The Good Time Coming

stepped from the house, carrying a small basket in one hand, an

lder?" asked the child, as they m

ar," was

to go there,"

e mother's voice wa

g is so mea

lder help t

n't k

ttle girl who stays with her can't do much. I don't see ho

gy, a little bewildered

pier if things were more comfort

, mo

, you and I, to m

le Aggy, lifting a wonderin

like to t

new wha

n the heart is willing. Do

and with an inquiring

she is so sick? It is more than a week since she was ab

and tone confirmed the truth of her

if there is nothing you can do to make her fe

Aggy's interest

s in their right places. Even that would make her feel better;

nd light beamed in the child's cou

ood: and you will have the pleasing remembrance of a kind deed. A child's hand is strong enough to lift a feather

passed in. Aggy had not overdrawn the picture when she said that everything was poor and me

said Mrs. Markland, after making

etter, I'm afraid," was

g?" There was a cheerful tone and manner about Mrs Markland that had its effect; but, ere replyin

ard Aggy, who, bearing in mind her mother's words, was already

lder, a glow of pleasure flushing her cou

from each other. Then she cleared the littered floor of chips, pieces of paper, and various articles that had been left about by the untidy girl who was Mrs. E

nquired the busy little one, coming

" said Mrs. Elder. "Thank you for a kind, good little girl. You've put a smil

her blue eyes sparkled. If the pleasure she felt lacked any thing of

rom your daughter?"

nge of countena

be happy, even in sickness and suffering. I

in Cha

, ma

usband do

He isn't a very thrifty m

hey go to

e than here; but they haven't done

talk of r

And, more than this, it isn't just certain that James could get work right away if he came back. Foolish fellow that he was, not to keep a good situatio

the poor animal; while, though instructed by reason, we cast aside the substance of to-day in our efforts to grasp the shadowy future. We are always looking for the blessing to come; but when the time of ar

hts were away from the sick woman and the humble apartment in which she w

her husband, Mrs. Elder; they

ime. James is kind enough to Lotty, and industrious in

ness does

ick to any thing very long. I call him

doing in C

s just commenced, and expected to make a fortune in a year or two; but before six months closed, he found himself in a strange city, ou

e world," said

that never comes," sighed Mrs. Elder. "Ah, me,"

children

ou

a b

but three

her han

say that, ma'a

l, as you say, and, I doubt not, her heart full, also, she would not have it in her power to m

. She is too much like her mother: ever l

few gleams of sunshine that

ue; very true;" said M

so bright in the f

r head mournfully. "Long, long ago, I ceased to expect th

here, I think I wo

and sugar, a loaf of bread, and some nice pieces of ham. Here are half a dozen fresh eggs besides, and a glass of jelly. In the morning I will send one of my girls to put everything in order for you, and c

d something of the spirit she wished to t

, both were, for much of the way, silent; the former musing on what she had seen and heard, and, like the wise