presently the sound of music floated out from the parlor--music so
soft, so sweet, that involuntarily the boy stopped his crying to
listen; then quieter tears dropped slowly, seeming to soothe his pain
as they fell, while the sense of loneliness passed away, and it grew
possible to wait till it was time to go to father in that far-off
country lovelier than golden California.

How long she played Miss Celia never minded, but when she stole out to
see if Ben had gone she found that other friends, even kinder than
herself, had taken the boy into their gentle keeping. The wind had sung
a lullaby among the rustling lilacs, the moon's mild face looked
through the leafy arch to kiss the heavy eyelids, and faithful Sancho
still kept guard beside his little master, who, with his head pillowed
on his arm, lay fast asleep, dreaming, happily, that "Daddy had come
home again."

(_To be continued._)




[Illustration: A TALK OVER THE HARD TIMES.]




COMMON SENSE IN THE HOUSEHOLD.

BY MARGARET VANDEGRIFT.