at every one.
All looked sad and apprehensive. Many of the women hid their faces in
their aprons.

"I sent for you all, my dear friends," said Eva, "because I love you.
I love you all; and I have something to say to you, which I want you
always to remember. . . . I am going to leave you. In a few more weeks
you will see me no more--"

Here the child was interrupted by bursts of groans, sobs, and
lamentations, which broke from all present, and in which her slender
voice was lost entirely. She waited a moment, and then, speaking in a
tone that checked the sobs of all, she said,

"If you love me, you must not interrupt me so. Listen to what I say. I
want to speak to you about your souls. . . . Many of you, I am afraid,
are very careless. You are thinking only about this world. I want you
to remember that there is a beautiful world, where Jesus is. I am going
there, and you can go there. It is for you, as much as me. But, if you
want to go there, you must not live idle, careless, thoughtless lives.
You must be Christians. You must remember that each one of you
can become angels, and be angels forever. . . . If you want to be
Christians, Jesus will help you. You must pray to him; you must read--"

The child checked herself, looked piteously at them, and said,
sorrowfully,

"O dear! you _can't_ read--poor souls!" and she hid her face in the
pillow and sobbed, while many a smothered sob from those she was
addressing, who were kneeling on the floor, aroused her.

"Never mind," she said, raising her face and smiling brightly through
her tears, "I have prayed for you; and I know Jesus will help you, even
if you can't read. Try all to do the best you can; pray every day; ask
Him to help you, and get the Bible read to you whenever you can; and I
think I shall see you all in heaven."

"Amen," was the murmured response from the lips of Tom and Mammy,
and some of the elder ones, who belonged to the Methodist church. The
younger and more thoughtless ones, for the time completely overcome,
were sobbing, with their heads bowed upon their knees.

"I know," said Eva, "you all love me."

"Yes; oh, yes! indeed we do! Lord bless her!" was the involuntary answer
of all.

"Yes, I know you do! There isn't one of you that hasn't always been very
kind to me; and I want to give you something that, when you look at,
you shall always remember me, I'm going to give all of you a curl of my
hair; and, when you look at it, think that I loved