ty and of her happy position.

Mrs. Dunmore had all this time been partially concealed by the drapery
of the window, but as she moved from the recess Jennie's quick ear
caught the sound of her step, and she whispered to her mother, who
arose, and with some confusion at the novelty of her situation and the
meanness of her attire, advanced to meet the gentle widow, saying,
"Jennie tells me you are the kind lady who befriended her in her
distress--I have not words to thank you, dear madam, for your pity, and
care for my unfortunate child; but if the prayers of an earnest heart
will avail before God, the choicest of Heaven's blessings shall be your
reward."

"A glance at that portrait," said Mrs. Dunmore, "will betray to you the
motive for any unwonted interest in your precious child; but were it
simply a humane act, the thought of having performed one's duty is a
sufficient recompense--still, I ask another, and that is, that your
little one may supply to me the place of my darling 'Bella.' I know,"
continued she, as she noticed the flush upon the mother's face, and the
increased pulsations of her heart, "how great a sacrifice I ask, and I
can not press you to give up your own right over the treasure God has
bestowed upon you; but I would so far share that blessing with you, as
to keep your little Jennie always near me, and to assist you in your
care for her comfort and advancement."

Mrs. Grig was struck with the delicacy and refinement of Mrs. Dunmore's
manner toward her; instead of bluntly offering to adopt her child, with
the evident feeling that it was too good a bargain to require a moment's
wavering, she proposed it to her in the light of a favor conferred upon
herself, and in which they would both ever have a mutual interest. The
poor woman could not see that her own apparent good breeding had--in
Mrs. Dunmore's estimation--diminished the distance in their relative
positions, so that a free and full sympathy was compatible with her
dignity, as well as the dictate of her heart. She looked upon her child
as she lay there, in her now adorned loveliness; she gazed about the
room so filled with comfort and delight, and as her thoughts wandered
from these blessings to her own cheerless home, and to the past few
months of destitution; and as visions of weary days of toil, and nights
of cold and hunger and wretchedness, and the shadow of that lovely
little one returning from her loathsome labors, with muddy garments, and