"A man was passing by at that moment. He picked up a board and ran to
the pond as fast as he could. And he reached it just in time to save
little Willie.

"Dragging the lad up on to the bank, he called loudly for someone to
come and help him. Two or three men came running; and they worked over
Willie, until at last he opened his blue eyes and asked faintly, 'Where
am I?' Then they took him home to his mother.

"She thanked God for saving the life of her disobedient boy, but the
danger was not yet past. For many weeks, Willie was a very sick little
boy. When at last they carried him downstairs, he lay on the sofa day
after day, pale and quiet--sadly changed from the merry, romping Willie
of other days. The springtime came; but it was a long time before he
could go into the woods with Anna to hunt for wild flowers or sail his
toy boats on the pond.

"There was no more school for Willie that year. As Anna trudged off alone
day after day, she seemed to hear again and again the buzzing of the bee
about her ears--'Bz-z-z-z! You promised Mother!'

"'I heard it so plainly,' she would say to herself. 'It must have been
my conscience. But I wouldn't listen--and I _almost_ lost my brother.'"

The old farmhouse kitchen was very quiet for a moment, after Grandma had
finished her story. Nothing was heard but the ticking of the
old-fashioned clock.

"I'm so glad it didn't happen--_quite_!" said Joyce at last. "What was