rmine, as Charlie did, to try to follow
Harry's example, not to be discontented and impatient in sickness, or
trial of any kind; to be often thinking of, and feeling thankful for,
the blessings God has granted you; to love the Lord Jesus, and trust
Him.

You must not suppose that the evening at Mrs. Greenwell's was passed in
talking only. After tea, which was thoroughly enjoyed by the boys, they
looked at pictures, books, shells, and other things. Mrs. Greenwell had
so many little histories to tell about them, and talked so pleasantly,
that the boys enjoyed it very much; but the great wonder and attraction
was a microscope, or "magnifying glass," as Charlie called it.

Many of the boys had never seen or even heard of one before, and it
puzzled them very much to be told that what looked to them very like a
small lobster's claw was the foot of a fly.

"What beautiful little feathers!" exclaimed one boy.

"You know the sort of dust that sticks to your fingers if you touch the
wings of a moth or a butterfly, don't you?" asked Harry.

"Yes, sir,"' answered the boy.

"Then that is some of it, magnified; the wings are covered with those
beautiful little feathers, although we cannot distinguish them without
the microscope."

But I cannot attempt to tell you one half of the wonders that the
microscope revealed to them that night, or the lessons it taught them of
the power and wisdom of the Creator. Mrs. Greenwell pointed out to them
the immense inferiority of man's best and most careful work when
compared with the simplest work of God, A piece of delicately woven
silk, of the finest texture, that looked perfect to the eye, when placed
under the microscope appeared rough, coarse, and uneven--rather like a
common door-mat, in fact; but the wing of a fly, the hair of a mouse,
the eye of an insect, the scale of a fish, the dust of a moth's wing,
the leaf of a plant--anything made by God, and owing nothing to the hand
of man--the more it was magnified, the more beauties you discovered.
Examine by the microscope the humblest and most minute of God's
creations, and you will always find beauty, order, and perfection.

CHAPTER VII.

A SAD BIRTHDAY.

It is Charlie's birthday: two years have passed away since the great
going out to tea at Mrs. Greenwell's, and he is now fourteen years old.
It is a very quiet and a very sad birthday for Charlie. His father is
ill--his good, kind father. This illness had been coming on fo