cross so high and bright with stars all shining round it, and I feel
still and happy in my heart as when Bess sings to me in the
twilight."

"But when there is no moon, or clouds hide it from you, what then,
Jamie?" asked the young man, wondering if there were no cloud to
darken the cheerful child's content.

"I wait till it is clear again, and feel that it is there, although
I cannot see it, sir. I hope it never will be taken down, for the
light upon the cross seems like that I see in dear Bessie's eyes
when she holds me in her arms and calls me her 'patient Jamie.' She
never knows I try to bear my troubles for her sake, as she bears
hunger and cold for mine. So you see, sir, how many things I have to
make me a happy child."

"I would gladly lie down on your pillow to be half as light of heart
as you are, little Jamie, for I have lost my faith in everything and
with it all my happiness;" and the heavy shadow which had lifted for
a while fell back darker than before upon the anxious face beside
the bed.

"If I were well and strong like you, sir, I think I should be so
thankful nothing could trouble me;" and with a sigh the boy glanced
at the vigorous frame and energetic countenance of his new friend,
wondering at the despondent look he wore.

"If you were poor, so poor you had no means wherewith to get a crust
of bread, nor a shelter for the night; if you were worn-out with
suffering and labor, soured by disappointment and haunted by