r a short time.

"I have a vest here," he at length said, taking a small bundle from a
shelf, "which I want by tomorrow evening at the latest. If you think
you can make it very neatly, and have it done in time, you can take it."

"It shall be done in time," said the young woman, reaching out eagerly
for the bundle.

"And remember, I shall expect it made well. If I like your work, I will
give you more."

"I will try to please you," returned the girl, in a low voice.

"To-morrow evening, recollect."

"Yes, sir. I will have it done."

The girl turned and went quickly away. As she walked along hurriedly,
her slender form bent forward, and there was an unsteadiness in her
steps, as if from weakness. She did not linger a moment, nor heed any
thing that was passing in the street.

A back room in the third story of an old house in Cherry street was the
home of the poor sewing girl. As she entered, she said, in a cheerful
voice, to a person who was lying upon a bed which the room contained--

"I have got work, sister. It is a vest, and it must be done by
to-morrow evening."

"Can you finish it in time?" inquired the invalid in a faint voice.

"Oh, yes, easily;" and as she spoke, she laid off her bonnet and shawl
hurriedly and sat down to unroll the work she had obtained.

The vest proved to be of white Marseilles. As soon as the invalid
sister saw this, she said--

"I'm afraid you won't be able to get that done in time, Ellen; it is
very particular work. To stitch the edges well will alone take you many
hours."

"I will sit up late, and get a fair start to-night, Mary. Then I can
easily finish it in time. You know a vest is only a day's work for a
good sewer, and I have nearly a day and a half before me."

"Yes; but you must remember, Ellen, that you are not very fast with
your needle, and are, besides, far from being well. The work, too, is
of the most particular kind, and cannot be hurried."

"Don't fear for me in the least, Mary. I will do all I have engaged to
do," and the young woman, who had already arranged the cut-out garment,
took a portion of it in her lap and commenced her task.

The two sisters, here introduced, were poor, in bad health, and without
friends. Mary, the older, had declined rapidly within a few months, and
become so much exhausted as to be obliged to keep her bed most of the
time. The task of providing for the wants of both fell, consequently,
upon Ellen. Increased exertion was more