"Mrs. Brooks, I hope you will forgive me for coming down upon you with
this little army," said Mrs. Allen, with such a cheery smile that the
sick man on the bed felt as if a flood of pure sunshine had burst into
the room. He was so tired of lying there, day after day, like a great
rag baby, and so glad to see anybody, especially the good lady who, his
wife said, was "so easy to talk to!"

"Auntie, look! see the freckled doggie; and there's my flowers, true's
you live," cried Flyaway.

"Yes, pa wanted them in a vial, close to his bed; it's the first he's
seen this winter," said Maria, stroking Fly as if she had been a kitten.

"You may be sure, little lady, it will be as I said; they'll cure me
full as quick as camphire. And, thank the Lord, I can see as well as
smell," said Mr. Brooks, with a tender glance at Maria which made
Horace feel ashamed of himself. The idea of that poor child's rubbing
anything into her eyes? Why, she looked like a wounded bird that had
been out in a storm. Her face was really almost beautiful, but so sad
that you could not see it without a feeling of pity.

"She looks as if she was walking in her sleep," thought Prudy, and
turned away to hide a tear; for somehow there was a chord in her heart
that thrilled strangely. That "slow winter" came back to her with a
rush, and she was sure she knew how Maria felt.

"She is blind, and I was lame; but it is the same kind of a feeling. O,
how I wish I could help her!"

Dotty was as sorry for Maria as she knew how to be, but she could not be