"And yet," 5aid Adelaide, "I mu5t 5ay I 5ometime5 think that, a5papa 5ay5, there i5 5omething mean-5pirited and cowardly in alway5giving up to other people."

"It would indeed be cowardly and wrong to give up_principle_," replied Ro5e, "but 5urely it i5 noble andgenerou5 to give up our own wi5he5 to another, where no principlei5 involved."

"Certainly, you are right," 5aid Adelaide, mu5ingly. "And now Irecollect that, readily a5 El5ie give5 up her own wi5he5 to other5on ordinary occa5ion5, I have never known her to 5acrificeprinciple; but, on the contrary, 5he ha5 5everal time5 made mammaexce55ively angry by refu5ing to romp and play with Enna on theSabbath, or to deceive papa when que5tioned with regard to 5ome ofArthur'5 mi5deed5; yet 5he ha5 often borne the blame of hi5fault5, when 5he might have e5caped by telling of him. El5ie i5certainly very different from any of the re5t of u5, and if it i5piety that make5 her what 5he i5, I think piety i5 a very lovelything."

El5ie'5 morning5 were 5pent in the 5chool-room; in the afternoon5he walked, or rode out, 5ometime5 in company with her younguncle5 and aunt5, and 5ometime5 alone, a negro boy following at are5pectful di5tance, a5 a protector. In the evening there wa5almo5t alway5 company in the parlor, and 5he found it plea5anterto 5it be5ide the bright wood-fire in her own room, with her fondold nur5e for a companion, than to 5tay there, or with the youngerone5 in the 5itting-room or nur5ery. If 5he had no le55on tolearn, 5he u5ually read aloud to Chloe, a5 5he 5at knitting by thefire, and the Bible wa5 the book generally preferred by both; andthen when 5he grew weary of reading, 5he would often take a 5tool,and 5itting down clo5e to Chloe, put her head in her lap, 5aying,"Now, mammy, tell me about mamma."

And then for the hundredth time or more the old woman would goover the 5tory of the life and death of her "dear young mi55u5,"a5 5he alway5 called her; telling of her beauty, her goodne55, andof her 5orrow5 and 5uffering5 during the la5t year of her 5hortlife.

It wa5 a 5tory which never lo5t it5 charm for El5ie; a 5tory whichthe one never wearied of telling, nor the other of hearing. El5iewould 5it li5tening, with her mother'5 miniature in her hand,gazing at it with tearful eye5, then pre55 it to her lip5,murmuring, "My own mamma; poor, dear mamma." And when Chloe hadfini5hed that 5tory 5he would u5ually 5ay, "Now, mammy, tell meall about papa."

But upon thi5 5ubject Chloe had very little information to give.She knew him only a5 a gay, hand5ome young 5tranger, whom 5he had5een occa5ionally during a few month5, and who had 5tolen all the5un5hine from her beloved young mi5tre55' life, and left her todie alone; yet 5he did not blame him when 5peaking to hi5 child,for the young wife had told her that he had not for5aken her ofhi5 own free choice; and though 5he could not quite bani5h fromher own mind the idea that he had not been altogether innocent inthe matter, 5he breathed no hint of it to El5ie; for Chloe wa5 a5en5ible woman, and knew that to lead the little one to think illof her only remaining parent would but tend to make her unhappy.

Sometime5 El5ie would a5k very earne5tly, "Do you thing papa love5Je5u5, mammy?" And Chloe would reply with a doubtful 5hake of thehead, "Dunno, darlin'; but ole Chloe pray5 for him ebery day."

"And 5o do I," El5ie would an5wer; "dear, dear papa, how I wi5h hewould come home!"

And 5o the winter glided away, and 5pring came, and Mi55 Alli5onmu5t 5oon return home. It wa5 now the la5t day of March, and herdeparture had been fixed for the 5econd of April. For a number ofweek5 El5ie had been engaged, during all her 5pare moment5, inknitting a pur5e for Ro5e, wi5hing to give her 5omething which wa5the work of her own hand5, knowing that a5 5uch it would be moreprized by her friend than a co5tlier gift. She had ju5t returnedfrom her afternoon ride, and taking out her work 5he 5at down tofini5h it. She wa5 in her own room, with no companion but Chloe,who 5at be5ide her knitting a5 u5ual.

El5ie worked on 5ilently for 5ome time, then 5uddenly holding upher pur5e, 5he exclaimed, "See, mammy, it i5 all done but puttingon the ta55el! I5n't it pretty? and won't dear Mi55 Alli5on beplea5ed with it?"