the loving sister's lips to disturb its
gentle flow.

And little by little, as the uneventful days glided by peace, and more
than peace--gratitude and loving praise--filled the heart of Christie's
sister. What could she wish more for the child so loved than such quiet
and happy waiting for the end of all trouble? A little while sooner or
later, what did it matter? What could she wish more or better for any
one she loved? It would ill become her to repine at her loss, so
infinitely her sister's gain.

The discipline of these weeks in her sister's sick-room did very much
for Effie. Ever since their mother's death, and more especially since
their coming to Canada, a great deal had depended on her. Wise to plan
and strong to execute, she had done what few young girls in her sphere
could have done. Her energy had never flagged. She delighted to
encounter and overcome difficulties; she was strong, prudent, and
far-seeing, and she was fast acquiring the reputation, among her friends
and neighbours, of a rare business woman.

It is just possible that, as the years passed, she might have acquired
some of the unpleasing qualities so apt to become the characteristic of
the woman who has no one to come between her and the cares of business
or the shifts and difficulties incident to the providing for a family
whose means are limited. Coming in contact, as she had to do, with a
world not always mindful of the claims of others, she found it necessary
to stand her ground and hold her own with a firmness that might seem
hardly compatible with gentleness. Her position, too, as the teacher of
a school--the queen of a little realm where her word was law--tended to
cultivate in her strength and firmness of character rather than the more
womanly qualities. It is doubtful whether, without the sweet and solemn
break in the routine of her life which these months in her sister's
sick-room made, she would ever have grown into the woman she afterwards
became. This long and patient waiting for God's messenger gave her the
time for thought which her busy life denied her.

Now and then, during the quiet talks in which, during her more
comfortable hours, they could still indulge, there was revealed to Effie
all the way by which God had led her sister; at the same time there was
revealed all that He had permitted her to do for His glory, and at this
she was greatly moved. She had only been a little servant-maid, plain
and humble and o