ce of
the Almighty giver who dispenseth with such perfect measure to every
living soul.

The lad loved the flowers, and dwelt upon their beauty as he lay
languidly upon his bed, and they were full of happy teachings to
him--better, far better than many a more boisterous exhorter. He
couldn't look upon their wonderous and perfect mechanism with a cold or
unbelieving heart; but his best and warmest affections went upward with
their sweet odor, and were acceptable to Him who had tipped every petal
with a heavenly message.

Archie also loved the rough visage of old Patrick, and was convinced of
the value of a kind and generous heart, by the simple offering that was
so grateful to his enfeebled state. Patrick had always looked upon the
boy with a pride not unmixed with awe. He could discern the symptoms of
a higher destiny awaiting the lad, and had always treated him with a
certain degree of reverence and respect, and now that the youth was so
helpless and weak, the strong arm of the true old man lifted him back
and forth, and held him fondly upon his breast as if he were his own
little child, and so there grew an enduring sympathy between them that
was to stay both the tottering and the crippled.

Sally Bunt, too, standing before the sick boy with the tempting gift in
one hand, and a finger of the other bashfully thrust into her wee mouth,
was an object of some affection to Archie, who would call the little
girl up to him, and smooth down her frizzled hair with his tremulous
hand, and thank her so warmly for the one egg, that she would go away
with as much joy in her heart as if she were a queen, and had just
tendered her costly offerings, and concluded her interview with the
wisest man.

Nor were the young children who gathered around the house for news of
the convalescent, forgotten or unheeded; but the pale face would appear
at the small window to greet them, and the feeble voice would speak out
its sincere gratitude. The hours were very lonely after he began to get
well, yet was confined to his close room; and Archie almost felt as if
he could be always so very, very ill, if it would insure to him the
presence of the gentle lady, who came now but an hour a day to see him.

The old grandmother was obliged to keep closely to her work now that the
boy was disabled, and the father had only the early dawn and the late
evening to spend in the sick-room; but these were pleasant seasons to
his child, for they developed th