a sudden cry of joy. It was her father, her long-lost father, come
home again!

'Why, Poppy,' he said, 'my own dear little woman, what are _you_ doing
here? Come and kiss your poor father, Poppy. And who are these two bonny
little lads?' he asked, as Enoch and Elijah came running up to him.

'They're our babies,' said Poppy. 'God sent them after you went away,
father; they both came on one day.'

'Dear me, dear me; and to think I never knew,' said her father. 'Poor
Polly! And so you've all come to see grandmother. I never thought I
should find you here; I was going home to-morrow. I must run in and see
mother. Is she with grandmother, Poppy?'

See mother! Then he did not know. And Poppy could not tell him. She
followed him with a very grave and sorrowful face, holding little Enoch
and Elijah by the hand.

Grandmother came to the door at the sound of his voice.

'Why, if it isn't my John Henry!' she cried.

'Yes, mother, it's your John Henry, ashamed of himself at last. And so
you've got poor Polly and the bairns here. Where is Polly? I wonder if
she'll ever forgive me?'

'Then you haven't been home yet, John Henry!' was all grandmother could
say.

'No, mother; I only got to Liverpool this morning, and I took you on my
way; I was going home to-morrow.'

'Where's Polly?' he said, pushing past her, and looking first into the
parlour and then into the kitchen. 'Is she upstairs, mother? Polly!
Polly! Polly!'

'John Henry,' said grandmother in a trembling voice, 'Polly has gone
home.'

'Gone home, and left the children behind her!' he exclaimed.

'Ay, my dear,' said his mother, bursting into tears; 'the Lord sent for
her.'

'You don't mean to say she's _dead_, mother!' he moaned.

'Nay, my dear, she is living with the Lord,' said the old woman.

'Oh, mother, mother,' he sobbed, 'to think I left her like that, and she
never knew how sorry I was!'

It was a long, long time before he could speak, or could tell them his
story. He had been in America in dreadful straits and in many dangers.
At length he fell ill with fever, and lay for many weeks at the point of
death, in a log cabin, with only a boy of ten, the son of a poor
emigrant, to do anything for him. But this trouble had shown him his
sin, and he had come to the Lord Jesus for forgiveness, and ever since
then God had blessed him. He had not become a rich man, but he had
earned enough to bring him home, and he had saved a little besides, and
with th