tea ready. Amy thought it hard to be hindered in her
plans; but she remembered the verse, "By love serve one another," and
it came into her mind that Christ might be as pleased at her
cheerfully giving up her own way to help her mother, as if she had
been praying to him, and the thought made her happy, and she danced
the baby, and played with it till it crowed with delight. After tea,
she could not find any quiet in the room where the family were
sitting, so she went into the bedroom and knelt down by the bedside.
She had always been accustomed to say her prayers morning and evening,
because she had been taught, and because she would have been afraid to
go to sleep without; but now it was a different thing--_she wanted
something which she felt only God could give_. She wanted to be made
good, to have her sins forgiven, to have strength to overcome her
faults, that Christ might love her and bless her; and she asked this
earnestly of him. She felt sure he would hear; and she rose from her
knees with a lightened heart, and opened her Bible and read, until it
was quite dark, of the Saviour and his goodness. And that night she
went to sleep happy in the care of God.

CHAPTER IV.

A NEW LEAF, AND HOW IT WAS FILLED.

The next morning Amy awoke early. It was cold and rainy, and she felt
inclined to turn on her pillow, but the feeling came strongly over her
that she had something _new_ before her, that this week was to be the
starting-point of a new life; and the verse, too, which had been the
last on her lips in the evening, was the first in her heart in the
morning, "By love serve one another." She remembered that the fire had
to be lit, and the water brought from the spring for the kettle; so
she jumped out of bed, and was quickly dressed and ready to go
downstairs. Kitty would not follow her example. She did not forget to
ask God's blessing on the day, and then she called Kitty again. But
Kitty was very sleepy; she only said she was sure it would be time to
get up in half an hour, and wrapped herself up comfortably and went to
sleep again. Amy thought it was rather selfish of Kitty to leave all
the work to her; but she said nothing, and tripped downstairs. She had
soon brought the water and lighted the fire, and brushed and dusted
everything neat and bright, and then she found she had a little time
to spare. Near their cottage lived a poor old widow, named Hill. Amy
knew she could hardly hobble about her house to