for the weeping mother was childless. Close the shutters and drop the
rich damask curtains, so that no ray of sunlight, or fragrance of
summer flowers may find entrance there to mock her grief. In all
Chicopee was there a heart so crushed and bleeding as hers? Yes, on
the grass-plat at the foot of Mrs. Bender's garden an orphan girl was
pouring out her sorrow in tears which almost blistered her eyelids as
they fell.

Alice at last was sleeping, and Mary had come out to weep alone where
there were none to see or hear. For her the future was dark and
cheerless as midnight. No friends, no money, and no home, except the
poor-house, from which young as she was, she instinctively shrank.

"My mother, oh, my mother," she cried, as she stretched her hands
towards the clear blue sky, now that mother's home, "Why didn't I die
too?"

There was a step upon the grass, and looking up Mary saw standing near
her, Mrs. Campbell's English girl, Hannah. She had always evinced a
liking for Mrs. Howard's family, and now after finishing her dishes,
and trying in vain to speak a word of consolation to her mistress, who
refused to be comforted, she had stolen away to Mrs. Bender's,
ostensibly to see all the orphans, but, in reality to see Ella, who
had always been her favorite. She had entered through the garden gate,
and came upon Mary just as she uttered the words, "Why didn't I die
too?"

The sight of her grief touched Hannah's heart, and sitting down by the
little girl, she tried to comfort her. Mary felt that her words and
manner were prompted by real sympathy, and after a time she grew calm,