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shrink into herself, and put on a pitiful face, while it effectually seals her lips."

“For my own part," returned his wife, "I feel afraid ever to administer the slightest rebuke. Of course I am obliged to do it sometimes; but it goes against me sadly; and as for punishment—”

"Ah! but you must not be too lax, Bertha. Our little Alice is very near perfection, I gladly own. Still, she is not without her childish faults; and, if we let them grow unchecked, it will be the worse for her by-and-by."

"" I suppose so; and I would not deliberately spoil her for the world. But it is really very difficult to deal with so peculiar a disposition."

Very; but happily we know where to look for guidance. In Church to-day I thought of our sweet child, and felt that you and I stood in constant need of a right judgment to train her well and wisely."

Bertha was silent; and her husband little guessed how his words had touched her. They had struck a chord in her heart which vibrated through her whole being, and set her longing for a clearer perception of her little girl's disposition, that she might know the better how to mould her character.

Day by day that week did Bertha pray with deepening fervour in the words of the collect for "a right judgment in all things." But the second clause of the petition seemed scarcely suited to her needs, and only called up visions of the sufferings of her poorer neighbours. Yet who could tell what might be on the morrow? Surely it was for her to make provision against the hour of trial, that, when it came, she might be enabled to joy in the abiding presence of the Comforter.

II.

TIME passed on; and about a twelvemonth later Mrs. Mansbridge was surprised one evening by a complaint from little Alice that she was shivering with cold. It had been a particularly hot day for the month of June, so that the idea of such a complaint was somewhat startling. Bertha naturally feared that the child had taken cold, and made minute inquiries of the nurse, who had been with Alice at the vicarage all the afternoon, playing in the hay-field. Nurse, however, could throw no light upon the matter. She had, apparently, taken all proper care of her charge, and had thoughtfully brought her home before sunset.

The only course therefore was to apply the usual remedies, and put the child to bed. This was done with all promptitude; and then, when the last "good night" was being said Alice solved the problem of her own accord in order to shield her nurse, who was, she thought, being accused of neglect.

Putting her arm round her mother's neck, she whispered in her ear, "I put my feet into a cold bath this afternoon when I was very, very hot. Did that do me harm, mother darling ?"

"Of course it did," answered Mrs. Mansbridge. Nurse let

you ?"

"But why did

"She didn't know. It was the vicarage servant who was with us then; and she did say the cold water would make me ill."

"Then why did you do it, my dear little girl? That was not good of you."

At this reproof the little mouth was pursed up, the small features contracted, and the eyes grew very sorrowful. A gentle rebuke had been given for the ten minutes' mischievous pleasure; but no praise for the noble words spoken with a struggle, in order to free another from blame.

"Now lie down, my child," said her mother, "and let us see if a good sleep will not set you right, so that you will be quite well by morning. Kiss me, darling, and say good night." So Alice gave the kiss, and laid her head down on the pillow. But the anxious watcher, perceiving a restlessness about her, went up again to the head of the bed, and softly whispered, "I am so glad you told me what had given you the cold, Alice. It is always best to speak out. haps, we shall be able to cure you all the sooner. darling."

And now, perGood night, my

Oh, the relief to the sensitive little mind! This was all that she wanted. She gave her mother a hearty kiss, sent a message of “good night" to her father, and then fell asleep, thinking of the "Tender Shepherd," Who keeps guard over His lambs by night. Unhappily, little Alice's natural delicacy caused her "slight cold" to develope into inflammation of the lungs. For several days she was at death's door; and her doting parents were thus called to bear their first sharp trial.

Bertha's scholars, when told on Sunday that their teacher would be unable to assemble them as usual, were stirred, one and all, with a strong sympathy. "To think of her," said one, "so glad and gay,

plunged into grief like this." "She has often comforted me," added another; so now I hope she will find comfort herself."

At length the crisis was past, the inflammation had subsided, and a new light shone in the eyes of the little sufferer. The first faces that she gazed upon with smiling intelligence were those of her father and mother, bending over her with earnest solicitude. "I've been dreaming about the hay-field," she said, half whispering; "we had such fun there, and it was such a hot, sunny day. But why am I in bed, papa ? "Because you have been ill, darling; but you are better now." 'Why am I better?" inquired the little maiden.

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"Because we have all been nursing you," replied her father, "and because-'

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"I know," returned the child, laying her tiny hand on his wrist, "GOD has been taking care of me."

For answer the father imprinted a kiss on her forehead; and the mother breathed a silent thanksgiving for her preservation.

But it was too soon to build up hopes of her recovery. So fragile a constitution could give no sure promise, at that early stage, of permanent restoration to health. And, in spite of the most devoted care, which was in no degree relaxed, Mrs. Mansbridge had to learn that her little daughter was going into a decline.

Such a blow as this was well-nigh overpowering, and it was as much as she and her husband could do, even with their mutual help, to bear it with true Christian resignation. They endeavoured to cheer and fortify one another; and, doubtless, in the effort each gained strength; but it was heart-rending to watch the sweet form of the little patient growing thinner day by day, and to hear the stifled cough for which there was no cure.

Alice herself was always cheerful. She loved to sit during the summer days in her chair on the lawn, listening to the music of the birds, her deft little fingers busy with scissors and paper, cutting out book-markers after a fashion that Nurse had taught her.

But there came a time in the sultry month of August when the gentle invalid was seen no more under the shadow of the acacia. Confined entirely to her bed, she could hear the sweet notes of the song-birds, but could no longer watch the little creatures flitting from bough to bough. Her life was ebbing away while yet she was scarcely past the infancy of years, and her parents were at length compelled to acknowledge the fact.

By degrees there stole over the child's mind a consciousness of her own state, and in the weary days and nights of pain she would frequently ask Nurse to soothe her by repeating some of her favourite hymns. Her special favourite was the one commencing,

"I knew a little sickly child,"

which indeed she seemed to have appropriated to herself.

Once while watching her little one's fitful slumbers, Mrs. Mansbridge felt crushed by her own sad forebodings, and the little girl awoke to find her in tears.

"Why are you crying, mother dear ?" she asked, "is it because I am so ill ?"

"Yes, darling," was the sorrowful reply, "it grieves me so to see you in pain."

Alice drew her thin hand from under the bed-clothes, and laying it in her mother's, answered softly, “But it isn't so very bad, and I don't always mind it. You know Who comes and sings to me sometimes when I am very tired ?”

"Who?" inquired Mrs. Mansbridge, half unconsciously.

"You know," was the emphatic rejoinder. But by this time the mother's thoughts were far away in Dreamland; and the little girl, wondering perhaps at the dulness of her apprehension, added in a tone of exquisite sweetness:

"There is a Holy Dove that sings

To every Christian child;

That whispers to his little heart,

A song as sweet and mild."

She had not brought the verse to a close when her father's brisk footstep approached. Recognising the hymn, he said with a bright, tender smile, “My Alice is the little sickly child;

"And she was gentle in her speech,

And quiet in her play;

She would not for the world have made,

That sweet Bird fly away."

"O, papa!” said the little girl, "how did you know my hymn?" He replied that he had learned it by frequently hearing her repeat it, adding playfully, "So you were papa's little teacher, you see." This idea seemed to take the child's fancy, and for a little while she was cheerful almost to merriment.

But scarcely twenty-four hours had passed before a great change

came over her, the change from which, evidently, she would never rally. Once, when Bertha Mansbridge was gazing vacantly out of the window, a clear, but feeble voice called out to her. "Yes, darling," she answered with the utmost promptitude; "What do you want ?" "Oh! nothing, mother, only I was wondering who would comfort you when I am gone away."

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"Gone away ?" echoed the mother, unwilling to realise the nearness of the event.

"I mean when you have lost your little Alice," returned the sufferer.

"My precious child, I hope GOD will comfort us when He takes His little one to His own bright Home." The hope was firmly expressed, and this time the speaker's eyes were dry, but her heart was wrung with grief.

That night the long parting came; and when the bereaved parents knelt beside the lifeless body, whose sweet, soft eyes were closed in death, it was in the words of our Whitsun Collect that they prayed together for Heavenly consolations. Not in vain had they looked to the Spirit of grace for a "right judgment" to train their precious child for Heaven; and now, in the days of their mourning, they were permitted to rejoice in "His holy comfort." Schooled by the discipline of life, they realised the sentiment which lies in this simple phrase: "N'oublions pas que, si d'une main Dieu nous impose la croix, de l'autre main Il en soutient le poids."

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