bscure. There was nothing to distinguish her in the
eyes of those who saw her from day to day. Yet God had greatly honoured
her. He had made her a messenger of grace to one, to two--perhaps to
more. When that little, worn-out frame was laid aside, it might be,
thought Effie, that the immortal spirit, crowned and radiant, should
stand nearer to the throne than some who were held in honour by the wise
and the good of this world.

Sitting there, listening and musing, Effie saw, more clearly than she
ever could have seen in the bustle of her busy life, how infinitely
desirable it is to be permitted to do God's work in the world. Those
were days never to be forgotten by her. She grew thin and wan with
confinement and watching, but as the time drew near when her present
care should cease and she should go home again, her face wore a look of
peace beautiful to see.

"Effie," said Christie one day, after she had been silently watching her
a little while, "you are more willing that I should go now, I think?"

Effie started.

"I shall be willing when the time comes, my dear sister, I do not
doubt," she said, with lips that smiled, though they quivered too. "I
cannot help being willing, and glad, for your sake."

"And you ought to be glad for your sake too," said Christie. "You will
have one less to care for, to be anxious about, Effie, and I shall be
safe with our dear father and mother in the better world. I never could
have helped you much, dear, though I would have liked to do so. I never
should have been very strong, I dare say, and--I might have been a
burden."

"But if you had been running about in the fields with the bairns all
this time, who knows but you would have been as strong as any of them?"
said Effie, sadly.

But Christie shook her head.

"No; I have had nothing to harm me. And sometimes I used to think if I
had stayed at home I might have fallen back into my old fretful ways,
and so have been a vexation to myself and to Aunt Elsie; and to you
even, Effie, though you never used to be vexed with me."

"No, Christie, that could never have happened. God is faithful, and
with His grace, all would have been well with you. There would have
been no more such sad days for you."

"No such day as that when you came home with the book-man and gave me my
Bible," said Christie, smiling, "I wonder why I always mind that day so
well? I suppose because it was the beginning of it all."

Effie did not as