ght it to him and asked him to send it to the governor,
and then, perhaps, the governor would send her papa home."

The old governor took the letter, and he scanned it curiously. What a
wonderful letter it was, and who but a little child could have written
it! Such strange hieroglyphics and such crooked lines--oh! it was a
wonderful letter, as you can imagine.

But the old governor saw something more than the strange hieroglyphics
and crooked lines and rude pencillings. He could see in and between
the lines of the little child's letter a sweetness and a pathos he had
never seen before, and on the crumpled sheet he found a love like the
love his bereaved heart had vainly yearned for, oh! so many years.

He saw, or seemed to see, a little head bending over the crumpled page,
a dimpled hand toiling at its rude labor of love, and an earnest little
face smiling at the thought that this labor would not be in vain. And
how wearied the little hand grew and how sleepy the little head became,
but the loyal little heart throbbed on and on with patient joy, and
neither hand nor head rested till the task was done.

Sweet innocence of childhood! Who would molest thee--who bring thee
one shadow of sorrow? Who would not rather brave all dangers, endure
all fatigues, and bear all burdens to shield thee from the worldly ills
thou dream'st not of!

So thought the old governor, as he looked upon the crumpled page and
saw and heard the pleadings of the child's letter; for you must know
that from the crumpled page there stole a thousand gentle voices that
murmured in his ears so sweetly that his heart seemed full of tears.
And the old governor thought of his own little one--God rest her
innocent soul. And it seemed to him as if he could hear her dear baby
voice joining with this other's in trustful pleading.

The secretary was amazed when the old governor said to him: "Give me a
pardon blank." But what most amazed the secretary was the tremulous
tenderness in the old governor's voice and the mistiness behind the old
governor's spectacles as he folded the crumpled page reverently and put
it carefully in the breast pocket of his greatcoat.

"Humph," thought the secretary, "the old governor has a kinder heart
than any of us suspected."

Then, when the prisoner was pardoned and came from his cell, people
grasped him by the hand and said: "Our eloquence and perseverance saved
you. The old governor could not withstand the pressure