"I will sing you a song of that beautiful land,
The far away home of the soul,
Where no storms ever beat on that glittering strand,
While the years of eternity roll."

At the conclusion of the song, Esther kissed her father and quietly left
the room.

[Illustration]




III.

ROSA'S MOTHER MOVES.


"Miss Browning, here's your steak I broiled fer you and some toast and
tea. I fixed some fer Rosa, too you're so mighty queer, I knew you
wouldn't eat unless she had some. I can't afford to buy her any more,
and there ain't many that'd done it this time. I have to work awful hard
fer all I git."

"Thank you, Mrs. Gray, you are very kind, but," she added softly, lest
Rosa who had run in to speak to grandpa might hear, "if only I knew what
would become of her! Oh, my poor child! how can I bear to leave her, and
what will her future be?"

The moans of the poor, tortured mother, whose life was fast ebbing away,