dingy. My friend gave him a Bible, but he could not get on with it;
and his mother, I am sorry to say, pawned it.'

Ellen and Alfred both cried out as if they had never heard of
anything so shocking.

'It was grievous,' said Mr. Cope; 'but the poor things did not know
the value, and when there was scarcely a morsel of bread in the
house, there was cause enough for not judging them hardly, but I
don't think Jem would allow it now. He got some of his little
friend's easy Scripture lessons and the like, in large print, which
he croons over as he lies there alone, till one feels sure that they
are working into his heart. The people in the house say that though
he has been ill these three years, he has never spoken an ill-
tempered word; and if any one pities him, he answers, "It is the
Lord," and seems to wish for no change. He lies there between dozing
and dreaming and praying, and always seems content.'

'Does he think he shall get well?' said Alfred, who had been
listening earnestly.

'Oh no; there is no chance of that; it is an injury past cure. But I
suppose that while he bears the Will of God so patiently here, his
Heavenly Father makes it up to him in peacefulness of heart now, and
the hope of what is to come hereafter.'

Alfred made no answer, but his eyes shewed that he was thinking; and
Mr. Cope rose, and looked out of window, as a gleam of sunshine,
while the dark cloud lifted up from the north-west, made the trees
and fields glow with intense green against the deep grey of the sky,