had done for many a day, and his thin face began to twinkle with fun
as it used to do so long ago. That pleased Nelly, and she chatted like
any affectionate little magpie, till Will was really interested; for
when one is ill, small things amuse.

"Do you expect your patients to come to you, Nelly?" he asked.

"No, I shall go and look for them. I often see poor things suffering
in the garden, and the wood, and always feel as if they ought to be
taken care of, as people are."

"You won't like to carry insane bugs, lame toads, and convulsive
kittens in your hands, and they would not stay on a stretcher if you
had one. You should have an ambulance and be a branch of the Sanitary
Commission," said Will.

Nelly had often heard the words, but did not quite understand what
they meant. So Will told her of that great never-failing charity, to
which thousands owe their lives; and the child listened with lips
apart, eyes often full, and so much love and admiration in her heart
that she could find no words in which to tell it. When her brother
paused, she said earnestly: "Yes, I will be a Sanitary. This little
cart of mine shall be my amb'lance, and I'll never let my
water-barrels go empty, never drive too fast, or be rough with my poor
passengers, like some of the men you tell about. Does this look like
an amb'lance, Will?"

"Not a bit, but it shall, if you and mamma like to help me. I want
four long bits of cane, a square of white cloth, some pieces of thin
wood, and the gum-pot," said Will, sitting up to examine the little