the lady approached--she of whom he had said on that dreary night in
November, "Nobody love me, nobody smile on me but her"--she recognized
the Italian eyes, and the old, sweet, musical accent with which she had
been familiar years before.

With a graceful bow, he said, as if to assure himself of a welcome,
"Madam, I should not have ventured in your presence if I had not been
informed by my friends at the Home, upon whom I have called, that you
would be glad to see me; for I felt that by my long silence I had
forfeited all claim to your friendship."

Of course he was most cordially welcomed, and invited to tell the story
of his long absence. He said, "I was earning an honest living in a
grocer's establishment as job-boy after I left the Home, when the idea
took possession of me that I must have more education, and I knew the
only way I could get it was to go into the country and work for my board
where I could go to school. I found a kind old farmer who gave me board
and lodging for what I could do out of schoolhours on the farm, and here
I remained for some years, Then came over me the old longing for music.
I had kept the little music I knew during my stay at the farm, for I
had led the Sabbath choir and the Sunday-school singing, and had never
missed a Sabbath while I was there. But I longed for some knowledge of
music. I felt that I could not live without it, and though the kind old
farmer offered me good wages if I would remain with him, and a generous
sum when I should become of age, I said, 'I cannot live without music,'
and so I bade adieu to my pleasant home, and went to a city where I
could hear music--my heart's great desire--and take lessons as soon as I
could earn money enough to pay for them. I soon found occupation, and
now I am earning an honest living." He then modestly added: "Perhaps,
madam, you will be gratified to learn that I have never tasted
intoxicating drink, nor spoken a profane word since I left the Home. I
have never forgotten the first passages of Scripture I learned from the
little Bible you gave me: '_There is not a word in my tongue but lo! O
Lord, thou knowest it altogether._'"

The little Italian beggar now has a wife and a pretty little boy in a
comfortable home of his own, and his testimony is, "If I had not been
cared for and instructed in that Christian Home, I should be a beggar
now as I was when I entered it."

* * * * *

"PANSY" BOOKS.