ever done before. Amy's happy death had made her +feel how blessed a thing was that trust in Jesus which could remove +all fear of the mysterious change, so awful to those who have their +hope only in the visible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> world. Indeed, she told Lucy that one of her +chief reasons for wishing to come to Ashleigh was the vague feeling, +derived from her recollections of her former visit, that it would be +easier for her to be a Christian in a place so closely associated with +her first impressions of living Christianity. And He who never turns +away from any who seek Him, had answered her expectations, and sent +her a true helper in Mrs. Edwards, whose simple words seemed to come +to her with peculiar power; for, from some hidden sympathy of feeling, +one person often seems more specially adapted to help us on than +another, and Mrs. Edwards had been a special helper to Stella.</p> + +<p>Lucy, when she found her cousin so much in earnest, did not dare to +advise her on her own responsibility. Stella felt rather afraid of a +conversation with Mr. Edwards, but her cousin told her that he was the +best person to give her counsel in the matter. Her fear of him soon +vanished when the conversation was really entered upon, and she found +that she could speak to him much more freely than she had previously +thought. He talked with her long and kindly, and finding that she had +really a deep sense of sin, and that she desired to come to Christ in +humble penitence to have her sins forgiven and her darkness +enlightened, he felt that he had no right to discourage her from the +ordinance which is specially designed to enlighten and strengthen. At +the same time, he took care to explain to her most fully the nature of +the solemn vows in which she would take upon herself the +responsibilities and obligations of a follower of Christ.</p> + +<p>It was with a quiet, serious humility, very different from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> the former +mien of the once careless Stella, that she, with Lucy and Bessie, +reverently approached the Lord's table, where He graciously meets His +people, and gives the blessings suited to their special needs. As they +left the church at the close of the service, and Lucy glanced at her +cousin, whose delicacy was made more perceptible by the deep black of +her dress, she thought that, notwithstanding the loss of bloom and +brightness, the expression of serene happiness that now rested on her +face gave it a nobler beauty than she had ever seen it wear before.</p> + +<p>Before the stay of the cousins at Ashleigh came to an end, Lucy and +Bessie had the great pleasure of meeting once more their old teacher, +Mrs. Harris, who had come to pay a short visit to her former home. +What a pleasant meeting it was, and with what grateful gladness Mrs. +Harris found out how well her old scholars had followed out their +watchword, may easily be imagined; as well as the interest with which +the story of poor Nelly's changeful life and steady faith in the +Saviour, of whom Miss Preston had first told her, was narrated and +heard.</p> + +<p>Lucy did not forget to visit Nelly's stepmother, whose circumstances +remained much the same as in former times. She did not seem much +gratified by Lucy's praises of Nelly's good conduct. She had always +predicted that Nelly would "come to no good," and she did not like to +have her opinions in such matters proved fallacious. Lucy, however, +rather enjoyed dilating upon Nelly's industry and usefulness, that +Mrs. Connor might feel the mistake she had made, even in a worldly +point of view, by her heartless conduct.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span></p> + +<p>When the heat of the summer was subsiding into the coolness of +September, Lucy and Stella prepared to return home,—not, however, +without having revisited all the spots which had been the scenes of +former excursions, and, in particular, the scene of the "strawberry +picnic," where every little event of the happy summer afternoon, now +so long past, was eagerly recalled.</p> + +<p>"And do you remember, Lucy," asked Stella, "how hateful I was about +poor Nelly, when we discovered her here? Oh, how wicked and heartless +I used to be in those days! And I don't believe I should ever have +been any better if you hadn't come to live with us!"</p> + +<p>Her physical health had been very much benefited by her sojourn in the +country, under the kind, motherly care of Mrs. Ford, who had fed her +with cream and new milk till she declared she had grown quite fat. +That, however, was only a relative expression. She was still very far +from being the plump, blooming Stella of former times.</p> + +<p>But the chief benefit she had gained was not to be discerned by the +outward eye. It lay deep in her heart—the "pearl of great price," +which her wandering spirit had at last sought and found.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII"></a>XVIII.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_061.jpg" width="600" height="213" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<h3><i>A Farewell Chapter.</i></h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Come near and bless us when we wake.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ere through the world our way we take,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Till in the ocean of Thy love<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We lose ourselves in heaven above."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;"> +<img src="images/image_008_1.jpg" width="75" height="74" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<p>hough Mr. and Mrs. Brooke marked with much delight the improved +appearance of their darling Stella, her medical attendant was far from +considering the improvement a radical one, and strongly advised that +she should be removed to a warmer climate for the winter. On her +account, therefore, as well as on that of Sophy, who very much needed +change of scene, it was decided that the family should spend the +winter months in the south. Stella was anxious that her cousin should +accompany them; but just at this time Lucy received a summons—by no +means unwelcome—in another direction, in a letter from Mrs. Steele.</p> + +<p>Her aunt had been feeling her strength fail very much during the past +year, and expressed a very strong desire<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> that her niece should come +to her again, for a time at least. Lucy owed her aunt almost a +daughter's affection; and as she had not seen her brother Harry for +nearly two years, and as her lessons at school must necessarily be +discontinued, it seemed the best arrangement that she should accede to +Mrs. Steele's request, and go to the West under the escort which had +been proposed for her,—that of a friend of Alick who had come +eastward for his wife, and was soon to return to his prairie home.</p> + +<p>There was some doubt as to what should be done with Nelly during the +long absence of all her friends, but an unexpected event which +happened previous to Lucy's departure settled that question most +satisfactorily. A young market-gardener, who had lately started in +business for himself, came to Mr. Brooke's to be paid for vegetables, +furnished during the summer. Lucy was sent down to pay him, and was +surprised to find Nelly, who had happened to pass through the hall +where he was waiting, staring at him in an unaccountable manner, with +an excited look in her dark eyes.</p> + +<p>"Miss Lucy," she said in a trembling undertone, seizing Lucy's dress +in her eagerness, "won't you please ask him his name?"</p> + +<p>Lucy, considerably bewildered, did as she desired, and was startled by +the answer. "Richard Connor," and equally so by the joyful exclamation +with which Nelly rushed forward: "Oh, it's my own brother Dick!"</p> + +<p>It turned out to be really Nelly's long-lost brother. He had followed +the rest of his family out to America by the next vessel in which he +could procure a passage, but had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> never been able to discover any +trace of them. Getting work for a time as he best could, he had at +last entered the service of a market-gardener, where he had done so +well as to be able in time to begin business on his own account. He +could not have recognised his little sister Nelly in the tall, +good-looking girl before him; but time had not changed him so +materially as to prevent Nelly's loving heart from recognising her +only relative, and the moment her eye fell upon him, a thrill of +almost certain recognition chained her to the spot.</p> + +<p>It is unnecessary to dwell upon the delight of both brother and sister +at their unexpected reunion, and the torrent of inquiries and replies +that followed. Dick had for so long a time given up all hope of +finding his kindred, that the joy of recovering Nelly overpowered his +sorrow at finding that she was the only one who survived to him; and +as the young gardener had been intending to live in a small cottage of +his own, he was only too glad to claim Nelly as his housekeeper. And +before Lucy went away, she had the pleasure of seeing Nelly +comfortably installed in a home which she could consider as really her +own.</p> + +<p>It was no small trial to Lucy, when the time came, to say a long +farewell to her aunt and cousins, especially to Sophy, between whom +and herself there was now a strong bond of attachment; and to Stella, +as to whom she felt a strong foreboding that she should never see her +again. Her only comfort was that she could leave the matter in the +hands of Him who knew best, and that Stella could safely be trusted to +that protecting love which will never leave nor forsake any who humbly +seek its true blessing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p> + +<p>With Mary Eastwood, too, it was another hard parting. She spent a day +or two at Oakvale before her departure, and both long looked back to +that short visit as to a time tinged indeed with sadness, but charged +with many sweet and blessed memories.</p> + +<p>At last the preparations for the long journey were all made, the +packing completed, even to the stowing away of the little gifts from +each, and of the large packet of bonbons and cream-candy which Edwin +brought in at the last moment for his cousin's regalement during her +long journey. Then the cab was at the door before half had been said +that they wanted to say, and the long-dreaded good-bye was crowded +into such a brief space of time, that when Lucy found herself on the +way to the station, she could scarcely believe that the formidable +separation was really over, and that she had finally left her home of +nearly two years. She well remembered the winter afternoon of her +arrival, and thought with gratitude how many blessings had met her +there, and with what different feelings she left it from those with +which she arrived there.</p> + +<p>The sadness of her departure soon wore off amid the pleasant +excitement of the long and interesting journey, made doubly pleasant +by the lively and genial companionship of her new friends, who won her +heart at once by their warm praises of Alick and Harry; and she began +already to look forward to the happiness of their complete reunion as +a family,—for Fred was to follow her to the West at the close of his +theological studies, in the ensuing spring.</p> + +<p>When at last the somewhat fatiguing but very pleasant journey was at +an end, Lucy found Mrs. Steele ready to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> receive her with a warm +maternal welcome, and Harry wild with delight, as much grown and +improved as they all declared she was. Alick had grown considerably +older and graver-looking under the responsibilities of life and his +profession, though he still retained much of his old flow of spirits; +and Lucy had the very great pleasure of finding that he had become an +earnest Christian man, using his profession to the utmost of his power +as a means not only of doing temporal good, but of advancing his +Master's cause.</p> + +<p>Lucy soon saw that her household aid was so much needed by her aunt, +whose health had become very feeble, that she relinquished the plan +she had formed of endeavouring to get employment in teaching during +the winter; and between her housekeeping avocations and the claims of +Alick's poor patients, whom she often visited on errands of charity, +and the carrying on of her own studies, which she was anxious to +continue, the winter flew past with incredible rapidity.</p> + +<p>When the season of budding leaves and opening blossoms returned, there +came tidings—sad indeed, yet by no means unexpected—from the sandy +plains of Florida. Stella was dead, but she had died "looking unto +Jesus," and in the feeling of her perfect safety and happiness with +her Saviour. Lucy could acquiesce in the earthly separation from her. +She had seemed to be one over whom "things seen and temporal" held so +much power, that perhaps only the pressure of physical disease, and +the realization of the possible approach of death, could have brought +her to the invisible but ever-present Saviour. Her temporal loss had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> +thus been her great gain; yet still "more blessed are they" who +without such pressure "have believed."</p> + +<p>Our young friends have now arrived at an age when their history is +scarcely so well adapted for the youthful readers of these pages. But +as we all like to hear tidings of our friends after years have +elapsed, it may be pleasant to catch at least a glimpse of their later +life. Lucy never returned to her uncle's house: she became too +valuable a member of her cousin's household to be spared from it, and +she is now its mistress in a legal and permanent sense, aiding her +husband most efficiently in his labours of love. Fred has long since +finished his studies and been settled as the minister of a village +church near his sister's home. Thither he has lately brought Mary +Eastwood as the minister's wife, and has found that she admirably +fills that important post. The two old friends, united now by closer +ties than ever, still delight to maintain their Christian +companionship, and to revive, in the frequent visits interchanged, the +happy memories of former days.</p> + +<p>Nelly still keeps house for her brother, who would not know how to +dispense with her multifarious services in weeding his beds, gathering +his fruit for market, and tying up his flowers. But as some of his +friends are equally sensible of her good qualities, he has made up his +mind that, sooner or later, he will have to let her go.</p> + +<p>Ada Brooke has been married for several years, and is much, the same, +in her present luxurious home, as when we first made her acquaintance, +with no more aspiration beyond the transient pleasures of the world. +Sophy, who has remained faithful to the memory of her betrothed, is a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> +very angel of mercy, ministering continually to the poor and sick and +disconsolate, and finding therein a higher happiness than she ever +knew, even in the days when she was most admired and envied. Mr. and +Mrs. Brooke, since the death of their darling Stella, have thought +more of that unseen world into which she has entered, and less of the +present one, which formerly so completely engrossed them. And Edwin, +finding all earthly sources of pleasure to be but "broken cisterns," +has at last turned to drink of "the living water, of which if a man +drink he shall never thirst again."</p> + +<p>Bessie Ford is still the wise, motherly eldest daughter at Mill Bank +Farm. If, from the uneventful character of her quiet country life, she +has not filled so prominent a place in these pages as her classmates, +it is not that the watchword "Looking unto Jesus" has had less +influence on her life than on theirs; and though its fruits may have +been more obscure, they have been as real, in the thorough Christian +kindness and faithfulness, patience and industry, which make her a +much-prized blessing to her family and her friends.</p> + +<p>And now, my young reader, that you have seen the effect of taking +"Looking unto Jesus" for the watchword of life to some extent +illustrated, will you not, henceforward, take it as your own?</p> + +<p>If only you come by faith to that Saviour who is waiting to receive +you and to renew your sinful heart, and go on living by that faith in +Him, you will find, ever flowing from Him, a life-giving power, which +will furnish you with the strength that you need more than you now +know, for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> battle of life before you. And though you may never be +called upon to do things which the world calls great and noble, you +will do common things in a noble spirit, which is the same thing to +Him who looks upon the heart, and</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"So make life, death, and the vast for ever,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One grand, sweet song."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/image_127.jpg" width="150" height="154" alt="Decorative Image" /> +</div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lucy Raymond, by Agnes Maule Machar + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUCY RAYMOND *** + +***** This file should be named 18248-h.htm or 18248-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/2/4/18248/ + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by the Canadian Institute for Historical +Microreproductions (www.canadiana.org)) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lucy Raymond + Or, The Children's Watchword + +Author: Agnes Maule Machar + +Release Date: April 24, 2006 [EBook #18248] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUCY RAYMOND *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by the Canadian Institute for Historical +Microreproductions (www.canadiana.org)) + + + + + + + + + + Lucy Raymond; + + OR, + + THE CHILDREN'S WATCHWORD. + + + + + BY THE AUTHOR OF + + 'KATIE JOHNSTONE'S CROSS.' + + + + + + TORONTO: + JAMES CAMPBELL AND SON. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAP. + + I. MISS PRESTON'S LAST SUNDAY, + + II. LUCY'S HOME, + + III. MORE HOME SCENES, + + IV. NELLY'S SUNDAY EVENING, + + V. STRAWBERRYING, + + VI. A MISSION, + + VII. TEMPTATIONS, + + VIII. PARTINGS, + + IX. INTRODUCTIONS, + + X. NEW EXPERIENCES, + + XI. A START IN LIFE, + + XII. AMBITION, + + XIII. A FRIENDSHIP, + + XIV. AN UNEXPECTED RECOGNITION, + + XV. THE FLOWER FADETH, + + XVI. DARKNESS AND LIGHT, + + XVII. HOME AGAIN, + +XVIII. A FAREWELL CHAPTER, + + + + +LUCY RAYMOND. + +I. + +_Miss Preston's Last Sunday_. + + "Tell me the old, old story + Of unseen things above-- + Of Jesus and His glory, + Of Jesus and His love." + + +The light of a lovely Sabbath afternoon in June lay on the rich green +woodlands, still bright with the vivid green of early summer, and +sparkled on the broad river, tossed by the breeze into a thousand +ripples, that swept past the village of Ashleigh. It would have been +oppressively warm, but for the breeze which was swaying the long +branches of the pine-trees around the little church, which from its +elevation on the higher ground looked down upon the straggling +clusters of white houses nestling in their orchards and gardens that +sloped away below. The same breeze, pleasantly laden with the mingled +fragrance of the pines and of the newly-cut hay, fanned the faces of +the children, who in pretty little groups--the flickering shadows of +the pines falling on their light, fluttering summer dresses--were +approaching the church, the grave demeanour of a few of the elder ones +showing that their thoughts were already occupied by the pleasant +exercises of the Sunday school. + +Along a quiet, shady path, also leading to the church, a lady was +slowly and thoughtfully walking, on whose countenance a slight shade +of sadness, apparently, contended with happier thoughts. It was Mary +Preston's last Sunday in her old home, previous to exchanging it for +the new one to which she had been looking forward so long; and full as +her heart was of thankfulness to God for the blessings He had +bestowed, she could not take farewell of the Sunday school in which +she had taught for several years, without some regret and many +misgivings. Where, indeed, is the earnest teacher, however faithful, +who can lay down the self-imposed task without some such feelings? Has +the _heart_ been in the work? Have thought and earnestness entered +into the weekly instruction? Has a Christian example given force to +the precepts inculcated? Above all, has there been earnest, +persevering prayer to the Lord of the harvest, in dependence on whom +alone the joyful reaping time can be expected? + +Such were some of the questions which had been passing through Miss +Preston's mind; and the smile with which she greeted her class as she +took her place was a little shadowed by her self-condemning +reflections--reflections which her fellow-teachers would have thought +quite uncalled for in one who had been the most zealous and +conscientious worker in that Sunday school. But Mary Preston little +thought of comparing herself with others. She knew that to whom "much +is given, of him shall be much required;" and judging herself by this +standard, she felt how little she had rendered to the Lord for His +benefits to her. As her wistful glance strayed during the opening hymn +to the faces of her scholars, she could not help wondering what +influence the remembrance of what she had tried to teach them would +exert on their future lives. + +As her class had been much diminished by recent changes, and in view +of her approaching departure the blanks had not been filled up, it +consisted on this Sunday of only three girls, of ages varying from +twelve to fourteen, but differing much in appearance, and still more +widely in character and in the circumstances of their lives. + +Close to Miss Preston, and watching every look of the teacher she +loved and grieved at losing, sat Lucy Raymond, the minister's +motherless daughter, a slight, delicate-looking girl, with dark hair +and bright grey eyes, full of energy and thought, but possessing a +good deal of self-will and love of approbation,--dangerous elements of +character unless modified and restrained by divine grace. + +Next to her sat fair, plump, rosy-cheeked, curly-haired Bessie Ford, +from the Mill Bank Farm--an amiable, kind-hearted little damsel, and a +favourite with all her companions, but careless and thoughtless, with +a want of steadiness and moral principle which made her teacher long +to see the taking root of the good seed, whose development might +supply what was lacking. + +Very different from both seemed the third member of the class--a +forlorn-looking child, who sat shyly apart from the others, shrinking +from proximity with their neat, tasteful summer attire, as if she felt +the contrast between her own dress and appearance and that of her +school-fellows. Poor Nelly Connor's dingy straw hat and tattered +cotton dress, as well as her pale, meagre face, with its bright hazel +eyes gleaming from under the tangled brown hair, showed evident signs +of poverty and neglect. She was a stranger there, having only recently +come to Ashleigh, and had been found wandering about, a Sunday or two +before, by Miss Preston, who had coaxed her into the Sunday school, +and had kept her in her own class until she should become a little +more familiar with scenes so strange and new. Curiosity and wonder +seemed at first to absorb all her faculties, and her senses seemed so +evidently engrossed with the novelty of what she saw around her, that +her teacher could scarcely hope she took in any of the instruction +which in the most simple words she tried to impress on her wandering +mind. And so very ignorant was she of the most elementary truths of +Christianity, that Miss Preston scarcely dared to ask her the simplest +question, for fear of drawing towards her the wondering gaze of her +more favoured classmates, who, accustomed from infancy to hear of a +Saviour's love and sacrifice for sin, could scarcely comprehend how +any child, + + "Born in Christian lands, + And not a heathen or a Jew," + +could have grown up to nearly their own age, ignorant of things which +were familiar to them as household words. + +Lucy and Bessie, in their happy ignorance and inexperience, little +dreamed how many thousands in Christian cities full of stately +churches, whose lofty spires seem to proclaim afar the Christianity of +the inhabitants, grow up even to manhood and womanhood with as little +knowledge of the glorious redemption provided to rescue them from +their sin and degradation as if they were sunk in the thickest +darkness of heathenism. Strange that congregations of professed +followers of Christ, whose consciences will not let them refuse to +contribute some small portion of their substance to convey the glad +tidings of the gospel to distant lands, will yet, as they seek their +comfortable churches, pass calmly by whole districts where so many of +their fellow-countrymen are perishing for lack of that very gospel, +without making one personal effort to save them! Will they not have to +give an account for these things? + +Nelly Connor's life had for the last two or three years been spent in +one of the lowest districts of the city in which her father had fixed +his abode after his emigration from the "old sod" to the New World. +The horrors of that emigration she could still remember--the +overcrowded steerage, where foul air bred the dreaded "ship-fever," +and where the moans of the sick and dying weighed down the hearts of +those whom the disease had spared. Her two little sisters had died +during that dreadful voyage; and her mother, heart-broken and worn out +with fatigue and watching, only lived to reach land and die in the +nearest hospital. An elder brother, who was to have accompanied them, +had by some accident lost his passage; and though he had, they +supposed, followed them in the next ship that sailed, they never +discovered any further trace of him. So, when Nelly's father had +followed his wife to the grave in the poor coffin he had with +difficulty provided for her, he and his daughter were all that +remained of the family which had set out from their dear Irish home, +hoping, in the strange land they sought, to lay the foundation of +happier fortunes. + +They led an uncomfortable, unsettled life for a year or two after +that, exchanging one miserable lodging for another--rarely for the +better. The father obtained an uncertain employment as a deck hand on +a steamboat during the summer, subsisting as best he could on odd jobs +during the winter, and too often drowning his sorrows and cares in the +tempting but fatal cup. Poor Nelly, left without any care or teaching, +soon forgot all she had ever learned; and running wild with the +neglected children around her, became, as might have been expected, a +little street Arab, full of shrewd, quick observation, and utter +aversion to restraint of any kind. + +Suddenly, to Nelly's consternation, her father brought home a second +wife, a comrade's widow, with two or three young children. In the new +household Nelly was at once expected to take the place of nurse and +general drudge, a part for which her habits of unrestrained freedom +and idleness had thoroughly disqualified her; and the results were +what might have been expected. There was a good deal of heedlessness +and neglect on Nelly's part, and nearly constant scolding on that of +her new mother. And as the latter was neither patient nor judicious, +and was, moreover, unreasonable in what she demanded from the child, +there was many a conflict ending in sharp blows, the physical pain of +which was nothing in comparison with the sense of injury and +oppression left on the child's mind. But she had no redress; for her +father being so much away from his home, had no opportunity of +opposing, as he would probably have done, his wife's severe method of +"managing" his motherless child. + +Things were in this condition when Mrs. Connor, who had formerly +belonged to Ashleigh, made up her mind to remove thither, in the +expectation both of living more cheaply, and of being able, among her +old acquaintances, to find more work to eke out her uncertain means of +living. Her husband was now working on a steamboat which passed up and +down the river on which Ashleigh was situated, so that he could not +see his family as often as before. They were now settled in a small, +rather dilapidated tenement, with a potato patch and pig-sty; and Mrs. +Connor, who was an energetic woman, had already succeeded in making +her family almost independent of the earnings which Michael Connor too +often spent in the public-house. This being the case, she had no +scruples in providing for her own children, without much consideration +for Nelly; so that the poor child was a forlorn-looking object when +Miss Preston had found her hovering wistfully about, attracted by the +sight of the children streaming towards the church, and had induced +her to come, for the first time in her life, into a Sunday school. + +And now, with these three girls before her, differing so much in +circumstances and culture, it was no wonder that Miss Preston should +feel it a matter for earnest consideration what parting words she +should say, which, even if unappreciated at the time, might +afterwards come back to their minds, associated with the remembrance +of a teacher they had loved, to help them in the conflict between good +and evil which must have its place in their future lives. But she felt +she could not possibly do better, in bidding farewell to her young +pupils, than to direct them to Him who would never leave nor forsake +them,--who was nearer, wiser, tenderer, than any earthly friend,--who, +if they would trust themselves to Him, would guide them into all +truth, and in His own way of peace. + +She had brought them each, as a little parting remembrancer, a pretty +gift-card, bearing on one side the illuminated motto, "LOOKING UNTO +JESUS," a text the blessed influence of which she herself had long +experimentally known. And in words so simple as for the most part to +reach even little Nelly's comprehension, she spoke earnestly of the +loving Saviour to whom they were to "look,"--of that wonderful life +which, opening in the lowly manger of Bethlehem, and growing quietly +to maturity in the green valleys of Nazareth, reached its full +development in those unparalleled three years of "going about doing +good," healing, teaching, warning, rebuking, comforting; not +disdaining to stop and bless the little children, and at last dying to +atone for our sins. + +She explained to them, that although withdrawn from our earthly sight, +He was as really near to them now as He had been to those Jewish +children eighteen hundred years ago; that their lowest whisper could +reach Him; that if they would but ask Him, He would be their truest +Friend, ever at their side to help them to do right and resist +temptation, to comfort them in sorrow and sweeten their joy. Her +earnest tone and manner, even more than her words, impressed the +children, and fixed even Nelly Connor's bright hazel eyes in a +wondering gaze. It was very new and strange to her to hear about the +mysterious, invisible Friend who was so loving and kind; the idea of a +_friend_ of any kind being novel to the lonely, motherless child, more +accustomed to harsh, unsparing reproof than to any other language. +Miss Preston, glad to see at least that her interest was excited, was +fain to leave the germs of truth to take root and develope in her +mind, under the silent influence of the divine Husbandman. + +"Now, my dear children," she said in conclusion, "whenever you are +tempted to be careless or unfaithful in duty, to think that _it +doesn't matter because no one will know_, remember that your _Saviour +knows_,--that whatever the duty before you may be, you have to do it +'as to the Lord, and not unto men.' Whenever you are tempted to get +tired of trying to do right and resist temptation, or when you may +feel sad for your sinfulness and unworthiness, think of the text I am +leaving you, 'LOOKING UNTO JESUS.' And if you really and earnestly +_look_ to Him, you will always find help, and strength, and guidance, +and comfort." + +On the reverse side of the illuminated card she had brought for her +class was printed, in clear, distinct characters, the hymn, + + "I lay my sins on Jesus, + The spotless Lamb of God; + He bears them all, and frees us + From the accursed load. + + "I lay my wants on Jesus, + All fulness dwells in Him; + He heals all my diseases, + He doth my soul redeem." + +As Nelly could not read, Miss Preston made her say these verses +several times after her; and as she had a quick ear and a facility for +learning by heart, she could soon repeat them. That she could not +understand them at present, her teacher knew; but she thought it +something gained that the words at least should linger in her memory +till their meaning should dawn upon her heart. Then, telling Nelly she +must take care of her pretty card, and try to learn to read it for +herself, she bade her class an affectionate farewell, trusting that +the Friend of whom she had been teaching them would care for them when +_she_ could not. + +"I'll learn the hymn, miss, and try to learn to read it, if anybody +'ll teach me," said Nelly, her bright brown eyes sparkling through +tears, for her warm Irish heart had been touched by the kind words and +tones of her teacher, whom she expected never to see again. + +Bessy Ford's sunshiny face also looked unusually sorrowful, and Lucy +Raymond's trembling lip bespoke a deeper emotion, with difficulty +repressed. + +"I shall see _you_ again, Lucy," Miss Preston said, with a smile, as +she affectionately detained her a moment, for Lucy had been invited to +be present at her teacher's marriage, at which her father was to +officiate. Lucy and Bessie walked away together, the former with her +first experience of a "_last time_" weighing on her mind and spirits; +and Nelly Connor slowly stole away among the trees toward the spot she +called her "home." + +Bessie's momentary sadness quickly vanished as she engaged in a brisk +conversation with another girl about her own age, who was eager to +gossip about Miss Preston's approaching marriage, where she was going, +and what she was to wear. Lucy drew off from her companion as soon as +Nancy Parker joined them, partly from a real desire of thinking +quietly of her teacher's parting words, partly in proud disdain of +Bessie's frivolity. "How _can_ she go on so," she thought, "after what +Miss Preston has been saying?" But she forgot that disdain is as far +removed from the spirit of the loving and pitying Saviour as even the +frivolity she despised. + +"Come, Lucy, don't be so stiff," said Nancy as they approached the +shady gate of the white house where Mr. Raymond lived; "can't you tell +us something about the wedding? You're going, aren't you?" + +Nancy's pert, familiar tones grated upon Lucy's ear with unusual +harshness, and she replied, rather haughtily, that she knew scarcely +anything about it. + +"Oh, no doubt you think yourself very grand," Nancy rejoined, "but I +can find out all about it from my aunt, and no thanks to you. Come on, +Bessie." Bessie, somewhat ashamed of her companion, and instinctively +conscious of Lucy's disapproval, stopped at the gate to exchange a +good-bye with her friend, who for the moment was not very cordial. + +Thus Miss Preston and her class had separated, and future days alone +could reveal what had become of the seed she had tried to sow. + + + + +II. + +_Lucy's Home._ + + "Is the heart a living power? + Self-entwined, its strength sinks low; + It can only live in loving, + And by serving, love will grow." + + +As Lucy passed in under the acacias which shaded the gate, she was met +by a pretty, graceful-looking girl about her own age, who, with her +golden hair floating on her shoulders and her hat swinging listlessly +in her hand, was wandering through the shrubbery. + +"Why, Lucy," she exclaimed, "what a time you have been away! I've +tried everything I could think of to pass the time; looked over all +your books, and couldn't find a nice one I hadn't read; teased Alick +and Fred till they went off for peace, and pussy till she scratched my +arm. Just look there!" + +But Lucy's mind had been too much absorbed to descend at once to the +level of her cousin's trifling tone; and having been vexed previously +at her refusal to accompany her to Sunday school, she now regretted +exceedingly that Stella had not been present to hear Miss Preston's +earnest words. + +"Oh, Stella," she said eagerly, "I do _so_ wish you had been with me! +If you had only heard what Miss Preston said to us, it would have done +you good all your life." + +"Well, you know I don't worship Miss Preston," replied Stella, always +ready to tease, "she looks so demure. And as for dressing, why, Ada +and Sophy wouldn't be seen out in the morning in that common-looking +muslin she wore to church." + +"Oh, Stella, how can you go on so?" exclaimed Lucy impatiently. "If +you only had something better to think of, you wouldn't talk as if you +thought dress the one thing needful." + +"That's a quotation from one of Uncle Raymond's sermons, isn't it?" +rejoined Stella aggravatingly. + +Lucy drew her arm away from her cousin's and walked off alone to the +house, obliged to hear Stella's closing remark: "Well, I'm glad _I_ +didn't go to Sunday school if it makes people come home cross and +sulky!" And then, unconscious of the sting her words had implanted, +Stella turned to meet little Harry, who was bounding home in his +highest spirits. + +Lucy slowly found her way to her own room, her especial sanctuary, +where she had a good deal of pleasure in keeping her various +possessions neatly arranged. At present it was shared by her young +visitor, whose careless, disorderly ways were a considerable drawback +to the pleasure so long anticipated of having a companion of her own +age. Just now her eye fell at once on her ransacked bookcase all in +confusion, with the books scattered about the room. It was a trifle, +but trifles are magnified when the temper is already discomposed; and +throwing down her gloves and Bible, she hastily proceeded to rearrange +them, feeling rather unamiably towards her cousin. + +But as she turned back from the completed task, her card with its +motto met her eye, like a gentle reproof to her ruffled +spirit--"LOOKING UNTO JESUS." Had she not forgotten that already? She +had come home enthusiastic--full of an ideal life she was to live, an +example and influence for good to all around her. But, mingled in her +aspirations, there was an unconscious desire for pre-eminence and an +insidious self-complacency--"little foxes" that will spoil the best +grapes. She had to learn that God will not be served with unhallowed +fire; that the heart must be freed from pride and self-seeking before +it can be fit for the service of the sanctuary. Already she knew she +had been impatient and unconciliatory, contemptuous to poor +ill-trained Nancy, whose home influences were very unfavourable; and +now, by her hastiness towards her cousin, whom she had been so anxious +to influence for good, she had probably disgusted her with the things +in which she most wanted to interest her. + +She did not turn away, however, from the lights conscience brought to +her. Nurtured in a happy Christian home, under the watchful eye of the +loving father whose care had to a great extent supplied the want of +the mother she could scarcely remember, she could not have specified +the time when she first began to look upon Christ as her Saviour, and +to feel herself bound to live unto _Him_, and not to herself. But her +teacher's words had given her a new impulse--a more definite +realization of the strength by which the Christian life was to be +lived-- + + "The mind to blend with outward life, + While keeping at Thy side." + +Humbled by her failure, she honestly confessed it, and asked for more +of the strength which every earnest seeker shall receive. + +With a much lighter heart and clearer brow, Lucy went to rejoin +Stella, whom she found amusing herself with Harry and his rabbits, +having forgotten all about Lucy's hastiness. Lucy seated herself on +the grass beside them, joining readily in the admiration with which +Stella, no less than Harry, was caressing the soft, white, downy +creature with pink eyes, which was her brother's latest acquisition. + +"I want him to call it Blanche--such a pretty name, isn't it, Lucy?" +said Stella. + +"I won't," declared the perverse Harry, "because I don't like it;" and +so saying, he rushed off to join "the boys," as he called them. + +"What have you got there?" asked Stella, holding out her hand for +Lucy's card, which she had brought down. "Yes, it's pretty, but Sophy +does much prettier ones; you should see some lovely ones she has +done!" + +"Has she?" asked Lucy with interest,--thinking Stella's sister must +care more for the Bible than she herself did, if she painted +illuminated texts. "I was going to tell you this was what Miss Preston +was speaking to us about." + +"I don't see that she could say much about that, it's so short. I +don't see what it means; Jesus is in heaven now, and we can't see +Him." + +"Oh, but," exclaimed Lucy eagerly, overcoming her shy reluctance to +speak, "He is _always near_, though we can't see Him, and is ready to +help us when we do right, and grieved and displeased when we do wrong. +I forget that myself, Stella," she added with an effort, "or I +shouldn't have been so cross when I came home." + +Stella had already forgotten all about that, and felt a little +uncomfortable at her cousin's entering on subjects which she had been +accustomed to consider were to be confined to the pulpit, or at any +rate were above her comprehension. She believed, of course, in a +general way, that Christ had died for sinners, as she had often heard +in church, and that in some vague way _she_ was to be saved and taken +to heaven, when she should be obliged to leave this world; but it had +never occurred to her that the salvation of which she had been told +was to influence her life now, or awaken any love from _her_ in +response to the great love which had been shown toward her. Not daring +to reply, she glanced listlessly over the hymn on the card, but took +up none of its meaning. She had never been conscious of any heavy +burden of sin to be "laid on Jesus." Petted and praised at home for +her beauty and lively winning ways, her faults overlooked and her good +qualities exaggerated, she had no idea of the evil that lay +undeveloped in her nature, shutting out from her heart the love of the +meek and lowly Jesus. She could scarcely feel her need of strength for +a warfare on which she had never entered; and Lucy's words, spoken +out of the realizing experience she had already had, were to her +incomprehensible. + +She was a good deal relieved when the tea-bell rang, and Lucy's two +brothers, Fred and Harry, with her tall cousin Alick Steele, joined +them as they obeyed the summons to the cool, pleasant dining-room, +where Alick's mother, Mr. Raymond's sister, who had superintended his +family since Mrs. Raymond's death, was already seated at the +tea-table. Her quiet, gentle face, in the plain widow's cap, greeted +them with a smile, brightening with a mother's pride and pleasure as +she glanced towards her son Alick, just now spending a brief holiday +at Ashleigh on the completion of his medical studies. He was a +handsome high-spirited youth, affectionate, candid, and full of +energy, though as yet his mother grieved at his carelessness as to the +"better part" which she longed to see him choose. He had always spent +his vacations at Ashleigh, and was such a favourite that his visits +were looked forward to as the pleasantest events of the year. + +"Girls," said Alick, "I saw such quantities of strawberries this +afternoon." + +"Where?" interrupted Harry eagerly. + +"Was anybody speaking to you?" asked his cousin, laughing. "But I'll +tell you if you won't go and eat them all up. Over on the edge of the +woods by Mill Bank Farm. I could soon have filled a basket if I had +had one, and if mother wouldn't have said it was Sabbath-breaking!" + +"Alick, my boy," said his mother gravely, "you mustn't talk so +thoughtlessly. What would your uncle say?" + +"He'd say it was a pity so good a mother hadn't a better son. But +never mind, mother dear, you'll see I'll come all right yet. As for +these strawberries, Lucy, I vote we have a strawberry picnic, and give +Stella a taste of real country life. They'll give us cream at the +farm, and the Fords would join us." + +Stella looked a little of the surprise she felt at the idea of the +farmer's children being added to the party, but she did not venture to +say anything, as Alick was by no means sparing in bringing his powers +of raillery to bear on what he called her "town airs and graces." + +"Well, you needn't make all the arrangements to-night," interposed +Mrs. Steele; "you know your uncle doesn't like Sunday planning of +amusements." + +And just then Mr. Raymond entered the room, his grave, quiet face, +solemnized by the thoughts with which he had been engrossed, +exercising an unconsciously subduing influence over the lively +juniors. Mr. Raymond never frowned upon innocent joyousness, and even +the boisterous little Harry was never afraid of his father; yet there +was about him a certain realization of the great truths he preached, +which checked any approach to levity in his presence, and impressed +even the most thoughtless; although, not tracing it to its real +source, they generally set it down simply to his "being a clergyman." +His children looked up to him with devoted affection and deep +reverence; even Stella could not help feeling that her uncle must be a +_very_ good man; and to Alick, who under all his nonsense had a strong +appreciation of practical religion, he was the embodiment of Christian +excellence. + +"Well, Stella," said her uncle, turning kindly to his niece, "I hope +you had a pleasant afternoon. I suppose our little Sunday school looks +very small after the great city ones." + +"We never go to Sunday school at home, uncle," said Stella, with one +of her winning smiles; "there are so many _common_ children." + +"Oh, indeed!" exclaimed Alick, seizing the opportunity of putting down +Stella's airs. "Why don't you get up a select one, then, attended only +by young ladies of the best families?" + +Stella coloured at the sarcastic tone, but Mr. Raymond only said +kindly, "Did you ever think, my dear child, how many of these poor +common children, as you call them, you will have to meet in heaven?" + +It was certainly a new idea to Stella, and made her feel rather +uncomfortable; indeed she never cared much to think about heaven, of +which her ideas were the vaguest possible. + +As they went to evening service, Alick did not omit to rally Stella on +her want of candour in leaving her uncle under the impression that she +had been at Sunday school that afternoon. + +"Why, Alick!" she exclaimed in surprise, "I didn't say I had been at +Sunday school. If Uncle Raymond supposed so, it wasn't my fault." + +"Only, you answered him as if his supposition was correct. I have +always understood that intentionally confirming a false impression was +at least the next thing to telling a story." + +"Well, I'm sure Stella didn't think of that," interposed Lucy +good-naturedly, noticing the rising colour of vexation on Stella's +countenance. + +"How tiresome they all are here!" thought Stella; "always finding out +harm in things. I'm sure it wasn't my business to tell Uncle William I +hadn't been at Sunday school. Sophy and Ada often tell the housemaid +to say they are not at home when they are, and don't think it any +harm. What would Alick say to that?" + +By one of those coincidences which sometimes happen--sent, we may be +sure, in God's providence--Mr. Raymond took for his text that evening +the words, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." +The coincidence startled Lucy, and made her listen with more than +ordinary attention to her father's sermon, though, to do her justice, +she was not usually either sleepy or inattentive. Mr. Raymond began by +alluding to the "race set before us," which the apostle had spoken of +in the previous verse,--the race which all who will follow Christ must +know, but only in the strength He will supply. The young and strong +might think themselves sufficient for it, but the stern experience of +life would soon teach them that it must be often run with a heavy +heart and weary feet; that "even the youths shall faint and be weary, +and the young men utterly fall;" and that it is only they who wait on +the Lord, "looking unto Jesus," who shall "mount up on wings as +eagles," who shall "run and not be weary, and shall walk and not +faint." + +Then he spoke of the Helper ever near--the "dear Jesus ever at our +side," in looking to whom in faith and prayer, not trying to walk in +our own strength, we may get + + "the daily strength, + To none who ask denied,"-- + +the strength to overcome temptation and conquer sloth, and do whatever +work He gives us to do. Something, too, he said of what that work is: +First, the faithful discharge of daily duty, whatever its nature; then +the more voluntary work for Christ and our fellow-men with which the +corners of the busiest life may be filled up--the weak and weary to be +helped, the mourner to be sympathized with, the erring brother or +sister to be sought out and brought back, the cup of cold water to be +given for Christ's sake, which should not lose its reward. + +He ended by speaking of the grounds on which Jesus is the "author and +finisher of our faith," the great salvation won by Him for us on the +cross,--a salvation to be entered upon now, so that during this life +we may begin that glorious eternal life which is to go on for ever. +Then he besought his hearers, by the greatness of that love which had +prompted the infinite sacrifice, by the endurance of that mysterious +depth of suffering which the Son of God bore for men, that He might +"save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him," to come at +once to have their sins washed away in the Redeemer's blood, which +alone could "purge their consciences from dead works to serve the +living God." + +Many and many a time during Lucy's after-life did the words of that +sermon come back to her mind, associated with her father's earnest, +solemn tones, with the peaceful beauty of that summer Sabbath +evening--with the old church, its high seats and pulpit and +time-stained walls, and the old familiar faces whom all her life she +had been wont to see, Sunday after Sunday, in the same familiar seats. + +And what of the others? Bessie Ford, too, had noticed the coincidence, +and had listened to the sermon as attentively as a somewhat volatile +mind would allow her, and had gathered from it more than she could +have put into conscious thought, though it was destined to bring forth +fruit. + +And far back, in a dusky corner of the little gallery, gleamed the +bright brown eyes of little Nelly, who had ventured back to the +church, and, hearing the familiar sound of the text, listened intently +and picked up some things which, though only half understood, yet +awakened the chords which had been already touched to a trembling +response. + +Even little Harry in some measure abstained from indulging in his +ordinary train of meditation during church-time, consisting chiefly of +planning fishing excursions and games for the holidays. How many older +and wiser heads are prone to the same kind of reverie, and could not +have given a better account of "papa's sermon" than he was usually +able to do! Fred, the quiet student, listened with kindling eye and +deep enthusiasm to his father's earnest exposition of the divine truth +which had already penetrated his own mind and heart; and Alick heard +it with a reverent admiration for the beautiful gospel which could +prompt such noble sentiments, and with a vague determination that +"some time" he would think about it in earnest. + +Stella alone, of all the young group, carried away nothing of the +precious truth which had been sounding in her ears. She had gone to +church merely as a matter of form, without any expectation of +receiving a blessing there; and during the service her wandering eyes +had been employed in taking a mental inventory of the various odd and +old-fashioned costumes that she saw around her, to serve for her +sister's amusement when she should return home. It is thus that the +evil one often takes away the good seed before it has sunk into our +hearts. Stella would have been surprised had it been suggested to her +that the words of the last hymn, which rose sweetly through the church +in the soft summer twilight, could possibly apply to her that evening: + + "If some poor wandering child of thine + Have spurned to-day the voice divine, + Now, Lord, the gracious work begin; + Let him no more lie down in sin!" + + + + +III. + +_More Home Scenes._ + + "Tell me the story often. + For I forgot so soon; + The early dew of morning + Has passed away at noon." + + +When Bessie Ford parted from Lucy at the gate, she had still a long +walk before reaching home. Mill Bank Farm was a good mile and a half +from the village if you went by the road, but Bessie shortened it very +considerably by striking across the fields a little way beyond the +village. There were one or two fences to climb, but Bessie did not +mind that any more than she minded the placid cows browsing in the +pasture through which her way led. The breezy meadows, white with +ox-eye daisies, and in some places yellow with buttercups, with the +blue river flowing rapidly past on one side, afforded a pleasant walk +at any time, and the rest of the way was still prettier. Just within +the boundary of Mill Bank Farm the ground ascended slightly, and then +descended into a narrow glen or ravine, with steep, rocky sides +luxuriantly draped with velvet moss and waving ferns, while along the +bottom of it a little stream flowed quietly enough towards the river, +though a little higher up it came foaming and dashing down the rocks +and turned a small saw-mill on the farm. The sides of the ravine were +shady with hemlocks, spreading their long, waving boughs over the +rocks, with whose dark, solemn foliage maples and birches contrasted +their fresh vivid green. In spring, what a place it was for wild +flowers!--as Lucy Raymond and her brothers well knew, having often +brought home thence great bunches of dielytras and convallarias and +orchises; and at any time some bright blossoms were generally to be +found gleaming through the shade. + +Bessie, however, did not linger now to look for them, but picking her +way across the stepping-stones which lay in the bed of the stream, she +quickly climbed the opposite bank by a natural pathway which wound up +among the rocks--easily found by her accustomed feet--and passing +through the piece of woodland that lay on the other side, came out on +the sunny expanse of meadows and corn-fields, in the midst of which +stood the neat white farmhouse, with its little array of farm +buildings, and the fine old butternut tree, under the shade of which +Mrs. Ford sat milking her sleek, gentle cows, little Jenny and Jack +sitting on the ground beside her. The instant that they espied their +sister coming through the fields, they dashed off at the top of their +speed to see who should reach her first, and were soon trotting along +by her side, confiding to her their afternoon's adventures, and how +Jack had found nine eggs in an unsuspected nest in the barn, but had +broken three in carrying them in. + +"But me wouldn't have," insisted Jack sturdily, "if Jenny hadn't +knocked up against me." + +"Oh, Jack! Now you know I only touched you the least little bit," +retorted the aggrieved Jenny. + +"Well, don't jump up and down so, or I will let go your hand," said +Bessie. "You almost pull my arm off! I wish you could see how quietly +little Mary Thomson sits in Sunday school, and she is no bigger than +you." + +"Why can't I go to Sunday school, then?" demanded Jenny; "I'd be quiet +too." + +"And me too!" vociferated Jack; the circumstance that they were not +considered old enough yet to go to Sunday school giving it a wonderful +charm in their eyes. Then, as they set off again on another race +toward their mother, it occurred to Bessie for the first time that +these little ones were quite old enough to learn the things that other +little children learned at Sunday school, and that although they were +not strong enough for the long walk, and her mother's time and +thoughts were always so fully engrossed with the round of domestic +duties, _she_ might easily find time to teach her little brother and +sister as much as they could understand about the Saviour, who had +died that they might be made good, and who when on earth had blessed +little children. Something Miss Preston had said about home +duties--about helping to teach and guide the little brothers and +sisters--now recurred to her mind, and conscience told her that these +duties she had hitherto failed of performing. She had never herself +really taken Christ for her own Saviour and Guide, although she often +felt a vague wish that she were "good," and the desire of pleasing +Christ entered but little, if at all, into the motives and actions of +her daily life. But she generally _knew_ what was right, and +occasionally, while the impulse from some good influence was still +fresh, would try to _do_ it. + +"I know Miss Preston would say I ought to teach Jenny and Jack some +verses and hymns on Sunday," she thought. "I'll begin to-night, when +mother and the boys are gone to church;" for a certain shyness about +seeming "good" made her wish to begin her teaching without witnesses. + +"Here, Bessie," said Mrs. Ford as Bessie approached, "do run and get +the tea ready--there's a good girl. I shan't be through yet for half +an hour, for I've the calves to see to; and your father and the boys +'ll be in from watering the horses, and if we don't get tea soon +they'll be late for church." + +Bessie went in to change her dress, with her usually good-humoured +face contracted into a dissatisfied expression. She was tired; it +would have been nice to sit down and read her Sunday-school book till +tea-time. But of course nothing could be said; so she hurriedly pulled +off her walking things, grumbling a little in her own mind at the +difference between her own lot and that of Lucy Raymond, who, she felt +sure, had none of these tiresome things to do. She had never +thought--what, indeed, older people often lose sight of--that God so +arranges the work of all His children who will do what He gives them +to do, that while some may seem to have more leisure than others, all +have their appointed work, of the kind best suited to discipline, and +fit them for the higher sphere of nobler work, in which will probably +be found much of the blessedness of eternity. + +Before Bessie went down to her unwelcome task, she recollected that +she must put her pretty card safe out of the children's way; so with a +strong pin she fastened it up securely on the wall, on which it formed +a tasteful decoration. As she did so, the motto brought back to her +memory what Miss Preston had said about "looking unto Jesus" in every +time of temptation, great or small, as well when inclined to be +discontented or impatient, as in greater emergencies. The evil +principle in her nature rose against her doing so now, but the other +power was stronger; and perhaps for the first time in her life, though +she regularly "said her prayers," Bessie really asked Jesus to help +her to be more like Himself. Then with a new, strange happiness in her +heart, that was at once the result of her self-conquest and the answer +to her prayer, she ran down cheerfully to do her work, singing in a +low tone the first verse of her hymn: + + "I long to be like Jesus, + Meek, loving, lowly, mild; + I long to be like Jesus, + The Father's holy child." + +Jenny and Jack came running in to help her--small assistants, whom it +required a good deal of patience to manage, neither allowing them to +hurt themselves or anything else, nor driving them into a fit of +screaming by despotically thwarting their good intentions; and +Bessie's patience was not always equal to the ordeal. But on this +occasion Mrs. Ford was left to pursue her dairy avocations in peace, +without being called by Jack's screams to settle some fierce dispute +between him and his sister, whose interference was not always very +judiciously applied. + +The tea was soon ready,--not, however, before Mr. Ford and his two +eldest boys had come in, accompanied by Bessie's younger brother Sam, +next in age to herself, who ought to have been at Sunday school, but +had managed to escape going, as he often did. His mother being on +Sundays, as on other days, "cumbered with much serving," and his +sister generally remaining with some of her friends in the village +during the interval between the morning service and Sunday school, it +was comparatively easy for Master Sam to play truant, as indeed he +sometimes did from the day school, where his chances of punishment +were much greater, Mr. Ford being far more alive to the advantages of +a "good education" than to the need of the knowledge which "maketh +wise unto salvation." So that, when Bessie began her usual "Why, Sam, +you weren't at Sunday school!" Sam had some plausible excuse all +ready, the ingenuity of which would amuse his father so much as to +lead him to overlook the offence. + +"Well, Bessie," her mother exclaimed when they were all seated, "I +really believe you haven't forgotten anything, for _once_. I should +not wonder if you were to turn out a decent housekeeper yet." + +For it was Mrs. Ford's great complaint of Bessie, that she was so +"heedless" and "needed so much minding," though she would always add, +modifying her censure, "But then you can't put an old head on young +shoulders, and the child has a real good _heart_." And being a +thoroughly active and diligent housekeeper, she generally found it +less trouble to supply Bessie's shortcomings herself, so that +Bessie's home education was likely to suffer by her mother's very +proficiency, unless she should come to see that to do all things well +was a duty she owed "unto the Lord, and not unto men." + +"So, Bessie, you're going to lose your teacher?" said her father. "I +hear she's to be married on Thursday." + +"Yes, father, she bade us all good-bye to-day; and she gave us such +pretty cards, mother, with a text and a hymn;" and on the impulse of +the moment she ran up for hers, and brought it down for inspection. It +was handed round the table, eliciting various admiring comments, and +exciting Jack's desire to get it into his own hands, which being +thwarted, he was with difficulty consoled by an extra supply of bread +and butter. + +"And, mother," asked Bessie, somewhat doubtfully, "may I go to-morrow +and get the things to work a book-mark for Miss Preston? I'd like to +do it for a new Bible the teachers are going to give her." + +"I don't care," said Mrs. Ford, "if you'll only not neglect everything +else while you're doing it. I don't believe in girls fiddling away +their time with such things, and not knowing how to make good cheese +and butter. But I wouldn't hinder you from making a present to Miss +Preston, for she has been a good teacher to you." + +Bessie looked delighted, but the expression quickly changed when her +mother said, as they rose from table, "Bessie, I guess I'll not go to +church to-night. I've had so much to do that I feel tired out; and if +I did go, I'm sure I'd just go to sleep. Besides, I don't like the way +the dun cow is looking; so you'd better get ready and go with father +and the boys." + +Now Bessie had expected to remain at home that evening, as she usually +did. She had planned to teach the children for a while, according to +her new resolution, and then, when they had gone to bed, to sit down +to read her Sunday-school book, which seemed unusually inviting. +Bessie's Sunday reading was generally confined to her Sunday-school +book, for she had not yet learned to love to read the Bible, and +regarded it rather as a lesson-book than as the spiritual food which +those who know it truly find "sweeter than honey" to their taste. So +it was not a very pleasant prospect to have to hurry off to church +again, and she felt very much inclined to make the most of the slight +fatigue she felt, and say she was too tired to go, in which case her +mother would have willingly assented to her remaining. But conscience +told her she was able to go, and ought to go; and remembering her +motto and her prayer, she cheerfully prepared to accompany her father +and brothers to church, and she had reason to be grateful for her +choice. The words of the sermon deepened and expanded the impressions +of the afternoon, and left an abiding influence on the current of her +life. + +When Mrs. Ford had got through her evening duties, and the little ones +were hushed in sound slumber, she sat down near the open window to +rest, her eye falling, as she did so, on Bessie's card. The motto upon +it carried her thoughts away to the time when, as a newly-married +wife, she had listened to a sermon on that very text,--a time when, +rejoicing in the happiness of her new life, she had felt her heart +beat with gratitude to Him who had so freely given her all things, and +with a sincere desire to live to His glory. How had the desire been +carried out? A very busy life hers had been, and still was. The +innumerable cares and duties of her family and farm and dairy had +filled it with never-ceasing active occupations, as was natural and +right; but was it right that these occupations should have so crowded +out the very principle that would have given a holy harmony to her +life, and been a fountain of strength to meet the cares and worries +that will fret the stream of the most prosperous course? Sacred words, +learned in her childhood, recurred to her mind: "And the cares of this +world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things, +entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful." Had not that +been her own experience? Where were the fruits that might have been +expected from "the word" in her?--the Christian influence and training +which might have made her household what a Christian household ought +to be? + +Had not the "cares of this world" been made the chief concern--the +physical and material well-being of her family made far more prominent +than the development of a life hid with Christ in God? Had not the +very smoothness and prosperity of her life, and her self-complacency +in her own good management, been a snare to her? Her husband, good and +kind as he was, was, she knew, wholly engrossed with the things of +this life; and her boys--steadier, she often thought with pride, than +half the boys of the neighbourhood--had never yet been made to feel +that they were not their own, but bought with the price of a +Saviour's blood. Such higher knowledge as Bessie had was due to Miss +Preston, for, like many mothers, she had not scrupled to devolve her +own responsibilities on the Sunday-school teachers, and thought her +duty done when she had seen her children, neatly dressed, set off to +school on Sunday afternoon. And the little ones she had just left +asleep--had she earnestly commended them to the Lord, and tried to +teach them such simple truths about their Saviour as their infant +minds could receive? + +All these thoughts came crowding into her mind, as they sometimes will +when the voice of the Spirit can find an entrance into our usually +closed hearts; and she shrank from the thought of the account she +should have to give of the responsibilities abused, the trust +unfulfilled. Happily, she did not forget that "if we confess our sins, +He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins;" and that quiet hour +of meditation, and confession, and humble resolve was one of the most +profitable seasons Mrs. Ford had ever known. For God, unlike man, can +work without as well as with outward instrumentality. + +When the others returned from church, it was with some surprise that +Mrs. Ford heard from Bessie the words of the text. + +"I heard Mr. Raymond preach from that same text long ago, just after +we were married, John," she said. + +"Well, if you remember it, it's more than I do. But if he did preach +the same sermon over again, it is well worth hearing twice." + +"Yes, indeed," said his wife. "I wish I had minded it better. It would +have been better for us all if we had. Bessie, are you too tired to +read a chapter as soon as the boys come in? We don't any of us read +the Bible enough, I'm afraid." + +And Bessie, struck by something unusual in her mother's tone and +manner, cheerfully read aloud, at Mrs. Ford's request, the thirteenth +of Matthew and the tenth of Hebrews, although the tempting +Sunday-school book still lay unread on the table up-stairs. + + + + +IV. + +_Nelly's Sunday Evening._ + + "Oh, say not, dream not, heavenly notes + To childish ears are vain,-- + That the young mind at random floats, + And cannot catch the strain." + + +In the meantime let us go back to Nelly Connor, and see how _she_ +spent her Sunday afternoon. + +When she had wistfully watched the last of the groups of children +disappearing in the distance, she walked slowly away toward her +"home"--a dilapidated-looking cottage in a potato patch, enclosed by a +broken-down fence, patched up by Nelly and her new mother with old +barrel-staves and branches of trees. The outdoor work which fell to +her lot Nelly did not so much dislike. It was the nursing of a +screaming baby, or scrubbing dingy, broken boards--work often imposed +upon her--which sorely tried her childish strength and patience. + +Nelly found the house deserted. Sunday being Mrs. Connor's idle day, +she usually went to visit some of her friends in the village, taking +her children with her. A piece of bread and a mug of sour milk on the +table were all that betokened any preparation for Nelly's supper; but +she was glad enough to miss the harsh scolding tones that were her +usual welcome home. + +Nelly sat down on the doorstep to eat her crust, watching, as she did +so, a little bird which was bringing their evening meal to its +chirping little ones in a straggling old plum-tree near the house. For +in animal life there is no such discord as sin introduces into human +life, marring the beauty of God's arrangements for His creatures' +happiness. Then, having nothing to keep her at home, she took up her +dingy, tattered straw hat, and strolled slowly along towards the +village, keeping to the shady lanes on its outskirts till she came out +upon the fields across which Bessie had taken her way home. + +On her way she passed Mr. Raymond's pretty shrubbery, and stood for a +while quite still by the white railings, looking at the group +within--Lucy and her cousin sitting under the trees on the green turf, +with Harry and the rabbit close beside them. Nelly thought she had +never seen anything so pretty as Stella, with her rose-leaf complexion +and sunny golden hair. The two might have served a painter for a +contrast, both as to externals and as to the effect of the surrounding +influences which mould human life: the one, from her cradle so +tenderly and luxuriously nurtured, petted, and caressed; the other, +accustomed from her earliest years to privation and hardship, to harsh +tones and wicked words, to all the evil influences which surround a +child left to pick up its education on the city streets. Strange +mystery of the "election of circumstances!"--one of the strangest in +our mystery-surrounded life, never to be cleared up till all crooked +things shall be made straight. Only let the privileged ones, whose +lines have fallen in pleasant places, remember that "to whom much is +given, of them much shall be required." + +A forlorn little figure Nelly looked as she strolled along the +field-paths which Bessie had taken an hour before. But she did not +trouble herself much about externals, except when in company with +others whose better attire made her painfully conscious of the defects +in her own; and being of a nature open to every impression from +surrounding objects, she was at that moment far from being an unhappy +child. It was not often that she was completely free to wander at +will; and the fresh breezy fields, the sweet scents of the clover and +the pines, the blue rippling river, and the cows that looked calmly at +her with their patient, wistful eyes, were all novelties to the town +child, whose first summer it was in the country. Some faint +recollections she still had of the grassy slopes of her native hills, +in the days of her early childhood; but since then all her experiences +of summer had been the hot, hard pavements and stifling dust of a +large city. + +She had never before extended her wanderings in the direction of Mill +Bank Farm so far as to reach the ravine through which the little +stream flowed into the river; and now, when she came to the edge of +the steep slope and looked down into the luxuriant depth of foliage +and fern and ragged moss-clad rock, she felt a sense of delight more +intense than Bessie Ford or Lucy Raymond, familiar all their lives +with such scenes, had ever experienced. She stood spell-bound at +first, and then, scrambling down among rock and fern, reached the +little stream, and was soon wading about in its bed, enjoying the +sensation of the soft, warm water flowing over her bare feet, and +pulling the little flowering water-plants that raised their heads +among the moss-grown logs and stones which lay in the bed of the +stream. Then she began to climb up on the other side, stopping to +examine with admiring eyes every velvety cushion of moss, and cluster +of tiny ferns, and fairy-like baby pine or maple, and picking with +eager hands the wild roses and other blossoms which she espied among +the tangled underwood. + +At last, tired with her wanderings, and with hands full of her +treasures, she threw herself down on a bed of dry moss that carpeted +the top of a high bank of rock which overlooked the river winding away +beneath, while overhead, through the feathery sprays of the long, +straggling pine boughs, the slanting sunbeams flickered on the turf +below. + +There, in that solitary stillness--all the stiller for the confused +murmur of soft sounds, and the fresh, sweet breath of the woods +perfuming the air--unaccustomed thoughts came into the little girl's +mind,--thoughts which, in the din and bustle of the city, where the +tide of human interests sufficed to fill up her undeveloped mind, had +scarcely ever entered it. But here, where the direct works of God +alone were around her, her mind was irresistibly drawn towards Him of +whom Miss Preston had told her, that He had made her and all she saw +around her, and who lived, she supposed, somewhere beyond that blue +sky. With so many pleasant things around her, the thought of their +Maker was pleasant too. But then Miss Preston had told her that God +loved what was good, but hated what was bad; and did not her new +mother constantly tell her she was a "bad child?"--an accusation in +which her conscience told her there was much truth. So God could not +love her, she thought. + +But Miss Preston had said that God did love her--that He cared for her +continually, and wished to make her good and happy--that He had even, +in some strange way which she could not understand, sent His Son to +die for her, that she might be made good. It was all new and strange, +but she had faith in Miss Preston; and because she had told her, she +believed it must be true, that she, who had come to think +herself--poor child--too bad for any one to care for, had really a +great, kind Friend near her, though she could not see Him, and loving +her more than the mother whose warm caress she could still remember. +It was an idea that might seem beyond the grasp of a poor untaught +child, were it not that He who reveals Himself to babes and sucklings +can speak to the heart He has made in ways beyond our power to trace. +The idea in Nelly's mind of that wonderful love which she so sorely +needed, was more enlightened than many a philosopher's conception of +divinity, and the dark eyes filled with tears as a half-formed prayer +awoke from her heart to the loving Jesus, who, Miss Preston had told +her, would hear and answer her. + +And who could doubt that He did hear and answer the desolate, +uncared-for child, scarcely knowing as yet what "good" meant, since +her knowledge had been only of evil! Her conscience, however, was not +dead, though neglected; she knew at least what "wrong" was, and felt +she must leave off doing it if the Saviour was to be her friend. But +how should she be able to leave off her bad, idle ways, and become a +good, industrious girl, such as her new mother said most of the little +girls in Ashleigh were? Then she remembered the words which Miss +Preston had made her repeat, "Looking unto Jesus," and "I lay my sins +on Jesus," and that Miss Preston had told her she must ask Jesus to +take away her sins and make her good. But she thought the right place +for speaking to Jesus must be in the church, as most of the people she +had known in the city used to go to church "to confess," and she +supposed that must have something to do with it. + +Just then she saw the Fords passing at a little distance on their way +to church, and it occurred to her that she would go too; and perhaps +Jesus would hear her there, and show her how she was to be made good. +So she started up, and was speedily on the other side of the ravine, +almost overtaking the Fords before they reached the village. The +service was beginning when she crept stealthily into one of the +farthest back seats, half afraid lest she was doing wrong in thus +trespassing where she had no right. Then, crouched in a corner, with +her face bent forward and her elf-locks half covering her eyes, she +listened with intense earnestness, trying to take in all she could of +what was so new, yet already not unfamiliar to her, and half disposed +to think that the kindly-looking gentleman who stood there and spoke +in such solemn tones might be Jesus Himself. + +Let not the more favoured ones, on whom from their cradles the blessed +light of divine truth has steadily shone, smile at this poor child's +ignorance, but rather try to show their gratitude for higher +privileges, by seeking to impart some of the light shed on them so +abundantly to those who are still wandering in darkness. + +On Nelly's listening heart Mr. Raymond's sermon did not fall so +fruitlessly as some might have expected. For God is, for all, the +hearer and answerer of prayer, and He never leaves unheard the weakest +cry to Him. As the lonely child once more sought her comfortless home, +she felt a stirring of new hope within her, and scarcely minded her +mother's rough words when she demanded, "What have you been doing out +so late? No good, I am sure!" + +Mrs. Connor had been enlarging, among sympathizing friends, on the +hardship of her having to support her husband's child when he did so +little himself for his family. "My goodness! all he gives us wouldn't +half pay Nelly's board," she had declared; and as her grievances were +still fresh in her mind, she greeted her step-child with even more +asperity than usual. + +But as Nelly crept away to her hard little bed, perhaps some angel, +sent to minister to the motherless child, may have known that the +"good-for-nothing," ignorant little girl, oppressed with the feeling +of her own sinfulness, and full of the thought of her new-found +heavenly Friend, was nearer the kingdom of heaven than the petted, +admired, winning Stella Brooke, who had never yet learned her need of +the Saviour, who came "not to call the righteous, but sinners to +repentance." + + + + +V. + +_Strawberrying._ + + "Why should we fear youth's draught of joy, + If pure, would sparkle less? + Why should the cup the sooner cloy + Which God has deigned to bless?" + + +The "strawberry picnic" proposed by Alick Steele had been fixed for +the following Tuesday should it prove fine. Alick and Fred had been +over at Mill Bank Farm, and the younger Fords had agreed to meet them +at the ravine, with their contribution of milk and cream, and various +other things which Mrs. Ford's zealous housewifery would not be +prevented from sending, though Fred assured her that it was +unnecessary. + +"I know what young folks can eat, Mr. Fred," she replied, "and you may +as well have plenty;" and Alick laughingly assured her she was quite +right. Alick Steele, or the "young doctor," as his old friends now +began to call him, had been an acceptable guest at many a picnic and +merry-making, but he had never entered into anything of the kind with +more spirit and zeal than he now threw into this simple gypsying +excursion with his country cousins. + +"He's no end of a fellow for a picnic," declared Harry +enthusiastically, "and ten times as good as Fred;" the quiet nature of +the latter always shrinking from any unusual bustle, while Alick's +unfailing flow of animal spirits found a congenial outlet in any +little extra excitement, especially when it was connected with the +procuring of enjoyment for others. He and Harry were busy all Monday +in exploring the ground and selecting the most eligible place for the +repast; and Harry averred, when they returned home, that they would +have a "splendid time" next day, if it were only fine. + +Next morning opened as fair and bright as the excursionists could +desire,--not too hot, but tempered by a pleasant breeze--"just the day +for the woods, and not too rough for the water." For Stella had +manifested such consternation at the idea of going through the +pasture--"cows always frightened her so"--that, notwithstanding the +raillery and the representations of Alick and Harry, it was evident +that her pleasure would be spoiled if she were obliged to go by the +field-path. Alick therefore had good-naturedly hunted up a boat, which +would save them a long dusty walk by the road, and greatly enhance the +pleasure of the excursion, besides carrying the "_impedimenta_," as +Fred classically termed the baskets of provisions. Marion Wood, a +playmate of Lucy's, was to accompany them in the boat, while Mrs. +Steele and the boys walked across the fields. + +As soon as the early dinner could be got over, the boat's cargo was +taken on board, the passengers embarked, and after some little screams +from Stella, who had a habit of being "nervous," the little bark shot +off, swift and straight, impelled by Alick's firm, skillful strokes. +The water-party reached the mouth of the ravine considerably sooner +than the others; and while awaiting their arrival, Alick rowed them to +a little fairy islet near the shore, where they landed to explore it, +and twine their hats with the graceful creepers and ferns growing +among its rocks. Then re-embarking, they floated at leisure up and +down the glassy shaded water, fringed with tall reeds, the girls +alternately trying their hands at the oars, till a shout from Harry +and the waving of handkerchiefs announced the arrival of the rest of +the party. + +The strawberry-pickers had soon begun their search. Fred, who +preferred rowing to strawberry-picking, undertook to take charge of +Harry, who was as eager for the water as a young duck; while Mrs. +Steele, taking out her knitting, sat down beside the baskets under a +spreading oak, on a knoll overlooking the river, to wait until there +should be a demand for tea. + +Very quickly the time sped away, while the children pursued their busy +but not laborious quest of the tempting berries, half hidden under +their spreading leaves; and many an exclamation, half of annoyance, +half of amusement, was uttered as one of them made a dart at a bright +spot of crimson, fancying it a rich cluster of berries, and finding +only a leaf. + +"Why in the world do strawberries have red leaves, I wonder!" +exclaimed Harry, who, tired at last of boating, was pretending to help +them, though they all declared he ate as many as he picked. + +"To inure you to the disappointments of life," responded Alick +oracularly. "You'll find, as you go along, there are more red +strawberry leaves than berries all through." + +And Alick half sighed, as if he had already learned the lesson by +experience. + +"There's one thing, Alick, of which that remark doesn't hold good," +remarked Fred to his cousin in an undertone. "My father says _that_ +sheet-anchor will bear us up through all the disappointments of life; +and I believe it." + +"Well, very likely you're right,--well for those who can feel it so. +But at present I can't say I belong to that happy number. Some time or +other, perhaps. You know my head has been full of all sorts of ologies +except theology for a good while back." + +"The 'more convenient season,' Alick," replied Fred, with a half +smile. + +"Here, a truce to moralizing. Who's got the most strawberries? The +premium is to be the finest bunch in the collection," shouted Alick. + +And after the prize had been with much ceremony and mirth adjudged to +Bessie Ford, it was time to think about tea. + +"Come," said Alick, "shoulder arms, that is, baskets, and march!" + +All were very ready to obey Alick's word of command, and the merry +party were soon collected around the snowy tablecloth spread on the +turf, on which Mrs. Steele had arranged the tempting repast of pies +and cakes, curds and cream, to which a fine large dish of +strawberries--a contribution from the farm--formed a tempting +addition. + +Fred, at his aunt's request, asked a blessing, and then the good +things were welcomed by the appetites sharpened by fresh air and +exercise; and the feast was enlivened by the innocent glee and frolic +which usually enliven such simple country parties, unfettered by form, +and unsophisticated by any of the complications which creep into more +elaborate picnics. Even Stella, though she felt the whole +affair--especially the presence of the farmer's children--rather below +her dignity as an embryo city belle, gave herself up unrestrainedly to +the enjoyment of the occasion, and was more natural and free from what +Alick called "airs" than she had been at any time during her visit. +But the party were quite unconscious that they were watched, through +the thickly drooping boughs of a large hickory, by a pair of bright, +dark eyes, which were wistfully regarding them. The eyes were those of +Nelly Connor, who, having been unexpectedly left free that afternoon +to follow her own devices, had wandered away in the direction of the +spot which had so fascinated her on Sunday. + +When the tea was fairly over, and cups, dishes, and other +paraphernalia were being packed up by Mrs. Steele and the girls, +Stella, who, not being inclined to assist in such a menial occupation, +was wandering aimlessly about, made a discovery. + +"Oh, Lucy," she exclaimed, coming hurriedly up to her, "there is such +a ragged, bold-looking little girl sitting over there! She has been +watching us the whole time." + +"Well, her watching wouldn't hurt us," said Lucy, smiling at her +cousin's consternation. "I hope she was pleased with what she saw. +Why, it's Nelly Connor!" she added as the little girl emerged from her +hiding-place. "What can have brought _her_ here? I'll get Aunt Mary to +give her something to eat. I daresay she's hungry enough, for Miss +Preston told me she didn't think her new mother gave her enough to +eat." + +"I think she ought to be scolded and sent away," said Stella +decidedly. "You are just encouraging her impertinence in coming here +to watch us." + +But Lucy had already run off to her aunt, and was soon carrying a +plate heaped with good things to the astonished Nelly, who, frightened +at being discovered, and at Stella's frowning looks, was thinking how +she might make good her escape. Stella had only spoken as she had been +accustomed to hear those around her speak. She had been brought up to +look upon poverty and rags as something almost wicked in themselves, +and had never realized that feelings the same as her own might lie +under an exterior she despised. She had never been taught the meaning +of "I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave +me drink." Lucy, on the contrary, had been taught to consider it the +highest privilege and gratification to impart a share of the bounties +bestowed upon herself to the poor and needy whom our Saviour has left +as a legacy to His followers, and had already tasted the happiness of +lightening somewhat the load of poverty and hardship which press upon +some during all their lives. + +She soon reassured Nelly, and had the satisfaction of seeing her +enjoy the food with the zest of one to whom such delicacies were rare +indeed, and whose appetite was very seldom fully satisfied at home. +She explained to the rest that Nelly was in her class at Sunday +school; and Stella mentally put it down as another objection to going +there, that it involved the possibility of such undesirable +acquaintanceships. Alick was much interested in the little wanderer; +and even after the rest had set off towards the farmhouse, which they +were to visit before returning, he remained beside her, drawing from +her, bit by bit, her touching history, until she began to remember how +late it was, and started homeward, much astonished and cheered by the +kindness and sympathy she had met with. + +Alick found the rest of the party exploring the farmyard, admiring the +cows, particularly Mrs. Ford's sleek, glossy black favourite; while +Harry was, to his intense delight, cantering up and down the road to +the gate, on the stout little pony which the farmer usually rode to +market. + +As there was a full moon, there was no hurry about returning; and on +the arrival of Mr. Raymond, who had walked over to meet them, Mrs. +Ford insisted on their coming in for a while. And before they took +their leave she brought out her large family Bible for evening +worship, with the request that Mr. Raymond would read and pray before +his departure; "for," she said, "I know we don't mind these things +half enough, and we'd be all the better of a word or two from you." + +Mr. Raymond read the last chapter of Ecclesiastes, making a few brief +but impressive comments on the insufficiency for true happiness of the +enjoyments which this life can furnish, fair and good gifts of God +though such enjoyments may be. "The time would come, even in this +life," he said, "when the joys of this world would be found wanting. +And after this life, what would be their condition who had made this +world their portion, and had 'not remembered their Creator in the days +of their youth?'" Doubt-less the thought of his own youthful circle, +and of the strong, ruddy young Fords, all so full of health and life +and joyous spirits, was strongly upon him when he dwelt so earnestly +upon the words: "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart +cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart +and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these +things God will bring thee into judgment." + +Then, reading part of the third chapter of the First Epistle of John, +he directed his hearers to the wonderful privileges provided for them, +so far transcending all mere temporal gifts--to the "love the Father +hath bestowed, that we should be called the sons of God,"--showing how +these privileges were to be grasped through faith in the love which +laid down life for us; and how that love, flowing into the heart, was +to purify the life by enabling us to do the things which are pleasing +in His sight. + +The solemn, earnest words--few, but well chosen--seeming to come with +peculiar power after the day of joyous excitement, touched responsive +chords in the hearts of most of the young party, who looked earnest +and thoughtful; though who could tell whether the impression should be +an abiding one, or should pass away like the "early dew?" Lucy and +Bessie listened with real interest--the latter, especially, with much +more than she would have felt a few days before; and Mrs. Ford +silently renewed her good resolutions to seek to influence her family +to choose the "better part, which could not be taken away from them." + +Lucy could not help glancing at Stella when the verses in the chapter +about want of compassion for the brother or sister in need were read; +but Stella looked placidly unconscious, and indeed her thoughts were +far away,--considering how she should best impress Marian Wood, on +their way home, with a due sense of the grandeur of her city life. + +After many kind parting salutations, and warm invitations from Mrs. +Ford to come soon and spend an afternoon at the farm, the party took +leave; one division proceeding homeward by the winding road, lying +white in the full moonlight, as the fields were now wet with dew, +while the others took the shortest cut to the river, where the boat +was lying. Very little was said during most of the way, except some +subdued exclamations of delight as they passed out from the deep +shadow of the overhanging rocks into the broad river, which glittered +in the moonlight like a sheet of dazzling silver, roughened by the +slightest ripple, and past point after point of luxuriant foliage, +looking dream-like and unreal in the light that silvered their +glistening leaves. + +As they neared the village, Lucy suddenly recollected their unexpected +guest. "I wonder how Nelly got home! Did she stay long after we left, +Alick?" she said. + +"No; she said her mother would be angry if she were out late, so she +set off at a run." + +"Lucy," said Stella, "I wonder how you can have anything to do with +such a vagabond-looking child! I'm sure she was watching to see +whether she could pick up anything; and she looked just like a gipsy." + +"Oh, Stella! how can you be so suspicious?" exclaimed Lucy +indignantly. "I don't believe Nelly would do any such thing! No wonder +the poor child was watching us while we were at tea; didn't you see +how hungry she was?" + +"Well, I know we've had things stolen by just such children, and papa +says it's best to keep such people down; for they're sure to impose on +those who are kind to them, and charity is quite thrown away upon +them." + +"A convenient belief to save trouble," Lucy was just going to say, but +wisely repressed the impulse, feeling that it would not sound very +respectful to Stella's father, who, she felt, must be a very different +man from her own. + +"Stella," said Alick, "did it ever occur to you what you might have +been if you had been left, motherless and almost fatherless, to run +all day on the streets, listening to bad words and seeing all sorts of +evil, without any one to say a kind word to you and teach you what is +right? I wish you could have heard the poor little thing's story as +she told it to me." And in a few words he gave them an outline of +Nelly's history. + +"Papa says you never can believe their stories," objected the +city-hardened Stella. + +"I know you can't always," replied Alick; "but I think I'm not easily +taken in, and I'm willing to stake my judgment on this being no sham. +And how would _you_ have turned out from such a bringing-up, +Mademoiselle Stella?" + +"And where is her father?" Lucy asked. + +"Oh, her father works on a boat, and is seldom at home. They came to +live here because it is cheaper, and they can have a pig and raise +potatoes." + +"I wonder whether she can read," said Lucy. + +"I shouldn't think so, for she never was at school in her life, nor at +church either, since they left Ireland, till last Sunday." + +"I wonder," said Stella, "whether she understood anything she heard." + +"Possibly she might be able to give as good an account of the sermon +as some other people," remarked Alick mischievously. "Come, Stella, +what was the text?" + +"I don't believe you know yourself," retorted Stella, colouring; and, +fortunately for her, Alick's attention was just then directed to the +care of landing his passengers. + +As they walked home, Stella and Marian in front, eagerly engrossed in +a children's party which the former was describing, Lucy remarked +impatiently to Alick, "How can Stella talk in that hard, unfeeling way +about poor people?" + +"Poor girl!" said Alick, "it is sad to see any one so spoiled by +living in a cold worldly atmosphere. As you know more of the world, +Lucy, you will be more and more thankful for such a home as you have +always had." + +Lucy was silent. Her cousin's words made her feel that she had been +indulging in self-righteous and uncharitable feelings, and she felt +humbled at the lesson which she had thus received from one who did not +profess to be a Christian, in one of a Christian's most important +graces. But she accepted the rebuke, and she added to her evening +prayer the petition that she might be made more humble, and less ready +to condemn; as well as that Stella's heart might be opened to receive +the love of Christ, and, through this, of her poor earthly brothers +and sisters. + +The little party were soon assembled at home, and after cheerful +"good-nights,"--Harry remarking that "he was awful tired, but there +never had been a nicer picnic,"--the wearied excursionists soon lost +all sense of fatigue in peaceful slumbers and happy dreams. + + + + +VI. + +_A Mission._ + + "And if this simple message + Has now brought peace to you, + Make known the old, old story, + For others need it too." + + +Two days after the picnic was the day fixed upon for Miss Preston's +wedding, to which, as has been said, Lucy had been invited to +accompany her father and aunt. Stella had not been included in the +invitation, which she privately thought a great omission. It would +have been such a good opportunity for showing the Ashleigh people how +they dress in the city, and she felt sure that, tastefully attired in +a lovely white grenadine, which would have been just the thing for the +occasion, she and her dress would have added no small _eclat_ to the +wedding. + +Nevertheless she behaved very amiably to Lucy, who, when she pressed +her to wear one of her own pretty white dresses, and offered to lend +her any of her ornaments which she fancied, felt somewhat ashamed of +her own condemnatory feelings toward her cousin, since it is a very +natural tendency in all of us to make our own estimate of others +depend to a considerable extent upon their treatment of ourselves. + +However, she adhered to her original determination of wearing the +simple India muslin, which had been her own dear mother's bridal dress +(its trimmings having been worked by her own hands), and all Stella's +representations that it was "old-fashioned" failed to produce any +effect. She would indeed have felt it treason to admit its inferiority +to any of her cousin's more stylish dresses. But, to please Stella, +she accepted the loan of a sash pressed upon her by her cousin, who +took a considerable amount of trouble in the arrangement of her +toilet, and in weaving, with innate skill, a graceful wreath of +delicate pink rosebuds and green leaves, which she fastened on Lucy's +dark hair, and pronounced the effect "charming," while Alick +complimented her on her skill. Lucy was conscious of looking better +than she had ever done before. It made her think just a little too +much about her appearance, and then she felt humbled at seeing in +herself the germ of the very feeling she had despised in her cousin. + +The wedding arrangements were very quiet and simple. Lucy, who had +never been present on so important an occasion, enjoyed it very much, +notwithstanding her sorrow at parting with her teacher, whom she +thought the very ideal of a bride in her simple bridal dress. Its +simplicity, indeed, would probably have scandalized Stella, but Miss +Preston was not going to be rich, or mingle in gay society, and she +wisely thought show and finery quite out of place. But she had long +made it her chief aim to possess that best ornament of "a meek and +quiet spirit," which, we are told, "in the sight of God is of great +price." + +Before her departure she took Lucy apart to say a few words of loving +counsel. + +"I hope you will try to work for Christ, dear Lucy," she said, "as He +gives you opportunity. Remember, a Christian who does not work is only +half a Christian. Now I think if you tried, you might do Nelly Connor +some good. She wants a friend very much, and is easily won by +kindness." + +"I should be glad to do anything I could," said Lucy; "but what would +be best to try?" + +"Well, poor Nelly can't read a word, you know, and I am afraid her +stepmother would not spare her to go to school. But suppose you were +to get her to come to you for half an hour a day. I think her mother +might be induced to let her do that. And a short reading-lesson every +day would soon bring her on." + +Lucy was a little disappointed. It seemed such common-place drudgery +to drill an untaught child in the alphabet and spelling-book. Her +vague idea of "work for Christ" had been of a more exalted nature. But +her friend added: "I don't mean that you should not teach her better +things also. You could, little by little, teach her a good deal about +Christ in the course of your daily lessons. But sometimes we may serve +Him best by doing His commonest work. And think what you will do for +this poor child by putting it in her power to read the Bible for +herself, and have access at all times to our Saviour's own words!" + +Lucy willingly promised to try, and then Mrs. Harris, as Miss Preston +was now called, bade her an affectionate farewell, before going to +exchange the parting words with the members of her own family. Lucy +watched by the gate till she saw the carriage drive off, and then, +overcome by the reaction from the excitement of the occasion, hurried +home through the quiet shady lane, and disregarding Stella's call, +never stopped till she reached her own room. + +There the astonished Stella found her lying on her bed, crying +bitterly, and asked in alarm the cause of her distress. That the +parting from a Sunday-school teacher, a friend so much older than +herself, could have called forth such emotion, Stella could not +comprehend; and it was difficult for Lucy to explain it to so +unsympathetic a listener. + +"Why, I'm sure I shan't cry so when Sophy is married and goes south, a +great deal farther away than Miss Preston. Now tell me how she was +dressed." + +"Oh, Stella! I can't just now," sobbed Lucy, whose crying was partly +the result of nervous excitement, as well as of her realizing for the +first time Miss Preston's departure. And Stella, finding her attempts +to soothe her unavailing, returned to her story-book, until the +arrival of Mrs. Steele, whom she found more communicative. + +"And where is Lucy?" inquired her aunt, after satisfying Stella's +curiosity. "She must have slipped away very quietly." + +"Oh, she's in her own room. She was crying so, it was no use to speak +to her. I don't know what for." + +"She is very fond of her teacher, and I don't wonder at her crying on +losing her. She is a great loss to us all." + +"What a fuss they all _do_ make over her! I'm sure she didn't seem +anything particular," thought Stella as she accompanied Mrs. Steele +up-stairs. Lucy had fallen asleep, but awoke on their entrance, and +started up to arrange her disordered dress and hair before going to +tea. + +"Just look how you have crushed your nice dress now!" exclaimed Stella +reproachfully. "And the wreath too! It might have been fresh all the +evening. You might have taken them off if you wanted to lie down." + +"I didn't think of it," said Lucy apologetically, somewhat remorseful +for not having treated the result of Stella's labour with more +respect. "But I shouldn't have worn it all the evening, at any rate, +for after tea I am going to see Nelly Connor." + +"What! that girl we saw in the wood? What are you going to see her +for?" exclaimed Stella. + +"Miss Preston--I mean Mrs. Harris--wants me to try to get her to come +to learn to read, if papa and Aunt Mary have no objection; and I'm +sure they won't." + +It was to Stella a bewildering phenomenon, that Lucy should really go +out of her way to invite such a girl to the house. However, partly +from curiosity, and partly from having nothing better to do, she +acceded to Lucy's invitation to accompany her; and after tea the girls +set off, Mrs. Steele warning Lucy to be very conciliatory to Mrs. +Connor, or she would not accomplish her object. + +They soon reached the side of the green slope on the river bank, on +which the Connors' cottage stood, and were following the path to the +house, when they encountered Nelly herself, struggling up the hill +with a heavy pail of water. Her brown, weather-tanned face lighted up +with a glad smile when she recognised Lucy, and in reply to her +inquiry she said she was carrying up water for the next day's washing. + +"And do you carry it all up from the river?" said Lucy. + +"Yes, miss, every drop," replied Nelly, with a weary little sigh. + +"Nelly, would you like to learn to read?" asked Lucy, plunging at once +into her errand. + +"I don't know, miss," was the rather doubtful reply. + +"Why, wouldn't you like to be able to read that nice hymn Miss Preston +gave you, for yourself?" + +"Yes, miss, I'd like to be able, but I don't know if I'd like the +learning." + +Lucy laughed, as did Stella also, and Nelly herself. + +"Well, as you can't be able to do it without learning, don't you think +you'd better try?" asked Lucy. + +"I don't think mother would let me; and I must hurry now, or she'll be +angry at me keeping her waiting, with the baby to mind." + +But just then a large dog, rushing down the hill, upset poor Nelly's +pail. + +"Holy Mary!" she exclaimed, using the ejaculation she had been +accustomed to hear from infancy, "there's all my water spilt;" and +seizing her pail, she had run down to refill it, before Lucy was able +to begin an intended reproof. + +The girls watched her refill her pail, and return towards the cottage +by a nearer though steeper path. Mrs. Connor, a tall, bony, +discontented-looking woman, had come to the door to look for Nelly. +Not seeing the young ladies, who were approaching the house from the +other side, she screamed out in a harsh voice as Nelly approached: + +"What have you been doing all this time, keeping me waiting with the +child in my arms?" + +"It was a dog," began Nelly, setting down her pail. But before she +could finish her sentence she was roughly shaken, and sharp blows +descended about her ears. + +"I'll teach you to spend your time playing with dogs when I'm waiting +for you. There, be off, and mind the baby;" and Nelly, putting up her +hands to her face, ran crying into the house. + +Lucy stood for an instant pale with indignation, and then, the impulse +of the moment making her forget all her aunt's warnings as to being +conciliatory, and her own prudent resolves, she announced her presence +by exclaiming, in a voice unsteady with emotion: "Mrs. Connor, it's a +shame to beat Nelly like that, when she hasn't been doing any harm. It +was my fault she was so long, for I stopped her to speak to her, and +then a dog overturned her pail." + +Mrs. Connor was startled at finding there had been spectators of her +violence; but she did not betray any shame she might have felt, and +coolly regarding Lucy, she replied: + +"Well, I don't see what business it is of yours, anyhow. If young +ladies hain't nothin' better to do than meddle with other folks' +children, they'd better let that be!" + +"What an impertinent woman!" said Stella, quite loud enough for her to +hear. "Lucy, can't you come away and let her alone?" + +But Lucy, though a good deal discomposed by her reception, was +determined not to be easily moved from her object; and having by this +time remembered her conciliatory resolve, she said, as quietly as she +could: + +"Mrs. Connor, my father is Mr. Raymond, the clergyman. I came to see +if you would let Nelly come to our house every day to learn to read. +It's a great pity she shouldn't know how." + +"I don't care who your father is," retorted the woman in the same +insolent tone. "I don't see what you've got to do with it, whether +it's a pity or not. The child's lazy enough already, without havin' +them idees put into her head; and better people than her do without +book-learning." + +"Lucy, do come away! I shan't stop to listen to her impudence," +exclaimed Stella as she turned and walked away with a haughty air. +Mrs. Connor's quick eye followed her, and she half muttered to +herself, "A city gal!" Then, taking up the pail which Nelly had set +down, she went into the house without vouchsafing another look at +Lucy, who, seeing the uselessness of pressing her point, hastened to +join her cousin. + +"Now you see, Lucy, you only get yourself insulted trying to do any +good to such people," said Stella triumphantly. "I remember one of +Sophy's friends once wanted her to go visiting poor people with her, +and papa said he wouldn't have her go on any account; it was all +nonsense running all sorts of risks to do good to people who didn't +want it." + +"But it wasn't Mrs. Connor, but Nelly, that I wanted to do good to, +and she can't help what her odious stepmother does. Only think what +it must be to live with her!" + +"I'd run away! But you see Nelly herself didn't seem to care about +learning to read." + +"Because she didn't know the good of it," replied Lucy. "But what +should you or I have done if we hadn't been made to learn, whether we +liked it or not?" + +"That's quite different. This girl will always have to work, I +suppose, and would get on well enough without learning to read. I know +mamma was always complaining that our servants were reading trashy +novels, that filled their heads with nonsense and made them +discontented." + +"But you could have given them something better to read," suggested +Lucy. + +Stella said nothing in reply to this; nor did she enlighten Lucy as to +the fact that in reading "trashy novels" the servants were only +following their young mistresses' example. Lucy in the meantime was +thinking what up-hill work doing good was, and how hard it was to know +how to do it. Suddenly she remembered her motto; she had been +forgetting that the difficulties of the way were to be met in a +strength not her own. Perhaps it was because she had not first asked +for that strength, that she had met with so little success; and she +regretted having so soon departed from her resolution of "looking to +Jesus" in everything. + +But Stella soon roused from her "brown study," as she called it, by +various questions as to Mrs. Harris's route of travel, and also as to +her travelling dress, which Lucy was very ill prepared to answer, +having cast hardly a passing glance at it, in her sorrow for her +teacher's departure. On their way home they overtook Mrs. Steele and +Alick, to whom were soon related the particulars of their mission, +Stella imitating Mrs. Connor's tone and manner to the life, as she +graphically reproduced the conversation, much to Alick's amusement, +though he ground his teeth with indignation on hearing of the violent +treatment Nelly had received. + +"What a woman! You mustn't leave the poor child to her tender mercies. +What can she turn out, brought up under such a termagant? Suppose I +try and bring the old lady round with a little judicious flattery?" + +"I think I can manage the matter," said Mrs. Steele. "I shall make a +bargain with Mrs. Connor, and promise to give her a day's work once a +fortnight, provided she will let Nelly come here for half an hour +every day. But do you think the child herself will be willing to +come?" + +"Oh, I'm sure she'll be willing to come where any one is kind to her, +she has so little kindness at home," replied Lucy. + +Mrs. Steele proved right. By her more judicious management and +substantial inducement, Mrs. Connor was persuaded to give an +ungracious assent to the plan proposed for Nelly's benefit. But, as if +to be as disagreeable as possible, even in consenting, she fixed upon +the time which Lucy would least have chosen for the task. The only +time when she could spare Nelly, she said, was in the evening, after +the children were in bed. It was the time when Lucy most enjoyed being +out, watering her flowers, or taking an evening walk, or row with the +others. But the choice lay between doing the work then, or not at +all; and when she thought how light was the task given her to do, and +how slight the sacrifice, she felt ashamed of her inclination to +murmur at it. + +So Nelly's education began with the alphabet; and though it was a +drudgery both for teacher and pupil, reciprocal kindness and gratitude +helped on the task, and before many weeks had passed Nelly was +spelling words of two syllables, and had learned some truths, at +least, of far greater importance. + + + + +VII. + +_Temptations._ + + "Or rather help us, Lord, to choose the good-- + To pray for naught, to seek to none but Thee; + Nor by our 'daily bread' mean common food; + Nor say, 'From this world's evil set us free.'" + + +The Sunday school was again assembled on another Sunday afternoon, +some weeks later. The day was even warmer than the one on which our +story opened, and all the church windows were opened to their widest +extent, to admit every breath of air which came in through the waving +pine boughs. Lucy had been promoted to teach a small class of her own, +in which Nelly Connor had willingly taken her place. She was indeed +advancing faster in spiritual than in secular learning; for in the +first she had the best of all teachers, to whose teaching her simple +heart was open--the Holy Spirit Himself. + +Bessie Ford had found another teacher, and beside her sat Stella, who, +partly from finding her Sunday afternoons dull, and partly from +feeling that it was her uncle's wish that she should accompany Lucy to +Sunday school, had overcome her objection to it so far as to go with +her cousin. And having found out on the first Sunday how deficient she +herself was in Bible knowledge, and never liking to appear inferior to +others in anything, she took some pains to prepare her lessons, at +least so far that her ignorance might not lower her in the eyes of her +classmates. It was a poor motive, certainly; still, seeds of divine +truth were gradually finding their way into her heart, which might in +time germinate and bear fruit. And her stay in Mr. Raymond's +household, where "serving the Lord" was avowedly the ruling principle, +had already exercised a healthful influence over her impressionable +nature. + +On this particular Sunday the interesting announcement was made, that +the annual "picnic" or Sunday-school excursion was to take place on +the following Wednesday, the place being a beautiful oak wood about a +mile from the church, in the opposite direction from Mill Bank Farm. +As little groups clustered together on leaving the church door, there +was a general buzz of talk about the picnic. + +Lucy stopped Nelly Connor to ask her whether she thought her mother +would let her go to the picnic. + +Poor Nelly looked very doubtful as she replied, "I don't know; I'm +afraid not." + +"Well, Nelly, I'll see what can be done about it," said Lucy +encouragingly. + +"But I haven't anything decent to wear to it, miss," replied Nelly, +looking dolefully down on the tattered frock, which her mother never +took the trouble to mend, and which she, poor child, could not, +except in the most bungling fashion. + +Lucy walked home thoughtfully, and, as the fruit of her meditation, a +print dress of her own was next morning produced, and a consultation +was held with her aunt as to the practicability of altering it to fit +Nelly. "I only wonder I didn't think of it before," she said, "for she +is always so miserably dressed. Will you help me to make it up, +Stella?" + +"My dear, I wouldn't know how! The most I ever sewed in my life was to +hem a pocket-handkerchief." + +Mrs. Steele looked shocked at such deficiency in what she rightly +considered a most important part of female education. She had always +taken care that Lucy should spare enough time from her more congenial +studies, to learn at least to sew neatly. + +"Why, Stella!" Lucy exclaimed, "you're almost as bad as poor Nelly, +who said she had never learned to sew because 'nobody had teached +her.'" + +"I've never had time to learn. I like embroidery better; and mamma +said we should never need to do plain sewing, so she didn't see the +use of our taking up our time with it." + +"No one knows what she may have to do," remarked Mrs. Steele gently. +"It is always best to know how, at any rate." + +"Well, I hope I shall never have to, for I should hate it!" + +However, when Lucy was fairly at work on the little frock, Stella +good-naturedly offered to help her a little, though, never having been +trained to perseverance in anything, her assistance was not very +efficient. + +Bessie Ford had gone home from Sunday school with her head turned by +hearing some foolish talk about her dress. Alas! how often it is that +Sunday scholars, on leaving the school, instead of giving one thought +to the divine truths they have been hearing, allow their attention to +be absorbed with the petty frivolities in which their thoughts run +wild! + +"Mother," said Bessie, after she had duly announced the intended +picnic, "can't I have a new pink sash for my white frock? Nancy Parker +is going to have ever so many new things." + +"No, child," said her mother, "you don't need a new sash. Your frock +looks quite well enough without one. But I've been thinking you'd be +the better of a new hat, for the one you have looks a little brown. +And as you've been a pretty good girl, and a deal less forgetful of +late, I wouldn't mind getting you a new hat, if you'll hurry and +finish up that plain sewing you've had in hand so long. It's time it +was done and put away." + +Bessie looked a little disappointed. The new hat was not so attractive +as the sash would have been. Suddenly her mother's remark on the +brownness of her hat suggested the image of Nelly's tattered, dingy +one, which she had noticed that afternoon. + +"What would you do with my old hat, mother," she said, "if I get a new +one?" + +"I don't know. You've your sun-bonnet for wearing about the farm. Put +it by for Jenny, perhaps," suggested the thrifty Mrs. Ford. + +"Might I give it to Nelly Connor, mother? Hers will hardly stay +together." + +Mrs. Ford had never seen Nelly, but she knew something of her forlorn +situation. "I'm sure," she said, "I shouldn't mind if you did. I dare +say it would be charity to her, poor thing." And it occurred to her to +think whether she, a well-to-do farmer's wife, had been as abundant in +deeds of charity as she might have been. + +Bessie considered the matter settled, and next day set to work with +renewed zeal on the "plain sewing," which had been getting on very +languidly; for Bessie was not fond of long, straight seams, or of +sitting still for any length of time. She set herself a task as she +took her seat under the spreading butternut-tree; and Jenny and Jack +came to beg for "a story." Bessie's story-telling powers had been +largely developed of late, to make the Sunday lessons she had begun to +give the restless little things more palatable to them. Only the +promise of "a story" could fix their attention long enough to commit +to memory a simple verse. And her powers once found out, she soon had +demands upon her for stories to a greater extent than her patience was +always equal to satisfying. + +Bessie had become, as her mother had noticed, much more thoughtful of +late. Her card, hung up in her room, kept always before her mind her +resolution to "look to Jesus" for help to live to please Him. And +though she still often forgot and yielded to temptation, yet, on the +whole, she was steadily advancing in that course in which all must be +either going forward or backward. Her mother noticed that this decided +improvement dated from the day when she had brought home the card,--a +day which had not been without influence on herself,--although, when +worldly principles have been long suffered to hold undisputed sway, +it is difficult at once to overcome old habits; and lost ground is not +less hard to retrieve in spiritual than in earthly things. + +Bessie was still diligently working at her "task," when she saw Nancy +Parker running up across the fields. + +"Oh, Bessie," she said breathlessly, "get ready and come right away. +My cousins have come to spend the day, and we're going boating up the +river, and then home to supper. The rest are all waiting in the boat +down there, and I ran up to get you. So be quick!" + +Bessie hesitated. If she went with Nancy, a considerable portion of +the work she had set herself to do would be left undone. Besides, her +mother had gone to Ashleigh, leaving her in charge; and Bessie was not +at all sure that, had she been at home, she would approve of her +joining the party. + +To be sure, she could not be absolutely certain of her mother's +disapproval, and she could easily run down for Sam to come and stay +with the children. At the worst, she did not think her mother would be +much displeased; and the thought of the pleasant row, and the merry +party, and all the "fun" they would have, offered no small temptation. + +"Quick, Bessie!" Nancy urged, impatient of her delay. + +"I don't think I can go, Nancy. Mother's out, and I've a lot of sewing +to do." + +"Bother the sewing! Your mother wouldn't mind, I'm sure. Mine lets me +do exactly as I like. Come and get ready;" and she pulled Bessie from +her seat, and drew her, half-resisting, towards the house. + +They went up-stairs together, Bessie feeling far from satisfied with +herself for yielding where conscience told her she ought not to yield. + +"My!" said Nancy, whose quick eyes had been glancing round the room, +"what a grand ticket you've got hanging up there! Where did you get +it?" + +Bessie's eye turned to her motto, and she stood for a minute looking +at it in silence. Then, instead of replying to the question, she said, +"Nancy, I cannot go; it wouldn't be right." + +"Well, that's a nice way to treat me!" said Nancy angrily. "After my +waiting so long, too. Why, don't you know your own mind? Come, you +can't change now; I'm not going to be cheated, after all my trouble." + +"I'm very sorry, Nancy; but I oughtn't to have said I would go at all. +Don't wait any longer. But I'll go down to the boat with you." + +"Oh, don't trouble yourself; I can do without your company." And off +she ran, before Bessie could say any more. + +Bessie felt sorry at having vexed Nancy, and thought a little +wistfully of the afternoon's pleasure that she might have had. But she +felt satisfied that she had done right, and felt thankful that she had +had strength given to resist a temptation to which she now felt she +would have done very wrong to yield. So she went back to her shady +seat with a light heart, and stitched away diligently, not repining +although she heard the merry voices of the party, borne to her from +the river. + +As her mother had not returned by the time her task was completed, +she went in and got tea ready; and then calling up two of the gentlest +cows, she had milked them by the time Mrs. Ford appeared, tired and +dusty from her long walk. Her pleased surprise at Bessie's thoughtful +industry in getting through so much of the work which she thought was +still before her, was in itself sufficient reward for the self-denial; +and Bessie felt what a shame it would have been if her mother, +fatigued as she was, had had everything to do on her return, while +_she_ was away on a pleasure-party. + +Of course Mrs. Ford was soon informed of Nancy's visit and invitation. +"Oh, my child!" she exclaimed, "I am so glad you refused to go. Mrs. +Thompson, in the village, was just telling me about these cousins of +Nancy's, and says they are the wildest set in Burford, and that their +society wouldn't do Nancy any good. So, if you had gone, I should have +been very sorry. I'm so glad you didn't!" + +How glad Bessie was that she had been enabled to resist the +temptation! But she felt she could not take the credit to herself; so +she said: + +"I had the greatest mind to go, mother, but something told me I +shouldn't, just as I was almost going." + +"Well, it's all the same to me, as you didn't go. And you were a real +good girl, Bessie, to stay!" + +What a safeguard is a definite duty conscientiously pursued! If Bessie +had not had her task of sewing to finish, with the feeling that it was +her duty to do it, she might have been more easily led away against +her better judgment. + +Nelly Connor had had her temptation, too, the same evening. Her mother +had sent her to take home some clothes she had been washing; and as +Nelly was carrying the basket, she noticed a pretty pink printed frock +lying on the top, which looked as if it would exactly fit her. How +nice it would be, she thought, if she had such a frock to wear to the +picnic! Then came one of the evil suggestions which the tempter is so +ready to put into the heart: what if she should keep it till the +picnic was over, and wear it just that once? She could hide it, and +put it on somewhere out of her stepmother's sight; and then, perhaps, +if she were dressed so nicely, some of the other little girls might be +willing to play with her; for the poor child felt her isolated +position. + +Then conscience said, "Would it be right?" Had she not been learning, +"Thou shalt not steal?" And had not Miss Lucy explained to her that +that meant taking anything, even the least, that was not her own? A +short time ago Nelly would have appropriated any trifle that came in +her way, without thinking twice about it; but some light had visited +her mind now, and she could distinguish what was darkness. But then +this would not be stealing, it would only be borrowing the frock! At +last she was so near the house, that she was obliged to make up her +mind at once; so, scarcely giving herself time to think, she wrapped +up the frock in the smallest possible compass, hid it behind a stone, +and ran on to leave her basket, hurrying nervously back, lest some one +should inquire for the missing article. + +She found it quite safe, however, and managed to convey it unseen to +her little attic-room. But Nelly felt far more unhappy than she had +ever been when her harsh mother had beaten her most severely. She +could not understand how it was that she should feel so miserable. She +was glad that she could not go for her lesson to-night, for she should +have been ashamed to face Miss Lucy. One of the children just then +began to cry, and she ran down-stairs, glad of something to do, and +took the utmost pains to do her evening work particularly well, by way +of making up for the wrong of which she was inwardly conscious. + +But when she went to bed, Nelly, for the first time in her life, +tossed about, unable to sleep. All sorts of possibilities of detection +and disgrace occurred to her, and, above all, the voice of conscience +told her she was little better than a thief. She had knelt down to say +the simple prayer she had been first taught by Miss Preston, "O Lord, +take away my sin, and make me Thy child, for Jesus Christ's sake;" but +indulged sin had come between her and the Father to whom she prayed, +so that her prayer was only a formal one. She fell asleep at last, but +only to dream uneasy dreams, in which the pink frock was always +prominent; and when she awoke in the early morning, it was with an +uneasy sense of something wrong, soon defined into a distinct +recollection. As she lay watching the early sunbeams slanting golden +into her dingy attic, her eye fell upon the card pinned up against the +wall, "LOOKING UNTO JESUS," which she could now spell out herself. Had +she not been told to "look to Jesus" when unhappy or naughty, and He +would deliver her? She knew now that she could speak to Jesus +anywhere; so, springing out of bed and kneeling down, she simply but +heartily asked Him to help her to be good. Then, putting on her +clothes with all the haste she could, for fear she might be tempted to +change her mind, she ran off unobserved, carrying with her the coveted +frock, which she handed, without a word, to the servant who was +sweeping the steps, and who, recognising her, supposed her stepmother +had forgotten to send it home with the rest of the washing. + +Nelly ran off with a heart so much lighter, that she did not mind even +the box on the ear which she received on her return for being out +"idling about," instead of lighting the fire for the breakfast. She +felt she had deserved much more than that, and she contentedly +accepted it as a slight punishment for her wrongdoing. + +That day, when Mrs. Connor was working at Mr. Raymond's, Mrs. Steele, +showing her the frock which was now completed, told her it was to be +given to Nelly on condition of her being allowed to go to the picnic. +Mrs. Connor of course grumbled a good deal about the inconvenience of +having to spare Nelly for a whole afternoon, but the frock tempted +her; and reflecting that the opportune arrival of this frock would do +away with any necessity for getting Nelly a new one for a long time to +come, she ungraciously gave her consent that she should go. + +When Nelly came that evening for her lesson, Lucy gladly informed her +that she was to be allowed to go to the picnic, and presented her with +the frock which had been provided for her. Lucy was prepared for her +look of surprise, but not so for her covering her face with her hands +and bursting into tears. With some trouble she drew from her a +confused account of the cause of her trouble--the sin she had been led +into, and which touched her generous nature all the more now that the +frock she had been wishing for was so opportunely provided. + +Lucy was at first somewhat shocked that Kelly had been capable of +taking such a liberty with what was not her own, not being able to +realize the strength of such a temptation to a child whose possessions +were so few; and she privately resolved not to tell Stella, who would +scarcely have thought how nobly she overcame the temptation. + +However, she commended and encouraged Nelly, and told her always to +resort to the same sure Helper in time of temptation, and to do it in +the first place. "And Jesus is always ready to hear and help you," she +added. + +"An' it was Him told you to give me the frock too, wasn't it? And I'm +rightly thankful to Him, and you too, Miss Lucy." + +And Nelly carried home her new acquisition, with very different +feelings from those with which she had taken the frock she had +coveted. + +"How glad I am I thought of getting it ready for her!" thought Lucy as +she watched her depart, her own heart full of the pleasure of doing a +much-needed kindness,--the only drawback being her regret that Nelly +had not a new hat likewise. + +The much-watched-for day on which the picnic was to be held turned out +as fine as the most eager young hearts could desire, notwithstanding +one or two slight showers that fell in the early morning. But these +only cleared the air and laid the dust, and made the foliage so fresh +and glistening that its early summer beauty seemed for a time +revived. + +The fine old oak grove where the feast was to be held, was, even +before the appointed hour, astir with bright little groups of happy +children. The teachers and some of the elder girls were already busy +at a roughly constructed table, unpacking and arranging cups and +saucers, filling the latter with the ripe-red berries which had been +brought in in great abundance, and cutting up the piles of buns and +cakes. Bessie Ford was superintending the distribution of the cream +which had come in large jars from the farmhouses, and of which Mill +Bank Farm had contributed the richest and finest. Lucy of course was +among the working party, her position as Mr. Raymond's daughter giving +her a degree of importance far from disagreeable to her. Stella, +seated with her friend Marian Wood in the centre of a mass of flowers, +was daintily arranging them in tiny bouquets to be given to the +children. + +At last Bessie, who with Nelly's new hat beside her had been watching +the various arrivals, descried the little solitary figure, with its +dark, hanging locks, for which she had been looking. When she +approached her, she was quite surprised at the change in her +appearance produced by the fresh, pretty frock; and when her old hat +was removed, and the new one placed upon her dark hair, which had been +smoothly combed and brushed out and put back from her eyes, she really +looked as nice as most of the children there. Her dark eyes danced +with pleasure as Bessie, herself almost as happy, took her to a group +of girls about her own age and introduced her to them as a stranger, +to whom they must try to make the picnic as pleasant as possible. +Bessie was a favourite with all the girls, and they willingly promised +what she asked; so that Nelly, for the first time in many months, had +a really good game of play with children of her own age,--an intense +pleasure to her social, kindly Irish nature, which, with her ready +wit, soon made her the life of the little group. + +Two or three hours passed rapidly by. Lucy and Bessie went from one +part of the ground to another, encouraging the little ones to run and +romp, bringing forward shy or isolated children, and watching that the +ruder and stronger did not oppress the weaker,--or sitting down to +talk with some of the elder girls, who preferred a quiet chat. Stella, +in her airy muslin flounces, a tiny hat with floating blue ribbons +crowning her golden tresses, flitted about with a winning grace, which +made her the admired of all observers. She felt herself a sort of +princess on the occasion; and as she dearly loved popularity, even +among rustics, she spared no pains to be affable and agreeable, and +felt quite rewarded when she heard such speeches as, "What a sweet, +pretty young lady Miss Lucy's cousin is!" "Isn't she, for all the +world, just like a picture?" + +Alick watched with some amusement the patronizing air which mingled +with her affability, and perhaps added to her consequence with those +who could not appreciate the higher beauty of simplicity of manner. +Lucy could not repress a slight feeling of annoyance at seeing how +easily her cousin won her way, and how far her more adventitious +advantages threw into the shade her own real exertions for the +pleasure of those around her. Not that the exertions had been +prompted by a desire for praise; but she was not yet unselfish enough +to be satisfied that they had gained the desired end, although not +fully appreciated by those for whom they had been made. The difference +between the cousins was, that Lucy liked approbation, when she did +what was right for its own sake, while Stella's conduct was chiefly +prompted by the desire of admiration. + +"Lucy," said Stella, coming up to her during the afternoon, "do you +see that ridiculous imitation of my dress that Nancy Parker has on? I +suppose she wanted to be dressed just like me; but I'm glad I wore a +different one to-day." Yet, though Stella professed some annoyance, +she was secretly a little flattered at Nancy's thus recognising her as +a leader of fashion. + +Alick and Harry were invaluable aids in promoting the enjoyment of the +boys, as was Fred also in his quieter way. Towards the close of the +afternoon Mr. Raymond appeared, and, after a pleasant greeting +interchanged with his older parishioners present, the children +assembled in the centre of the ground to listen to a few kind and +earnest words from their pastor. He took as his subject the +"remembering their Creator in the days of their youth;" and after +reminding them to whom they owed the innocent pleasures which had been +provided for them, he spoke earnestly of the Creator and Redeemer they +were to "remember," to whom they should now bring their young hearts, +that He might take them and make them His. The sunshine of His +gracious presence would, he said, hallow and sweeten their joyous +hours, and be a stay and support even when the "evil days" should +come, and all other sources of happiness should fail them. His +address was not so long as to weary even the most impatient, and when +it was concluded, the children stood up and sang a hymn, which, to +Nelly's great delight, was her favourite--"I lay my sins on Jesus." +Then, after Mr. Raymond had briefly asked a blessing on the food of +which they were about to partake, and the intercourse they had had, +and were still to have, the children quietly dispersed into little +groups, and sat down on the grass to enjoy the good things that were +liberally provided for them. + +The distribution kept the assistants busy, and some care had to be +exercised lest too large a share of the cakes should be appropriated +by some of the more greedy,--alas that there should be such among +Sunday-school children! Nelly Connor had seldom had a treat in her +life, but she would not for the world have taken one cake more than +her share, or have hidden one away in her pocket, as she saw some +better-dressed children doing. + +At last, when the dew was beginning to moisten the grass, and the +fast-lengthening shadows told that the long summer day was drawing to +a close, a bell sounded to collect the children, and after singing the +evening hymn, and having been commended by Mr. Raymond to the care of +Him who neither slumbers nor sleeps, all quietly dispersed to their +homes. The "picnic" so eagerly looked forward to was over, as all +earthly pleasures must sooner or later be. Not a single incident had +marred its harmony, and, to Nelly Connor in particular, the day had +been one of unmingled and unprecedented enjoyment. How different from +what it would have been had she not, in a strength from above, +overcome the temptation to which she had so nearly yielded! + + + + +VIII. + +_Partings._ + + "Only, since our souls will shrink + At the touch of natural grief, + When our earthly loved ones sink, + Lend us, Lord, Thy sure relief,-- + Patient hearts, their pain to see, + And Thy grace, to follow Thee." + + +Stella's visit was now drawing to a close. She had very much enjoyed +its novelty, and had, during her stay, made some acquisitions, though +not of a kind that she yet appreciated, or was even conscious of. It +was impossible for her to be so long in a household where every day +was begun and closed by invoking God's presence and guidance, where +His blessing and approbation were steadily regarded as the best of all +good, where the standard of action was that laid down in His word, and +where His strengthening grace was looked upon as the most necessary +equipment for daily life, without receiving a deeper impression of the +importance of these things than she had ever before felt. And though +the members of her uncle's family had their share of human +imperfections, yet on the whole the example she had seen around her +had been sufficiently consistent to show her, almost against her will, +the beauty of a Christian life, as contrasted with one based wholly on +worldly principles. Some seeds of good, at all events, she carried +back with her, though she was far from having profited as she might +have done, had her heart been more open to receive the influences +around her. + +It had been a new thing to Lucy to have a companion of her own age and +sex; she had become really attached to her winsome cousin, and all the +transient irritation which Stella had often caused her passed into +oblivion now that they were really about to part. Alick was to escort +Stella to the residence of a friend whom she was to visit on her way +home; and the cousins parted with affectionate hopes of a visit from +Stella next summer, and also of a winter visit which Mr. Raymond had +half promised that Lucy should make to her cousin's city home. + +The loss of Stella's restless and vivacious presence made no small +blank in the house--a blank to be still further increased by the +permanent departure of Alick soon after his return from escorting +Stella. He had at last decided on the place in which he was to +settle--a new and rising village in the far West--and had already been +claiming his mother's promise, that so soon as he should be able to +provide a home for her, she would come and preside in it. Mrs. Steele +felt that it would be her duty to comply with her son's desire; and +Mr. Raymond, while very sorry to lose his sister's kind, motherly +supervision of his family, felt that he could not dissuade her from +an arrangement so right and natural, and to which he had long looked +forward as a probability. However, she was not to leave them for some +months at least, and during that time Lucy was to learn all she could +about housekeeping, in order to be able to fill her aunt's place as +well as a young beginner could do. + +To Lucy, indeed, there mingled with her regret for her aunt's expected +departure, a certain latent satisfaction at the increased importance +of her own place in the household; and her ambition was so much +stimulated by the hope of fulfilling her new duties in the most +exemplary manner, that it somewhat alleviated her sorrow at the +thought of losing the kind aunt who had filled a mother's place. + +Many were the regrets when the time came for Alick's final departure +from Ashleigh to his distant sphere of duty; and Mr. Raymond, in +bidding him a kind farewell, added in an earnest tone the not unneeded +admonition: "Alick, my boy, don't forget who says, 'Seek ye first the +kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things shall be +added unto you.'" + +And so the happy party, who had enjoyed together at Ashleigh the +pleasant summer days, were scattered, never again to meet there under +the same circumstances; for the autumn, bringing the cold blasts and +nipping frosts that scattered the rich summer foliage and made the +earth bleak and bare, brought other changes, far sadder than these. + +Nelly was the first to whose life came a sudden change. A rumour +reached the village that a deck-hand on one of the river steamers had +lost his life by a fatal accident, and that the man's name was Michael +Connor. It seldom happens that such reports turn out groundless; and +when Mrs. Connor, having heard of it, hastened to the wharf to +discover what truth there might be in it, she met a comrade of her +husband's who had come to announce to his family the sad fact. + +Mrs. Connor did not profess any deep regret for a husband whom she had +often asserted to be a good-for-nothing scamp. She looked at the +matter chiefly in a pecuniary point of view, and, on making a rapid +calculation, came to the conclusion that any deficiency caused by the +loss of the small fraction of his earnings that came into her +possession would be more than made up by her being relieved of the +maintenance of Nelly, for whom she did not consider it her duty any +longer to provide. + +But in Nelly herself Michael Connor had at least one true mourner. She +forgot all her father's carelessness and neglect, and remembered only +that he was her father, who used in days long past, when her mother +was alive, to take her on his knee and call her his "darlint." When it +broke fully on her mind that she should never see him again--that he +had left her for ever, as her mother had done--her grief for a while +knew no control. Poor child, she had literally no one in the world +"belonging to her," so far as she knew, and she felt utterly desolate +and forlorn. Finding but little comfort at home, where her new +mother's cold, unfeeling remarks only aggravated her sorrow, she +betook herself to Lucy, who had just heard, with great concern, of +Nelly's bereavement. She did her best to comfort her; and though at +first the kind words only seemed to make the tears flow faster, by +degrees the child was soothed and calmed, and able to listen to Mr. +Raymond when he laid his hand kindly on her head and told her that she +must look to God as her Father now, and must go and "tell Jesus" all +her troubles. Then he made her repeat after him the verse, "When my +father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up." + +"But, Miss Lucy," said Nelly, as she was going away, "where is it I'm +going to live now?" + +"Why, is your mother going away?" + +"Niver a bit, miss; but she says she's kept me long enough now, and +she won't keep me any longer." + +Lucy could scarcely believe that this could be more than one of Mrs. +Connor's meaningless threats, and tried to reassure Nelly that it +would be all right. But Mrs. Steele, knowing Mrs. Connor's hard, +selfish nature, was by no means so sure that there might not be +something in it, and was not surprised when she appeared next day to +say that she thought Nelly's grand friends might do something for her +now her poor father was gone, and she had no one to look to her. + +"But she has you, of course," Mrs. Steele replied. "We shall be very +glad to help you as far as possible, but you have shown yourself well +able to support your family." + +"She ain't one of my family," replied Mrs. Connor, "and I've kept her +long enough for all the good I've ever got out of her; so I don't see +that it's any of my business to take the bit out of my children's +mouths and put it into hers." + +Mrs. Connor would probably not have come to this decision had she not +been less dependent than formerly on Nelly's assistance. But as her +youngest child was now able to run alone, and the eldest could, on an +emergency, take care of the rest, and as she now took in most of her +washing, she had less need for an additional worker, involving an +additional mouth to be fed. Besides, Nelly was a "growing girl," she +reflected, and would be always costing her more for food and clothing, +so that to be rid of her maintenance would be so much clear gain. She +was therefore inexorable in her determination that Nelly should not +remain with her, unless, indeed, the ladies would pay for her board--a +proposition which Mrs. Steele declined to entertain. + +It was taken seriously into consideration by Lucy and her aunt what +could be done to provide Nelly with a home. Lucy was eager that she +should be at once taken into their own household, to be trained for +domestic service; but this Mrs. Steele thought impracticable at +present, as she knew that their own busy, capable handmaid would +strongly object to have her time taken up in teaching a girl who would +give her so much additional trouble. + +"But there are other people," she said, "who would be very glad of a +child like Nelly, who would cost nothing for wages, to train and make +useful. I am going to Mill Bank Farm this afternoon to see about some +butter, and I'll see if Mrs. Ford knows of any one who would take +her." + +Lucy assented rather reluctantly. It would have been so nice, she +thought, to have her protegee immediately under her own charge, to +teach and train into a model servant. She had not yet learned the +distrust in her own powers which experience gives, and she saw only +the bright side of the plan, not the difficulties in its execution. + +Mrs. Ford's motherly heart was at once roused to pity for the little +orphan's forlorn condition, and to indignation at Mrs. Connor's +heartless conduct. + +"After all the work she's got out of her, too!" she said; "making that +poor child drudge away morning, noon, and night. I'm sure she's been +worth a deal more to her than the little bit of meat and drink she's +given her--with a grudge, as I hear from the neighbours. Well, well, +it's a queer world." + +Mrs. Ford promised to try to find out a good place for Nelly, and +early next morning she made her appearance, having taken the long walk +on one of her busiest days, in order to "talk over Nelly's business," +as she said. She proposed to take the orphan into her own family, for +a time at least, until some more permanent situation should turn up. +"We'll never miss the little she'll want," she said; "and if we did, +I've been often thinking of late that we've been too much taken up +with doing the most we could for this world, and been caring too +little for the poor that our Saviour says are to be always with us. So +my mind would be easier if I were doing this much, at any rate, and +the poor thing'll be more likely to get a good steady place if I take +her in hand and teach her a bit myself." + +So it was settled, and Nelly, to her surprise and delight, found +herself an inmate, for a time at least, of Mill Bank Farm, though she +was made to understand that the arrangement was not a permanent one. +The present comfort and happiness were enough for her, however, for +she was not given to spoiling the enjoyments of to-day by thoughts +about the morrow; and she certainly had never, so far as her +recollection went, been half so happy as she now was under Mrs. Ford's +motherly care, with Bessie for a half-companion, half-teacher, and +removed from the sound of the harsh words and tones which had so long +been the constant accompaniments of her life. + +One of Mrs. Ford's first cares was to provide her with some needed +clothing from Bessie's outgrown garments, which otherwise would have +been stowed thriftily away for little Jenny. Lucy added her +contribution for the same object, and it was considered a good +opportunity for teaching her what she so much needed to learn--plain +sewing. Mrs. Ford, who was a capital seamstress as well as housewife, +undertook to make Nelly a good needlewoman, if she would be diligent +in trying to learn; and she was too grateful, and too anxious to +please, not to try her best, though the long, tedious seams often +tried her restless, active spirit. When she found herself getting so +impatient that she felt as if she could not sit still any longer, or, +at any rate, could not force herself to do the work with patience and +care, she would remember the injunction to "tell Jesus" her troubles +and difficulties, and the restless spirit would become quiet, and the +strength to fulfil her good resolutions would come back. As it was too +far for her to go to Lucy now for her daily lessons, Lucy resigned her +to Bessie's tuition, though somewhat unwillingly, for her teaching had +become a source of real pleasure to her, and she felt that in it she +was doing some definite work for her Saviour. She had not yet got into +the habit of looking upon everything she was called in duty to do as +work done for Christ, just in proportion as it was done in a spirit +of cheerful faith and dependence, "looking unto Jesus" both as the +master and the friend. + +But dark days were at hand for Lucy too,--days when she would need all +the support her faith could give. Mr. Raymond's never robust +constitution had been for some time gradually failing, though Lucy, +seeing him daily, and accustomed to consider her father "not very +strong," had not observed it. Late in November, a long, cold drive in +sleet and rain to visit a dying parishioner brought on symptoms of +fever, which rapidly increased, till the doctor, who had been summoned +to attend him, looked very anxious, and pronounced his patient in a +most critical condition. Lucy had been so long accustomed to his +occasional illnesses, that she was slow to admit the idea of danger to +her father, the possibility of losing whom had scarcely ever occurred +to her mind. Therefore, though she could not help seeing her aunt's +extreme anxiety, she resolutely turned her thoughts to the happier +prospect of her father's recovery, when he would again occupy his +wonted place, and the house would be like itself again. + +Even when Mr. Raymond's extreme weakness forced the others to give up +hope, Lucy still hoped and prayed, by the sick-bed and in her own +chamber, as she had never prayed before. Surely, she thought, if she +prayed humbly and earnestly, her prayer would not be denied by Him who +has said, "Ask, and ye shall receive;" and her father would be +restored to her. She did not consider that as regards earthly things +the promise must be limited, or the conditions of human life would +have to be altered. If our prayers that our dear ones should be spared +to us were always to be granted, when would they ever attain that +blessed rest in the Father's house--the haven they have been looking +for through all the cares and troubles of their mortal pilgrimage? + +Mr. Raymond had often longed for the time when his earthly work should +be done, and he should be called to the presence of his Saviour--to +reunion with his early-lost wife. And now, though in the +unconsciousness of his exhausted powers he knew it not, that time had +come. His "falling asleep" was as peaceful as the sinking of a child +into its nightly slumber; and Lucy did not realize that it was death, +till, in the dark December morning, she stood by the cold white couch +on which lay the inanimate form to which, from her earliest days, she +had always looked as her protector and guide. It was hard to persuade +herself that that cold form was not her father, but that all that had +made the living, sentient being had passed to another state of +existence beyond her power to follow--beyond her power to conceive. In +the strange awe that came upon her, she lost for a time the sense of +the desolation of her bereavement--lost all thought for herself, in +trying to pierce the darkness which hung between her and the +"undiscovered lands" in which both her parents now were. With Fred it +was much the same,--an awestruck solemnity at first repressing in both +the natural feeling of personal loss. Harry was the only one whose +bitter, childish grief broke forth uncontrolled. + +But there was time in the blank, desolate days that followed to +realize the full bitterness of the bereavement. Once out of the still, +solemn chamber, which seemed to hush all violent emotion, there were +associations at every step, in every room, of him whose place should +know him no more, to call forth the uncontrollable agony of tears that +had for a time been repressed. And when the still form had been +carried to its last resting-place, and the heavy consciousness made +itself felt that he was gone, never in any possible event to return to +them, it seemed to Lucy as if it would have been too terrible to bear +but for the Saviour, to whom she carried her grief, and found that, +though He does not always at our asking restore our sick to this +mortal life, yet that, when He takes them away, He can and will be a +very present "help in time of trouble." + +But there was already another grief looming darkly in the distance, +which Lucy almost shrank from facing. The home that had been hers from +her birth must be broken up. The external surroundings in which her +life had been always set were to be torn from it; and any other phase +of life seemed as if it must be a dreary blank. She could not then +realize the possibility of ever forming new associations, or taking +root in any other home. And indeed it is doubtful whether one ever +does take root again in the same sense as in the home of childhood, +which is linked with the earliest associations of opening thought, and +with all the hallowed ties that cluster around a child's happy home. +Other houses are but places of abode, made home by association: _that_ +seemed absolutely and in itself _home_. + +Alick had come to Ashleigh as soon as possible after his uncle's +death, and was anxious to take his mother at once to the new home he +had been preparing for her. As to Lucy, there seemed to be but one +course advisable. As Mr. Raymond could leave only a very slender +provision for his family, he had always been anxious that Lucy should +have an education sufficiently thorough to put her in a position to +gain her own livelihood by teaching, and a way seemed opened for her +to carry out his wishes in this respect. Mr. Brooke, urged thereto by +his daughter Stella, had written to Mrs. Steele, offering to receive +Lucy into his own family for the next two or three years, in order to +give her the advantage of a first-class education, which was, he +remarked, "the best he could do for her, as it would give her the +ability to do for herself." + +Lucy shrank from the prospect of so long a residence in a home so +unlike the one she was leaving, as from Stella's remarks she felt sure +it must be. But to go with Harry to live with Mrs. Steele and Alick, +as they kindly invited her to do, in case she could not make up her +mind to go to Mr. Brooke's, would, she felt, be imposing far too great +a burden on Alick's kindness, though it seemed just the right home for +Harry. Fred, who had been summoned from college to his father's +deathbed, must return to resume his theological studies, for they all +insisted that he should not think of giving up the career which had +been his father's desire for him as well as his own. The more Lucy +thought about the matter, the more distinctly she saw that there was +no other way rightly open to her, especially as, even could she think +it right to accompany Mrs. Steele and Alick, she could not, in the new +village in the West, expect any educational advantages. But it was +with much reluctance, and after many prayers to be strengthened to +meet the new experiences before her, that she gave her decision to go +to live for the present in her Cousin Stella's home. + +Fred, to whom she confided her extreme shrinking from venturing into +an atmosphere which her fancy pictured as so cold and uncongenial, +endeavoured to reassure her, by reminding her of what she knew, +indeed, but found it difficult to realize, that her Saviour could be +as near her in the crowded city as in her quiet country home, since +His love is + + "A flower that cannot die + For lack of leafy screen;" + +and that it was a sickly Christianity which must necessarily fade and +droop when removed from the atmosphere in which it had been originally +nurtured. + +"Well," she said at last disconsolately, "it doesn't matter so very +much. I can never be very happy again, now papa is gone; and the best +thing is to think most about the home he has gone to, and try to +follow him there." + +Something of this kind she wrote to her old friend and teacher, Mrs. +Harris, who had sent her a letter of loving sympathy. She smiled half +sadly when she read Lucy's disconsolate reply. Mrs. Harris had seen +enough of life to know that a young heart is not permanently depressed +by a first grief; and she feared for Lucy, if she should trust to the +influence of sorrow alone to keep her "unspotted from the world." + +"My dear Lucy," she wrote, "while it is well that you should always +cherish your dear father's memory, and keep his counsels and his +example always with you as a protecting influence, beware of trusting +too much to this. He himself would have told you that it is not him +you are to follow, but Him whom he followed, 'Jesus Christ, the same +yesterday, to-day, and for ever.' This alone can be our strength. Time +is strong against our deepest sorrow, and no influence can permanently +hold, except the constraining love of Christ. Never lose the habit of +looking steadily to Him, and to Him alone, for daily and hourly +strength." + +It was wise counsel, and Lucy in time came to find out how true it +was. + +It is needless to dwell upon the pain of the breaking up,--the packing +up and stowing away treasured possessions, so closely associated with +the times now passed away; the sorrowful leave-takings of old friends, +who felt as if they were losing the last link with their beloved +minister in the departure of his family; the sad farewell looks at all +the well-known home objects, the flower-beds, the gravel walks, the +shrubs and trees, every twig of which had such a familiar look. Many a +time it seemed as if it must be only a sad dream, that all these +things were about to pass from her daily life into a vision of memory. +Happily it was winter. Had it been in the fair flush of summer, when +her home looked its loveliest, the parting would have been far harder. +As it was, it was hard enough; but she tried to conceal her sorrow +from those to whose pain it would have added, though many a tear was +secretly shed over even the old grey cat and the gentle petted cow, +which were almost home friends. + +At last all the preparations were completed. The house, stripped of +most of its familiar furnishings, wore already a strange, +uncomfortable aspect, full of packing-cases and confusion. Fred had +already been obliged to return to college, and Lucy was to be the next +to go. Alick was to escort her to the next railway station, and see +her on the train which was to take her to the city. It was the first +time she had ever travelled alone, and she rather dreaded it; but she +knew that it would be very inconvenient for Alick to accompany her the +whole way, and she would not admit that she thought the solitary +journey at all a formidable one. + +Poor Nelly, who grieved as much for her friend's departure as she had +done for her father's death, came on the last morning to say good-bye, +although Lucy had already taken leave of her and Bessie at Mill Bank +Farm, and had made the latter promise to write to her sometimes. + +"And it's sorry I am, Miss Lucy, you're going, and you so good to me," +sobbed Nelly, when she felt the parting moment was really come. + +"Well, Nelly, we must both try to remember our Friend in heaven, who +has been so good to us both. You love Him, I hope, Nelly, and pray to +Him always?" + +"Indeed I do, and I always pray God to bless you, Miss Lucy." + +"Well, I won't forget to pray for you, Nelly, and we know He will hear +our prayers," replied Lucy kindly. + +Acts of Christian kindness often bring their reward even in this life: +the "cup of cold water" we give sometimes returns to refresh our own +parched lips. It was some comfort to Lucy, even in this time of +sorrow, to feel that she had been enabled to help Nelly to know the +Saviour, whom the poor, friendless child seemed to have received into +her heart with a true and simple faith. + + + + +IX. + +_Introductions._ + + "My God, my Father, while I stray + Far from my home in life's rough way, + Oh teach me from my heart to say, + 'Thy will be done.'" + + +The short January afternoon was closing in when Lucy's train drew near +its destination. Gradually thickening clusters of houses, a momentary +glimpse of distant steeples, a general commotion and hunting-up of +tickets, packages, and bandboxes, betokened, even to Lucy's +inexperienced eyes, that the city was nearly reached. + +She had made no acquaintances on the way; but a polite elderly +gentleman, who had been sitting beside her, and had occasionally +exchanged a kind word with her, seeing that she was alone, stopped to +hand her out with great courtesy. + +"Any one to meet you?" he asked, seeing that she seemed at a loss what +to do next. + +"Yes--that is--I expect"--faltered Lucy, looking round to see if +Stella was not to be seen among the hurrying crowd. But no familiar +face was to be seen; and the gentleman, who had caught only the first +word of her answer, hurried off with a friend he met, forgetting all +about Lucy. + +It seemed to her a long time that she stood there, wistfully watching +the people who were meeting their friends, or hurrying away alone; and +her spirits, temporarily excited by the journey, began to sink fast. +It seemed so strange that no one should be there to meet her, as her +uncle had promised; and if no one should appear, what was she to do? + +At last, after about five minutes had elapsed, a slight, +delicate-looking young man, very fashionably dressed, with an eyeglass +at one eye and a cigar in his mouth, sauntered along, lightly swinging +his cane and looking leisurely around him. Presently he came up to +Lucy, and, after a scrutinizing glance, he said, touching his hat: + +"My cousin Lucy Raymond, I presume?" and seeing he was right, he +added, with a nonchalant air, "Glad to see you; been waiting long?" + +"About a quarter of an hour," Lucy replied, thinking she was speaking +the exact truth. + +"Hardly that," he replied. "I expected to have been here in time, but +these trains are never to be depended on." + +Then he motioned to a cabman, who advanced and asked for the checks +for the luggage. + +Lucy had forgotten all about them, and her cousin mentally set her +down as "green," while she nervously searched for them. + +"Take your time," he said good-humouredly. + +They were found at last, and everything being collected, Lucy and her +cousin were soon driving away from the station. + +"You are cousin Edwin, I suppose?" Lucy ventured to say timidly. + +"The same, at your service. I suppose Stella posted you up about us +all? You've never been in a place as big as this, have you?" he said, +observing her eager, watching look. + +"No, never; Ashleigh is hardly more than a village. How is Stella?" + +"Stella! Oh, she's quite well; she was out walking when I left." + +Lucy's heart sank at the apparent coldness of her reception. Had +Stella been coming to visit _her_, she would have been watching for +the steamboat for an hour before its arrival! + +"Left all well at home?" inquired Edwin. "Oh, I forgot; I suppose +you're all broken up there now?" he added, glancing at her black dress +and crape veil. "Fred's gone to college again, I suppose?" + +"Yes," replied Lucy. She could not have added a word more. It was all +she could do to keep back the tears that started to her eyes, as the +sad realization that she had no longer a home came back to her. Edwin, +however, had happily exhausted his stock of conversation for the +present, and Lucy did not try to renew it. + +After driving, as it seemed to her, an interminably long way, they +stopped opposite a tall stone house, one of a row all just alike, and +looking very monotonous and sombre to Lucy's eyes, accustomed to the +variety of the Ashleigh houses. + +Light gleamed already through the hall-door, which was speedily +opened; and the next moment Stella, looking as pretty as ever, rushed +down the wide staircase, and met her cousin with an affectionate +embrace. + +"Mamma, here's Lucy," she said as she led the way up the staircase. At +its head stood a lady, who reminded Lucy strongly of the pictures of +her dear mother, except that there was the difference of expression +between a worldly and an unworldly character. Mrs. Brooke never had +had--perhaps now never could have--the pure spiritual beauty which had +been Mrs. Raymond's chief charm; but she was a graceful, +stylish-looking woman, rather languid and unenergetic in appearance, +as she was in character. Her kiss was affectionate, as she told Lucy +that she was very glad to see her, and that she reminded her a little +of her poor mother; "though you're much more like your papa," she +added. + +"And here are Ada and Sophy, just in time," exclaimed Stella, as two +young ladies, very fashionably attired in walking dress, ascended the +stairs and were duly introduced. Ada, who was the smaller of the two, +resembled her mother and Stella, with all their softness and winning +grace of manner. Sophy was a tall, handsome girl, with a somewhat +haughty air, and her greeting was colder and more dignified. She +suggested that Stella should take her cousin at once to her room, +saying she should think Lucy would wish to rest for awhile before +dinner,--a proposal to which she was only too glad to accede, feeling +somewhat uncomfortable in the heavy travelling attire, which was such +a contrast to her cousins' elegant dresses. + +Stella led the way to a room much larger and more handsomely furnished +than Lucy's old one at home, though it all looked so strange and +unfamiliar, that she wondered whether it would ever seem home to her. +Stella showed her all its conveniences and arrangements for her +comfort, and then observed, "But you're not to have it all to +yourself;" which Lucy heard with some disappointment, for she had been +always accustomed at home to have a room to herself, and hoped to have +one still. + +"Amy's to sleep with you, and I think you'll like her. She's a good +little thing, though she's not a bit pretty; and she's named after +your mamma, you know, who was my Aunt Amy. It sounds odd, doesn't it? +Ada and I sleep together, because we get on best; and Sophy can't be +troubled with a child sleeping with her, especially as Amy is +delicate, and sometimes restless at night. Do you think you'll mind +having her?" + +"Oh no!" said Lucy, somewhat relieved. "I always used to think I +should like to have a little sister of my own." + +"Here she is, to speak for herself," said Stella, as the door opened, +and a fragile-looking little girl of about seven timidly peeped in. + +"Come in, Amy, and be introduced." + +The child stole quietly in, encouraged by Lucy's smile, and held out +to her a hand so thin and tiny, that she thought she had never felt +anything like it before. Amy had fair hair and a colourless +complexion; but when the soft grey eyes looked up wistfully at Lucy, +and a sweet smile lighted up the pale face, her cousin thought Stella +hardly justified in calling her "not a bit pretty." + +"So you're my little cousin Amy?" said Lucy, kissing her. "And you're +going to sleep with me and be my little sister, are you not?" + +Amy nodded. She evidently had not Stella's flow of language. + +"Shall I help you to unpack, Lucy?" interposed her loquacious cousin, +"or would you rather lie down and rest awhile?" + +Lucy preferred the latter. She wanted to be alone; and as she was very +tired with the fatigue and excitement of the journey and arrival, it +is scarcely to be wondered at that, when she was left alone, she found +relief in a hearty fit of crying. However, she soon remembered she +could do something better than that, so she knelt to thank her +heavenly Father for His protecting care during her journey. She asked, +too, that as she was far away from all dear home friends and familiar +surroundings, she might be helped to love those around her now, and to +do her duty in her new circumstances. + +Her heart was much lighter and calmer now, and she was nearly ready to +go down to dinner, when Stella came in to help her, and to insist on +arranging her hair in a new fashion she had lately learned, before +escorting her down to the dining-room. Lucy had dreaded a good deal +her introduction to her uncle, of whom she had not a very pleasant +impression. He was a brisk, shrewd-looking man, a great contrast to +his listless-looking son; and his manner, though patronizing, was not +ungenial, as Lucy had feared it would be, from his harsh opinions, +quoted by Stella, in regard to the poor. All the rest of the family +she had already seen, Edwin being the only son who had survived, and +on that account, probably, a good deal spoilt. + +Lucy could not help noticing the very slight mourning worn by the +family, if indeed it could be called mourning at all. But even this +slight mark of respect would hardly have been accorded to Mr. +Raymond's memory, but for Lucy's coming among them in her deep +mourning. "People would notice, and it wouldn't look well," Sophy had +said; and this decided the question, though the girls grumbled a good +deal at the inconvenience of it, especially at a time of the year when +they were usually so gay, and wanted to wear colours. Stella was the +only one who did not object. She had imbibed a strong respect for her +uncle, and wore her black dress with a certain satisfaction, in the +feeling that she was doing honour to his memory. + +There was a good deal of lively talk during dinner, almost +unintelligible, however, to Lucy, from her ignorance of the persons +and things talked about. The tone of conversation, however, was as +uncongenial as were the subjects. Edwin had a cynical air, partly +real, partly affected; and the girls' remarks were characterized by +the same sort of flippancy which had often jarred upon her in Stella. + +After dinner Edwin disappeared, Mr. Brooke became absorbed in his +newspapers, Sophy was soon engrossed with a novel, and Ada and her +mother employed themselves in some very pretty worsted embroidery. +Lucy, of course, had no work as yet, and Stella resorted to her old +fashion of lounging about doing nothing in particular, except +talking. She expatiated largely, for Lucy's benefit, upon the classes +and masters in the fashionable school to which her cousin was to +accompany her, giving her various scraps of information respecting her +future classmates, with a list of their foibles and peculiarities +amusingly described, but rather wearisome to a stranger. Mrs. Brooke +questioned Lucy about her previous studies, looking doubtful when she +heard of Latin and mathematics, and saying she was afraid "she had +been made a little of a blue." At her aunt's request, she sat down at +the handsome piano, and rather nervously got through a simple air, the +only one she knew by heart. She felt she had not done herself justice, +and Stella said apologetically, "You know she never had any teacher +but Mrs. Steele, and she has no style." + +Lucy's cheek flushed at the disparaging remark, but Mrs. Brooke only +said, "I hope you will play better than that, my dear, when you have +had Signor Goldoni for awhile. Do you sing?" + +"Only hymns, aunt. We often sing them on Sundays at home." + +"Well, if you have anything of a voice, you will soon do better than +that. Any one can sing hymns." + +Lucy made no reply, but she privately thought that very few could sing +them like her Aunt Mary. Then, recollecting that Stella had told her +how well Sophy played and sang, she turned rather timidly to her with +the request, "Won't you sing, Cousin Sophy?" + +"Do, Sophy," added her mother and Stella, both at once. + +But Sophy, reclining in a luxurious easy-chair near the fire, and +absorbed in a sensational novel, was too comfortable to think of +moving. + +"I really can't just now," she said rather coldly. "I'm tired, and I'm +just at the most interesting place in this book." + +"Sophy never will sing to please any one but herself and--_some_ +people," said Stella mischievously. "And then, sometimes, if she takes +the notion, there's no stopping her. Now, if a certain person I know +were here--" + +Ada laughed. Sophy just said haughtily, "I'll be much obliged to you, +Stella, not to disturb me;" at which Stella, with mock gravity, put +her finger on her lip. + +"Well, I am tired," Mrs. Brooke at last said, rising; "and I am sure +Lucy must be so too. Lucy, I advise you to go to bed at once; and, +Stella, don't stay in your cousin's room talking, and don't wake Amy, +if she is asleep." + +It seemed very strange to Lucy that the family circle should break up +for the night without the united acknowledgment of the protecting +kindness which had carried them in safety through the day--without +invoking the same protecting care through the watches of the +night--without the acknowledgment of the sins of the day, and the +prayer for forgiveness, and the petitions for dear absent ones--to +which she had always been accustomed. It was plain that no custom of +the kind existed in Mr. Brooke's family. + +Notwithstanding her mother's prohibition, Stella did linger long in +Lucy's room, chattering about one thing after another, Amy's wide-open +eyes watching them from her pillow. "I'm going just in a minute," she +would say, when Lucy reminded her of what her mother had said, and +then she would rush into some new subject. Lucy was tired, and was +longing to have a little quiet time to herself; but Stella, who was +undressing beside her, and would be in bed and asleep as soon as she +should go back to her own room, did not consider that. + +"There's Stella chattering away yet," said Ada, as she and Sophy came +up-stairs. "Stella, how naughty of you to stay here so long, keeping +Lucy up!" + +"I was just talking about two or three things," said Stella. + +"I have no doubt of that," Sophy remarked; "but I'm sure Lucy would +prefer to have the conversation postponed till to-morrow." + +Ada was examining the various little possessions of Lucy's, which were +already on the dressing-table. "Well, if she hasn't got her Bible out +already!" she exclaimed. "What a good child it is! Does it read it +every night?" + +"I thought every one did," said Lucy simply, though her cheek flushed +at the tone of the remark. + +Ada laughed, and Sophy smiled satirically, though she did not speak. + +"Well, you are a simple little thing," said Ada. "When you've lived in +town for awhile you'll know better." + +"Oh, they're all such good people in Ashleigh! I never knew I did so +many wicked things till I was there," said Stella. + +Lucy looked pained, and Sophy interposed. "Well, you've shocked Lucy +enough for one night, and it's high time she and you too were in bed. +So come at once, Stella." + +Ada and Stella kissed Lucy affectionately, as they followed Sophy out +of the room, and Lucy was left alone, to think with surprise and +distress of the total want of religious feeling which her cousins' +remarks betrayed. When she had once more thanked God for His goodness, +and implored His supporting help, and had read a few comforting verses +out of her Bible, she did not forget to pray that her cousins, who so +little appreciated its treasures of divine counsel and consolation, +might yet be led to know them for themselves. But the fatigue and +excitement of the day had thoroughly tired her out, and almost as soon +as her head sank on the pillow she was fast asleep, dreaming of the +happy times past, and the dear friends now so far away. + + + + +X. + +_New Experiences._ + + "I need Thy presence every passing hour; + Who but Thyself can foil the tempter's power? + When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, + Help of the helpless, Lord, abide with me!" + + +Lucy could hardly understand where she was when she awoke the next +morning. She had scarcely ever been absent from home in her life; and +the strange and unfamiliar aspect of everything around her quite +bewildered her, till little Amy's gentle touch recalled the events of +the preceding day. Her home-sickness returned for a time; but the +strength came for which she prayed, and she was able to go down to +breakfast with a cheerful face. + +Sophy and her father were the only ones who appeared at the nominal +breakfast hour. Stella had always been late for breakfast at Ashleigh +in summer, so it was not surprising that in winter she should be one +of the last to appear. But it did not apparently matter much, for the +different members of the family seemed to come to the breakfast table +just as it suited them, and the meal could scarcely be called a social +one. Neither Sophy nor her father talked much, he having his newspaper +open before him. Lucy was too shy as yet to talk without +encouragement, which Sophy did not give; and she felt it a relief when +Stella, with her unfailing loquacity, made her appearance. + +"You see it's Saturday morning, so one can have a little more sleep," +she said, yawning as if she had not had enough yet. + +"Then why don't you go to bed sooner at night, my dear, if you want +more sleep?" asked her father. + +But Stella quickly turned the conversation to another subject, and +kept up a full stream of talk till Mrs. Brooke and Ada appeared, and +soon afterwards Edwin sauntered in. + +"Lucy," said her aunt, as she left the breakfast table, "you must let +me see your dresses this morning; I am sure you'll want some new +things, and you must get them at once." + +"Aunt Mary thought I had all I should want for the winter," said Lucy, +colouring, for it was a point on which she was sensitive, not wishing +herself to spend any more on her dress than was absolutely necessary, +and desiring, if possible, not to increase her uncle's expenditure on +her account. + +"Well, we shall see," said Mrs. Brooke. "But you know you cannot dress +here exactly as you did at Ashleigh, and I want you to look as well as +your cousins." + +Lucy felt rather dismayed at the idea of being expected to wear such +stylish attire; and she could have cried, as one after another of the +articles on which she and Mrs. Steele had bestowed so much pains was +pronounced by Mrs. Brooke and Ada "quite out of date" and "not fit to +be seen." + +Mrs. Brooke, apart from her really kind intentions towards her +sister's orphan daughter, was determined that Lucy, who was to be +Stella's constant companion, should not, by shabby or old-fashioned +dress, disgrace the family in the eyes of her critical fashionable +associates; so it was determined, without reference to Lucy, that Ada +and Sophy should take her out forthwith on a shopping excursion, to +provide her with what Mrs. Brooke considered essential for her +creditable appearance as a member of her family. + +After her first uncomfortable feeling had worn off, Lucy really +enjoyed her expedition, everything--the busy streets, the crowded +buildings, the rattling carts and carriages; above all, the +gaily-decorated shop windows--having so much of the charm of novelty +for a country girl. The windows of the print-shops and book-stores in +particular she thought so attractive, that she wondered how the +hurrying passers-by could go on their way without even a glance at +their treasures. + +The shopping was easily accomplished under Ada's experienced +superintendence, and might have been accomplished much more quickly, +Lucy thought, had it not been that her cousins would spend so much +time in looking over articles which they had no intention of buying, +thereby, she thought, putting the obliging shopmen to an immense deal +of trouble, and sadly wasting their own morning. But neither of her +companions had much sense of the value of time, having no higher aim +in living than that of passing it as pleasantly as possible. + +At last the important business was concluded, just in time for them to +get home for lunch. Lucy felt very tired after her unwonted expedition +over the hard city streets, with their bewildering noise and +confusion, and was glad to get away as soon as possible to rest. She +soon fell asleep, and when she awoke she found Amy sitting quietly +beside her, playing with her doll. + +"Won't you look at my doll, Cousin Lucy?" she said. "I got her on my +birthday. Her name is Lucy, after _you_." + +"After _me_?" said Lucy, surprised. "Did you call her after me before +I came?" + +"Yes," replied Amy timidly; "for Stella said you were nice, and I +should love you." + +"I hope you will, dear," said Lucy, touched and gratified, and she +kissed her little cousin affectionately, looking pityingly at the +pale, delicate face and fragile form. She had always wished to have a +little sister of her own, and her heart was quite disposed to take the +little girl into a sister's place. She drew her closer, and after +talking a little about the doll, she said: + +"Does Amy love the good, kind Saviour, who came to die for her?" + +The child looked up with a puzzled expression. + +"Jesus, you know," added Lucy, thinking that name might be more +familiar. + +"That is Jesus that my hymn is about. Nurse taught me, 'Gentle Jesus, +meek and mild.'" + +"Yes. Well, don't you love Him, Amy? He loves you very much." + +"Does He love me?" asked Amy. "How do you know?" + +"Because He says so." + +"But He is up in heaven. Nurse said my little brother is up there with +Him." + +It was always "nurse." Amy did not seem to owe much knowledge of that +kind to any one else. Lucy tried to explain as simply as possible +that, although the Saviour is in heaven, He is as really near us as +when He was on earth; and that we have still in the Bible the very +words that He spoke while yet among men. + +"Are they in there?" asked Amy, looking at Lucy's Bible. + +"Yes, dear. You can't read yet, I suppose?" + +"Oh no! The doctor says I mustn't learn for a long while." + +"Then I will read to you some of the things that Jesus said. Would you +like that?" + +"Oh yes!" said Amy; and Lucy read the account of our Saviour blessing +the little children. She was pleased and surprised at the quiet +attention and deep interest with which Amy listened, and mentally +resolved to try to lead her to know more of that blessed Saviour, of +whom as yet she knew so little. Here was some work provided for her +already, she thought, and the feeling made her happier than she had +been since she left home. + +The evening passed away much as the former one had gone, except that +it was varied by the presence of visitors, among whom was a gentleman +who, Stella privately informed her cousin, was an "admirer" of +Sophy's. + +"But it's no use, if he knew it, for you know she's engaged already to +Mr. Langton. He's such a handsome, nice fellow, and has a large +plantation in the South, where he lives. I know she's as fond of him +as she can be, though she doesn't like people to think so. Look, now, +how she sings for Mr. Austin! I'm afraid he'll think she likes him." + +Sophy was by no means indifferent to any admiration, though she was, +as Stella had said, very much attached to her betrothed; and it did +not quite coincide with Lucy's ideas of love and lovers, founded, it +must be confessed, chiefly on books, to observe the seeming pleasure +and animation with which Sophy received the attentions and compliments +of this young man, whose partiality for her was so plain. + +"Surely it's very wrong in her if she deceives him, and let's him go +on liking her," thought Lucy, who, having never before seen an +instance of coquetry, did not know how venial many girls who might +know better consider the sin of trifling with an affection which must, +if encouraged, end in bitter disappointment. + +Next day was Sunday, the day always associated in Lucy's mind with the +happiest and holiest feelings of the week. In Mr. Raymond's household, +even the most careless sojourner could see that the day seemed +pervaded by an atmosphere of holy and peaceful rest from the secular +cares and occupations unavoidable on other days. All thoughts about +these were, as far as possible, laid aside. No arbitrary rules were +enforced, but it was plainly Mr. Raymond's earnest desire that the day +should be devoted especially to growing in the knowledge of the Lord, +and should be considered as sacred to Him who had set it apart. And by +providing pleasant and varied occupation suitable for the day, and +cultivating a spirit of Christian cheerfulness, he succeeded in making +his family feel it no hardship to carry out his wishes. Fred and Lucy, +indeed, had learned to love the Lord's day, and to appreciate the +privileges it brings with it. But in Mr. Brooke's family it was +decidedly a dull day,--a day which must be respectably observed, and +therefore not available for ordinary purposes, but a day to be got +through as easily as possible, shortened at both ends by late rising +and unusually early retiring, as well as by naps indulged in during +the day, when even the so-called Sunday reading proved somnolent in +its tendency. The necessary abstinence from ordinary occupations was +partly made up by the freedom with which the conversation was +permitted to run loose in secular matters, amusements, gossip, +criticisms on dress and conduct, most prejudicial to any good +influence that might have been derived from the public exercises of +the day, as well as deteriorating to the whole tone of the mind at any +time. No wonder, then, that divine truth, heard at church, fell on +inattentive ears, and failed to penetrate hearts filled up with the +"lusts of other things!" Through a medium so unyielding, how could the +soft dew of holy, spiritual influence descend upon the heart, to +nourish and fertilize it? + +Lucy was down at the usual breakfast-time, but had to wait more than +an hour before any one appeared, except Amy, who sat contentedly on +her knee, and listened to more reading out of Lucy's Testament, and +had even learned two verses of a hymn, before Stella at last appeared. + +"How foolish you were to get up so early!" she said, when Amy had told +her how long they had been down. "I think it is so nice to lie as long +as you like, Sunday mornings! I used to think it so hard at Ashleigh +that you _would_ always have breakfast as early as other days!" + +"We never saw any reason for being later on Sunday. Indeed, papa +always liked to have us earlier. He said it was the most precious day +of the week, and that, though he could excuse a hard-worked labouring +man for taking an extra sleep on Sunday, we had no such excuse; and to +try to shorten the day was dishonouring to Him who gave it." + +"What in the world would he have said of Edwin then," said Stella, +"who often sleeps till it is too late to go to church, and then he +stays at home and sleeps more?" + +Lucy could not help smiling; but as Sophy came in just then, she did +not need to make any reply. Amy was eager to repeat to her sister the +hymn she had just been learning, but Sophy did not seem to care about +it, and said to Lucy, "You had better not teach her any more hymns. +The doctor says she should not be allowed to study anything till her +constitution is stronger. Besides, I don't believe in filling +children's heads with things that make them think about death too +soon." + +Lucy felt a little vexed and a good deal surprised at what was to her +so new an experience. She had not dreamed that any one could object to +teaching a child those blessed gospel truths which will shed either on +life or on death the truest light. But while she felt a strong +interest in and attraction towards her cousin Sophy, she instinctively +felt that on such subjects she would be quite unapproachable. + +Mrs. Brooke surprised Lucy with the unexpected decision that her +deficiencies in dress must keep her at home that day. She felt as if +it was almost wrong to submit,--her dear father would have so much +disapproved of any one's staying away from the house of God for such a +reason. But then she remembered that while under her aunt's charge it +was her duty to yield a deference to her wishes, unless she absolutely +violated her conscience in so doing, and that her father would also +have said, "Ye younger, be subject to the elder," and would have told +her that, though prevented from going up to an earthly sanctuary, she +could worship God at home in the sanctuary of her heart. + +But she did not find this so easy, as Stella, glad of the excuse, +insisted on staying at home "to keep Lucy company," though Lucy tried +to make her understand that she was not desirous of having any +"company" while the rest were at church. In vain she tried to fix her +attention on her open Bible. Stella would continually break in with +some remark which, when answered, was sure to lead to another; and +though Lucy's remonstrances at length became somewhat impatient in +their tone, it was evidently hopeless to try to reduce her to silence. +She, however, at last succeeded in persuading her to listen while she +read to Amy, first one or two Bible stories, such as she thought would +interest her most, and then a simple story out of one of her own +Sunday books which she had brought with her. The earnestness with +which Amy drank in every word was a great contrast to Stella's +desultory way of listening; but even _she_ seemed a little interested +in Lucy's reading, and the morning did not seem altogether thrown +away. + +But in the afternoon Lucy found that trying to read in the +drawing-room was quite out of the question, her attention being +perpetually distracted by the frivolous conversation almost +continually going on there. First one topic was started, and then +another; and in spite of her efforts to the contrary, she would find +herself listening to the gossiping talk going on around her. At last +she took refuge in her own room to read there in quiet, though she was +before long followed thither by Stella. + +"Don't you think, Stella, I might go to church this evening? I don't +like staying at home all day, and no one would notice what I had on, +I'm sure," she asked her cousin. + +Stella opened her eyes. "Do you mean to say you really want to go?" +she asked. "I thought people only went to church because it was a +duty." + +"I used to go for that reason," Lucy replied, "but I should be sorry +if I only went on that account now." + +"But why? What pleasure can you find in it? The service always seems +to me so long, and the sermon so dry, that it makes me yawn so,--I +can't help it." + +Lucy hesitated a little before answering. It was not easy to explain. +"There are many things that make it pleasant. One always hears +something to do one good,--often the very thing one needs at the very +time. It always makes troubles seem lighter, and another world more +real and near. I always feel so much nearer papa when I am in +church," she added in a lower tone. + +"Oh! that is because you always used to hear him preach, I suppose!" +said Stella, not able to comprehend any other reason. "Well, since you +like it so much, I'll ask mamma if you can't go; but I don't know +whether any of the rest are going." + +Mrs. Brooke, though as much surprised as Stella at Lucy's strong wish, +felt that it ought to be respected. She suggested that, instead of +going to the large fashionable church which the family usually +attended, they should go to a small one in the neighbourhood, their +usual resort on stormy days. Edwin having got tired of the novel he +had been yawning over, good-naturedly offered to be her guide and +escort; and Stella made no objection when her mother told her she had +better go too, as she had not been out in the morning. + +The stars were twinkling brilliantly through the clear frosty +atmosphere, and the long vistas of gas-lamps, seen on all sides, were +a novelty to Lucy's country eyes. The streets were full of people, +encountering each other as they wended their way to church in opposite +directions. There were others, too, not going to church, but to very +different places of resort; but of these Lucy happily knew nothing. + +The first hymn was already being sung when they entered the church, a +small, plain building. Lucy was at once interested by the thoughtful, +earnest face of the clergyman, who reminded her a little of her +father. The first prayer, so simple, yet so full of petitions for the +things she most needed, carried her heart with it, till she forgot she +was not at home still. The text read was, "A very present help in +trouble," and the sermon was what might have been expected from the +tone of the preceding prayer. It was so full of Christ, pointing to +His constant presence,--to Him as the only true comforter and +sustainer either in sorrow and temptation,--that, simple as was the +language and unpretentious the style, it touched the deepest springs +in Lucy's heart, and she leaned back in her seat to hide the soothing, +happy tears. + +Edwin, however, from his end of the pew could see that she was crying, +and began, out of curiosity, to listen to the sermon, to find out what +it was that affected her so much. At first he thought it very odd that +she should have been so moved by it; but gradually, as he listened to +the earnest words in which the preacher, speaking evidently from his +own heart, dwelt upon all that Christ might be to the weary soul which +had tried earthly pleasures and found them wanting, earthly cisterns +and found them broken,--a fountain of refreshing, giving strength and +energy for the journey of life, the "shadow of a great rock in a weary +land," giving to the weary wayfarer rest and shelter from the burden +and heat of the day,--he began to feel, in spite of his indifference, +that there might be a nobler, happier ideal of life than that of +seeking to fill the hours as they passed with every variety of +pleasure within reach. But it was only a passing thought. Old habits +of thinking, so long indulged, came back to fill up his mind as soon +as the voice of the speaker had ceased. His plan of life was not +likely to be altered yet. + +Lucy walked very silently home, watching the starlight trembling +through the crystal air, and wondering in what remote, inconceivable +sphere are passed those beloved existences which are lost to us here. +And then came the happy thought that, though they seem so remote and +inaccessible, the Saviour is near at once to them and to those who are +left below, and that in communion with Him there may be a point of +contact, intangible, it is true, but none the less real. Edwin, as he +languidly wondered what his quiet cousin was thinking about, did not +know that there was a distance immeasurable between his thoughts and +hers. + +Next day Lucy accompanied her cousin to school, that she might be at +once introduced to her new classes and studies. When her acquirements +had been duly tested, she found that, while in some superficial +accomplishments she was considerably behind Stella, yet in other +studies, more solid in their nature, and requiring greater accuracy +and deeper thought, she was far in advance of her cousin. This might +have considerably increased the tendency she already had to a sense of +her own superiority, had it not been that the things in which she was +deficient were precisely those which were of most consequence at Mrs. +Wilmot's establishment, being more showy, and therefore more easily +appreciated. Her love of approbation made her very anxious to excel in +what was valued by those around her; and in her desire to make up lost +ground, she happily escaped an undue sense of superiority in what was +most valuable,--a proficiency which was the result chiefly of her +father's care. + +Fond of study for its own sake, she entered on her classwork with all +the zest of one who had never known school-life before, and who was +determined to make the most of her opportunities; and her enjoyment of +her studies and the stimulus of contest to a great extent counteracted +the uncongeniality of her new home, as well as the homesick feeling +which came over her when a letter from Mrs. Steele or Fred revived old +and happy associations. + + + + +XI. + +_A Start in Life._ + + "His path in life was lowly, + He was a working man; + Who knows the poor man's trials + So well as Jesus can?" + + +At Mill Bank Farm things were going on much as when Nelly Connor had +become an inmate there. Under the influence of her watchword, Bessie +was making good headway against her faults of idleness and +carelessness, and her mother declared she was growing a "real comfort" +to her. Under her teaching Nelly's reading had progressed so well, +that she could spell out very creditably a chapter in the New +Testament. Jenny and Jack had also been taught their letters; and +though they were not to go to Sunday school till the spring, they had +already learned from Bessie a good deal of Bible knowledge. Sam was +not nearly so often a truant now, that he knew his mother's watchful +eye was ready to discover any omission in attending Sunday school; and +the boys were gradually growing in respect for things on which they +could see their mother now placed so much importance. + +Nelly had never before known so much of comfort and happiness. She was +treated as one of the family, and the easy tasks which fell to her lot +were labours of love and gratitude. Even the irksome sewing, by dint +of patiently struggling with her constitutional restlessness, was +growing almost a pleasure, from her being able to do it so much +better. In the letters which Bessie occasionally received from Lucy, +there was always a kind message for Nelly, which would act as a +wonderful stimulus for days after it came. + +As the winter wore on, however, it was evident she was not greatly +needed by her kind friends. Bessie was growing stronger every day, and +more able to assist her mother, and Nelly could not help feeling that +she was kept only because she needed a home. One day, therefore, she +asked Mrs. Ford if she thought she was not now fit to take a place. + +"Well, you've got to be a good little worker, that's a fact; but +there's no hurry about your going. You're welcome to stay here as long +as you like." + +"It's very kind of you, ma'am; but perhaps if you'd be looking out you +might hear of some one that would take me, and give me whatever I was +worth," said Nelly, in whom the instinct of independence was strong. + +A few days after this Mrs. Ford was asked by her friend Mrs. Thompson +what she was going to do with her little Irish girl. "She is big +enough for a place," she said, "and there is no good in having a girl +like that learning idle ways. I think I know of a place that would +suit her very well." + +"What place is that?" asked Mrs. Ford. + +Mrs. Thompson replied that a friend of hers in the city had written to +inquire for a country girl about Nelly's age. She would have no hard +work, and would get such clothing as she required, instead of wages in +money. + +"You see servants are very hard to obtain in those large places," +remarked Mrs. Thompson, "and they always want the highest wages; and +this person isn't very well off, and keeps boarders to support +herself, so she can't afford a great deal." + +"But would she be good to Nelly?" inquired Mrs. Ford. + +Mrs. Thompson promised to inquire of the friend who had written to +her, in regard to this point. Her correspondent's reply was tolerably +satisfactory. Mrs. Williams, the person who wanted Nelly, was likely +to do whatever was right by any girl who might be sent her, as she was +a very respectable person, and "a church member." This last statement +weighed considerably with Mrs. Ford, and decided her to mention the +place to Nelly. + +Nelly could not help feeling a throb of regret at hearing that there +really was a place open to her, for she dreaded exceedingly the +prospect of leaving her kind friends; but of this she said nothing, +and tried to seem pleased with the idea of trying the place. One great +inducement it certainly had, that it was in the city in which Lucy now +resided. She hoped to see Miss Lucy sometimes, and she would help her +to be good and do well, she thought. Mrs. Ford also thought this +circumstance a favourable one, as Lucy could see for herself whether +Nelly was comfortably situated, and if not, could help her to find a +better place. So, after much consideration and some misgivings, it was +reluctantly settled that she should go. Mrs. Thompson's brother was +going to the city soon, and Nelly could accompany him. + +She did not need a great deal of time for preparation, though Mrs. +Ford kindly provided her with all that was necessary for her +respectable appearance in her new place, so that she went back to the +city which had been her former abode a very different-looking girl +from the barefooted, gipsy-like child, who had wandered, uncared for, +about its streets. "I know the place well, ma'am," she said to Mrs. +Ford; "it isn't as if I had never been there. I won't feel a bit +strange." And though the spring was approaching, and she was for many +reasons very sorry to leave Ashleigh, she did not dread the thought of +going to the great city, alone and friendless, as much as a thoroughly +country-bred girl would have done. + +When her travelling companion bade her good-bye at the railway +station, Nelly, not in the least frightened by the hurrying crowds and +the noisy streets, so familiar to her of old, took up her little +bundle, containing all the worldly goods she possessed, and set off +briskly to look for the address inscribed on the card she held in her +hand. She did not need to ask her way more than once, though it was a +half-hour's walk before she reached the street, and then she walked +slowly along, studying the numbers of the doors till she arrived at +the right one, bearing on a brass plate the words, "Mrs. Williams' +Boarding House." It was one of the most bare and uninviting of a dull +row, and not even the bright sunshine of the early spring could +enliven it much. Other houses had flowers or birds in the windows, or +at least pleasant glimpses of white curtains, but this one, with its +half-closed blinds, had almost a funereal aspect. Nelly had a keen +susceptibility of externals, and her heart sank a little; but she rang +the bell, determined to make the best of it. The door was opened by an +elderly woman in rusty black, with a hard, careworn face, which did +not relax into the slightest perceptible smile, as she regarded Nelly +scrutinizingly, saying at last, "Oh, you're the girl Mrs. Thompson was +to send, I suppose?" + +"Yes, ma'am," replied Nelly, who had not yet been invited to enter. + +"Well, you're not as big as I thought you'd be, and you don't look +very strong. Come in;" and she led the way into a dull, bare +dining-room, where she went on with her work of setting the table, +while she put Nelly through an examination as to her qualifications. +She either was, or appeared to be, dissatisfied, and after dryly +expressing a hope that she would suit, she told her to follow her down +to the kitchen. + +It was a dark, cellar-like place, with an equally cellar-like room of +very small dimensions opening off it, where Nelly was to sleep. Many +houses seem built on the principle--not the Christian one of loving +our neighbours as ourselves--that "anything is good enough for +servants," as if light, and air, and pleasant things to look out upon, +were not just as much needed by them as by their employers! Kitchens +and servants' rooms need not be luxurious. It would be doing servants +an injury to accustom them to luxuries of which they would some time +feel the privation; but many of them have been accustomed to pure, +free air, and a pleasant outlook, and feel the reverse far more than +is imagined by those who condemn them to live in underground cells. + +Nelly felt her abode very dismal after the light, airy farmhouse. Even +from her old attic-window she had a pleasant view of the river, and +could always see the moon and stars at night; while from this the +utmost she could see from the windows was a little bit of street +pavement. But when she unpacked her bundle, and came upon her +"watchword card," as Lucy had called it, her courage rose as she +remembered that her heavenly Friend was as near her here as in the +free, fresh country, and that where He was He could make it home. She +could not have put this feeling into words, but it was there, in her +heart, where doubtless He Himself had put it. + +It was some time before Mrs. Williams thought of inquiring whether she +had had any dinner. On her replying in the negative--she was beginning +to feel quite tired and faint--Mrs. Williams, with a half-reluctant +air, brought out of a locked cupboard some very dry-looking bread and +cold meat, which she set before Nelly. + +She was very hungry, so that even this was very acceptable, and she +did justice to the meal. Before she had finished, a voice called from +an upper story, "Mother, tell the new girl to bring up some water." + +Nelly was accordingly directed to fill the water-can and take it up to +the top of the house. After carrying it up three flights of stairs, +she saw a door open, and a girl of nineteen or twenty, apparently +engaged in performing an elaborate toilet, looked out from it. + +"How old are you?" she said, as she took the water from Nelly. + +"I'll soon be fourteen, miss." + +"Well, you don't look it. You'll have to look sharp here if you want +to suit us. Now, take these boots down to brush." + +She spoke in a quick, sharp way, a good deal like her mother's; and +her face, though tolerably comely, was sharp too. Miss Williams meant +to "get on" in the world if she could, and her face and manner showed +it. + +Nelly found various things to do before she got back to her unfinished +dinner, and then Mrs. Williams hurried her through, that she might get +the kitchen made "tidy." In the meantime Miss Williams departed, in +all the glories of a fashionable toilet, for her afternoon promenade, +her mother regarding her with much pride and complacency. It seemed +the one object of her hard-working, careworn life that her daughter +should look "like a lady," and a large proportion of her earnings and +savings went to effect this object. + +Nelly's services were at once called into requisition to assist in the +preparation of the dinner for the boarders--four gentlemen--who, her +mistress informed her, were "very particular," and liked everything +nice. She received a confusing multiplicity of directions as to +waiting at table, for Mrs. Williams rather prided herself on the +"stylishness" of her establishment. She got through her task tolerably +well, though somewhat bewildered between Mrs. Williams' quick, sharp +reminders and the "chaffing" of one or two of the gentlemen, who +thought it "good fun" to puzzle the "new hand" with ironical remarks, +some of them being aimed at their landlady through her servant. + +After the waiting at dinner, followed the preparation of tea for Mrs. +Williams and her daughter, who had come in, and was in the midst of +one of the evening performances on the piano, which were the dread of +the boarders; and then there were all the dishes used at dinner to +wash and put away. It was pretty late by the time all this had been +done, and Nelly was feeling very sleepy, and wondering how soon she +might go to bed, when her mistress came down with half-a-dozen pairs +of boots, to be cleaned either that evening or next morning. Now the +next day was Sunday, and at the farm Mrs. Ford had of late insisted on +the excellent rule of getting all done that could be done on Saturday +night, so as to leave the Lord's day as free as possible from secular +duties; so Nelly, sleepy as she was, took up her blacking brushes, and +proceeded to rub and polish with all her might. But fatigue was too +strong for her, and before she had got through the third pair, her +head sank down and she lost all consciousness, till she suddenly +started up, thinking Mrs. Ford was calling her to drive the cows to +pasture. It was impossible to rouse herself again to her work; she +just managed to put out her light, and, hastily undressing, she threw +herself on the bed with only a half-conscious attempt at her usual +evening prayer, which, however, He who knows the weakness of our frame +would surely accept. + +Next morning, she started up instantly at Mrs. Williams' impatient +call. She could hardly get ready quick enough to satisfy her mistress, +and had no time to kneel down and ask her heavenly Father's help for +the duties of the day. Mrs. Williams had not thought of this need for +herself, and still less for her little handmaid. She found there was +plenty of work before her, independently of the boots that remained to +be cleaned. By the time she had got through, the bells were ringing +for church, and it was time to think of getting the dinner ready, the +boarders dining early on Sunday. Mrs. Williams was not going to church +herself. The gentlemen always expected the dinner to be especially +good on that day, without much consideration what the cook's Sunday +might be; and it was much too important a matter to be left to Nelly's +inexperienced hands. But during the time when her mistress was +occupied in helping her daughter to dress her hair elaborately for +church, Nelly found a little quiet time to read part of a chapter, and +learn a verse, and ask God's help to do right during the day, and to +remember that it was His day, the best of all the week. + +So prepared, she found the difficult task of performing unaccustomed +duties to her mistress's satisfaction easier than it might otherwise +have been. For why should we consider anything too small to seek His +aid, by whom the hairs of our head are all numbered? And the very +attitude of trust and reliance on Him calms and clears the mind, and +strengthens the heart. + +There was no time for Nelly to go to church on that Sunday, at any +rate. She could not get through her work with her comparatively +unpractised hands, and it was with a very weary body and mind that +she read her evening verse, and repeated her favourite hymn, "I lay my +sins on Jesus," as a sort of substitute for her usual Sunday school +lessons, and then lay down to think of the kind friends she had left, +and to wonder when she should see Miss Lucy, till she fell asleep to +dream that she was at the farm again, and churning butter that would +not come. + +Bessie had written to Lucy, telling her of Nelly's departure, but had +forgotten to give her mistress's address, so that Lucy could not find +her out till she should go to see her at Mr. Brooke's; and for many +days this was impracticable. Day after day passed, filled with the +same unceasing routine of drudgery; and though her growing skill +enabled her to get through her work more quickly, this did not add to +her leisure, since, as her capabilities increased, her duties +increased also. Miss Williams, too, who objected to do anything for +herself when another could be got to do it, found Nelly very +convenient for all sorts of personal services. + +Nelly went through it all without grumbling, though she often went to +bed quite tired out. But youth and health came to her aid, and she +would wake in the morning to go singing about her work. She had an +uncommonly sweet voice, and the boarders used often to remark to each +other that there was more music in her untaught snatches of song than +in all Miss Williams' attempts at the piano. + +But, as weeks went on, the perpetual, unceasing strain began to wear +upon her, and her songs grew less and less frequent. Though she was +almost too busy to indulge in many longings for Ashleigh and its +pleasant fields, it was a little hard to know that the beautiful +budding spring was passing into summer, and that she could taste none +of the country pleasures she had so much enjoyed last year; that the +only sign by which she knew the advancement of the season was the +increasing heat, enervating her frame and undermining her +strength,--its effect in this respect being greatly heightened by the +close, heavy atmosphere in which she chiefly lived. Nature is stronger +than man, after all; and when the upper classes selfishly neglect the +comfort of their poorer brethren, they will find that inexorable +Nature will avenge the infringement of her laws, and will touch their +own interests in so doing. + +"I can't think what has come over Nelly!" Mrs. Williams would say to +her daughter. "She's not the same girl she was when she came here, and +she seems to grow lazier every day. Well, it's the way with them all. +A new broom sweeps clean." + +But Mrs. Williams might easily have found a truer explanation of +Nelly's failing energies than this convenient proverb, in the +unwholesome atmosphere she was breathing by night and day, as well as +in the quantity and quality of the food provided for her. Mrs. +Williams would have indignantly repelled the charge of starving Nelly, +but she forgot the requirements of a fast-growing girl. Everything +eatable was kept rigidly locked up,--that was a fundamental principle +of Mrs. Williams' housekeeping,--and Nelly's allowance was sometimes +so scanty, and at other times composed of such an uninviting +collection of scraps, that she often had not sufficient nourishment to +repair the waste of strength which she was continually undergoing. And +as she would rather suffer than ask more, her constitution was really +giving way for want of sufficient sustenance. + +So two or three months passed, and she had not yet seen Lucy. She had +only, indeed, been two or three times at church, for Mrs. Williams +never seemed to remember that her little servant had an immortal soul +to be nourished, though it must be admitted that she was not much more +mindful of her own spiritual welfare. As for getting out on week-days, +except on her mistress's errands, Mrs. Williams seemed to consider +that quite out of the question; and, indeed, Nelly could not easily +have found leisure for half-an-hour's absence. One evening, at last, +when most of the boarders were dining out, Mrs. Williams graciously +acceded to Nelly's request to be allowed to go out for an hour; "but +don't stay a minute longer," she added. Nelly had carefully kept +Lucy's address, and gladly set off, as fast as she could walk, towards +the quarter of the city in which she knew it to be. She steered her +course pretty straight, but had walked for fully half-an-hour before +she reached the door, on the brass plate of which she read "B. +Brooke." + +It was with a beating heart that she put the question, "Is Miss Lucy +Raymond at home?" to be answered in the negative by the servant, who +inwardly wondered what a girl so poorly dressed could want with Miss +Lucy. Waiting was out of the question,--she would be late enough in +getting back as it was,--so she sorrowfully turned away, without +leaving any message. It was a great disappointment, and, tired and +dispirited, she made her way back. + +There was another reason, besides want of time, to prevent her making +a second attempt. The clothes with which she had been provided on +leaving Mill Bank Farm were almost worn out with the hard work she had +to do, and Mrs. Williams had as yet done nothing towards fulfilling +her promise of giving her necessary clothing, although Nelly's +tattered frock was worn beyond all possibility of repairing. Nelly was +conscious of the doubtful look with which she was regarded when she +asked for Lucy, and she shrank from again encountering it, and perhaps +bringing discredit on Miss Lucy in the eyes of her city friends by her +own disreputable appearance. + +One afternoon in June--Mrs. Williams and her daughter being +out--Nelly, having a few minutes to spare, was standing at the open +door, listening to the plaintive strains of an organ-grinder who was +playing close by. His dark Italian face looked sad and careworn, and +the little girl beside him, evidently his daughter from the +resemblance between them, looked so pale and feeble, that it seemed as +if her little thin hands could scarcely support the tambourine she was +ringing in accompaniment to a little plaintive song. Nelly enjoyed the +performance exceedingly, but her admiration did not appear to be +shared by those whose applause was of more consequence, for not a +single penny found its way into the poor man's hat, either from the +inmates of the house or from the juvenile bystanders. His discouraged +air, and the sad, wistful eyes of the little girl, touched Nelly's +warm Irish heart, as he leaned on Mrs. Williams' doorsteps to rest +himself while he set down his organ, experience having taught him that +it was a useless waste of strength to play before that door. + +Nelly, seeing how hot and tired he looked, impulsively asked the poor +man whether he would walk in and sit down, never stopping to think +whether she had a right to do so. He looked up, surprised at the +invitation, but thankfully accepted it, and Nelly brought two chairs +into the hall for him and the little girl. Then, as the only +entertainment she was able to supply, she filled two glasses with the +coldest water she could find, and shyly offered them to her guests. + +"Ah, it is good," said the organ-grinder, when he had drained his +glass. "Many thanks," he added, in his foreign accent; and the little +girl looked up into Nelly's face with the sweetest, most expressive, +grateful smile. + +"Now," said the Italian, after having rested a little, "you love +music--is it not true?--or you would not be so kind to us. I will play +for you." + +And, taking up his instrument, he played an air sweeter than any Nelly +had yet heard from him, and the little girl sang, in her liquid voice, +a little song, the words of which she could not understand, for they +were Italian. + +"Now we must go," said the man. "Good-bye, my good girl; if I were +home in my country, I would do as much for you." And the father and +daughter pursued their weary way, Nelly's eyes following wistfully the +forms of those whom she regarded as friends already, for were they +not, like herself, poor, lonely strangers in a strange land? + +Then she began to wonder whether she had done wrong in asking them to +come in. She knew instinctively that she could not have done it had +Mrs. Williams been at home. But yet she could not feel such a simple, +common act of kindness to have been wrong. No harm had been done to +anything belonging to her mistress; and the "cup of cold water," had +she not a right to offer it to those who needed it so much? + +After that the organ-grinder and his child passed frequently through +that street, and whenever she could, Nelly would exchange a few kind +words with them, and the man would play for her, knowing well that she +had no pennies to offer in return; but at such times she used to wish +so much that she had a little money of her own. + +The Italian would sometimes look at her tattered dress, and her face, +gradually growing thinner and paler, as if he thought her quite as +forlorn as himself; and once, when he heard her mistress call her in, +and scold her for "talking to such characters in the street," he shook +his head, and muttered something in his native tongue. + +And so it came to pass that the poor Italian and his daughter became +Nelly's only friends in that great, busy city. + + + + +XII. + +_Ambition._ + + "Tell me the same old story, + When you have cause to fear + That this world's empty glory + Is costing me too dear." + + +Lucy's interest in her studies, and the zeal with which she pursued +them, had had a wonderful effect in reconciling her to her new +circumstances. She could sometimes hardly believe that only a few +short months lay between her and her old life, now seeming so far back +in the distance. Her progress in study had been very rapid, as her +abilities were above the average, and her love of study was much +greater than was usual among her companions, most of whom looked upon +their school education chiefly as a matter of form, which it was +expected of them to go through before entering on the real object of +life, the entrance into "society," with its pleasures and excitements. +That it was intended to be a means of disciplining their minds for +better doing their future duties, enlarging their range of thought, +and opening to them new sources of interest and delight, had never +entered into their heads. Lucy indeed pursued her studies more for the +sake of the pleasure they afforded her at the time than with any +ulterior views, though she did feel the advantages placed in her way +to be a sacred trust, and, like all other privileges, to be accounted +for to Him who had bestowed them. + +With her teachers, who found her a pupil after their own heart, she +was a much greater favourite than she was with some of her classmates, +who were so uncongenial, that she could not well enter into, or even +understand, the things which interested them. Nor could she always +refrain from showing her impatience of their frivolities, or her +contempt for the follies which so engrossed their minds; and this did +not, of course, tend to make her popular. This circumstance Lucy did +not care for so much even as she ought; for, though fond of +approbation, she cared only for the approbation of those she esteemed, +unlike her cousin Stella, who liked admiration from any source. + +When the bright, balmy days of spring came, bringing with them +thoughts of green fields and budding trees, there sometimes came over +her longings almost irresistible for her old home, so full of rural +sights and sounds, in such contrast to the stiff, straight city +streets and houses, the dust and noise, and the squares planted with +trees, which to her eyes seemed like caged birds, as the only +reminders that there were such things in the world. These longings +usually came to her most strongly in the long spring evenings, in +whose lengthening light she used to rejoice at Ashleigh, as enabling +her to prolong her pleasant country rambles. Now she must either walk +up and down the hard pavements between never-ending rows of houses, or +sit at the window, wistfully watching the sunset light falling golden +on the opposite walls. Now and then she accompanied the others in a +long drive; but the distance which they had to traverse before they +reached anything like the country seemed to her interminable; and when +they did catch a glimpse of fields and woods, it seemed hard to have +so soon to turn back and lose sight of them again. + +On her return from one of these drives, which had been protracted till +dusk, she was told that she had been inquired for by a girl very +poorly dressed, "almost like a beggar." She was puzzled at first, but +almost immediately it flashed across her that it must be Nelly Connor. +She had often thought of her since she had come to the city, but could +not find her, owing to Bessie's omission to give her mistress's +address,--an omission which Bessie, not being a good correspondent, +and naturally supposing that Nelly would soon find her way to Lucy, +had not yet remedied. "Oh, I wish I had seen her!" exclaimed Lucy, +much to the surprise both of the servants and her cousins, who could +not understand how a girl of that description should come to be so +interesting to her as to cause so much disappointment at having missed +her, and at having no clue to her place of abode. + +"I hope she will soon come again," was the reflection with which Lucy +consoled herself; and Stella explained to Sophy and Edwin: "It's a +little Irish _protegee_ of hers that she was crazy about at Ashleigh, +and she used to lecture me because I didn't think as much of her as +she did." Lucy laughed and tried to explain, but stopped, seeing that +her cousins took very little interest in the matter. + +Lucy did not come much in contact with her uncle and aunt. The former +was much absorbed in business, and though a kind and indulgent parent, +especially to his favourite Stella, he interfered but little in home +matters. Mrs. Brooke, who had always been a rather negative character, +had long given up to her elder daughters any sway she had ever held, +and was almost entirely guided by their judgment, of which they +naturally took advantage to indulge to the utmost their own love of +gaiety. Balls and parties in winter, and in summer gay picnics and +driving parties without end, engrossed their time and thoughts, to the +exclusion of higher objects of interest. Ada was fond of embroidery, +and would betake herself to it when nothing better was going on; and +Sophy was sometimes persuaded to paint for a fancy sale one of the +illuminations, in doing which she evinced great talent. They were +generally quotations from the poets which she selected; and as Lucy +watched the taste with which Sophy blended and contrasted the rich +colouring, she would long for the same skilful hand, in order to +clothe in such glowing colours some of the favourite texts which shone +for her like beams of light from heaven. + +But she had no talent for drawing; and though by diligent practice she +improved very much in playing and singing, she knew she should never +be able to do either like her cousin Sophy. How useful, she thought, +might she not be, if her heart were but actuated by love to Christ! +She felt she dared not speak to her on this subject, but she often +prayed to Him who can command the hearts of all, that He would touch +and renew that of her cousin Sophy. + +Between Stella and Lucy, dissimilar as they were, there existed a +strong cousinly affection. Stella, with all her bantering ways, would +never now go so far as seriously to annoy her, generally taking her +side when she thought the others were too much for her. But though +Lucy tried earnestly to draw her cousin towards the knowledge of her +Saviour, all such attempts seemed to glance off her, like raindrops +from an oiled surface. She was quite satisfied with herself as she +was, and had not yet found out the insufficiency of the earthly +pleasures which at present satisfied her. She believed, of course, in +another world, and the need of a preparation for it, but she thought +there was plenty of time for that; and it had never entered within the +range of her comprehension that the change of heart, which is the +necessary preparation for a future life, is as necessary to living +either well or happily in the present. So that Lucy was constantly +feeling that, in the most important matters of all, there could be no +genuine sympathy between them. + +Nor among her schoolmates was her longing for sympathy between them +more fully gratified. They were all actuated by the "spirit of this +world which passeth away," and avoided everything that could bring the +thought of another to their minds; so that she had not found one with +whom she could speak on the subjects most dear to her, or hold an +intercourse mutually helpful. + +There was, indeed, one of her schoolmates, a Miss Eastwood, a boarder +at Mrs. Wilmot's, in whom, from her sweet, serious manner and +appearance, and from some other tokens, she thought she might have +found a congenial friend. But Miss Eastwood was a little older than +herself, and Lucy's natural shyness was increased by the impression +that she rather avoided her and Stella, probably from knowing that Mr. +Brooke's was a thoroughly worldly family, and supposing that Lucy must +be like her cousins in this respect. Miss Eastwood in this was acting +conscientiously; yet such a determined avoidance of those who appear +to be worldly in their principles of action, though founded on the +desire of keeping out of temptation, sometimes leads to great +mistakes. Real Christian sympathy may sometimes be found where from +circumstances there may seem to be least appearance of it; and even +where it does not exist, influence for good might be exerted over +those whom distrust must necessarily repel. He who sat with publicans +and sinners, while He enjoins His followers to be "not of the world," +even as He was not of the world, cannot surely desire them to avoid +all opportunities, naturally occurring, of coming in contact with +those who may not be like-minded; and if Christians would always show +their true colours uncompromisingly, while coming near to others, as +God's providence opens opportunity, they would both do more good and +find sympathy and fellowship oftener than they expect. + +Of all the inmates of her uncle's house, little Amy was the one in +whom Lucy found the greatest congeniality. Her readings to her, and +her teaching about Jesus, seemed to have satisfied a craving of the +child's little heart, and she drank in the truths which Lucy tried to +explain to her, with the eagerness of one who had been thirsting for +the living water. Indeed she needed very little explanation; it +seemed as if the Spirit of God was her teacher, instructing her in +things that might have seemed too deep for so young a child to +grasp,--though indeed there may be less difference than we often +imagine between the mind of a child and that of the wisest man, as +regards their power of comprehending truths that are too infinitely +profound for the greatest human intellect to fathom. + +Amy had from her infancy been so delicate, that she had been in a +great measure confined to the nursery all her life; and not being +nearly so winning and attractive as Stella, she had never been so +great a favourite with her brothers and sisters, who, never having +taken the trouble of drawing her out, considered her rather +uninteresting. The death of a fine little boy, a little older than +Amy, had strangely had the effect upon her mother of making her turn +away, almost with a feeling of impatience, from the unattractive, +ailing child that had been spared, while her noble little boy, so full +of beauty and promise, had been taken. Amy had been left almost +entirely to her nurse, who had taught her some of the simple prayers +and hymns that she herself had learned at Sunday school, though she +had not spoken to her of Jesus, as Lucy had done. The story of His +love fell upon a heart that was unconsciously yearning for a fuller +measure of affection than it had ever received from human sources; and +the love which it excited in return, for Him whom the child seemed at +once to recognise as an ever near and present friend, became the most +powerful influence of her life. She never wearied of hearing about +Him, of asking questions about Him, particularly about His childhood, +which often threw light, in her young teacher's mind, upon things +which she had not considered before. The child's intense interest, +too, and the simplicity of her childish faith, were no small help to +Lucy, in the midst of much that might have drawn her heart and mind +away from her first love. For there were many temptations in her +way,--temptations which sometimes overcame her. Even her zeal in her +studies often unduly absorbed her mind, tempting her to leave the +fag-end of time and strength for prayer and the reading of God's word, +and her natural ambition often led her into unchristian feelings and +tempers. Then, when humbled and discouraged, and doubtful whether she +really was a child of God at all, some simple, loving remark of Amy's +would drive away the clouds, and she would come again, in penitence +and faith, to drink of the living water which alone can quench human +thirst. + +Sometimes the spiritual beauty of her little cousin's expression, and +her growing ripeness for a better country, would awaken a feeling of +regret that Amy was not more like other children, lest indeed she +might be ripening for an early removal. Yet the thought would recur: +"Amy is not fit for the roughness of the world; why should I wish her +stay upon it, instead of going home to rest in her Saviour's bosom?" + +Fred had paid a short visit to his sister as soon as his college +vacation commenced, but he had made an engagement for the summer as a +tutor, and he was obliged to hasten away to his duties before Lucy had +said half of what she wished to say, or asked his advice on half the +subjects on which she had been longing for it. However, short as his +visit was, it was very useful as well as very pleasant, reviving old +thoughts and habits of feeling which were in danger of falling into +the background, and stimulating her to follow the example of a brother +who was so stedfastly bent on following his Lord. + +As the time for the summer examinations at Mrs. Wilmot's drew near, +Lucy, bent on carrying off two or three of the prizes, redoubled her +application to her studies; but she allowed her desire to accomplish +her object to carry her too far. All her thoughts, all her time, were +so engrossed by it, that she had none to spare for anything else. She +would not join her cousins in any of their innocent recreations, and +became impatient and irritable when she met with claims upon her time +that could not be set aside. Even the Lord's day at last began to seem +an interruption to the work in which she was so eager. Her too intense +application began to affect her health: she was growing so nervous, +that Stella would sometimes declare that she was changing her +identity, and could not be the same Lucy Raymond as of old. Lucy could +indeed feel the change in herself, and this only increased the +irritation, instead of leading her to remove the cause, by moderating +the ambition which was leading her to a blameable excess in what would +otherwise have been praiseworthy diligence. But just at that time the +coveted prizes seemed to throw everything else into the shade, and she +had no watchful, judicious friend, to point out, in timely warning, +the snare into which she was falling. + +Even little Amy, for the first time, occasionally found herself +impatiently put aside, and her requests to be read to met with, "Not +now, Amy; I haven't time. Don't tease me now, like a good child;" and +would steal away, with a surprised look in her soft eyes, wondering +how it could be that Cousin Lucy should not have time to read to her +about Jesus. + +One of the prizes on which Lucy had most set her heart was that to be +given for History, one of her favourite studies. In ancient and +classical history she had been very thoroughly grounded by her father, +and had nothing to fear, most of the principal events being familiar +to her as household words. But her knowledge of modern history was not +so extensive, and she had a great deal of hard study before she could +feel at all at ease in competing with her classmates, some of whom +were considerably older than herself, and had given most of their +attention to modern history, the division in which the greater number +of questions were asked. + +Lucy had studied with so much diligence, and her daily recitations +were always so good, that she had great hopes of taking the first +prize; and her master, with whom she was a great favourite, did not +conceal his expectation of her success. Just the day before the +examination, when looking over the list of subjects for revision, she +found, to her dismay, that she had unaccountably overlooked one of +those prescribed. It was quite too late to hope to repair the omission +satisfactorily, but she hastily procured the proper book, and set to +work at once, to try to gain such a general knowledge of the subject +as would enable her to reply to the questions that were certain to be +asked upon it. But her overtasked mind refused to grasp the words that +swam before her eyes; and a headache, which had been annoying her for +days, became so severe, that she was obliged to shut the book and +throw herself on the bed, her oppressed mind relieving itself in a +burst of tears. + +While she was still crying, Amy came in, and, going up to her, stroked +her cheek with her loving little hands. "Are you hurt, Cousin Lucy?" +she asked wonderingly; and as her cousin shook her head, she asked in +a lower tone, "Were you naughty, Cousin Lucy?"--these being to her the +only conceivable causes for sorrow. + +"Yes, Amy, I've been naughty!" exclaimed Lucy impetuously. She saw now +how wrong she had been in allowing herself to be so led away by her +ambition, as to have sacrificed to it all else, even her habit of +watching in faith for + + "The service that Thy love appoints." + +Numerous instances rushed upon her mind, in which she had turned aside +from opportunities of usefulness, of showing kindness and forbearance +to others; she had been letting her oil run out, and her lamp burnt +faint and dim, and all that she might gain this petty prize, which she +was likely to lose after all! Had she not, in yielding to her peculiar +temptation, allowed herself to become as worldly as those whom in her +heart she had been condemning? + +Amy's gentle voice came to awaken more soothing thoughts. "But why do +you cry so, Lucy?" she said. "Won't Jesus forgive you, and make you +good?" + +Lucy's "bread upon the waters" had come back to her in spiritual +comfort, just when she most needed it. She put her arms round her +little monitor, and, as she kissed her, her thoughts formed an earnest +prayer that her Lord would indeed forgive her, and help her to begin +again, wiser for her experience, and strong in looking to Him for +strength. + +The quiet hours which her headache enforced were of great service to +her, in giving her time for thought and resolution. When at last she +rose, and arranged her hair to go down-stairs, her heart had grown so +much lighter and calmer, that she felt more like herself than she had +done for months, and she could now leave the matter of the prizes, +without undue anxiety, with Him who knew what was best for her, and +who, she was sure, would not refuse her any good thing. + +The examination in history was the first to come off. When Lucy looked +at the list of questions, she found that several of them were on the +part of the subject she had overlooked, and that these she could not +answer at all. She felt that all chance of the prize was over; but she +did not allow her mind to dwell on this circumstance, but wrote her +replies to the other questions, with a calmness and clearness which +would have been quite beyond her power, had she allowed herself to +remain in a condition of feverish suspense. + +When the examiners' decision was made known, it was found that the +first prize had been awarded to Miss Eastwood, who was quite taken by +surprise at receiving it; but that, as Miss Raymond's paper had been +so good in all except a very few points, the second prize, awarded to +her, was considered almost equal to the first. This was much better +than Lucy had expected; and as she received two first prizes in +subjects where she had felt by no means sure of success, she was on +the whole very well satisfied, as was Fred also, when her joyful +letter informed him of the result. + +Stella announced Lucy's success at home with almost as much pleasure +as if the success had been her own. Edwin congratulated her with +rather more animation than he was in the habit of showing, and Ada +declared that "It must be nice to be so smart." + +"Yes; but Lucy has been injuring her health by her close study," +remarked the more observant Sophy. "Look at her now, how pale and thin +she is, compared with what she was when she came!" + +"Oh, the holidays will set me all right again," Lucy declared, +laughing; but Mrs. Brooke decided that Lucy needed immediate change of +air. She had been hoping to be able to spend her holidays at Ashleigh, +among her old friends; and as the Brookes were all going to a +fashionable seaside resort, it seemed likely that nothing would occur +to prevent the hoped-for visit. But Amy's cough, as well as other +symptoms of delicacy of the lungs, had increased so much, that the +doctor declared the sea-air too keen for her, and that she had better +be sent, during the warm season, to a quiet inland place in the +neighbourhood, the air of which he thought particularly suited to her +constitution. But of course Amy could not be sent there alone, and +none of the rest would have been willing to give up their proposed +visit to the seaside, except Mrs. Brooke, who could not be spared from +her duties to her other daughters. + +Lucy therefore seemed the one who should accompany Amy, and she +herself felt that it was an occasion on which she might make some +return for the kindness she had met with in her uncle's family. So +her visit to Ashleigh was given up, and Amy's delight at finding that +she was to accompany her to Oakvale, was enough to make her forget any +disappointment which her decision had involved. They were to be +received into the family of a friend of the doctor's, a widow lady, +who frequently received invalids as boarders, with whom little Amy +would receive all the care and comfort she needed. + +A few days before their departure, Lucy at last received, through +Bessie Ford, the address of Nelly Connor's mistress. Stella, who, +notwithstanding her raillery at Lucy's _protegee_, had a sort of +latent interest in Nelly, from her association with her pleasant visit +to Ashleigh, accompanied her cousin in her long walk to look for the +house. On reaching it at last, tired and hot, the door was opened, not +by Nelly, as Lucy had hoped, but by an unprepossessing-looking woman, +whose hard face grew more rigid when informed what was the object of +her visit. + +"You needn't come here to look for her," she replied grimly; "she's +left this some time since, and I don't never want to set eyes on her +again." + +"Is she not here, then? Where is she gone?" + +"I don't know," was the reply, "and I don't want to know. A girl that +could behave as she done to one who took such pains with her, and kept +her so long, ain't a girl to my taste. I wash my hands of her." + +"But perhaps you could tell us what place she went to from you?" +persisted Lucy. "I am a friend of hers, and would like to find her +out." + +"Well, she is no credit to her friends," said the woman, rather +pleased at being able to give her a bad character where it might be of +some consequence. "And as for the vagrant character she went off with, +I'd be very sorry to have any acquaintance with him." + +Finding the uselessness of prosecuting her inquiries there, Lucy bade +Mrs. Williams good-day, feeling sure that Nelly's conduct had been +misrepresented,--an opinion shared by Stella, who had taken a strong +dislike to the woman's grim demeanour and spiteful tone,--and very +sorry for having lost the only clue to her _protegee_ once more. + + + + +XIII. + +_A Friendship._ + + "We had been girlish friends, + With hearts that, like the summer's half-oped buds, + Grew close, and hived their sweetness for each other." + + +Lucy and Amy were soon settled in Mrs. Browne's pleasant little +cottage at Oakvale, a pretty sheltered village surrounded by hills, +clothed principally with noble oaks, whence it derived its name. Mrs. +Browne's house lay a little way out of the village, amid green fields +and lanes, which, after the hot, dusty city streets, were +inexpressibly refreshing to Lucy, recalling old times at Ashleigh. + +Mrs. Browne was a kind, motherly person, a doctor's widow, herself +possessing a good deal of medical skill, which rendered her house +especially eligible for invalids, and she established a careful watch +over little Amy, whose very precarious condition her practised eye saw +at a glance. Whenever the child, feeling better than usual, would have +overtasked her failing strength in the quiet country rambles, which +were such a delightful novelty to one who had scarcely ever been +really in the country before, and when Lucy's inexperience might have +allowed her to injure herself without knowing it, Mrs. Browne would +interpose a gentle warning, which was always cheerfully obeyed. It was +with some surprise, indeed, that she noticed with what perfect +submission the little girl bore all the deprivations of innocent +pleasure which her weak state compelled, as well as the feverish +languor which often oppressed her in the hot August days. This +submission arose from the implicit belief which, child as she was, she +had, that everything that befell her was ordered by the kind Saviour, +who would send nothing that was not for her real good. Such a belief, +fully realized, would soon relieve most of us from the fretting cares +and corroding anxieties that arise from our "taking thought" about +things we cannot control. + +"I never saw a child like her," Mrs. Browne would say; "indeed, she's +more like an angel than a child, and it's my belief she'll soon be one +in reality. And I'm sure heaven's more the place for her than this +rough world." + +However, Amy seemed to improve under the healthful influences of +Oakvale, living almost wholly in the fresh open air, perfumed with +mignonette and other sweet summer flowers, sitting with Lucy under the +trees before Mrs. Browne's house, or in her shady verandah, where, +even on the warmest day, there was a breeze to cool the sultry air. +Lucy would read to her, sometimes some of Longfellow's simpler poems, +out of one of her prize-books, and sometimes out of more juvenile +story-books brought down for Amy's benefit, who was never tired of +hearing her favourites read over and over again, to which she would +listen with an abstracted, thoughtful expression, as if she were +interpreting the story in a spiritual fashion of her own. "Heaven is +about us in our infancy," says the poet; and it is nearer to some +children, by the grace of God, than older people often imagine. + +When Lucy wanted to read to herself, Amy would amuse herself quietly +for hours, dressing her dolls, and looking over the illustrations in +her story-books, supplying the story from memory. Lucy conscientiously +kept up her practising on Mrs. Browne's piano, and always ended by +playing and singing some hymns for Amy, who was passionately fond of +music, and loved to try to sing too, with her sweet, feeble voice. + +As Mrs. Browne, having but one servant, had a great deal to do +herself, Lucy volunteered to assist her a little. She had always been +accustomed to perform some household tasks at home, and it was quite +an amusement to her and Amy, bringing back old days of her childhood, +to vary their mornings by shelling the peas for dinner, or, when it +was not too warm, picking the fruit for Mrs. Browne's preserves. So +pleasant did Lucy find it, that she thought her city cousins really +missed a good deal of enjoyment, in never, by any chance, employing +themselves in anything of the kind, even when the busy servants were +really over-worked. Indeed it is somewhat surprising that domestics go +on as contentedly as they do in their constant treadmill of labour, +often too much for their strength, when so many healthy members of the +families for whose benefit they toil spend so large a portion of their +time in luxurious idleness, or in mere pleasure-seeking. + +In the fresh, cool morning, after their early breakfast, and in the +evening, when the heat of the day was over, Lucy and Amy always went +for a short ramble, climbing a little way up one of the hill-paths, or +wandering by the side of the stream, which, fringed with elm and +birch, wound through the village that lay on both sides of it, the +river being crossed in two or three places by rustic bridges. From the +point on the hillside which generally formed the limit of their walk, +and where they used to sit on a mossy stone to rest, they had an +extensive view over the surrounding country, diversified with +corn-fields, orchards, and deep green woods, and dotted with +farmhouses, while close at their feet lay the white cluster of +village-houses, with a few of higher pretensions scattered here and +there on the green slopes by the river-side, among their shrubberies +and embowering trees. + +The fields were beginning to wear the deeper and richer hues of +approaching autumn, and it was a perpetual pleasure to watch the +rippling motion of the golden grain waving in the breeze, or the rapid +changes of light and shade on the fields and woods, as the clouds +passed swiftly over the sky. To watch these were their morning +pleasures; but better still, perhaps, they loved the quiet sunset +hours, when the glowing tints of the sky seemed to clothe the +landscape in an unearthly glory, and then gradually each bright hue +would fade out from the sky and from the land below, leaving the scene +to the solemn repose of the shadowy evening, broken only by the +flitting fireflies, or to the flood of silver light shed by the rising +moon. But Amy was never to be allowed to be out in the night air, so +that their rambles had to be over before the damp night dews. They +generally found Mrs. Browne standing at the gate, awaiting their +return, anxious lest her charge should have ventured to remain out too +long. + +More than a week of their stay had passed rapidly by, when, one +evening that Lucy and Amy were spending in wandering by the river, the +former suddenly recognised approaching them the familiar form of her +classmate, Miss Eastwood, the winner of the first history prize. The +recognition was of course mutual, and in the surprise of meeting so +unexpectedly, and in explanations of how it had come about, the two +girls exchanged more words than they had ever done when in the same +classes at Mrs. Wilmot's. + +"And you did not know Oakvale was my home?" said Mary Eastwood, when +Lucy had told how she and her cousin came to be there. Lucy had never +heard where Miss Eastwood's home was, and it had not occurred to her +to connect the Dr. Eastwood, of whom Mrs. Browne often spoke, with the +name of her classmate. Mary showed them her father's house, +beautifully situated on the opposite sloping bank of the river, which, +with its shady trees and white gate, reminded her a good deal of her +own old home, though the house was larger and handsomer. Dr. Eastwood, +who was with his daughter, looked at little Amy with a good deal of +interest, asking a number of questions, while he held her delicate +hand in his, and watched her fair, pale face with his keen eye. He and +Mary walked back with them to Mrs. Browne's cottage, promising to come +and see them soon, and inviting them to visit Mary. + +This unexpected rencontre greatly added to Lucy's enjoyment of her +stay at Oakvale. The cousins very soon had the pleasure of spending an +afternoon in Dr. Eastwood's family,--a Christian household after +Lucy's own heart. Now that the first stiffness of their +school-relations had been brushed off by the surprise of their +meeting, the two girls found each other delightful companions, and +soon became fast friends. It was the first time Lucy had ever found a +congenial companion of her own sex, and their friendship afforded a +new and ever-increasing delight. They saw each other every day, and +often spent the long summer mornings, alike pleasantly and profitably, +in reading aloud by turns, from some interesting and improving book +out of Dr. Eastwood's excellent library. Mrs. Eastwood often sat by, +also enjoying the reading, and, by her judicious remarks, directing +the minds of her young companions to profitable thought. The book +selected was often a religious one, such as some people would have +considered only fit for Sundays; but it was not the less interesting +to them on that account, and gave rise to some of their happiest +discussions, when each perceived, with delight, how thoroughly the +other could appreciate and reciprocate her own deepest feelings. +Little Amy would listen attentively at such times, showing by her +interest that she comprehended more of what was said than could have +been expected. But whenever Mrs. Eastwood thought the conversation +beyond her depth, or her mind too much excited, she would send her +away to play with her own younger children, who were always glad to +place all their toys at her disposal, and do all in their power for +her amusement. + +At Dr. Eastwood's the readings generally went on under a spreading +walnut-tree on the lawn, and Amy would roam at large with the +children, or come and rest within hearing, just as she liked. +Sometimes she would lie still for hours on the cushions which Mrs. +Eastwood had laid on the grass for her benefit, gazing through the +flickering green leaves into the blue depths of the sky, her earnest +eyes looking as if they penetrated beyond things visible, and held +communion with thoughts not suggested by any mortal voice. + +Often in the afternoons, while Amy was safe and happy with her little +friends, Mary and Lucy would take a walk of some miles, carrying +perhaps some message or comfort for some of Dr. Eastwood's poor +patients, or driving with him on some of his distant rounds, or rowing +in a boat on the river with one of Mary's brothers, to gather +water-lilies, and bring home their snowy or golden flowers in their +waxlike beauty to delight little Amy, who was sensitively alive to all +natural loveliness. + +During these expeditions the two girls discussed almost every +conceivable topic of mutual interest, and gave each other the history +of their previous lives, though Mary's had flowed on almost as +uneventfully as Lucy's had done previous to her father's death. They +compared notes as to their favourite books, poetry, and theories, +their tastes being sufficiently different to give rise to many a +pleasant, good-humoured controversy. Sometimes, when deeper chords +were touched, they confided to each other some of their spiritual +history,--what influences had first brought them to know a Saviour's +love, and then led their hearts to Him who had given Himself for them. +Mary, who had a little class of her own at Oakvale, listened with +much interest to the account of Miss Preston's parting words to her +class, and the influence they had had on her scholars. + +About her dear departed father, too, and the beloved home-circle, Lucy +had much to tell. She said much less about the Brooke family; and +Mary, who could understand how little congenial was the atmosphere of +her uncle's house, respected her reticence. Lucy felt that she had no +right to communicate any unfavourable impression of those from whom +she had received so much kindness, and whose hospitality and kindness +she had enjoyed so long. + +"I always felt as if I wanted to know you better, Mary, when we were +at Mrs. Wilmot's," said Lucy one evening, as they were returning home +from a woodland walk, laden with wild-flowers and ferns. Mary coloured +a little, and hesitated. + +"I'm afraid I was very stiff and selfish, Lucy dear," she replied; +"but mamma used to give me so many cautions about mingling with +worldly people, that I thought it was best to keep apart from them +altogether. And I was told Mr. Brooke's family were so gay and +worldly, that I supposed you must be so too; and so I thought I ought +not to get into any intimacy that might lead me into temptation." + +"I suppose it is right to try to keep out of temptation," said Lucy +thoughtfully. + +"Yes; but now I can see that I wasn't right in being so distrustful as +to be afraid of what came naturally in my way. Mamma says that to be +afraid of what may involve temptation, when God's providence, +rightfully construed, leads us into it, is something like the dread +which keeps people from doing their duty in cases of infection; +whereas they should trust that, so long as they do not expose +themselves to it wilfully and needlessly, God will care for them in +the path by which He leads them, as well as in circumstances which +look more secure." + +"Yes, I'm sure that's true," said Lucy, thinking of what Fred had said +to her when she had felt afraid to venture into the temptations of her +uncle's house. "But then, whenever we get over our fear and feel +secure, we are sure to fall into some snare." + +"Yes," replied her friend, "because we forget our own dependence on +Christ for strength, and begin to walk in our own, instead of looking +to Him continually for help." + +"Do you know," said Lucy, "one of my greatest temptations was studying +for the history prize! I was so determined to have it--so set upon +it--that I let it come before everything else, and forgot to ask to be +kept from temptation in it, till, just before the examination, I found +I had forgotten part of what was to be studied; and then, in my +disappointment, I found out how wrong I had been." + +"Oh," exclaimed Mary, "I was almost sorry I got the first prize, which +I hadn't been expecting at all, for I was sure you would be dreadfully +disappointed. You had worked so hard for it--harder than I did." + +"No, I wasn't disappointed then; I was sure I shouldn't get it, and +didn't expect even the second prize; and I felt quite satisfied that +it should be so, for I had been working in so wrong a spirit, that I +could not have felt happy in getting the prize that had led me +astray." + +"Well, it's a relief to my mind to hear you say so," replied Mary, +laughing, "for I felt quite guilty whenever I looked at that book, +feeling as if I had by some incomprehensible accident taken it from +the one who really deserved it." + +Mary had as yet known but few temptations. Her life had been so calm +and sheltered, that she had had no experience of contrary winds, and +her natural disposition was so equable, that she had very little +consciously to struggle against. Perhaps her chief temptation lay in a +tendency to placid contemplative Christianity, without sufficient +active interest in others; and Lucy's opposite qualities acted as a +counteracting stimulus, while Mary's peaceful spirit of trusting faith +calmed and soothed Lucy's rather impatient disposition. Thus in all +true loving Christian companionship we may help each other on, making +up what is lacking in one another by mutual edification. + +One warm Sunday evening, after a very sultry day, Lucy and Amy were +sitting together in Mrs. Browne's verandah. Mary had just left them, +having walked home with Lucy from the evening service, and they had +been discussing the sermon, which had been chiefly on sin and its +hatefulness in the sight of God, as well as upon the fountain opened +to remove it. After she was gone, they had sat for some time in +silence, watching the fireflies glancing in and out of the dark trees. +Suddenly Amy said, "Lucy, do you expect to go to heaven when you die, +for sure?" + +"I am quite sure there is nothing to prevent my going there," said +Lucy, "for I know Jesus is able and willing to take me there." + +"Shall I go there when I die, Lucy?" she asked, with a solemn +earnestness that went to her cousin's heart. + +"Why should you not, dear Amy, when Jesus died that you might?" + +"But 'God will not look upon sin,' the Bible says, and I have a sinful +heart; I feel it," replied the child. + +"Well, why should Jesus have died for you if you had not? It was just +to take away sin that Jesus came to suffer." + +"But it isn't taken away; I know it's there," persisted Amy, who had +evidently been distressing herself with the question how a heart, +sinful on earth, could be fit for the pure atmosphere of heaven. + +Lucy explained, to the best of her knowledge and ability, that while +sin still clings to our mortal natures, Jesus has broken its power for +ever, and taken away its condemnation, so that when we receive Him +into our hearts by faith, God no longer looks upon us as sinful and +rebellious children, but as reconciled through the blood of Christ. +And the same blood will also purify our hearts; and when soul and body +are for ever separated, the last stain of sin will be taken away from +the ransomed spirit. + +Amy listened, and seemed satisfied,--at least she never recurred to +the subject; and, so far as Lucy knew, it was the last time that any +perplexing doubts clouded the sunshine of her happy, childlike faith. + +Pleasant as were the days of their stay at Oakvale, they came at last, +like all earthly things, to an end. The warm August weather had passed +away, and the September breezes blew cool and fresh, permitting them +to ramble about with comfort even during the hours which they had +before been obliged to spend entirely in the shade. The seaside party +had already been settled at home for a week or two, before it was +thought advisable that Amy should be brought back to the city. At +last, however, the summons came, and Lucy spent the last two or three +days in revisiting for the last time all the favourite haunts where +she had spent so many happy hours. She and her friend did not, +however, permit themselves to repine at the ending of what had been to +them both such a very delightful resting-place in their life-journey; +since + + "Not enjoyment and not sorrow + Is our destined end or way; + But to live, that each to-morrow + Finds us farther than to-day." + +Mary, who had delayed her own return to school on her friend's +account, was to accompany them to town, to begin her last year at Mrs. +Wilmot's. + +Amy had seemed so well during their stay at Oakvale, that Lucy had +become hopeful of her complete recovery. But Dr. Eastwood warned her +that the improvement might be merely temporary, and that in any case +it was, in his judgment, impossible that Amy could ever be quite +strong and well. "And I don't know," he said kindly to Lucy, who felt +a sharp pang at the thought of losing her dear little cousin, "that it +is well to set your heart on the prolongation of a life which can +scarcely be anything but one of weakness and suffering." + +So with many mingled feelings of hope, and fear, and regret, and many +kind farewells from all their Oakvale friends, the young party took +their departure, and found themselves soon again among city sights and +sounds. + + + + +XIV. + +_An Unexpected Recognition._ + + "For love's a flower that will not die + For lack of leafy screen; + And Christian hope can cheer the eye + That ne'er saw vernal green. + Then be ye sure that love can bless + Even in this crowded loneliness, + Where ever-moving myriads seem to say, + Go! thou art naught to us, nor we to thee; away!" + + +Mr. Brooke met the young travellers at the station, anxious about his +youngest daughter, whose improved appearance he was much pleased to +note; and Stella met them at the door with every demonstration of +delight. "It has been so dull here without you!" she exclaimed; "the +house seems so quiet, after all the fun we have been having at the +seaside. I've been teasing papa to let me go for you, and I would have +gone if you hadn't come soon!" + +She was looking prettier than ever, Lucy thought; so blooming, and +gay, and graceful, after her seaside sojourn. Her cousin could not +wonder that she won her way to most people's hearts, and was forced to +admit the contrast between her and her fragile little sister, whose +faint bloom even now did not remove the appearance of ill-health. But +there was on her pale face a spiritual beauty, a repose and peace, +which Stella, in all the loveliness of a pure rose-tinted complexion, +lustrous eyes, and gleaming golden hair, did not possess. It was the +reflection, outwardly, of the "peace of God which passeth +understanding." + +Stella talked all the evening without ceasing, and at night +accompanied Lucy to her room, there to go on talking still, enlarging, +in a lively, amusing strain, on the adventures of their seaside life; +the "fun," the "splendid bathing," the people who were there, their +dress, manners, and conversation; all the flirtations she had +observed, with the quick eye of a girl who as yet has no personal +interest in such matters. When at last Stella paused in her own +narration to ask questions about Oakvale, Lucy gladly took advantage +of the break to insist on postponing all further conversation until +the morrow, especially as, she urged, they were keeping Amy from the +sleep she needed so much after her long journey, and accustomed as she +had lately been to early hours. Lucy indeed felt determined that the +same thing must not happen again on any account, as the consequences +to Amy of having her mind and nervous system excited so late at night, +when she was always too much disposed to wakefulness, might be +exceedingly injurious. + +"Oh, how I wish Stella were more like dear Mary!" thought Lucy, as she +laid her head on her pillow, and compared Mary's kind thoughtfulness +with Stella's impulsive, flighty giddiness. As to externals, Stella +had very much the advantage, for Mary Eastwood could not be called +pretty, and was rather reserved in manner with those whom she did not +know well; but Lucy could not help feeling Mary's great superiority as +a companion, when she compared the state of mind in which Stella's +stream of gossip had left her, with the elevating, stimulating +tendency of her conversations with Mary on subjects more worthy of +immortal beings. They seemed mutually to draw each other on to a +sphere far above the petty frivolities on which so many fritter away +powers given for higher ends. Even when they did not touch on topics +directly religious, they seemed to be far nearer the Light that is +"inaccessible and full of glory," when discussing the working of God's +laws and providence in nature and history, than if their minds had +been lowered and discoloured by dwelling on the faults, follies, and +petty concerns of their neighbours. + +Sophy, who had been a little fagged and worn out by her incessant +round of gaiety, previous to her going to the seaside, was now looking +more brilliantly handsome, Lucy thought, than she had ever seen her. +Stella had informed her that Sophy's betrothed had been at the seaside +with them. "And oh, he's so delightful, you can't think! So handsome, +and good-natured, and obliging! I can tell you, Sophy looked proud of +him there! He gave her the loveliest emerald set; you'll see her wear +them. And I'm pretty sure they're to be married next spring, though +she won't tell me; but I'll coax it out of Ada." + +Lucy thought Sophy must be very happy; yet she could not help thinking +if both she and her lover were really Christians, how much happier +they would be! Nothing Stella had said led her to suppose that he was; +and if he were, what an alloy of anxiety and separation in the most +important points would mar the perfection of love! + +It was with increased zest, and a fuller appreciation of the interest +and value of her studies, that Lucy entered upon them once more. The +happy weeks at Oakvale had been of permanent benefit to her, in +opening new channels of thought and enlarging her sphere of mental +vision, both through the books she had been reading, and the comments +of Dr. and Mrs. Eastwood, both of whom had thoughtful, cultivated +minds. She now studied with very little reference to prizes, or even +the approbation of masters, but from a deep interest in the studies +themselves, and a feeling of their beneficial effect in leading her to +higher ranges of thought. Every new attainment was but a step to a +fresh starting-point in the never-ending pursuit of knowledge; and +Longfellow's beautiful lines often recurred to her mind,-- + + "The lofty pyramids of stone, + That, wedge-like, cleave the desert airs, + When nearer seen and better known, + Are but gigantic flights of stairs." + +Then the feeling grew to be more and more strong with her, that every +new acquisition--every step in mental discipline which God had given +her the opportunity of making--was a talent to be held in trust and +used in His service. Mrs. Eastwood had explained that, though we may +often have to study during the years of school life without seeing +what special use we may be called to make of our acquisitions, still +God will undoubtedly find some use for whatever power we have gained +while following the leading of His providence. "Therefore," she would +say, "the doubt whether such and such a thing will ever be of any use +to us is no excuse for sloth in acquiring it, when it is clearly our +duty to do so." + +Her studies were rendered doubly interesting by the companionship of +Mary Eastwood, who was animated by the same spirit, and in whose +friendship she found her greatest pleasure during the winter. Stella +was rather surprised at the affectionate greeting between her cousin +and Miss Eastwood the first day they met at school, for she had +scarcely given Lucy an opportunity of telling her more than that they +had met often at Oakvale. + +"Well, to think of your having all at once struck up such a violent +friendship with that stiff, quiet Miss Eastwood!" exclaimed Stella, +who thought her cousin's choice of a friend rather unaccountable. +Lucy's efforts to draw together her cousin and her friend were +unsuccessful, and perhaps this was quite as much Mary's fault as +Stella's, arising from her strong feeling against cultivating intimacy +with any one who was "of the world." It was almost the only practical +point on which she and Lucy disagreed, for Lucy tried to persuade her +that she might do real good if she would come more in contact with her +irreligious schoolmates. But Mary replied that this might do for some, +but she did not feel strong enough,--she might herself be led away. +She was not yet fully persuaded in her own mind. + +So Lucy gave up the point, and had a somewhat difficult position to +maintain between her cousin and her friend,--not that Mary was ever +jealous, but Stella did not at all like the affection her friends to +be diverted towards any one else; indeed, it was the only thing that +ever seemed really to a "put her out." She was conscious to some +extent that a much deeper sympathy existed between Lucy and Miss +Eastwood than between Lucy and her, and she feared that if it +increased, her cousin's regard for her must necessarily diminish. + +One bright, sunny October day, when the air was clear and bracing, and +the wind was tossing the red leaves that fell from the trees in the +squares, Lucy and Stella were on their way home from school, when they +heard at a slight distance the plaintive strains of a hand-organ, +carried by a meagre, careworn Italian, who seemed to be working his +instrument mechanically, while his eye had a fixed, sad, stedfast +gaze, unconscious, seemingly, of anything around him. Lucy was looking +compassionately at the dark, sorrowful face, and wondering what his +previous history might have been, when her eye was suddenly caught by +the familiar form and face of the girl who stood by with her +tambourine, singing a simple ditty, which somehow brought old days at +Ashleigh back to her mind. The figure she saw, though arrayed in +tattered garments, and the face, though sunburnt to a deep brown, were +not so much altered as to prevent almost instant recognition. Lucy +grasped Stella's arm, and exclaimed, "Why, it's Nelly!" and before the +astonished Stella comprehended her meaning, she hastily stepped +forward towards the tambourine-girl, who almost at the same moment +stopped singing and sprang forward, exclaiming, "Oh, it's Miss Lucy, +her own self!" + +Both were quite unconscious, in their surprise, of the bystanders +around them; but Stella was by no means so insensible to the +situation, and was somewhat scandalized at being connected with such a +scene "in the street." She begged Lucy to ask Nelly to follow them +home, which was not far off, and then they could have any number of +explanations at leisure. Lucy at once assented, and asked Nelly if she +could be spared for a little while. With a happy face, flushed with +her surprise and delight, Nelly went up to the organ-grinder and said +a few words, at which he smiled and nodded. She then followed her +friends home at a respectful distance, while the man went on his way +from house to house. + +Nelly's explanation of her present odd circumstances was very simple, +and, on the whole, satisfactory. In the hot July weather, when she +felt her overtasked strength failing, and could scarcely manage to +drag herself about to perform her daily round of duty, often scolded +for doing it inefficiently, the poor organ-grinder came one day with a +face more sorrowful than ever, and told Nelly, weeping, that his +daughter--his _povera picciola_--had been carried off by one of those +sudden attacks that so soon run their course and snap the thread of +weakly lives. He was so lonely now, he said, he could not bear it! +Would Nelly come and be his daughter, and take poor Teresa's forsaken +tambourine? She had a voice sweet as Teresa's own, and he would teach +her to sing when he played. She should have no hard work, and no +scolding, and they would take care of each other. + +It was a tempting offer to poor Nelly, pining under continual chilling +indifference and fault-finding. While she was hesitating, her +mistress, hearing a strange voice in the kitchen, came down in wrath +to dismiss the intruder, who rose instantly at the sound of her harsh +voice. "I go, signora," he said in his foreign English, "and this girl +goes with me. You give her too hard work and hard words. I will take +care for her, and she shall be to me as the _povera_ who is dead! +Come, _picciola_!" + +Mrs. Williams had by this time so far recovered from her amazement as +to find voice enough to demand of Nelly whether she was really going +to be so ungrateful as to leave a place where she had been so kindly +treated, and ruin herself for life, by going off with a wandering +character like that. But Nelly's reply was ready. "You said, ma'am, +you'd have to send me away because I couldn't do your work properly. +So I think I'd better go." + +And hurriedly collecting her few possessions, she was ready in two +minutes to accompany her newly-found protector. Mrs. Williams +endeavoured to detain her, threatening to "take the law of her." But +Nelly was determined. Anything was better than remaining there; and +Mrs. Williams, who was somewhat overawed by the Italian's determined +eye, gave up what she saw was a vain attempt. She shut the door after +them with expressive force, and then went up-stairs to discourse to +her daughter on the incredible ingratitude and heartlessness of such +creatures. + +Nelly had faithfully served Mrs. Williams to the utmost of her +strength and ability for five months, and her mistress had in return +given her food of the poorest quality, and one old print dress of her +own, worn almost to tatters. Yet Mrs. Williams, having herself a +pretty hard struggle to make both ends meet, was at least more +excusable than those who, themselves abounding in wealth and luxury, +grind down, so far as they can, the poor hirelings who may be in their +power. + +Since then Nelly had faithfully followed the poor Italian, whom, at +his own desire, she called "_padre_." It did not to her mean the same +as "father," nor would she have given to any one else the name sacred +to her own unforgotten father. But she was to the poor man as a +daughter; and her brown face, though still thin, had lost the pining, +wistful look which had been previously habitual to it. Lucy observed +the glow of pleasure that lighted up her face when she heard again the +familiar sound of the organ in the distance. The _padre_ was very good +to her, she said, and though they often had long weary rounds, with a +scant allowance of pennies, they always had enough to eat; and +hitherto it had been very pleasant, and she had no hard scrubbing or +washing to do. + +"I'd have died soon, Miss Lucy, if I'd stayed at Mrs. Williams'. Was +it wrong to come away?" + +Lucy could not say it was, in spite of the irregularity of the +precedent. + +"But the _padre_ won't be able to go about in the winter time, Miss +Lucy, for he has such a cough and pain in his breast whenever he gets +wet or cold; and some days he's hardly able to play his organ, and +then I don't know what he'll do. What could I do, Miss Lucy, to help +him?" + +Lucy promised to consider the matter. She had obtained leave to give +the organ-grinder and Nelly a good substantial meal in the kitchen, +which was greatly relished by both. She took down the name of the +street in which they lived, and got a minute description of the house, +promising soon to visit them. The man was evidently far from strong, +and his bright, hollow eye and haggard face, sometimes unnaturally +flushed, betokened too surely incipient disease. + +"And why did you never come to see me, Nelly? You knew where I was," +said Lucy, as they were going away. + +"Oh, Miss Lucy," exclaimed Nelly eagerly, "but I did, three times, but +you weren't in; I was ashamed to come any more. The last times they +said you were away in the country." + +"But why didn't you leave word where you were living, and I would have +found you out?" + +"Oh, Miss Lucy, I couldn't think you'd be at the trouble of coming to +see me!" + +"Well, I will come, though, now I know where you live," said Lucy as +she bade them good-bye. + +Little Amy had been very much interested in the history of Nelly, as +Lucy had told it to her, and had come down to see her. She stood by, +putting her thin hand on hers, and looking up wonderingly in her face, +exciting Nelly's compassion and interest by her sweet, delicate look. +"She's more like an angel than Miss Stella, though I used to think her +like one," thought Nelly. + +Amy asked many questions about Nelly and the "poor man," and begged +Lucy to take her when she went to see them. But so long a walk was out +of the question for Amy, nor would her mother have consented to let +either her or Stella go to such a quarter of the city. Even Lucy's +going was a matter for some consideration, but she begged hard to be +allowed to fulfil her promise. At last Edwin good-naturedly said he +"didn't mind going with Lucy, to see that she wasn't carried off for +her clothes, like the little girl in the story-books;" and they made +the expedition together, her cousin waiting outside while Lucy paid +her most welcome visit. + +They found the place a very quiet one, and the street, though poor, +not at all disreputable. Edwin gave the best account of it he could, +that Lucy might be able in future, without his escort, to visit Nelly, +as she occasionally did, accompanied by her friend Mary Eastwood, who +sometimes spent the Saturday afternoon with her at Mr. Brooke's. Their +visits and little gifts of money were very timely, for the poor +organ-grinder was growing less and less able to persevere in his +uncertain calling; and though Nelly was practising plain sewing, that +she might be able to earn something herself, it was not likely that +her exertions could bring in much. + +In these visits to Nelly the two friends soon found out other poor +people in the same locality, even more urgently needing a kind word +and a helping hand. In work of this kind, as in most other things, "it +is only the first step which costs." One has only to make a beginning, +and straightway one case leads to another, and that interest grows +with the work, until to some happy and highly-privileged people it +really becomes their meat and drink thus to do their Father's +business. + +This new kind of work was a great interest to Lucy, and in planning +how best to aid the poor in whom she was interested, and in diligent +and happy study, the autumn months passed rapidly away. + + + + +XV. + +_The Flower Fadeth._ + + "And yet His words mean more than they, + And yet He owns their praise; + Why should we think He turns away + From infants' simple lays?" + + +As the autumn deepened into winter, bringing cold, damp days, and +chilling, keen winds, little Amy's strength seemed steadily to +decrease, notwithstanding all the care taken to reinforce it by the +most nourishing diet that money could command. Every delicacy that +could tempt her appetite, every kind of nourishment that could +strengthen her system, was tried, without success. Dr. Eastwood had +been right in his augury, that her seeming improvement had been only +temporary, and that the delicately-organized constitution was not +meant for the wear and tear of long life. So evident at last did the +decline become, that a consultation was held as to whether it would +not be advisable to remove her for the winter to a warmer climate; +but the more experienced physicians were decidedly of opinion that +taking her away from her home and family would be a needless cruelty, +and that, since no human skill could now arrest the disease, it was +better to leave the little patient to live, as long as she might, +surrounded by the comforts and the kind nursing at home. This opinion +was not fully communicated to her parents, but they instinctively +felt, what was really the case, that their child was only left in +their home because she must ere long be removed from it for ever. + +Lucy had long taught herself to think of such an issue as at least a +probability; but her cousins by no means realized the advanced state +of Amy's disease. They persuaded themselves that, with care, she would +"get over" her delicacy, and they would not even think of the +possibility of a fatal termination of it. One cause of this was +probably the circumstance that the winter gaieties had commenced, and +that invitations, parties, and dress were now uppermost in their +minds. Had they been convinced that their little sister was dying, +they could hardly have had the heart to join in their usual round of +gaiety; but they easily persuaded themselves of the contrary, and felt +no scruples about going on as usual. + +Stella, who had shot up almost to womanly height within the last year, +had assumed the dress and appearance of a "young lady," as +distinguished from a little girl. The foretaste of gay life she had +had at the seaside had made her impatient to plunge into it at once, +and she besieged her parents with entreaties that she might be allowed +to "come out" that winter. She succeeded so far with her father, who +could seldom deny her anything, as to obtain leave to go to as many +private parties as she could, without interfering with her studies. +But of course, with a limit so indefinite, the bounds were often +overstepped. Her love of gaiety only grew with the indulgence of the +taste, and she felt really unhappy when she had to see her sisters go +to a party without her. + +But late hours and excitement very soon affected a constitution which +had never before been so severely tried; and as she would conceal any +indisposition when she thought it might keep her at home, the +consequences sometimes became serious. At last, her rashness in going +out, thinly dressed, one cold winter evening, when she was already +suffering from a slight cold, brought on a severe attack of +inflammation of the lungs, by which she was prostrated for several +weeks, and which left behind a slight cough. This, the doctor warned +her, would require the utmost care, to prevent its growing into what +might prove very serious indeed. + +Lucy, of course, owing to her deep mourning, and the school-work which +engrossed her mind and time, had had no temptation to mingle in any of +her cousins' amusements, though, had it been otherwise, she could not +conscientiously have frequented scenes of amusement which she had been +taught by her father to consider unworthy of those who have made up +their minds to leave all and follow Christ. For the same reason, she +had refused Stella's urgent solicitations to accompany her in +occasional visits to the opera and theatre, places of which her father +had often told her the spiritual atmosphere was entirely foreign to +that in which Christians should seek ever to dwell. Though Stella's +glowing descriptions sometimes excited the longing to see the magic +sights and hear the magnificent music of which they told, she felt +that she could not sincerely pray, "Lead us not into temptation," if +she wilfully went into it; nor could she from the heart have asked her +Saviour's blessing on the evening's amusement. + +During the general engrossment of the household with Stella's alarming +attack, Amy's rapid sinking of strength was not for some time much +noticed, except by Lucy, who felt, in spite of her hopes, that the end +was drawing near. + +Lucy had been forbidden to speak to her little cousin about death, as +if the avoidance of the thought could have anything to do with +delaying the event; but happily there was no need for doing so, since +her little heart was evidently resting on her Saviour, and she was +thus prepared for whatever He should send her. Her childlike faith, +and her vivid realization of heavenly things, seemed to grow stronger +as her bodily strength failed; and though she never specially referred +to death, the approach of which a child is not able to realize, her +mind was evidently full of thoughts about heaven, about its glories +and occupations, about Him who is "the resurrection and the life." She +was always asking questions about the childhood of Jesus,--questions +which Lucy often found it impossible to answer,--and was never tired +of hearing the few passages in the New Testament which referred to it. + +Some instances of childish sin seemed to weigh upon her conscience; +but Lucy reminded her that the Lamb of God had washed away her sins +with His own blood, and that the moment we come to Him by faith, we +are sure of the forgiveness of past sin, as well as of deliverance +from its present power. This perfectly satisfied her, and nothing else +seemed to trouble her. + +The little girl was intensely interested in the poor Italian, who was +sinking almost as fast as she was. He seldom now stirred from his +chair in the warmest corner of the room, and his cough had become +terribly harassing, especially at night. His breathing, too, was much +oppressed; and poor Nelly had often a heavy heart, as the conviction +forced itself upon her that she was about to lose the kind friend and +protector around whom her warm heart had closely entwined itself. She +tried hard to earn a little for his support and her own, by the sewing +which she occasionally got, often from people nearly as poor as +herself; but her utmost exertions in this way would not have sufficed +to keep them from starvation, had it not been for the timely aid +brought by Lucy and by Mary Eastwood, whose well-supplied purse was +always ready to furnish what was needed for their comfort. Lucy had +very little to give of her own, but Mrs. Brooke was sufficiently +interested in her account of the case to be very willing to help, for +she was not at all indisposed to benevolent actions, if she had had +the energy to discover the way. Amy, too, always insisted that a +portion of the delicacies prepared for her should be kept for "the +poor organ-grinder;" and one of her greatest pleasures was in hearing +from Lucy how the invalid liked what had been sent him, and how +gratefully he sent his thanks to the little "signorina." She asked +Lucy whether the poor man loved Jesus, and would go to heaven when he +died, and seemed much grieved at hearing of his praying to the Virgin, +the mother of Jesus. + +"What a pity!" she would say, "for she can't hear him, nor save him, +can she? And so his prayers will be of no use!" + +She lay still for a short time, considering the matter, and then said, +as if a ray of comfort had come to her, "But Jesus can hear him, and +perhaps He will give him what he needs, though he didn't ask Him." + +Lucy would hope so too, and agree with her that when he got to heaven +he would know better; for she had reason to believe, notwithstanding +Antonio's prayers to the Virgin,--the remnant of the superstitious +faith he had held from childhood,--that he was nevertheless gradually +coming to the knowledge of the Saviour as the only mediator and +sacrifice for sin. Nelly's treasured card was fastened up +conspicuously in their little room, and the rich colours in which the +text "Looking unto Jesus" was printed, pleased the Italian's southern +love of colour, and led his eye often to rest upon it, as he spent the +long hours sitting wearily in his chair. And gradually he came to +attach some real meaning to the words, which at first he had regarded +merely as a pleasant thing to look at. Nelly would sometimes tell him +some of the things Miss Preston said to her about it, which clung +tenaciously to her memory; and how the thought that Jesus was her +Friend and Saviour, to whom she must always look in her need, had been +her one comfort when left friendless and alone. She often read to him +a chapter out of the little Bible which was Lucy's parting gift when +she left Ashleigh, and had ever since been Nelly's dearest treasure. +And he would always listen with deep interest to the history of the +wonderful life which has come home to the hearts of thousands in all +the centuries which have elapsed since it was lived among the hills +and valleys of Palestine. He loved to hear Nelly sing, in her rich, +sweet voice, her favourite hymn, "I lay my sins on Jesus," and would +sometimes try to join in the strains himself as well as his feebleness +would let him. He showed his appreciation of the motto, in his own +way, by placing his crucifix above the card, and he would sit for +hours gazing silently at both. + +Lucy, in her frequent visits, often read to him the passages which +bear most directly on the love of Christ, and the full and free +forgiveness of sin through Him; and she sometimes added simple +comments of her own, preferring, however, in general, to leave God's +words to work their own way into his heart. His church prejudices she +never ventured to touch, feeling that to do so might arouse them +against the reception of the simple gospel, and do him harm, by +exciting his mind injuriously and bewildering him with conflicting +opinions. She avoided all collision with ideas which had been so long +closely intertwined with the only ideas of religion he had, feeling +sure that the light of gospel truth, once introduced into the heart, +would sooner or later disperse the darkness of error by its own power. + +Except for the one dark foreboding, that became, month by month, and +week by week, more distinct, these would have been very happy days for +Nelly. Her warm Irish heart found scope for its action, in +continually ministering to the comfort of one to whom she was bound by +ties of love and gratitude, and no harsh or unkind word now fell upon +her ear. The poor Italian, always of a gentle nature, except when +influenced by passion, had ever treated her with indulgent kindness, +and she had given him her warm affection in return. Her assiduous +attentions were labours of love, and so was the needlework at which +she stitched away with diligent though unpractised hands. Coarse, hard +sewing it was; but Nelly did not mind that, in the feeling that she +was earning something, however small. While she sat plying her needle +through the short days and long evenings of the winter, the invalid's +thoughts would wander back to long past, but unforgotten days, and he +would amuse Nelly with little bits of his past history. He would +describe, over and over again, his childhood's home in the lovely +_Riviera_, where the intense azure of the sky, and the pure sapphire +of the Mediterranean, contrasted sharply with the white glitter of the +rocks as they emerged in bold relief from their drapery of rich, +deep-hued vegetation. He would tell her about the white Italian +village, nestling among the vine-clad terraces and sloping hill-sides +clad with olive and myrtle, and about the trellised house where he was +born, and his father's little vineyard, where the rich purple and +amber clusters, such as little Amy now sent him as costly luxuries, +hung down in rich masses which any hand could pick. Such descriptions +were intensely fascinating to Nelly's quick Celtic imagination, and +she would speak in her turn of the breezy slopes by the sea where she +had so often played in days she could still vividly remember; of the +aromatic scent of the burning heaps of sea-weed, whose smouldering +fires she used to fan; of the fresh, bracing sea-air, and dancing blue +waves with their snowy crests of foam, and the distant white sails +winging their way to some unknown haven. + +Their talk always took a sadder tone when the Italian spoke of his +later life, and told how he left his quiet village, hoping to make his +fortune in the great world as a musician; how his hopes had been +gradually crushed down, and he wandered from place to place till he +emigrated to America, where the deadly cholera carried off his wife +and her infant boy, leaving him only his little daughter; how, since +then, dispirited and weary, he had managed to pick up a living as best +he could, gradually forsaking more ambitious instruments for his +barrel-organ, till the tide of life, gradually running low, was +reduced to its lowest ebb by the shock of his daughter's death, +superadded to the decline which had long been insidiously undermining +his system. + +"But it will soon be over now, my child," he said,--"all the trouble +and the nursing. You have been very good to the poor _forestiere_ +since the _povera_ went to the blessed saints. I shall soon see her +again, and Anita, and the little Giulio, in the better country that +the _signorina_ was reading about,--better, she says, than the +_patria_ itself, with its olives and vines. Ah! I think I see it +again, when I dream." + +Such a speech as this always melted poor Nelly into tears; and, seeing +the pain it gave her, he did not often refer to his approaching death. +To Lucy, however, he sometimes spoke of his concern for the future lot +of his adopted daughter, who was again to be left desolate. Lucy +herself had been thinking a good deal about it, and wondering whether +she could induce her aunt to take Nelly. Amy, however, arranged the +matter unexpectedly. She had been asking Lucy, with great earnestness, +what poor Nelly would do when the organ-grinder should die; and when +Mrs. Brooke next came into the room, she surprised her with the +question, "Mamma, may Nelly come and live here when the organ-grinder +dies?" + +Mrs. Brooke looked bewildered, until Lucy explained the matter. She +hesitated, and would have put Amy off with the promise that she "would +see about it." But Amy was so anxious to have the point settled, that +her mother at last gave the absolute promise she asked; and Lucy had +the satisfaction of announcing to poor Antonio, the next time she +visited him, to his great relief and satisfaction, that Nelly's future +home, so long as she desired it, should be with Mrs. Brooke. + + + + +XVI. + +_Darkness and Light._ + + "Tell me the old, old story, + If you would really be + In any time of trouble + A comforter to me." + + +Fred came to town for a few days in his Christmas vacation, just as +Stella was beginning to recover from the severe attack which had +prostrated her. Mr. Brooke's house being so full of sickness, Lucy, +though very unwilling to leave Amy, thought it best, on Fred's +account, to accept an urgent invitation from the Eastwoods that they +should both spend a week at Oakvale. He would thus have a pleasanter +vacation than under the circumstances he could have at his uncle's, +where he felt himself in the way, and where Lucy had so many demands +upon her time that she could see but little of a brother whose visits +were so rare. The change of scene was very much needed by her, for the +confinement and fatigue of her sick-room attendance had had a +depressing influence on her health and spirits. + +It was certainly, in spite of all her anxiety about Amy, a very +enjoyable change to the bright, cheerful, Christian atmosphere of Dr. +Eastwood's house, and the bracing influence of the outdoor exercise in +which the others made her participate. She felt as if it were wrong to +enjoy it so much, when Amy, she knew, was dying, and Stella as yet in +so precarious a condition. But God sometimes gives, in very trying +circumstances, a buoyancy and cheerfulness of feeling quite +independent of the circumstances, which seem specially sent to +communicate a strength that will be greatly needed in approaching days +of trial,--a pleasant "land of Beulah," before the watchers stand +quite on the shore of "the dark river." And it can never be right +sullenly to close the heart in determined sadness against the cheering +influences of God's light, and air, and bright sunshine; nor can we +usually, if we would, act so foolishly and ungratefully. That happy +week at Oakvale often seemed to Lucy a sort of oasis of sunshine, as +compared with the depressing weeks that preceded and followed it. + +Oakvale looked scarcely less beautiful now that the surrounding hills +wore their white mantle of snow, contrasting with the intense blue of +the winter sky and the dark green of the pines, while the little river +lay, a strip of glittering ice, under the trees, leafless now, which +overshadowed its ceaseless ripple in the warm summer days. The young +party had pleasant sleigh-rides to see old favourite spots in their +winter aspect, and Fred joined the younger children in their skating +and snowballing, though he enjoyed much more the walks in which he +accompanied his sister and her friend. Mary and he got on as well as +Lucy had expected, although she was disappointed that, after their +visit was over, she could not draw from him any enthusiastic praise +of Miss Eastwood; at which she would have been a little vexed, but for +the reflection that Fred, unlike most people, never said the half of +what he thought. He did not, however, leave Oakvale without a promise +to renew his visit during the summer vacation. + +Lucy, on her return home, found her little cousin evidently sinking +fast. Her strength was almost exhausted, and she suffered a good deal +from pain and restlessness; but scarcely a complaint ever escaped her +lips. She often talked now about going to Jesus, the thought on which +her mind seemed most to dwell. Mrs. Brooke, seeing this, at last sent +for the minister whose church the family usually attended on Sundays, +that being the extent of their connection with it. But he was a +stranger to Amy,--for his ministerial visits had never been desired or +encouraged,--and though she was grateful to him for coming to see her +and praying beside her bed, she could not speak to him, as she could +to Lucy, about her willingness to go to the happy home which her +Saviour was preparing for her. Still her visitor could see enough of +the change God had wrought in her heart, to make him marvel, as he +took his leave, at the wonderful way in which God sometimes raises up +to Himself a witness in the most worldly homes, and perfects praise +"out of the mouth of babes and sucklings." + +The little invalid was sometimes slightly delirious when the hectic +fever was at its height, but her wandering fancies were always of +gentle and pleasant things. She would ask if they did not hear the +sweet singing in her room; and when Lucy would ask what was sung, +would say, "Jerusalem," meaning "Jerusalem the Golden," her favourite +hymn next to the one she loved best of all, "I lay my sins on Jesus." + +One night, when she had been asleep for some time, with Lucy only +watching beside her, she suddenly awoke, a flash of joy lighting up +her face. "Lucy," she murmured faintly; but when Lucy bent over her, +she could catch but one word--"Jesus." Lucy saw a change come over her +countenance, which she had seen once before, and ere the others, +hastily summoned, could be with her, the little form lay lifeless, its +immortal tenant having escaped to the heavenly home, whither she had +been longing to go. + +No one could help being thankful that the sufferings of the patient +little invalid were over. Indeed, with the exception of Mrs. Brooke, +Lucy, and Stella, no one showed any profound grief for the death of a +child who had always been very much secluded, and but little +appreciated. But Mrs. Brooke's sorrow was mingled with some +self-reproach that she had not been to her departed child all that a +mother should have been, and she suffered now for the wilfulness +which, when deprived of one blessing, had turned petulantly from +another. Lucy constantly missed her little favourite, and her sorrow +for the loss of her father, never quite removed, seemed revived anew +by her cousin's death. But she could feel that Amy was infinitely +happier in her heavenly home than she could ever have been on earth; +and she felt not only that she should join her there, but also that +there might be an intercourse and communion of spirit in Christ, +incomprehensible to those who look only to things "seen and +temporal." + +It was Lucy's greatest solace to visit poor Antonio, and speak to him +of Amy's concern for him, and her desire that he should find rest and +peace in the love of that Saviour in whom she had so fully trusted. He +was deeply touched on hearing some of the things she had said, and the +tears came to his eyes when he spoke of her kindness in sending so +many things for his comfort. + +"But," he said with deep feeling, "it was very different for a +blessed, innocent child like her, and a sinful man like me." Lucy +explained that all are under the condemnation of sin, since none are +without it; and that no sins are too great to be taken away by the +Lamb of God once offered as a sacrifice for "the sin of the world." He +listened silently, while an expression of hope stole over his haggard +countenance; and Nelly told Miss Lucy, with much pleasure, that after +that he prayed much less to the Virgin, and his prayers were more +generally spontaneous ejaculations, expressing the deeply-felt need of +a Redeemer. + +Stella's grief for her little sister, partly owing, perhaps, to her +physical weakness, had seemed more violent than that of any one else. +The paroxysms of hysterical crying which frequently came on, and an +aversion to take necessary nourishment, very much retarded her +recovery, and prevented her regaining strength. As the acuteness of +her sorrow gradually wore itself out, the unaccustomed feelings of +weakness and depression brought on fits of fretfulness, in which all +Lucy's forbearance was called for; but she remembered how +good-naturedly her cousin had borne with her own fit of nervous +irritability, and she generally managed to soothe and pacify her, even +when she was most unreasonable, and tired out the patience of both +Sophy and Ada. + +After the first few weeks had passed, the shadowy hush and solemnity +brought by death gradually passed away, and except for the deep black +crape of the dresses, and the abstinence from all gaieties, the family +life seemed to have returned to its former tone. So far as external +signs went, there was no more realizing sense of that invisible world +to which one of their number had gone--no more "looking unto" Him who +had been her support in the dark valley--than there had been before. +And when a bereavement does not draw the heart nearer to God, there is +every reason to fear that it drives it farther from Him. + +But another heavy sorrow, to one at least of the number, soon +followed. One wild, stormy morning in March, when the letters were, as +usual, brought in at breakfast-time, Sophy quickly looked up for the +welcome letter, with its firm, manly superscription, which regularly +appeared twice or thrice a-week. There was one with the usual +postmark, but in a different handwriting, and addressed not to her, +but to Mr. Brooke. Sophy's misgivings were awakened at once, and on +seeing her father's expression as he hurriedly glanced through the +letter, she forgot her usual self-control, and exclaimed in agitated +tones, "O papa, what is it?" But his only reply was to lead her from +the room, signing to his wife to follow. + +Sophy did not appear again that day, and the atmosphere of gloom +seemed again to descend over the house. Lucy waited long alone, not +liking to intrude upon the family distress, till Stella at last +returned, still hysterically sobbing. + +"They say 'troubles never come singly,'" she said, "and I'm sure it's +true. Poor Sophy! Mr. Langton has been killed by the upsetting of his +carriage. The horse ran away, and he fell on his head, and never spoke +again. Poor Sophy is almost insensible. I don't believe she +understands yet what has happened. Oh, what will she do?" + +Lucy's heart was repeating the same question. All her sympathies were +called forth by so crushing a sorrow, and as she could do nothing else +for her cousin, she prayed earnestly that He who could, would bind up +the broken heart. + +Sophy remained for two days in her own room, and then came down again +to join the family circle, evidently trying her best to avoid any +outward demonstration of sorrow, though her deadly paleness, and eyes +which looked as if they never closed, told how acutely she was +suffering. She was not of a nature to encourage or even bear sympathy, +and almost resented any instance of special consideration which seemed +to spring from pity for her great sorrow. + +It was only when shut up in her own room that she gave way to the +bursts of agonized feeling which, to some extent, relieved the +constant pressure upon her heart. When in the family, she seemed to +seek constant employment, not in the light reading in which she had +been accustomed to indulge, but in books requiring much more thought, +and even some effort to master them. Lucy's class-books were called +into requisition, and her drawing was resumed, though she now shrank +from touching the disused piano. She had a good deal of artistic +talent; and had art ever been placed before her as an ennobling +pursuit, she might have attained very considerable excellence in some +of its departments. But hitherto she had confined herself to the +execution of a few graceful trifles, since her drawing-lessons had +been given up on leaving school. Now, however, she seemed to have +taken a fresh start, and copied studies and practised touches +indefatigably, without speaking or moving for hours. + +She would sit, too, for half the morning apparently absorbed in a +book; but Lucy noticed that, while thus seemingly occupied, she would +gaze abstractedly at a page for long intervals without seeming to turn +a leaf or get a line farther on. Lucy longed to be able to direct the +mourner to the "balm in Gilead," whose efficacy she knew by +experience,--to the kind Physician who can bind up so tenderly the +wounds that other healers cannot touch without aggravating. But she +dared not utter a word of the sympathies of which her heart was full, +and could only pray that a Higher Hand might deal with the sufferer. + +One wet Sunday evening in April, Lucy came down in her waterproof +cloak and rubbers, ready to set out for the neighbouring church, the +one to which she had gone on the first Sunday of her arrival, and +which she frequently attended when the weather was unfavourable, or +when she had to go alone. She was not sorry when circumstances made +this desirable, for she enjoyed the service and the sermon more than +she did at the church the family usually attended. The words of the +preacher seemed to come with more power and tenderness,--perhaps +because he had himself been brought through much tribulation to know +the God of all consolation, and had thus been made able to comfort +others "by the comfort wherewith he himself was comforted of God." At +all events, it was certain that of the consolation abounding in Christ +he was an earnest and able expounder. + +"What! are you going out when it is so very wet?" asked Stella, as her +cousin entered the room. Sophy, who had been gazing moodily into the +fire over the book she was holding, started up, saying, "I think I'll +go with you, Lucy. Wait a few minutes for me." Her mother remonstrated +a little; but Sophy's restless longing for change and action of some +kind was often uncontrollable, and the two girls set out through the +wind and rain, clinging closely together to support each other on the +wet and slippery pavement. + +How earnestly Lucy prayed in silence, as they traversed the short +distance, that the preacher they were going to hear might have a +special message to the troubled, heavy heart beside her, and how +intensely did she listen to the prayers the minister offered up, to +catch any petitions that might seem suited to her cousin's need! She +was slightly disappointed when he announced his text, "O Israel, thou +hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help found," for she had +hoped that it would be one of the many beautiful, comforting passages +in which the New Testament abounds. But her disappointment wore off as +he proceeded with his discourse. + +He first briefly sketched the history of the rebellion of Israel in +departing from the God of her help, and in transferring to the idols +of the heathen the allegiance which was due to the living God. He +vividly described the "destruction" which must be the natural result +of such a departure from the source of her highest life. Then he spoke +of the means by which God sought to bring her back,--of the purifying +judgments which He sent, in love and mercy, to restore her to +spiritual health, and of the inexhaustible supply of "help," of tender +compassion and restoring power, with which He was ready to meet her on +her return. + +Having finished this part of his subject, he drew a striking parallel +between the ancient Israel and the multitudes of human beings in every +age, who, instead of loving and serving the living God with all their +soul, are continually setting up for themselves earthly idols of every +variety, which fill up His place in their hearts, and exclude Him from +their thoughts. Wealth, splendour, position, power, fame, +pleasure,--even man's highest earthly blessing, human love +itself,--were set up and worshipped, as if they contained for their +worshipper the highest end and happiness of his soul. What was the +cause of all the broken hearts and blighted lives from which is +continually ascending such a wailing symphony of sorrow without hope? +What but the perverse determination of the heart to find repose +elsewhere than in its true resting-place,--to set up the very +blessings which flow from the hand of its God in the place of the +Giver? + +Then, in a few touching, earnest words, he showed how God must often, +in mercy to the soul, send severe judgments and afflictions to bring +the wanderers back to their "Help;" and of the depths of compassion, +of love, of tenderness, of healing, of purest happiness, which were +to be found in that divine Helper, who hath said, "Come unto me, all +ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." + +Never had Lucy heard the speaker more impressive, and she thanked God +in her heart her cousin should have been brought to listen to truths +which she had probably never before heard with any real understanding +of them. Sophy sat back in a corner of the seat, her head resting on +her hand, and her face hidden in her thick black veil. She remained +almost motionless until the sermon was concluded, and then they +silently left the church, Lucy not daring to speak to her. + +Before they reached home, however, Sophy suddenly broke the silence by +saying, in a low, agitated voice: + +"Lucy, you seem to be what people call a Christian. Can you say, from +your own heart and experience, that you believe all that is true about +Christ giving such peace and comfort in trouble?" + +Lucy replied, earnestly and sincerely, that she could,--that she had +felt that peace and comfort when sorrow had been sent her. + +"And how does it come? how do you get it?" Sophy asked. + +"I don't know any other way, Sophy dear, than by going to Him and +believing His own words. They often seem to come straight from Him, as +a message of comfort." + +Nothing more was said, but from that time Sophy's Bible was often in +her hands. Its study, indeed, took the place of her other self-chosen +labours, and she read it with an attention and interest it had never +awakened before. That she did not study it in vain, seemed evident in +her softened, gentler manner, in the more peaceful expression of her +countenance, and in the quiet thoughtfulness which she began to show +for others. She would sometimes ask Lucy what she thought about a +passage of Scripture in which she was interested, and the few words +she said about it would give her cousin a clue to the working of her +mind. But her habitual reserve had not yet worn off, and Lucy did not +venture to trespass upon it. + +She expressed a desire to accompany Lucy in some of her visits to the +poor Italian, who was perceptibly sinking fast with the advancing +spring. He had, however, grown much in trust in his Saviour, and in +spiritual knowledge, especially since Lucy had procured for him an +Italian Bible, which he could read with much more ease and profit than +an English one. He seemed now to have a deep sense of the evil of his +past careless life, when even the external forms of religion had been +given up, and he had been, like the prodigal, wandering in a far +country. + +"And how good is the Father in heaven, that He has a welcome home and +a fatted calf for His wanderer!" he would say earnestly, the tears +rising to the dark lustrous eyes, that sparkled so brightly in the +pale, sunken face. + +Sophy listened, half wonderingly, half wistfully, to the few and +broken, but earnest words in which he told of the pardon and peace he +had found in "Looking unto Jesus." "I see the blessed words there all +the day," he said, pointing to the wall, "and they make me glad." + +"Lucy, you have a card like that," said Sophy, as they left the house. +"I wish you would give it to me to keep in my room, to remind me of +that poor man's words." + +Lucy gladly complied with the request, though she missed her card a +good deal, and hoped that its motto might be of use to its new owner. +Sophy, however, painted the motto in much more elaborate and beautiful +workmanship, had it framed and glazed, and hung it up in her cousin's +room one day while she was out, with a little slip of paper attached, +bearing the inscription, "With Sophy's love and hearty thanks." + +One lovely day in May, when all nature seemed rejoicing in the +gladness of the approaching summer, Lucy went as usual to visit +Antonio, carrying some of the delicacies which Mrs. Brooke still +continued to send him, chiefly for Amy's sake. How often might the +rich greatly alleviate the sufferings of sickness in poverty, by +timely gifts of luxuries, which at such a time are almost necessaries, +yet which the poor cannot buy! + +Lucy found the patient unable now to rise, and struggling with the +suffocating sensation of oppressed breathing. He could scarcely speak, +but he listened with pleasure to the few words she read to him; and as +she left him, he pressed her hand convulsively, saying in a low, +expressive tone, "Good-bye." + +Lucy felt she should not see him again in life, and was not surprised +when Nelly came next day, crying bitterly, to tell her that her +adopted father's weary pilgrimage was ended. + +The poor girl remained in the now desolate home only until the simple +funeral was over, and then entered Mrs. Brooke's family, where her +warm, grateful heart found comfort in doing everything she could for +Miss Lucy, whose presence made her new place seem again a home. + + + + +XVII. + +_Home Again._ + + "And this was once my home; + The leaves, light rustling, o'er me whisper clear, + The sun but shines on thee where thou dost roam, + It smiled upon thee here!" + + +Stella had been losing instead of gaining strength since the warm +weather came on, and her parents were now really alarmed about her, +and were considering what would be the best and most bracing place to +send her to during the heat of the summer. But Stella, with an +invalid's capricious fancy, had formed a plan of her own, and she +insisted, with all her old wilfulness, on its being carried out. It +was, that Lucy and she should go together to Ashleigh, to stay at Mill +Bank Farm, if Mrs. Ford would consent to receive them as boarders. Her +former visit was connected in her mind with pure, healthful, and happy +associations, and she thought that the fresh country air, which she so +well remembered, and the delicious milk from Mrs. Ford's sleek cows, +would do her more good than anything else. It need not be said that +the project was a delightful one for Lucy; and as Ashleigh was +certainly a healthy place, it was decided that they should go thither +under the escort of Fred, who also wished to pay a short visit to his +old home. Bessie wrote that her mother would be delighted to receive +them; and Stella, with more of her old light-heartedness than she had +shown for a long time, hurried the preparations for her journey. + +Nelly was to remain in the house with a kind, trustworthy woman during +the absence of the rest of the family at the seaside. Although she was +sorry to lose her dear Miss Lucy, she was much interested in the +circumstance that she was going to Ashleigh, and sent many grateful +messages to Mrs. Ford and Bessie. To the latter she sent a present of +a little silk necktie, bought, with great satisfaction, out of her +first wages. + +Any one who has ever revisited a dearly loved home can easily imagine +Lucy's delight, when from the deck of the steamboat her straining eyes +caught the first glimpse of the white houses of Ashleigh and the grey +church on the hill; can imagine her delight at recognising the +well-known faces, and the familiar objects which, after her long +absence, seemed so strangely natural! But the happiness of being once +more among scenes so associated with early and happy recollections was +not untinged with sadness; for the vividness with which the old life +was recalled made the changes seem as vivid also, and stirred up in +all its acuteness the sense of loss, which had of late been partially +deadened by the exciting changes of her present life. Every step +called up her father's image with intense force in scenes so +interwoven with her memories of him. It was strange to see the house +which had been her home from infancy tenanted by strangers, and to +miss all the familiar faces of the home circle, whom she had almost +expected to find there still. It gave her a dreary sense of +loneliness, even in the midst of the many kind friends who were eager +to welcome back, both for her father's sake and her own, the daughter +of their beloved pastor. + +Stella's highest spirits seemed to return when she found herself +driving rapidly along the road to the farm in the conveyance which +Bessie and her eldest brother--whom Lucy would scarcely have +recognised--had brought to meet them. Bessie was not much changed. Her +good-humoured face had more sweetness and earnestness of expression +than it had once worn, and her manner at home had the considerate, +half-maternal air of an eldest daughter. Mrs. Ford, too, was less +bustling, with a quiet repose about her hospitable kindliness that +gave a feeling of rest and comfort, and was the result of being less +"cumbered about much serving," and more disposed to let her heart +dwell on the "better part," on which she now set a truer value. A more +perceptible regard for it, indeed, pervaded, the whole family, and +Bessie and her brother were, both of them, Sunday-school teachers now. + +Mrs. Ford and Bessie were much shocked at the change in Stella, whose +blooming appearance they well remembered. Lucy, had become so +accustomed to her cousin's altered looks, that she thought her looking +rather better than usual, under the influence of the change and +excitement. But Mrs. Ford shook her head mournfully over her in +private. "She looks to me in a decline," she said to her husband. +"I'm afraid she hasn't many years before her in this world!" + +But another change besides the external one had come over her, so +gradually that Lucy had not observed it till now, when the place +brought back so vividly the recollection of the gay, flippant Stella +of old. She had certainly grown more thoughtful, more quiet, even more +serious; and Lucy observed that her former levity had quite departed, +and that a flippant remark never now fell from her lips. Her old +wilfulness of manner continued to characterize her, but it was owing +chiefly to the caprice of disease. She was shy of joining in religious +conversation, but seemed to listen with great interest whenever Lucy +and Bessie spoke to each other of things connected with the "life +hidden with Christ in God." At such times she would look as if she +were trying to gain a clue to a mystery which puzzled, and yet +intensely interested her. + +It was with mingled pleasure and sadness that Lucy once more took her +seat in her father's church, and listened to the voice of another from +his old pulpit. His successor, Mr. Edwards, though a man of a +different stamp, resembled him a good deal in the earnestness of his +spirit and the simplicity of his gospel preaching. The message was the +same, though the mode of delivering it was slightly different. He +received with kindness and courtesy the daughter of his predecessor, +and invited her during her stay to take a share in the teaching of the +Sunday school,--an invitation which she willingly accepted, and had +the pleasure of finding in her new class a few of her old scholars. + +As Stella had a fancy for seeing the Sunday school, Lucy accepted the +invitation, given to them both by Mr. Edwards, to spend with his +family the interval between the morning and evening service. Stella's +zeal for seeing the Sunday school, however, died out with the first +Sunday; and after that she always remained with Mrs. Edwards, who, +being very delicate, and having a young infant, had been obliged to +resign her own class, the one now taken by Lucy. Mrs. Edwards was a +sweet, gentle woman, overflowing with Christian love and kindness; and +as Stella at once took a great fancy to her, she exercised a very +beneficial influence over one who was much more easily swayed by +kindness than by any other power. + +The celebration of the Lord's Supper was approaching, and as Bessie +was looking forward to participating for the first time in the holy +ordinance, Lucy gladly embraced the opportunity of making a formal +confession of her faith in Christ, and claiming the blessing attached +to the ordinance by Him who instituted it. It was pleasant, too, to do +so in the very place in which He had first, by the cords of love, +drawn her heart to Himself. Solemn as she knew the step to be, she had +lived too long on the principle of "looking unto Jesus" not to feel +that she had only to look to Him still to give her the fitting +preparation of heart for receiving the tokens of His broken body and +shed blood; and in this happy confidence she came forward to obey His +dying command. + +Stella had seemed much interested about the approaching communion, and +had asked a good many questions respecting it, and as to the nature of +the qualification for worthily partaking in it. At last, much to +Lucy's surprise, she asked her, with a timidity altogether new to +her, whether she thought _she_ might come forward also. + +It was with difficulty that Lucy could restrain the expression of her +surprise at the unexpected question, but she did repress it, and +replied: + +"It all depends on whether you have made up your mind to take Jesus +for your Lord and Saviour, and to follow Him, dear Stella!" + +"I should like to, if I knew how," she said. "I have been speaking to +Mrs. Edwards about it, and she thinks I might come. I know I'm not +what I ought to be, and that I've been very careless and wicked; but +Mrs. Edwards says if I'm really in earnest, and I think I am, I may +come to the communion, and that I shall be made fit, if I ask to be." + +Lucy had not lost her faith in the Hearer and Answerer of prayer, but +she had been so long accustomed to regard Stella as one who "cared for +none of these things," that she could scarcely believe in the reality +of so sudden a change. But it was not so very sudden, and Lucy's own +earnestness and simple faith had been one means of bringing it about. +Her daily intercourse with her cousin had, in spite of herself, +impressed Stella gradually with a conviction of the importance of what +she felt to be all-important. And Stella's illness and subsequent +weakness, with perhaps a sense of her precarious tenure of life, had +combined to make her realize its importance to herself personally, +more than she had ever done before. Amy's happy death had made her +feel how blessed a thing was that trust in Jesus which could remove +all fear of the mysterious change, so awful to those who have their +hope only in the visible world. Indeed, she told Lucy that one of her +chief reasons for wishing to come to Ashleigh was the vague feeling, +derived from her recollections of her former visit, that it would be +easier for her to be a Christian in a place so closely associated with +her first impressions of living Christianity. And He who never turns +away from any who seek Him, had answered her expectations, and sent +her a true helper in Mrs. Edwards, whose simple words seemed to come +to her with peculiar power; for, from some hidden sympathy of feeling, +one person often seems more specially adapted to help us on than +another, and Mrs. Edwards had been a special helper to Stella. + +Lucy, when she found her cousin so much in earnest, did not dare to +advise her on her own responsibility. Stella felt rather afraid of a +conversation with Mr. Edwards, but her cousin told her that he was the +best person to give her counsel in the matter. Her fear of him soon +vanished when the conversation was really entered upon, and she found +that she could speak to him much more freely than she had previously +thought. He talked with her long and kindly, and finding that she had +really a deep sense of sin, and that she desired to come to Christ in +humble penitence to have her sins forgiven and her darkness +enlightened, he felt that he had no right to discourage her from the +ordinance which is specially designed to enlighten and strengthen. At +the same time, he took care to explain to her most fully the nature of +the solemn vows in which she would take upon herself the +responsibilities and obligations of a follower of Christ. + +It was with a quiet, serious humility, very different from the former +mien of the once careless Stella, that she, with Lucy and Bessie, +reverently approached the Lord's table, where He graciously meets His +people, and gives the blessings suited to their special needs. As they +left the church at the close of the service, and Lucy glanced at her +cousin, whose delicacy was made more perceptible by the deep black of +her dress, she thought that, notwithstanding the loss of bloom and +brightness, the expression of serene happiness that now rested on her +face gave it a nobler beauty than she had ever seen it wear before. + +Before the stay of the cousins at Ashleigh came to an end, Lucy and +Bessie had the great pleasure of meeting once more their old teacher, +Mrs. Harris, who had come to pay a short visit to her former home. +What a pleasant meeting it was, and with what grateful gladness Mrs. +Harris found out how well her old scholars had followed out their +watchword, may easily be imagined; as well as the interest with which +the story of poor Nelly's changeful life and steady faith in the +Saviour, of whom Miss Preston had first told her, was narrated and +heard. + +Lucy did not forget to visit Nelly's stepmother, whose circumstances +remained much the same as in former times. She did not seem much +gratified by Lucy's praises of Nelly's good conduct. She had always +predicted that Nelly would "come to no good," and she did not like to +have her opinions in such matters proved fallacious. Lucy, however, +rather enjoyed dilating upon Nelly's industry and usefulness, that +Mrs. Connor might feel the mistake she had made, even in a worldly +point of view, by her heartless conduct. + +When the heat of the summer was subsiding into the coolness of +September, Lucy and Stella prepared to return home,--not, however, +without having revisited all the spots which had been the scenes of +former excursions, and, in particular, the scene of the "strawberry +picnic," where every little event of the happy summer afternoon, now +so long past, was eagerly recalled. + +"And do you remember, Lucy," asked Stella, "how hateful I was about +poor Nelly, when we discovered her here? Oh, how wicked and heartless +I used to be in those days! And I don't believe I should ever have +been any better if you hadn't come to live with us!" + +Her physical health had been very much benefited by her sojourn in the +country, under the kind, motherly care of Mrs. Ford, who had fed her +with cream and new milk till she declared she had grown quite fat. +That, however, was only a relative expression. She was still very far +from being the plump, blooming Stella of former times. + +But the chief benefit she had gained was not to be discerned by the +outward eye. It lay deep in her heart--the "pearl of great price," +which her wandering spirit had at last sought and found. + + + + +XVIII. + +_A Farewell Chapter._ + + "Come near and bless us when we wake. + Ere through the world our way we take, + Till in the ocean of Thy love + We lose ourselves in heaven above." + + +Though Mr. and Mrs. Brooke marked with much delight the improved +appearance of their darling Stella, her medical attendant was far from +considering the improvement a radical one, and strongly advised that +she should be removed to a warmer climate for the winter. On her +account, therefore, as well as on that of Sophy, who very much needed +change of scene, it was decided that the family should spend the +winter months in the south. Stella was anxious that her cousin should +accompany them; but just at this time Lucy received a summons--by no +means unwelcome--in another direction, in a letter from Mrs. Steele. + +Her aunt had been feeling her strength fail very much during the past +year, and expressed a very strong desire that her niece should come +to her again, for a time at least. Lucy owed her aunt almost a +daughter's affection; and as she had not seen her brother Harry for +nearly two years, and as her lessons at school must necessarily be +discontinued, it seemed the best arrangement that she should accede to +Mrs. Steele's request, and go to the West under the escort which had +been proposed for her,--that of a friend of Alick who had come +eastward for his wife, and was soon to return to his prairie home. + +There was some doubt as to what should be done with Nelly during the +long absence of all her friends, but an unexpected event which +happened previous to Lucy's departure settled that question most +satisfactorily. A young market-gardener, who had lately started in +business for himself, came to Mr. Brooke's to be paid for vegetables, +furnished during the summer. Lucy was sent down to pay him, and was +surprised to find Nelly, who had happened to pass through the hall +where he was waiting, staring at him in an unaccountable manner, with +an excited look in her dark eyes. + +"Miss Lucy," she said in a trembling undertone, seizing Lucy's dress +in her eagerness, "won't you please ask him his name?" + +Lucy, considerably bewildered, did as she desired, and was startled by +the answer. "Richard Connor," and equally so by the joyful exclamation +with which Nelly rushed forward: "Oh, it's my own brother Dick!" + +It turned out to be really Nelly's long-lost brother. He had followed +the rest of his family out to America by the next vessel in which he +could procure a passage, but had never been able to discover any +trace of them. Getting work for a time as he best could, he had at +last entered the service of a market-gardener, where he had done so +well as to be able in time to begin business on his own account. He +could not have recognised his little sister Nelly in the tall, +good-looking girl before him; but time had not changed him so +materially as to prevent Nelly's loving heart from recognising her +only relative, and the moment her eye fell upon him, a thrill of +almost certain recognition chained her to the spot. + +It is unnecessary to dwell upon the delight of both brother and sister +at their unexpected reunion, and the torrent of inquiries and replies +that followed. Dick had for so long a time given up all hope of +finding his kindred, that the joy of recovering Nelly overpowered his +sorrow at finding that she was the only one who survived to him; and +as the young gardener had been intending to live in a small cottage of +his own, he was only too glad to claim Nelly as his housekeeper. And +before Lucy went away, she had the pleasure of seeing Nelly +comfortably installed in a home which she could consider as really her +own. + +It was no small trial to Lucy, when the time came, to say a long +farewell to her aunt and cousins, especially to Sophy, between whom +and herself there was now a strong bond of attachment; and to Stella, +as to whom she felt a strong foreboding that she should never see her +again. Her only comfort was that she could leave the matter in the +hands of Him who knew best, and that Stella could safely be trusted to +that protecting love which will never leave nor forsake any who humbly +seek its true blessing. + +With Mary Eastwood, too, it was another hard parting. She spent a day +or two at Oakvale before her departure, and both long looked back to +that short visit as to a time tinged indeed with sadness, but charged +with many sweet and blessed memories. + +At last the preparations for the long journey were all made, the +packing completed, even to the stowing away of the little gifts from +each, and of the large packet of bonbons and cream-candy which Edwin +brought in at the last moment for his cousin's regalement during her +long journey. Then the cab was at the door before half had been said +that they wanted to say, and the long-dreaded good-bye was crowded +into such a brief space of time, that when Lucy found herself on the +way to the station, she could scarcely believe that the formidable +separation was really over, and that she had finally left her home of +nearly two years. She well remembered the winter afternoon of her +arrival, and thought with gratitude how many blessings had met her +there, and with what different feelings she left it from those with +which she arrived there. + +The sadness of her departure soon wore off amid the pleasant +excitement of the long and interesting journey, made doubly pleasant +by the lively and genial companionship of her new friends, who won her +heart at once by their warm praises of Alick and Harry; and she began +already to look forward to the happiness of their complete reunion as +a family,--for Fred was to follow her to the West at the close of his +theological studies, in the ensuing spring. + +When at last the somewhat fatiguing but very pleasant journey was at +an end, Lucy found Mrs. Steele ready to receive her with a warm +maternal welcome, and Harry wild with delight, as much grown and +improved as they all declared she was. Alick had grown considerably +older and graver-looking under the responsibilities of life and his +profession, though he still retained much of his old flow of spirits; +and Lucy had the very great pleasure of finding that he had become an +earnest Christian man, using his profession to the utmost of his power +as a means not only of doing temporal good, but of advancing his +Master's cause. + +Lucy soon saw that her household aid was so much needed by her aunt, +whose health had become very feeble, that she relinquished the plan +she had formed of endeavouring to get employment in teaching during +the winter; and between her housekeeping avocations and the claims of +Alick's poor patients, whom she often visited on errands of charity, +and the carrying on of her own studies, which she was anxious to +continue, the winter flew past with incredible rapidity. + +When the season of budding leaves and opening blossoms returned, there +came tidings--sad indeed, yet by no means unexpected--from the sandy +plains of Florida. Stella was dead, but she had died "looking unto +Jesus," and in the feeling of her perfect safety and happiness with +her Saviour. Lucy could acquiesce in the earthly separation from her. +She had seemed to be one over whom "things seen and temporal" held so +much power, that perhaps only the pressure of physical disease, and +the realization of the possible approach of death, could have brought +her to the invisible but ever-present Saviour. Her temporal loss had +thus been her great gain; yet still "more blessed are they" who +without such pressure "have believed." + +Our young friends have now arrived at an age when their history is +scarcely so well adapted for the youthful readers of these pages. But +as we all like to hear tidings of our friends after years have +elapsed, it may be pleasant to catch at least a glimpse of their later +life. Lucy never returned to her uncle's house: she became too +valuable a member of her cousin's household to be spared from it, and +she is now its mistress in a legal and permanent sense, aiding her +husband most efficiently in his labours of love. Fred has long since +finished his studies and been settled as the minister of a village +church near his sister's home. Thither he has lately brought Mary +Eastwood as the minister's wife, and has found that she admirably +fills that important post. The two old friends, united now by closer +ties than ever, still delight to maintain their Christian +companionship, and to revive, in the frequent visits interchanged, the +happy memories of former days. + +Nelly still keeps house for her brother, who would not know how to +dispense with her multifarious services in weeding his beds, gathering +his fruit for market, and tying up his flowers. But as some of his +friends are equally sensible of her good qualities, he has made up his +mind that, sooner or later, he will have to let her go. + +Ada Brooke has been married for several years, and is much, the same, +in her present luxurious home, as when we first made her acquaintance, +with no more aspiration beyond the transient pleasures of the world. +Sophy, who has remained faithful to the memory of her betrothed, is a +very angel of mercy, ministering continually to the poor and sick and +disconsolate, and finding therein a higher happiness than she ever +knew, even in the days when she was most admired and envied. Mr. and +Mrs. Brooke, since the death of their darling Stella, have thought +more of that unseen world into which she has entered, and less of the +present one, which formerly so completely engrossed them. And Edwin, +finding all earthly sources of pleasure to be but "broken cisterns," +has at last turned to drink of "the living water, of which if a man +drink he shall never thirst again." + +Bessie Ford is still the wise, motherly eldest daughter at Mill Bank +Farm. If, from the uneventful character of her quiet country life, she +has not filled so prominent a place in these pages as her classmates, +it is not that the watchword "Looking unto Jesus" has had less +influence on her life than on theirs; and though its fruits may have +been more obscure, they have been as real, in the thorough Christian +kindness and faithfulness, patience and industry, which make her a +much-prized blessing to her family and her friends. + +And now, my young reader, that you have seen the effect of taking +"Looking unto Jesus" for the watchword of life to some extent +illustrated, will you not, henceforward, take it as your own? + +If only you come by faith to that Saviour who is waiting to receive +you and to renew your sinful heart, and go on living by that faith in +Him, you will find, ever flowing from Him, a life-giving power, which +will furnish you with the strength that you need more than you now +know, for the battle of life before you. And though you may never be +called upon to do things which the world calls great and noble, you +will do common things in a noble spirit, which is the same thing to +Him who looks upon the heart, and + + "So make life, death, and the vast for ever, + One grand, sweet song." + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lucy Raymond, by Agnes Maule Machar + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUCY RAYMOND *** + +***** This file should be named 18248.txt or 18248.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/2/4/18248/ + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by the Canadian Institute for Historical +Microreproductions (www.canadiana.org)) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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