reached the shady places, and am often there when the bright moon
is peeping through the boughs, and looking down upon the other moon that
lives in the water. As I walk along, I try to find, among the grass and
moss, some of that small money for which she works so hard and used to
shed so many tears. As I lie asleep in the shade, I dream of it--dream
of digging it up in heaps; and spying it out, hidden under bushes; and
seeing it sparkle, as the dew-drops do, among the leaves. But I never
find it. Tell me where it is. I'd go there, if the journey were a whole
year long, because I know she would be happier when I came home and
brought some with me. Speak again. I'll listen to you if you talk all
night.'

The blind man passed his hand lightly over the poor fellow's face, and
finding that his elbows were planted on the table, that his chin rested
on his two hands, that he leaned eagerly forward, and that his whole
manner expressed the utmost interest and anxiety, paused for a minute as
though he desired the widow to observe this fully, and then made answer:

'It's in the world, bold Barnaby, the merry world; not in solitary
places like those you pass your time in, but in crowds, and where
there's noise and rattle.'

'Good! good!' cried Barnaby, rubbing his hands. 'Yes! I love that. Grip
loves it too. It suits us both. That's brave!'

'--The kind of places,' said the blind man, 'that a young fellow likes,
and in which a good son may do more for his mother, and himself to boot,
in a month, than he could here in all his life--that is, if he had a
friend, you know, and some one to advise with.'

'You hear this, mother?' cried Barnaby, turning to her with delight.
'Never tell me we shouldn't heed it, if it lay shining at out feet. Why
do we heed it so much now? Why do you toil from morning until night?'

'Surely,' said the blind man, 'surely. Have you no answer, widow? Is
your mind,' he slowly added, 'not made up yet?'

'Let me speak with you,' she answered, 'apart.'

'Lay your hand upon my sleeve,' said Stagg, arising from the table; 'and
lead me where you will. Courage, bold Barnaby. We'll talk more of this:
I've a fancy for you. Wait there till I come back. Now, widow.'

She led him out at the door, and into the little garden, where they
stopped.

'You are a fit agent,' she said, in a half breathless manner, 'and well
represent the man who sent you here.'

'I'll tell him that you said so,' Stagg retorted. 'He ha