yes, anything happen; to be blind forever, and to have Joey
sick, only make me good."

How long she staid there she never knew; for she fell asleep--the first
sleep she had had since Joey was taken sick. And little Mrs. Beebe
coming in found her thus.

"Polly," the good woman said, leaning over her, "you poor, pretty
creeter, you; I'm goin' to tell you somethin'--there, there, just to
think! Joel's goin' to get well!"

"Oh, Mrs. Beebe!" cried Polly, tumbling over in a heap on the floor, her
face, as much as could be seen under the bandage, in a perfect glow, "Is
he, really?"

"Yes, to be sure; the danger's all over now," said the little old lady,
inwardly thinking--"If I hadn't a-come!"

"Well, then, the Lord wants him to," cried Polly, in rapture; "don't he,
Mrs. Beebe?"

"To be sure--to be sure," repeated the kind friend, only half
understanding.

"Well, I don't care about my eyes, then," cried Polly; and to Mrs.
Beebe's intense astonishment and dismay, she spun round and round in the
middle of the floor.

"Oh, Polly, Polly!" the little old lady cried, running up to her, "do
stop! the doctor wouldn't let you! he wouldn't really, you know! it'll
all go to your eyes."

"I don't care," repeated Polly, in the middle of a spin; but she
stopped obediently; "seems as if I just as soon be blind as not; it's so
beautiful Joey's going to get well!"

SUNSHINE AGAIN

But as Joel was smitten down suddenly, so he came up quickly, and his
hearty nature asserted itself by rapid strides toward returning health;
and one morning he astonished them all by turning over suddenly and
exclaiming:

"I want something to eat!"

"Bless the Lord!" cried Mrs. Pepper, "now he's going to live!"

"But he mustn't eat," protested Mrs. Beebe, in great alarm, trotting for
the cup of gruel. "Here, you pretty creeter you, here's something nice."
And she temptingly held the spoon over Joel's mouth; but with a grimace
he turned away.

"Oh, I want something to eat! some gingerbread or some bread and
butter."

"Dear me!" ejaculated Mrs. Beebe. "Gingerbread!" Poor Mrs. Pepper saw
the hardest part of her trouble now before her, as she realized that the
returning appetite must be fed only on strengthening food; for where it
was to come from she couldn't tell.

"The Lord only knows where we'll get it," she groaned within herself.

Yes, He knew. A rap at the door, and little David ran down to find the
cause.

"Oh, mammy," he said