the Bible, prayed with the poor woman, and went away.

'Oh, how I pity her, father,' said Harry, when they were on their way
home. 'Do you really think the little baby will get well?--I do hope it
will.'

'That is a natural wish, my child; but God knows what is best, and if He
should see fit to remove it, we have no right to murmur.'

'No, father, but poor Mrs Gilman will feel so dreadfully, for then she
will be entirely alone. She told us, you know, that before she married
James Gilman she was a poor servant girl, and an orphan, and she don't
know whether she has any relatives or not. It will be very hard for her
to see everything she loves taken from her and buried in the grave.'

'So it will, my dear boy, and she deserves all our sympathy; but it may
be that a kind Heavenly Parent, since she has no earthly ones to guide
her, is using these means to draw the poor widow nearer to Him. If this
chastisement is sent by His hand, it will undoubtedly be in love and
mercy.'

'Do you think, father, that Mrs Gilman loves her little James too well?'

'I will answer your question by asking another, Harry. Do you think her
love for the child interferes with that she owes to God?'

Harry was for a few moments silent. At last he answered, 'She certainly
loves him better than she does God, and that is not right; but you
always told Effie and me that we could not love each other too well.'