ng desire to give him comfort. At
any rate it was useless to stand there in silence looking at that little
bowed head; would it be better to sit down by him, perhaps? she
wondered, casting a doubtful eye on the decidedly dirty plank. Miss
Unity was delicately particular, and her whole soul recoiled from dirt
and dust, so it was really with heroic resolution that she suddenly
folded her nice grey gown closely about her and took a seat, stiffly
erect, by David's side. When there she felt impelled to pat his head
gently with two long fingers, and say softly: "Poor little boy!"

David had watched all Miss Unity's movements narrowly through a chink in
his fingers, though he kept his face closely hidden, and when she sat
down beside him he was so surprised that he stopped crying. He wondered
what she was going to say. She would scold him, of course, everyone
scolded him now, and he set his teeth sullenly and prepared to defend
himself. Then the unexpected kind words fell on his ear, and he could
not help bursting into fresh tears, and sobbed as if his heart would
break. It was partly for Antony, partly for Nancy, partly for himself,
that he was crying; he was so tired of being naughty, and he wanted so
much to be made good again.

Miss Unity was sadly perplexed by the result of her efforts; she seemed
to have made matters worse instead of better, and she sat for some
minutes in silent dismay by the side of the sobbing David. But having
begun she felt she must go on, and taking advantage of a little lull she
presently said:

"Was it a nice pig, David?"

"B-b-beautiful."

"And you miss it?"

This was so evident a fact that David seemed to think it needed no
answer, and Miss Unity continued:

"It's sad to lose anything we know and love. Very hard to bear. It's
quite natural and right to be sorry."

David took his hands away from his face, which was curiously marked by
dirty fingers and tears, and lifted a pair of blurred blue eyes to Miss
Unity. He was listening, and she felt encouraged to proceed:

"But though it's hard, there is something else that is much worse; do
you know what that is?"

"No," said David.

"To be angry with anyone we love," said Miss Unity solemnly; "that is a
very bitter feeling, and hurts us very much. All the while we have it
in our hearts we can't be happy, because anger and love are fighting
together."

David's eyes grew rounder and larger. Could this really be Miss Unity?