ur and
devotion--

"Awake, my soul! and with the sun
Thy daily stage of duty run;
Shake off dull sloth, and early rise,
To pay thy morning sacrifice!"

Thus thought our little hero, as, opening the garden-door, he felt the
balmy breeze of a cloudless morning pass over his cheek, which glowed
with health and innocence; as, raising his eyes to the glorious heavens,
his spirit arose in devout aspirations to the divine author of his
being.

How shall I describe the feelings of regret which filled his bosom, when
he discovered the scene of ruin before him.

He rubbed his eyes, to assure himself that it was not a dream; that he
was actually awake, and in the open air.

The work of his hands for years past was utterly destroyed; and, mild
and forbearing as Josiah was, this unexpected misfortune overcame his
philosophy; and he struggled in vain to suppress the tears which filled
his soft blue eyes, and flowed down his rosy dimpled cheeks.

"What ails thee, dear Josiah?" said a sweet little girl, who had
followed him out of the house. "Will not Josiah tell Cousin Rachel the
cause of his grief?"

"Ah, Rachel!" he replied, wiping away his tears with the corner of her
little apron, "I am indeed ashamed of my weakness; but see, some
evil-disposed person has been here in the night, and destroyed all my
nice flowers."

Now, when Rachel beheld the devastation before her, and that even her
own little garden in the corner had not escaped from the general wreck,
she mingled her tears with Josiah's.

Josiah comforted his cousin, and at length succeeded in mastering his
own feelings.

"I know to repine is useless," he said; "time and industry will repair
my loss; and, though I feel it now severely, it may in the end be for
the best: for I own I was too proud and too fond of my garden; and often
dedicated hours to that, which I might have employed more profitably in
study."

As he ceased speaking, Dan Simpson passed; and, putting his head over
the pales, said in a careless manner--

"A fine morning for your work, Master Shirley! You are determined the
sun shall never call you lay-a-bed."

"My work, Daniel, is at an end," replied Josiah: "Step into the garden,
and see what somebody has done in the night for me."

With well-affected astonishment, Simpson surveyed the work of his own
hands; then exclaimed, with an air of commiseration--

"Who can have made it their business to come here, only to comm