ss that made it
very attractive to both young and old.

"Soap makes him shiny; I never saw such a fellow to wash and brush," put
in Frank, as he came up with one of the pieces of music he and Ed were
fond of practising together.

"I don't mean that!" said Jack indignantly. "I wash and brush till you
call me a dandy, but I don't have the same look--it seems to come from
the inside, somehow, as if he was always jolly and clean and good in his
mind, you know."

"Born so," said Frank, rumbling away in the bass with a pair of hands
that would have been the better for some of the above-mentioned soap,
for he did not love to do much in the washing and brushing line.

"I suppose that's it. Well, I like it, and I shall keep on trying, for
being loved by every one is about the nicest thing in the world. Isn't
it, Ed?" asked Jack, with a gentle tweak of the ear as he put a question
which he knew would get no answer, for Ed was so modest he could not see
wherein he differed from other boys, nor believe that the sunshine he
saw in other faces was only the reflection from his own.

Sunday evening Mrs. Minot sat by the fire, planning how she should tell
some good news she had been saving up all day. Mrs. Pecq knew it, and
seemed so delighted that she went about smiling as if she did not know
what trouble meant, and could not do enough for the family. She was
downstairs now, seeing that the clothes were properly prepared for the
wash, so there was no one in the Bird Room but Mamma and the children.
Frank was reading up all he could find about some Biblical hero
mentioned in the day's sermon; Jill lay where she had lain for nearly
four long months, and though her face was pale and thin with the
confinement, there was an expression on it now sweeter even than health.
Jack sat on the rug beside her, looking at a white carnation through the
magnifying glass, while she was enjoying the perfume of a red one as she
talked to him.

"If you look at the white petals you'll see that they sparkle like
marble, and go winding a long way down to the middle of the flower
where it grows sort of rosy; and in among the small, curly leaves, like
fringed curtains, you can see the little green fairy sitting all alone.
Your mother showed me that, and I think it is very pretty. I call it a
'fairy,' but it is really where the seeds are hidden and the sweet smell
comes from."

Jill spoke softly lest she should disturb the others, and, as she turned
to