rl.

The father glanced at it. The plant looked so lovely on the little rough
bit of soil which lay between the piles of sweepings.

The smith nodded to the children.

"It looks very disorderly here," he said to himself, and stopped an
instant. "Yes, indeed, it does!" He went along, but thought of the
little green spot, with the lovely plant in the midst of it.

* * * * *

II.

pet' als
in' mates
scrubbed
fra' grant

The children ran into the house.

"Mother," said they, "there is such a rare plant growing right by the
window!"

The mother wished to glance out, but the window was so thick with dust
that she could not do so. She wiped off a little spot.

"My! My!" said she, when she noticed how dirty the window looked beside
the cleaned spot; so she wiped the whole window.

"That is an odd plant," said she, looking at it. "But how dreadfully
dirty it is out in the yard!"

Now that the sun shone in through the window it became very light in the
cottage. The mother looked at the ragged children and at the rubbish in
the room, and the blood rushed over her pale cheeks.

"It is a perfect shame!" she murmured. "I have never noticed that it was
so untidy here."

She hurried around, and set the room to rights, and, when that was done,
she washed the dirty floor. She scrubbed it so hard that her hands
smarted as if she had burned them in the fire; she did not stop until
every spot was white.

It was evening; the husband came home from work. The wife sat mending
the girl's ragged dress. The man stopped in the door. It looked so
strange to him within, and the look his wife gave him was brighter than
ever before, he thought.

"Go--God's peace!" he stammered. It was a long time since such a
greeting had been heard in here.

"God's peace!" answered she; "wel--welcome home!" She had not said this
for many years.

The smith stepped forward to the window; on the bed beside it the two
children lay sleeping. He looked at them, then he looked out on the
mound where the little plant stood. After a few minutes he went out.

A deep sigh rose from the woman's breast. She had hoped that he would
stay home that evening. Two great tears fell on the little dress.

In a few minutes she heard a noise outside. She went to the window to
see what it could be. Her husband had not gone away! He was out in the
yard clearing up the brush-heaps and rubbish.

She became more happy