uxury he had not, as his father had said, for many years
enjoyed. Restoratives were applied; but kind Mrs Ramsay and those of
her household who watched him, as they observed his pale cheeks and
slowly-drawn breath, feared that nature was too far exhausted by the
fatigue he had undergone to recover. The old man's alarm and grief,
when he heard of the dangerous state of his son, was excessive. Kind
Mrs Ramsay did her best to console him, and her young daughter, a
fair-haired, blue-eyed little girl, Jeanie, climbed up on his knee, and
stroked his rough hair, as he hung down his head, utterly overcome.

"We will pray to our merciful Father in heaven to take care of the young
boy, and to make him strong and well again," she whispered. "You know
that God hears our prayers; and oh, how good and kind He is, to let us
speak to Him, and to do what we ask Him in the name of His dear Son
Jesus Christ."

The old man gazed earnestly at the child for a few seconds, and, a look
of anguish passing over his countenance, he shook his head; and then
turning away from her, he put her gently down, as if he was afraid of
being thus again addressed, and answered, "Thank you, thank you, little
damsel; I hope my boy will get well. It will go pretty nigh to finish
me if he does not," he murmured to himself. "I ought to have known that
his strength was not equal to the task I put upon it. If he dies, men
will say, and justly, that I am his murderer."

The old man partook but sparingly of the abundant repast spread before
him, and declining the luxury of a bed, rolled himself up in a blanket,
and took his post in the hall, near the door of the room where Laurence
had been placed, that he might hear from those who were attending on his
boy how it went with him. At every footstep which passed he started up
and made the same inquiry, and then with a groan lay down again, his
desire to keep on the watch in vain struggling with his fatigue.

CHAPTER THREE.

ANXIETY OF THE TRAPPER ABOUT HIS SON--JEANIE TELLS LAURENCE ABOUT THE
BIBLE AND GOD'S LOVE TO MAN--LAURENCE OUT OF DANGER--THE TRAPPER LEAVES
LAURENCE WITH HIS FRIENDS--JEANIE TRIES TO TEACH LAURENCE TO READ--
HISTORY OF MRS. RAMSAY.

The following morning, the old trapper was sitting on the floor, where
he had passed the night, with his head bent down on his knees, when Mrs
Ramsay came out of his son's room.

"Is he better? Will he live?" he asked in a low, husky voice, gazing up