all. And Teddy-ah! poor Teddy; for upon his young heart lay not only
the bitterness of the death busy with his "little sister's" life,
but the heavy burden of wrong and deception, and the proof, as he
thought, of God's displeasure in taking from him at last what he had
tried so hard to keep.

He sank upon his knees beside the bed, and hid his face,
whispering,--

"O God! let her live, and I will give her back to them as I kept her
from."

Over and over and over again, he whispered just these words,
clinching tight his boy-hands to keep down the agony of the
sacrifice; while in the very centre of his heart throbbed a hard,
dull pain, that seemed as if it would rend it asunder.

His face was still hidden, when, like an answer to his petition,
came the softest of whispers from the doctor's lips,--

"She will live, with God's help, and the best of care from you."

"An' it's the bist uv care she'll git, I'll pass me word for that,"
whispered back Teddy's mother, so earnestly, that the doctor
answered,--

"Hush! She is falling asleep. Do not wake her, for her life!"

He sank into a chair as he spoke. Mrs. Ginniss crept round to the
stove, and, crouching beside it, covered her head with her apron,