g.

"Come, I _must_ have all the story, for I know it has a sequel!"

"A very happy one. Yes, I owe to that kind soul and her little story,
the turn that Fortune gave her wheel. Nay, rather say, the touch of
nature that makes the whole world kin. For when I went home that day, I
sat down and made a simple tale from the hint she gave, and something of
her own humor and pathos must have got into it, for it was accepted, and
more stories solicited, to my great surprise.

"I wrote it to please myself, for I was in a happy mood; and though my
room was cold, the sun shone; though my closet was bare, honest money
was in my pocket, and I felt as rich as a king.

"I remember I laughed at myself as I posted the manuscript on Monday
morning, called it infatuation, and thought no more of it for days,
being busy with my new friend, the shovel.

"Snow was gone, but coal remained, and I put in tons of it with a will,
for this active labor was the tonic my overwrought nerves needed, and my
spirits rose wonderfully, as muscles earned the daily bread that brains
had failed to win.

"Ah! but they brought me something better than bread, dearer than fame;
and to that old shovel I owe the happiness of my life! The very day I
got the letter accepting the little story, I was gaily putting in my
last ton of coal, for I felt that now I might take up the pen again,
since in a kitchen I had discovered the magic that wins listeners.

"Bless my heart! how I worked and how I whistled, I was so happy, and
felt so lifted above all doubt and fear by the knowledge that my talent
was _not_ a failure, and the fact that my own strong arms could keep the
wolf from the door!

"I was so busy that I had not observed a lady watching me from the
window. She had opened it to feed the hungry sparrows, and my whistle
caught her ear, for it was an air she knew, and had heard a certain
young man sing before he dropped out of her circle, and left her
wondering sadly what had befallen him.

"All this I learned afterward; then I unconsciously piped away till my
job was done, wiped my hot face, and went in to get my money. To my
surprise I was told to 'go into the dining room, and missis would
attend to it.'

"I went and found myself face to face, not with 'missis,' but the woman
I had loved hopelessly but faithfully all that hard year, since I had
gone away to fight my battle alone.

"For a moment I believed she did not know me, in my shabby suit and
besmir