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diff --git a/19063.txt b/19063.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..95b94ac --- /dev/null +++ b/19063.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1342 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Little Alice's Palace, by Anonymous + + +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: Little Alice's Palace + or, The Sunny Heart + + +Author: Anonymous + + + +Release Date: August 16, 2006 [eBook #19063] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE ALICE'S PALACE*** + + + + + +Transcribed from the 1872 T. Nelson and Sons edition by David Price, +email ccx074@pglaf.org + + + + + +LITTLE ALICE'S PALACE; +OR, +THE SUNNY HEART. + + +LONDON: +T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW; +EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK. + +1872. + +{i:Miss Mason and Lolly: p0.jpg} + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +The rain was pattering, pattering steadily upon the roof of a little +brown cottage that stood alone by the country roadside. + +There had been a long and dreary winter, and now the bright spring was +coming, with its buds and leaves and flowers, to gladden the earth, that +had all the time seemed to be dead. + +As the shower came down, the little green blades of grass sprang up to +catch the drops; and they seemed almost to laugh and sing, so full of joy +were they when they could lift their heads from the dust. + +It was so much sweeter to be out once more from their prison-house and to +exult with all God's fair creation; so they bathed themselves in the +falling shower, and made themselves fresh and clean; and nobody would +ever have believed that they came out from their dark beds in the earth. + +Little Alice looked out of the windows of the brown cottage, and saw them +nodding gaily to her as they were taking their bath; and so she smiled +back again, and talked to them from her perch in the window-seat as if +they were brothers and sisters, with eyes and ears to see and hear, and +hearts to return her love. Indeed, there was no one else to whom she +could talk the livelong day. No father, for he was dead; no living +brothers and sisters; no mother at home, for they were very poor, and her +mother must be gone at early dawn to labour for their food and clothing +and shelter;--and so Alice had to make companions of the blades of grass +that nodded at her through the drops. + +"Oh, you beauties!" said she gladly; "and I know who made you, too, and +what a great, good God he is to send you here--bright little creatures +that you are. How pleasant it will be down by the brook-side when the +sun comes out, and you and I and the blue violets and the dandelions have +our visiting-time together! Never a little girl had such joy as I have!" +And Alice put her face close to the pane, and looked up into the sky to +thank her kind heavenly Father for sending her such blessings. It seemed +as if she could see him bending graciously down towards her, as her +Sunday-school teacher had often represented him to her; and then she +thought of Him who was upon the earth, and who took up little children in +his arms and blessed them; and she put out her hands towards the heavens, +saying earnestly, "Me, too, dear Saviour: bless me too!" + +So absorbed was she that she didn't hear anybody enter the room until a +timid voice said,-- + +"Who were you speaking to, Alice?" + +There was such a woful figure by the door as she turned her head--no +bonnet, no shoes, and a tattered frock, all draggled with dirt and rain, +and the long, uncombed locks straggling about the child's shoulders, and +such a blue, pinched look in the thin face! + +"Oh, it's you, Maddie, is it?" said Alice, jumping from the window and +taking the hand of the new-comer. "But it was a pity to get so wet. I'm +glad you've come. We'll keep house together till it clears away, and +then maybe we'll have a nice walk. First we must dry your clothes, +though." And she put some sticks in the fireplace, and putting a match +to them, stationed Maddie before the blaze, while she held the skirt out +to dry. + +"Isn't it pleasant here?" asked Alice, with a beaming smile. + +Maddie looked around, with a half shrug, upon the cheerless room, with +its bit of a table and the one chair and the low, curtainless window, and +then her eyes fell upon the scantily-clad little girl by her side; and +then she shivered, as the dampness of her clothes sent a creeping chill +through her frame; but she didn't say it was pleasant. + +"Aren't you afraid to stay here so much alone, Alice?" she asked, giving +another glance about the room. + +"But I never stay _alone_, Maddie!" answered the dear child. "I have +plenty of company--'Tabby,' and the flies, and now and then a spider, and +everything that goes by the door, and the clouds and the sunshine and the +leaves and the--oh dear! so many things, Maddie, that I can't begin to +tell you." And she stopped short for want of breath. + +"And somebody you were talking to. Who was that?" asked Maddie. + +"Ah, yes, best of all! Don't you know, Maddie?" said Alice, sinking her +voice to a whisper, and gazing earnestly at her young companion. "Miss +Mason told me how He is everywhere, and sees and hears us, and that he +loves us better than our mother or father can do, and watches over us and +keeps us from all harm. If you go to the school with me you'll learn all +about it, Maddie dear. No, no; I'm never _alone_ though mother _is gone_ +all the long day." + +"Do you _see_ Him, Alice?" asked Maddie earnestly. + +"Not as I see _you_, Maddie," returned her companion with reverence; "but +when I look up into the sky, and sometimes when I sit here by myself and +speak things that I have learned from my Bible, I seem to feel some +strange brightness all above and around me; and it's so real to me that +it's just like seeing with these eyes. Miss Mason says 'it's my soul +that sees.' Whatever it is, it's very beautiful, Maddie." And Alice +clasped her hands in a sort of ecstasy, and drew near to the window to +look up once more into the heavens, whither her eyes and her heart so +continually turned. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +The shower did not last long, and the warm sun melted the diamonds from +the grass, so that it was soon fit for the little girls to go out into +the freshness and enjoy the pleasant air. + +"Don't you think this a pretty cottage?" asked Alice, as they stepped +outside and stood looking upon her home. "See the moss all over the +shingles; how velvety it is! Tabby goes up there to sleep on the soft +cushion in the sun. And here's where I put my convolvuluses, and they +climb up and run all over the window and make such a nice curtain, with +the pink and blue and white and purple mixed with the green; and they +reach up to the very chimney, Maddie, and hug it round, and then trail +down upon the roof. Oh, I think it's elegant! And here's my flower-bed, +right under the window, where mother can smell the blossoms as we sit +sewing when she has a day at home. We take real comfort here, mother and +I, Maddie." And so the little blithesome child prattled about her humble +home, while her companion looked in astonishment upon her, wondering why +it was that Alice always seemed so happy, while _she_ was so miserable. + +"We'll go down by the brook-side now," said Alice. "There's my grand +palace. Such hangings! all blue and gold and crimson; and carpets that +your feet sink into; and a great mirror, such as the richest man couldn't +buy. Don't you know what I mean, Maddie?" And Alice laughed gleefully +as they reached the brook-side, and pointed to the heavens above, so +brilliant in the sunny radiance, and down to the green and flowery turf +beneath their feet, and to the clear stream that reflected all things, +like the purest glass. And she said, "Now, don't you like my palace, +Maddie?" + +"Yes, it's very pretty here," said Maddie; but she didn't seem to feel +about it as Alice did, who was in such good spirits that she could keep +neither her feet nor her tongue still, but frisked about the green like a +young deer, and chattered like a magpie, only in far sweeter tones. + +"_This_ is my _bower_," said she, lifting up the drooping branches of a +willow and shutting herself and Maddie within. "Here I come for a nap +when I am tired of play; and the leaves rustle in the wind, making a +pleasant sound, and the birds sit on the boughs and sing me asleep, and I +dream always happy dreams. When awake, I think about the pure river that +my Bible speaks of, and the tree of life that is on either side, and the +beautiful light that isn't like the sun, nor the moon, nor the blaze of a +candle, but comes from the face of God, and is never hidden from us to +leave us in darkness." + +Maddie sat down upon a large stone that Alice called her throne, and +looked eagerly up at her companion for more; for Alice's words seemed to +her like some beautiful story out of a book. + +"Did you ever go into any great house, Maddie?" asked Alice. + +"No, never," said Maddie. "I passed by Mrs. Cowper's one day, and looked +in at the open door when somebody was coming out, but I couldn't see +much." + +"That's just where I went with mother," said Alice; "and little Mary took +me into a high room, the walls all velvet and satin and gold, so that my +eyes ached for looking; and there were such heaps of pretty things on the +tables and all about the place; but it didn't make me feel glad as I do +when I get out here in my grand palace with these living, breathing +things around me. O Maddie, there isn't anything on earth so beautiful +as what God has made!" + +"Do you stay out here always?" asked Maddie. + +"Oh no," said Alice; "that would be idle. When mother has work I stay at +home to help her. I've learned to sew nicely now, and can save mother +many a stitch. To-day's my holiday, and I can play with you as long as +you please. I've brought some dinner, and we'll set a table in my dining- +hall." And she took from her pocket a little parcel, and led Maddie from +the bower to a hollow near the brook, where was a flat rock, and there +she spread her frugal fare. + +There were two pieces of homemade bread and a small slice of cold bacon, +which she put upon leaves in the middle of the rocky table; and gathering +some violets, she placed them in bunches here and there, till the table +was sweet with their delicious fragrance. + +Just as the children were about to help themselves to the food, there +came some little tired feet over the grass; and a more forlorn figure +than Maddie's stood a few yards off, looking shyly, but wistfully, at +them. + +"Now, Lolly, you may just run home again as quick as you can," said +Maddie sharply. "We haven't enough dinner for Alice and me. Go, now!" +And she went towards her and gave her a slight push, at which the child +cried, but without turning away or making a step towards home. + +"Is that your sister?" asked Alice, going up to Maddie. + +"Yes; she's always running after me," returned Maddie, with an +ill-natured frown. + +"Poor little thing!" said Alice. "I wish my sister Nellie had lived. I +shouldn't be cross to her, I know. Come here, Lolly: you shall have some +of _my_ dinner." And she led the little grateful child to the wild +table, that seemed to her like a fairy scene, with the fresh leaf-plates, +and the pure sweet flowers breathing so delightfully. + +"Mother makes capital bread--doesn't she, Maddie?" said Alice, as she ate +her small portion with evident relish, while she shared the remnant with +her guests. + +"Now, Maddie," said she, as they finished the repast, "you clear the +table and wash the dishes, and Lolly and I'll go to my mirror to make +ourselves nice to sit down, and then I'll tell you the story my teacher +told me the other day, if you would like to hear it." + +Maddie gladly agreed to this; and Lolly gave herself up to the gentle +hands of her new friend, who took her to the brook and washed her face +until the dirt all vanished and her cheeks were like two red roses. Then +she took her pocket-comb, and, dipping it into the water, made the +child's hair so smooth that Lolly didn't know herself when she looked +into the brook, and asked, "What little girl it was with such bright eyes +and fresh rosy cheeks?" And when Alice told her that it was herself, she +laughed with delight, and said "she would come every day to dress herself +by Alice's mirror if she could look so nice." And then Alice and Maddie +and Lolly went to the bower for the story. + +Alice sat down on the grassy bank, and Lolly laid her head upon her +friend's lap, while Maddie crowded close to her to listen. + +"I don't know that I can remember it very well," said Alice; "but I'll +tell it as nearly as I can like Miss Mason. She called it 'The Little +Exiled Princess,' and this is it." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Once upon a time there was a little girl no bigger than Lolly here, +sitting in the dirt by the roadside, crying. + +Her frock was all ragged and soiled, and the tears had run over the dust +upon her face, making it streaked, and disfiguring it sadly. + +Altogether, she was a very miserable little object, when a lady, walking +along the road, suddenly came upon her, and stopped to see what was the +matter. + +As the lady gazed upon the strange, ragged little creature, there came +tears into her eyes, and she said softly, as if speaking to herself,-- + +"Who would think that this is the daughter of a great King?" + +The child, seeing a beautiful lady before her, jumped from the ground, +and, with shame, began to shake herself from the dirt that clung to her +garments; but the stranger, taking no notice of her untidy condition, +clasped the child's fingers in her white hand, and told her to lead her +to her home. + +It was a brown cottage, very like mine, only _that_ one was hung with +cobwebs, and the dust was an inch thick upon the floor, and the window +was so begrimmed that scarcely any light came through. + +"Ugh!" said the lady, as she stood upon the threshold and looked in. + +"Bring me a broom!" And she brushed away the hanging webs, and made the +floor neat and clean, and taught the child to wash the window, until the +bright sun came in and played about the floor and upon the walls; and +then she made the little girl wash her face and hands, and put on a +better frock, that she found in the chest. + +"Now, my little princess," said she, "come outside for a while, in the +fresh air, and I will talk to you." + +"Why do you call me 'little princess'?" asked the child, as they sat down +upon the cottage-step, while the birds twittered about them and the sweet +breath of summer touched their cheeks. + +"Because you are the daughter of a great King," said the lady, gently +stroking her soft, brown hair, that she had found so tangled and shaggy, +but had made so nice and smooth. + +"My father was a poor man, and he lies in the graveyard," said the little +girl, as she looked wonderingly at her friend. + +"Yes; but I mean your heavenly Father," said the lady--"he whom we call +GOD. Surely you have heard of him, my dear child!" + +The little girl said that she had heard of him; but, from what she could +learn, the lady knew that she looked upon him as one that is afar off; +and she wished to teach her how very near he is continually, even round +about her bed and about her path, and spying out all her ways. + +"Do you live here all alone, dear child?" asked she kindly. + +Her words were so sweet and gentle that they sounded like the murmur of +the brook near the little child's home. + +"All day long alone, while mother is away at her work," answered the +child, with her eyes full of sad tears. + +"And what do you do with the weary hours? Do they not seem very dull and +dreary to you?" asked the lady. + +"Ah, yes," said the little one. "I have nobody to play with or talk to; +and I'm glad when the night comes and I can creep into bed and shut my +eyes and forget everything." + +"What if you had some kind friend ever near, to smile on you and bless +you,--somebody to whom you could tell all your little sorrows as you are +now doing to me?" said the lady. "Would that be pleasant?" + +"Oh yes, indeed!" returned the child. "Will you stay?" for she had felt +it very sweet to be sitting there with the kind lady's words falling like +music upon her ear, and her heart was lighter and happier than it had +been in all her life. + +"I cannot always be with you," said the lady. "But there is One who +'will never leave you.' How beautiful he has made everything about you!" +And she looked upon the green earth, with the peeping flowers, and upon +the delicate shrubs that skirted the roadside, and the wild-roses and +creeping plants along the hedges, and then she looked up into the blue +heavens, with such an expression of love that the child gazed at her with +rapture. + +"Such a good God!" said the lady, still looking up with the bright light +upon her face. "And such a wondrously beautiful world, where we may walk +joyously, with his love in our hearts as well as all about our path; and +yet we sit in the dust weeping, and forget that he is our Father, and +that he is watching for us to turn towards him--poor, wandering, wayward +children that we are!" + +Though the lady spoke as if to herself, the child knew that she was +thinking of her; for she had not quite put away the shame of her first +appearance; and she touched her white hand timidly with her brown finger, +and said, really in earnest, "I won't sit in the dirt again." + +"That's a dear child," said her friend. "You must never again forget +that, although you are poor, and must live in this world for a while, you +are in truth a little exiled princess, and your glorious home is with the +great King, your Father, in the skies; and it does not become the +daughter of so great a King to put herself on a level with the beasts; +but you must lift yourself up more and more towards heaven." + +The little girl looked at her, and straightened her figure to its +greatest possible height. + +"Not to carry yourself proudly, as the daughter of an earthly king might +do," continued the lady, "but be above doing a mean or low thing, and try +to be heavenly and pure, like your blessed Lord and Father; and then he +will lift you up to his beautiful, high throne." + +The child's head drooped again, and she looked despondingly at her +teacher, as if she did not really know what to do. + +"I'm going now," said the lady; "but I shall come once a week to see how +you get on. I shall not expect the cobwebs to gather any more in the +cottage, nor the dust to collect upon the floor, nor to shut out the sun +from the window, nor the little princess's face to be dirty and ugly; +because that would offend the pure and holy God, who made this world +fresh and clean and beautiful, and expects his children to keep it so. Do +you think you will remember 'Our Father'?" + +"'Who art in heaven,'" said the child, calling to mind the prayer taught +her some time in her life, but long since almost forgotten. + +"Not in heaven _only_, dear child," said the lady. "I want you to think +of him as close beside you always, wherever you go. Can you read?" + +"A little." + +The lady opened a pocket-Bible, and drawing the little girl closer to +her, said, "Now, say after me,-- + +"'Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy +presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed +in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and +dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead +me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness +shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the +darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the +darkness and the light are both alike to thee.' + +"You see, my dear child," said she, as she reverently closed the book, +"we cannot get away from God if we would, and surely we would not try to +hide ourselves from so kind a Friend and Father if we could. Only when +we are doing something that we are ashamed of do we shun the face of one +who loves us; and if we try to flee from the eye of God we may be sure we +are guilty of some wickedness. How much sweeter is it to do what we know +will please him, and look freely up into his face, as a good child +delights to meet his earthly parent's smile!" + +The lady rose to go, and the child looked wistfully at her and then at +the little Bible. + +"Ah yes; I will give you this. It will tell you what to do." And she +put the book into the child's hands. "You will read a chapter every day +till I come?" + +The little girl gladly promised, but was sad at the parting; for never an +hour passed so cheerily as the hour with the kind teacher. + +"You may be sure I'll come again, for _He_ sends me," said the lady. And +she looked up once more with the heavenly face, and then stooped till her +soft lips touched the child's forehead; and, while the pressure of the +gentle kiss thrilled through the very soul of the little girl, her friend +was gone. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +"Did she come again?" asked Maddie, who had got upon her knees in front +of Alice, with mouth and eyes and ears wide open for the story. + +"Oh yes; many and many a time," said Alice. "And she taught the little +girl to see her Father's love in the trees, and the flowers, and all +about, as she walked amid his beautiful creation; and she learned to be a +neat, tidy little girl, instead of the dirty, miserable creature that sat +crying in the dirt by the roadside when she first saw her friend. The +lady taught her to look upon herself as greatly beloved by her Father, +and after that she was not miserable any more." + +"Did you ever see the little princess?" asked Lolly, raising her head +from Alice's lap and looking earnestly at her. + +"Yes, indeed. Every day since the lady came to her," said Alice. "She +lives in the same cottage now; but it has grown to be a beautiful place; +for God's flowers are all about it, and God's sun streams in at the +window, and all over the mossy roof, like a golden flood,--and God +himself is always with her to keep her from harm and from being lonely or +sad." And as Alice said this, the tears glistened in her blue eyes, as +the dew-drops sparkle through the sunlight in the violets. + +"We'll go and see her now," continued she; "and I'll show you two other +little exiled princesses." And she took Lolly and Maddie down by the +brook-side, and bade them look in her great mirror; and there they saw +themselves and Alice--all children of the great King. + +"Ah, now I know!" said Maddie, clapping her hands. "_You_ are the little +princess, Alice, and Miss Mason is the good lady. Is she so nice as all +that?" + +"_Just as nice_, dear Maddie," replied Alice; "and if you and Lolly will +go with me to the Sunday-school, she'll tell us a great many more +beautiful stories, to help us on our way to our heavenly home. + +"But come. It is nearly time for us to go now. Mother will be looking +for me. Good-bye." + +And the little girl with the sunny heart bounded into the cottage with a +smile and a kiss for her mother. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +When Alice left the children, they went sauntering along the road towards +home. Very slowly they walked, and not joyously and hopefully, as little +children do who think of their father's house as the brightest and +dearest spot in the whole world. + +It was a long distance from the brown cottage of their friend; but the +freshness of the evening made it delightful to be out, and they had been +resting so many hours that they were not weary. Besides, the twinkling +stars came out in the sky, and there was shining above them the calm, +bright moon; and altogether it was so serene and lovely, that they almost +wished they could be always walking in some pleasant path that should +have no unpleasant thing at the end--such as they felt their home to be. +Presently they came to a bend in the road, and a few steps from the +corner was a low-roofed house, a ruinous-looking place, with rags stuffed +in the broken window-panes. There were green fields around it, and tall +trees gracefully waving near it; but the old house spoiled the landscape +by its slovenly, shabby appearance. + +A dim light was burning in the room nearest the children; and as they +approached, they could see their father and mother sitting at a table, +eating their coarse supper of bread and cold salt pork. + +Lolly thought what a pleasant table Alice had by the brook-side, and the +scent of the violets seemed even now to reach her, and the music of the +waters was in her ears, and the bright, happy face of her little playmate +came freshly before her, making the dingy room where her parents sat, +with the gloom of the dim light and the tattered dusty furniture, still +more uninviting and cheerless. + +Lolly lingered outside the door, while Maddie entered. She sat down upon +the step, and called to mind all that Alice had said to them that day. + +She was younger than Maddie by a year or two, but her soul was older--that +is, it was more thoughtful and earnest; and instead of dwelling always on +the things of earth, she had a wistful longing for something higher and +better, which Alice's words had begun to satisfy. + +The cool breeze played upon her cheek, and the sound of the air, as it +rustled the leaves, and the breath of the flower-scented meadows fell +soothingly upon her senses; and as she looked up into the starry sky, +with its myriads of gleaming lights, and recalled the story, she felt +within herself that indeed she was a little princess as well as Alice, +and that far above all the glory of the heavens her Father was awaiting +her return to the heavenly palace. + +"Maddie and I mustn't forget these things," said she to herself; "but +must try to get ready for our better home." + +So much was Lolly thinking of the things she had heard in the story, that +she might have sat there in the dew all night, but that her mother called +her to eat her supper and go to bed. + +Maddie was already fast asleep upon a trundle-bed, that was pushed under +the great bed by day, and drawn out at night; for there were only the two +rooms in the house, and they had to make the most of all the space. + +Lolly had never felt the house so small and close as on this night; for +her soul was swelling with such large free thoughts, that the four narrow +walls of the bedroom seemed to press in upon her and almost to stop her +breath. + +She could not go to bed until she had opened the window and looked up +once more into the bright sky; and as she did so, she said very +earnestly, "O my Father!" + +She did not know any prayers. She had never been taught to call upon +God. Most that she had ever heard of the other life was through Alice's +story that day; and her heart was so glad of the knowledge, that it +already began to go out towards her heavenly home and her gracious +Father. + +As she spoke these words, there came such a happy feeling to her spirit--a +feeling that she was not alone, but that she was watched over and +protected; and with a sense of security and safety, such as she had never +before known, she lay down beside her sister, and was soon sweetly +slumbering. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Lolly was awakened in the morning by the fretful voice of her mother, as +she went scolding about the house, trying to pick up something for +breakfast; and she heard her father answering her in no pleasant mood, +and kicking about the floor whatever came in his way. + +It was a sad awakening for poor Lolly, and, for the minute, it put wholly +out of her mind the pleasure of the previous day, and the lesson learned +in the green and sunny place by the brook-side; and she was sorely +tempted to cover her head with the bed-clothes, and sleep again, until +her parents were off to their work, and then give herself up to idleness +and play, as she had always done. But the bright happy face of Alice +came before her to help her, and she was out of bed in a minute. + +"Maddie, Maddie!" said she, leaning over her sister and giving her the +least bit of a shake in order to arouse her; "come, get up. The sun is +shining on the wall, and it is a beautiful day. I want you to go with me +for Alice." + +"Get away!" returned Maddie in a huff. "I haven't slept half enough!" +And, settling herself again, she dropped off into a heavier slumber; +while Lolly, seeing that it would do no good to disturb her, dressed +herself and went into the other room. + +Her mother was baking a cake, and her father sat near, idle. Both looked +surprised to see Lolly up so early. + +There was a woollen-factory in the village, perhaps half a mile away, and +they were off generally long before the children were up; and Maddie and +Lolly usually ate such pickings as they left upon the table, and spent +their days as they pleased, with little thought or care from their +parents. + +Lolly could not wait to get her breakfast. She cared for nothing to eat, +now that her mind was intent upon some great thing, and she sped away +over the dewy grass to find her new friend. She had never been in +Alice's house, for they had only lived a little while in the place where +they now were, and Maddie alone had found out their neighbour. Her +sister would not always let her play with her, and it was only a mere +chance that led her to follow Maddie the day before and get acquainted +with Alice. + +I did not mean to say _chance_. I would rather say a kind watchful +_Providence_--which is the true and right word for a Christian to use; +because everything that happens in this world is governed by God's over- +ruling power for some good purpose; and Lolly was led to the spot where +her sister and Alice were at play, expressly that she might learn +something of her bright, eternal home. + +Now that she had seen the sunny-hearted little girl once, it took her but +very few minutes to find her again. + +The distance seemed nothing at all; and, from the time she left her own +door, she could see the cheerful face all along her way, making her walk +very pleasant and not in the least lonely. + +The cottage door was wide open, and the sunlight lay in golden streaks on +the floor at the entrance, where Tabby had stretched herself comfortably. +Lolly could see into the little square room at the right. + +The table was spread with a neat, white cloth, and Alice and her mother +were eating their breakfast together. There were two white plates on the +table, and white cups and saucers, and a smoking dish of porridge. All +this Lolly could see as she stood hesitating near the door; but, in a +minute, Alice caught a glimpse of her little, shy face, and ran to lead +her in. + +"You must have some of this nice breakfast," said she, giving Lolly a +plateful of the porridge, and pouring some milk on it from a small white +pitcher. + +Lolly looked timidly at Alice's mother, to see if she might eat it; and +the kind pleasant smile she received made her feel quite at home, so that +she needed no further urging. + +Soon after the mother went away, and left Alice to put the room in order; +and, when all things were right, Alice said "she could go with Lolly as +well as not that day, and they would make a pretty place of the shabby +cottage; for it was just in the best spot--so wild and shady and green." + +It was rather a sorrowful task at the beginning, and almost any other +little girl than Alice would have been quite discouraged. + +There was a great deal of rubbish in the sitting-room, and the floor and +windows looked as if they had never known anything of soap and water. +Maddie sat upon the top of a half-barrel, swinging her brown, soiled +feet, and playing with a black puppy, that was snapping at her toes; +while the table was strewn with crumbs and dirty dishes from the +morning's meal, and chips and sticks and bits of rags were upon the +floor. + +She looked as if she had just got out of bed. Her face was dull, and her +hair showed no touch of brush or comb, and her nails were long and dirty; +but she jumped from her perch with some signs of shame as she saw Alice, +so neat and tidy, at the door; and she began to scramble about as if she +wished to make things a little better. + +"May I help you to-day, Maddie?" asked Alice. "I haven't any work at +home, and I like to get things tidy. We'll make such a room of this +before night!" And, without another word, she began in earnest to bring +order out of strange confusion. + +Lolly was a capital helper, because her heart was in the matter, and she +really wanted a pleasant, cheerful home; but Maddie was content to look +on, and scarcely moved a finger to help. + +They packed away the wood and chips in the closet under the lowest shelf, +and washed the dishes and set them up edgewise in their proper places; +and they mopped the floor, and scrubbed the windows and table, and +brought boughs of evergreen to hang upon the nails around the walls and +make it cheerful and pretty. + +Alice thought of this. She said, "Rich folks hang paintings on their +walls--and these are God's pictures, the work of his almighty fingers, +and so beautiful! Why not put them where we can always look at them, and +in them see his love and kindness?" + +Lolly thought her the most wonderful little girl in all the world, and +clapped her hands for joy as she looked upon the altered room. + +Then they went outside, and swept the sticks and chips from the lawn; and +Maddie managed to hunt up a hammer and some old rusty nails, and to help +Alice to fasten the loose boards upon the door, which improved it more +than anything else could do. + +It was so low from the roof to the ground that by stepping on a chair +they could easily reach; and they trained a running rose-bush, that had +been long neglected, and hung, trailing, over the grass, so that it +nearly covered the whole side of the cottage, and would soon be like a +bright green mantle over the dark walls. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Just as they had finished their labours, and Alice had prevailed upon +Maddie to put herself in a little better order, and the three young +friends had seated themselves upon the step to get something from Alice's +Bible--some words of love and blessing, as Alice said, from their +heavenly Father--there came a lady up the road towards them. She was +walking very slowly along, with her parasol shielding her face, so that +it was quite concealed from the children; but Alice knew her dress, and +ran quickly to meet her, crying joyously, "It is Miss Mason, dear Lolly!" + +Maddie ran into the cottage and hid behind the door, like a foolish +little girl; but Lolly sat still, very glad that the good teacher was +coming to speak to her, yet trembling with a sort of nervous fear; +because she was a shy little girl, and so seldom saw strangers. + +She wondered that Alice dared go so fearlessly up and walk along, with +her hand in Miss Mason's hand, and her face upturned towards the lady's, +while she talked as freely as if it had been herself or Maddie listening. +But when Miss Mason stood by the step and stooped down to kiss her sun- +burned cheek, and said sweetly, "So this is your little friend Lolly, is +it, Alice?" she did not wonder any longer; for her heart leaped to meet +the gentle lady, and she could not take her eyes from such a kind and +loving face. + +"Where's Maddie?" asked Miss Mason, with a smile. + +She could see her peeping through the crack of the door; and, +understanding the case, she said carelessly,-- + +"I suppose she will join us by-and-by. We will sit here and read in +Alice's book until she comes, and then I want to talk to you. Alice told +me you lived here, Lolly, and I want you to go to the Sunday-school. We +are very happy there, are we not, Alice?" + +Alice answered with a beaming face, and she and Lolly sat, one on each +side of the teacher, and listened as she read to them from God's holy +Word. + +She read first about the creation of this beautiful world, and the garden +where Adam and Eve were placed; and, when she had made Lolly and Maddie +understand all about how sin came--for Maddie, attracted by the sweet +voice and pleasant manner, had crept softly from her hiding-place and +curled herself upon the step behind the lady--Miss Mason turned to the +New Testament and read to them a few verses about Jesus, who took upon +himself our nature and suffered for our sins. + +The children were much impressed by the story of the Saviour's sufferings +and death; and when the teacher told them that every naughty word and +deed of theirs was like a nail in the Saviour's feet or hands, they felt +that they would never again do a wicked thing. + +Then she told them how impossible it would be for them to keep from sin +without God's continual help; and she taught them how to look up to him +and ask for his aid and blessing. And when she had made sure that they +could say a short prayer, and had obtained a promise from them that they +would go every Sunday to the Sunday-school, she kissed them all three +very affectionately, and went on to search for others of her heavenly +Father's wandering children. + +"When she had gone quite out of sight, and they were taking another good +look at the changed rooms, that seemed so grand to them all, Lolly said +thoughtfully to Alice,-- + +"Do you think the great King will like to come here now?" + +"He _is_ here," said Alice reverently. "Don't you feel it, Lolly? We +never see him, you know, as we see each other; but we feel that he is +near, just as you feel that your mother is in the room even when the +darkness hides her from your eyes." + +Lolly repeated the little prayer softly, "O my heavenly Father, I will +try to love thee. Wilt thou not come unto me, and be with me wherever I +am, and help me to be thy child?" And, as she said the words, she knew +that God was with her, and that from that hour there was a Presence in +the house that would drive away all the gloom, and make such brightness +as filled the cottage of her little friend. + +It was time for Alice to go; but she lingered a little while longer to +teach Maddie how to prepare the supper, so that when her mother came home +weary from her labour, there might be no more hard work for her to do, +but real comfort and rest. + +"Now, don't get tired of housekeeping," said she, as she tied on her sun- +bonnet to go. "I shall run over some day to see how you get on; and I'm +sure it's so much prettier to be sweet, and clean, and tidy, that you'll +love to keep the house nice." And away she tripped to make things +pleasant for her own dear, hard-working mother. + +Sunny little girl! She knew how many tiresome steps her diligent hands +and loving heart could save her poor widowed mother; and in everything +she did there was a tender thought of the warm heart against which her +infant head had lain when her little feet and hands were weak and +helpless. + +She was glad now that they had grown strong to aid, that she could give +back some of the care and effort. Alice never dreamed of growing +impatient in her mother's service. She did not wait to be asked to help +her, but watched for opportunities, and so proved a great blessing and +treasure in the lowly cottage home, that would have been very dismal and +sad without her sunny, buoyant little body. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Peter Rand and his wife came lagging up the road as the sun was setting. +They had passed an uncommonly laborious day, and were completely tired +out with their toil. They were very silent, and were thinking what a +sad, miserable home was theirs, and how little of cheer they had in life. +Nothing seemed bright to them, although the earth was like a paradise for +greenness and fragrance and beauty. As they drew near the house, Mr. +Rand was very much surprised by the great change in the outward aspect of +the place. He could scarcely believe that he had not mistaken the road, +and come to some other cottage than the slovenly one that he had left in +the morning. + +His wife, intent upon the supper that her hungry appetite craved, had +pressed forward in haste to prepare it. + +As she entered the door, however, she started back with the strange +feeling that she was in the house of some neighbour; but Pug, the little +dog, ran frisking about her, and convinced her that is was indeed her own +house. + +The table was set in the middle of the room, and the dishes were arranged +in nice order; and just in the centre was Lolly's pewter mug, with a +bunch of sweet, blue violets to grace it all. + +There was the savoury odour of the baking cake from the fire, and the +fumes of the steeping tea filled the room, and already gave a sense of +refreshing to the weary work-people. + +The rags were taken from the windows, and square bits of paper were +pinned over the openings; and the floor was neat and clean, and the +beautiful green boughs hung upon the walls, and the children sat, with +clean hands and faces, awaiting the return of father and mother. + +They looked so bright and happy that the weary couple quite forgot their +fatigue, and chatted merrily over their pleasant meal, praising the +children for their thoughtful work, and saying they didn't believe there +was a more beautiful home in the world than theirs. + +Altogether, it was a very happy evening. Maddie and Lolly made their +father and mother sit down quietly while they cleared off the table, and +washed the dishes, and swept the crumbs away; and then they all had a +cozy little time, talking of new hopes and plans. For the change was so +comfortable that it put life and spirits into every soul; and the father +said he would get some glass and putty and mend the windows; and the +mother would make some white curtains, and the children would get +evergreen and form it into wreaths to loop them up. Oh, it takes so +little to make a cheerful, happy home! It is only the idle and vicious +that need be really miserable. If God does not always give us plenty of +money, he furnishes us with so many rich things in this world of his, +that we may adorn even a lowly and barren place until it shall appear +richer than the gayest palace. Maddie and Lolly found this out through +Alice; and every day they hunted the woods for mosses and flowers, and +their father made little shelves to put them on, and formed many a pretty +seat of twisted branches of trees; so that by-and-by their cottage was +one of the prettiest places anywhere around, and attracted the notice of +everybody that passed it. + +Miss Mason came very often, now that she had found them out; and she not +only prevailed on the parents to send their children to Sunday-school, +but they themselves went regularly to church, and tried to serve the +great and holy God who had put it into the hearts of their children to +make their earthly place of abode something akin to the better home. + +So soon as they began to feel the presence of the heavenly King, all the +despondency and gloom vanished, and, even though poor and hard-working, +they were happy in the possession of such riches as nothing but the love +and favour of our heavenly Father can give. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +It was not very long after the children learned to look away from earth +to the blest abode beyond the skies, when Lolly began to droop and grow +weak and listless; and, although her parents and Maddie thought it was +but a trifling illness, she herself felt that her Father was about to +call her home. She was not afraid to die; and, when she grew so languid +that her little feet lost the power to take her to the Sunday-school, +Miss Mason and Alice and the kind minister came often to talk to her of +her approaching joy. + +There was one beautiful little story that the minister used to tell her +over and over again, she liked it so much. I do not know whether he made +it, or whether he got it from some book; but I want to tell it to you, +for I like it as well as Lolly did. It is this:--"There was a bright, +beautiful butterfly that was about to die. She had laid her eggs on a +cabbage-leaf in the garden; and, as she thought of her children, she said +to a caterpillar that was crawling upon the leaf, 'I am going to die. I +feel my strength fast failing, and I want you to take care of my little +ones.' + +"The caterpillar promised, and the butterfly folded her wings and +breathed her last. + +"Then the caterpillar did not know what to do. She wanted some +instruction with regard to her charge: so she thought she would ask a +lark, that went soaring up into the blue sky. At first the lark was +silent, and plumed his wings and went up--up--up, as if to gather wisdom +for his answer; and then he came, singing, down and said,-- + +"'I'll tell you something about your charge; but you won't believe me. +These young butterflies that you look for will become caterpillars.' + +"'Poh! poh!' said the old caterpillar. 'I don't believe a word of it.' + +"'No; I told you you wouldn't. And what do you suppose they will live +upon?' said the lark. + +"'Why, the dew and the sweet honey from the flowers, to be sure,' replied +the caterpillar. 'That is what all butterflies live on.' + +"'They won't, indeed,' said the lark. 'They will eat cabbage-leaves.' +And he went soaring away again into the clear heavens. + +"Presently, back he came and said to the caterpillar,-- + +"'I'll tell you something stranger still about yourself. You'll be a +beautiful butterfly.' + +"The caterpillar laughed at the idea; but, as she turned around and saw +the eggs upon the leaf all hatched into little crawling caterpillars, she +was forced to believe what the lark had said concerning herself; and she +went about as happy as could be, telling everybody what a glorious change +would come to her after she had folded herself in her close chrysalis." + +The minister told Lolly that this caterpillar in the chrysalis was like +us worms of the dust when lying in the narrow grave enshrouded in our +death-robes; and that, like as the caterpillar bursts his darksome bonds +and soars away upon butterfly pinions, so shall we come forth from the +tomb on the resurrection day, and with angel-wings mount upward to the +world of light and peace. Then he read a few verses to her from that +beautiful account of the rising from the dead, in the fifteenth chapter +of the First Epistle to the Corinthians. + +Lolly would lie upon her sick-bed and fasten her earnest eyes upon him as +he read and as he spoke so sweetly to her of the other life; and then she +would look away through the open window to the heavens above, and seem to +see the face of her Father, who was drawing her slowly to himself. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE ALICE'S PALACE*** + + +******* This file should be named 19063.txt or 19063.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/0/6/19063 + + + +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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