ther, and had often longed to possess the relics laid away in the one
room where order reigned and Miss Bat had no power to meddle. As she
slowly undressed, she was not thinking of the pretty new gowns in which
she was to be "as gay as a butterfly," but of the half-worn garments
waiting for her hands to unfold with a tender touch; and when she fell
asleep, with the keys under her pillow and her arms round Boo, a few
happy tears on her cheeks seemed to show that, in trying to do the duty
which lay nearest her, she had earned a very sweet reward.

So the little missionaries succeeded better in their second attempt than
in their first; for, though still very far from being perfect girls,
each was slowly learning, in her own way, one of the three lessons all
are the better for knowing--that cheerfulness can change misfortune into
love and friends; that in ordering one's self aright one helps others to
do the same; and that the power of finding beauty in the humblest things
makes home happy and life lovely.

Chapter XVIII. May Baskets

Spring was late that year, but to Jill it seemed the loveliest she had
ever known, for hope was growing green and strong in her own little
heart, and all the world looked beautiful. With the help of the brace
she could sit up for a short time every day, and when the air was mild
enough she was warmly wrapped and allowed to look out at the open window
into the garden, where the gold and purple crocuses were coming bravely
up, and the snowdrops nodded their delicate heads as if calling to
her,--

"Good day, little sister, come out and play with us, for winter is over
and spring is here."

"I wish I could!" thought Jill, as the soft wind kissed a tinge of color
into her pale cheeks. "Never mind, they have been shut up in a darker
place than I for months, and had no fun at all; I won't fret, but think
about July and the seashore while I work."

The job now in hand was May baskets, for it was the custom of the
children to hang them on the doors of their friends the night before
May-day; and the girls had agreed to supply baskets if the boys would
hunt for flowers, much the harder task of the two. Jill had more leisure
as well as taste and skill than the other girls, so she amused herself
with making a goodly store of pretty baskets of all shapes, sizes, and
colors, quite confident that they would be filled, though not a flower
had shown its head except a few hardy dandelions, and here