rgaret found more good news at home. In the first place, the door was
opened to her by Morris. Hester stood behind to witness the meeting.
She had her bonnet on: she was going with her husband to see Mrs
Howell, and make some provision for her comfort: but she had waited a
little while, in hopes that Margaret would return, and be duly
astonished to see Morris.

"You must make tea for each other, and be comfortable while we are
away," said Hester. "We will go now directly, that we may be back as
early as we can."

"I have several things to tell you," said Margaret, "when you return:
and one now, brother, which must not be delayed. Platt and his child
are dead, and coffins must be sent. The sooner the better, or we shall
lose the poor woman too."

Hope promised to speak to the undertaker as he went by.

"We have become very familiar with death, Morris, since you went away,"
said Margaret, as she obliged her old friend to sit down by the fire,
and prepared to make tea for both.

"That is why you see me here, Miss Margaret. Every piece of news I
could get of this place was worse than the last; and I could perceive
from your last letter, that you had sickness all about you; and I could
not persuade myself but that it was my duty to come and be useful, and
to take care of you, my dear, if I may say so."

"And now you are here, I trust you may stay--I trust we may be justified
in keeping you. We have meat every day now, Morris,--at least when we
have time to cook it. Since my brother has been attending so many of
Mr Jones's family, we have had meat almost every day."

"Indeed, my dear, I don't know how you could keep up without it, so busy
as I find you are among the sick;--busy night and day, my mistress tells
me, till the people have got to call you `the good lady.' You do not
look as if you had lost much of your natural rest: but I know how the
mind keeps the body up. Yours is an earnest mind, Margaret, that will
always keep you up: but, my dear, I do hope it has been an easy mind
too. You will excuse my saying so."

Margaret more than excused it, but she could not immediately answer.
The tears trembled in her eyes, and her lip quivered when she would have
spoken. Morris stroked her hair, and kissed her forehead, as if she had
been still a child, and whispered that all things ended well in God's
own time.

"Oh, yes! I know," said Margaret. "Has Hester told you how prosperous
we are growing? I do no