Bertha, as your poor father in his sackcloth
coat."

"Those presents that I took such care of, that came almost at my wish,
and were so dearly welcome to me," she said, trembling; "where did they
come from?"

Caleb did not answer. She knew already, and was silent.

"I see, I understand," said Bertha, "and now I am looking at you, at my
kind, loving compassionate father, tell me what is he like?"

"An old man, my child; thin, bent, gray-haired, worn-out with hard work
and sorrow; a weak, foolish, deceitful old man."

The blind girl threw herself on her knees before him, and took his gray
head in her arms. "It is my sight, it is my sight restored," she cried.
"I have been blind, but now I see; I have never till now truly seen my
father. Does he think that there is a gay, handsome father in this earth
that I could love so dearly, cherish so devotedly, as this worn and
gray-headed old man? Father there is not a gray hair on your head that
shall be forgotten in my prayers and thanks to heaven."

"My Bertha!" sobbed Caleb, "and the brisk smart father in the blue
coat--he's gone, my child."

"Dearest father, no, he's not gone, nothing is gone, everything I loved
and believed in is here in this worn, old father of mine, and more--oh,
so much more, too! I have been happy and contented, but I shall be
happier and more contented still, now that I know what you are. I am
_not_ blind, father, any longer."

VI.

LITTLE NELL.

THE house where little Nell and her grandfather lived was one of those
places where old and curious things were kept, one of those old houses
which seem to crouch in odd corners of the town, and to hide their musty
treasures from the public eye in jealousy and distrust. There were suits
of mail standing like ghosts in armor, here and there; curious carvings
brought from monkish cloisters; rusty weapons of various kinds;
distorted figures in china, and wood, and iron, and ivory; tapestry, and
strange furniture that might have been designed in dreams; and in the
old, dark, dismal rooms there lived alone together the man and a
child--his grandchild, Little Nell. Solitary and dull as was her life,
the innocent and cheerful spirit of the child found happiness in all
things, and through the dim rooms of the old curiosity shop Little Nell
went singing, moving with gay and lightsome step.

[Illustration: Little Nell and Her Grandfather.

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