at did not look up,
in confiding assurance of a welcome smile, to her bright eyes. The
inconsiderate and never ceasing requirements of children and invalids
never drew from her other than a cheerful response; and to my mind
there is more saintship in this than in the private wearing of any
number of haircloth shirts or belts lined with spikes.

"In a large family of careless, noisy children there will be constant
losing of thimbles and needles and scissors; but Aunt Esther was
always ready, without reproach, to help the careless and the luckless.
Her things, so well kept and so treasured, she was willing to lend,
with many a caution and injunction, it is true, but also with a relish
of right good will. And, to do us justice, we generally felt the
sacredness of the trust, and were more careful of her things than of
our own. If a shade of sewing-silk were wanting, or a choice button,
or a bit of braid or tape, Aunt Esther cheerfully volunteered
something from her well-kept stores, not regarding the trouble she
made herself in seeking the key, unlocking the drawer, and searching
out in bag or parcel just the treasure demanded. Never was more
perfect precision, or more perfect readiness to accommodate others.

"Her little income, scarcely reaching a hundred dollars yearly, was
disposed of with a generosity worthy a fortune. One tenth was
sacredly devoted to charity, and a still further sum laid by every
year for presents to friends. No Christmas or New Year ever came
round that Aunt Esther, out of this very tiny fund, did not find
something for children and servants. Her gifts were trifling in
value, but well timed,--a ball of thread-wax, a paper of pins, a
pin-cushion,--something generally so well chosen as to show that
she had been running over our needs, and noting what to give. She
was no less gracious as receiver than as giver. The little articles
that we made for her, or the small presents that we could buy out
of our childish resources, she always declared were exactly what she
needed; and she delighted us by the care she took of them and the
value she set upon them.

"Her income was a source of the greatest pleasure to her, as
maintaining an independence without which she could not have been
happy. Though she constantly gave to every family in which she lived
services which no money could repay, it would have been the greatest
trial to her not to be able to provide for herself. Her dress, always
that of a true g