r a
place of rest and refuge--a strong tower, into which she could run and
be safe. By slow degrees the light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus
Christ dawned upon her soul; and to one fearful and doubtful of the
future, as she had been, what blessed rest and refreshment was in the
trust, that gradually grew strong, in the embrace of an Arm mighty to
save! To know herself one of those to whom Jesus has given a right to
say, "I will fear no evil, for _Thou_ art with me," was all that she
needed for her consolation; and during those days the blessed knowledge
came to her.

What part the simple words and earnest prayers of her little nurse had
in bringing about this blessed change, God knows. The girl herself had
little thought of the good which her entrance into the household had
wrought. It might have helped her to a more patient waiting had she
known how often her name was mingled with the thankful praises of Mrs
Lee. She was not impatient, but a longing for home that would not be
stilled mingled with the gladness that filled her heart at the thought
of being useful.

Summer had come. June was half over, and the only glimpse of green she
had had was the top of the mountain, far-away. Now and then Nelly
brought home from the market a bunch of garden-flowers. But the sight
of them only made her long the more for the fields where so many flowers
that she knew had blossomed and faded unseen. More than once, when sent
out by Mrs Lee to take the air, she had tried to extend her walk in one
direction or another, till she should reach the country. But partly
because she did not know the way, and partly because she grew so soon
weary, she never succeeded. She had to content herself with the nearest
street where there were trees growing, and now and then a peep through
open gateways upon little dusty strips of grass or garden-ground.

Oh, how close and hot and like a prison the long, narrow streets seemed
to her! How weary the street-noises made her! It was foolish, she
knew, and so she told herself often, to vex herself with idle fancies.
But sometimes there came back to her, with a vividness which for the
moment was like reality, the memory of familiar sights and sounds.
Sometimes it was the wind waving the trees, or the ripple of the brook
over the stepping-stones; sometimes it was the bleating of the young
lambs in the pastures far-away. She caught glimpses of familiar faces
in the crowd, as she used to do in th