her new nor
startling. She had long been a widow. Her children had been called
from her, till now she had but one, and he, being a cripple, could do
little more than supply his own absolute wants by his work as a
repairer of watches.

The pastor was charmed with her patient endurance of what others would
call the hard discipline of life, and when he left her he felt that he
had been a learner instead of a teacher in that poor room.

Being too delicate to allude to her apparent poverty, he said at
parting, "As you are a stranger among us, I will send some of the
visitors of the church to cheer and comfort you."

He selected two bright, rosy girls, full of life and happiness, of
whose visits among the poor he had often heard.

They came to the widow like sunbeams through a storm. They talked
cheerily, and did not appear to notice the bareness of the room. They
asked something of her history, and told of their grandmothers, who
also had seen much sorrow; and in this way drew her out till she told
of her former competency, of her early advantages in England, and of
all the misfortunes which had brought her to her present position.
"And yet," she said, "I have little to complain of while I have the
love and tender care of such a son as Walter."

Little by little, without a complaint from her, they found that the old
lady lacked many things for her comfort. Their sympathies were
aroused. It would be a delight to make her happy by gifts that would
be of service to her.

Lucy Grey, a girl full of fun as well as of kindness, said, "I wish you
would let me make you a bonnet; I make lovely ones. Grandma won't wear
a milliner's bonnet, she likes mine so much better."

Grace Wheeler volunteered to make a dress and caps, adding, playfully,
"As my dear grandma is gone, you must let me adopt you and do all I can
for you. There are four of us girls always looking round for somebody
to help. You can call on us for anything you want."

Four young girls, who laughingly styled themselves "The Quartette of
Mercy," met at Grace Wheeler's house with materials for a dress, and a
bonnet and caps. The old lady was coming two hours afterward to be
fitted, having being measured before they left her house.

The girls were in a perfect gala of joy that bright afternoon. They
chatted merrily while working, and one would have thought they were
making costumes for comic tableaux rather than the garb of a sorrowful
widow.

"I'll t