e day, and almost the very hour, the fish he had to sell
had been caught, and his customers found from experience that he never
deceived them. At the first, when in a frank manner he told them the
exact time the fish had been landed, some were inclined to laugh, and
others to be angry, fancying that he was practising on their credulity;
but the more generous soon saw, from the honest blush which rose on his
cheeks when he assured them that he was simply saying what he knew to be
the case, that he was really speaking the truth. He thus gained many
friends, and even bargain-loving housekeepers ceased to try and beat him
down. His price was always moderate, and the profit he made was, after
all, but a small remuneration for the toil he went through.

To be up early, to be on his feet all day, and often unable to reach
home till late in the evening, was now little Ben's fate. He did not
complain; far from it. He rejoiced that he was thus able to assist his
widowed mother.

John Hadden had saved but little money. His boat and his nets composed
the principal part of his worldly wealth, besides the cottage he lived
in. The boat was gone; and the nets, without the hands which used them,
could gain nothing. Mrs Hadden was therefore advised to sell them,
with the portions of the boat-gear which had remained on shore. The
times, however, were bad, she was told, and the things were sold very
much under their real value. She was still thankful for what she
received, and she resolved to live as frugally as possible, that her
humble means might the longer hold out.

Her daughter was a heavy expense to her. Poor Susan grew worse and
worse; yet she still lingered on, utterly helpless to look at, yet not
helpless in reality, for she was supported by faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. She was perfectly happy, as far as she herself was concerned;
her only regret being that she deprived her mother of part of the scanty
means she so much required for herself. At length, full of hope and
joy, she died. Little Ben wept bitterly for the loss of his sister: he
had never for one moment thought of the money spent on her. The
bereaved mother mourned more silently.

Mrs Hadden was yet to be further tried. A letter one day reached her
from a stranger. It told her that her only surviving son, besides Ben,
had been cast away in the far off Pacific Ocean, and, with many others,
murdered or held captive by savages. The writer, Thomas Ba