?'

"'O papa! yes! yes! but, most of all, I want to see you and mamma, and
Ruth and Dinah.'

"'Well, my darling, if you can make up your mind to endure a terrible
pain, when you are older we will have the operation tried. It will only
last a moment, dear Eva, and then just think! you will see the whole
beautiful world! and know all of us by our faces, as you now do by our
steps and voices; you will see the birds flying in the air; the moon
sailing slowly in the heavens, the little twinkling stars, and the
rippling water, and we shall be so happy! so happy! I will not tell you
when to have it done; I will wait till _you_ are ready, my darling.'

[Illustration: EVA PRAYING FOR STRENGTH TO SAY THE WORDS.]

"Then Eva thought long of it, and had many an earnest conversation upon
the subject with her little cousin Ruth; and one day she said: 'Ruth,
will you promise me, _true for true_, that you will come and hold my
hand when they operate upon my eyes?'

"'I promise you, _true for true_,' said Ruth.

"And so the matter was settled.

"Time passed on; and Eva was now eleven years old, and Ruth nine.

"Then Eva made a great resolution, and going to her father, she said:
'_Father, I am ready_ NOW.'

"They were simple words; but poor little Eva had prayed to God, for
nights and nights, and many times in the day, to give her strength to
say them, and God had heard her prayer; for though her father turned
deadly pale at the words, the low sweet voice of the child did not
tremble.

"And now the good doctor came, all his roughness gone, and he held that
little head, with its glossy waves of hair, to keep it steady, but it
trembled far less than he did; for he had watched Eva from her infancy,
and dearly loved her, and he was intensely interested in the result of
the experiment about to be performed.

"Near Eva stood her mother and her brave and faithful cousin Ruth,
holding her hand, as she had promised '_true for true_,' and telling her
to take courage, for all would be well.

"'Patience,' said the operator, softly; 'a pang, and half the suffering
will be over.'

"The little hand which held Ruth's was clasped more tightly, and a groan
smote on the listeners' ears. The room reeled--a faintness came over the
heroic child; but she was soon herself again.

"'Would you not rather wait a day or two for the other eye to be
operated upon?' said the kind physician. 'A week hence, or a month, will
answer.'

"'Oh! no,' answe