uld do every
thing she could; she did not care about the wages, only she wished to
have a home, and be with good people; and the clergyman's wife was sorry
for her, and took her into service; and she _was_ industrious and
thoughtful. She sat still and listened when the clergyman read the Bible
in the evening. All the children thought a deal of her; but when they
spoke of dress, and grandeur, and beauty, she shook her head.

The following Sunday when the family was going to church, they asked her
whether she would not go with them; but she glanced sorrowfully, with
tears in her eyes, at her feet. The family went to hear the word of God,
but she went alone into her little chamber; there was only room for a
bed and a chair to stand in it; and here she sat down with her
prayer-book; and whilst she read with a pious mind, the wind bore the
strains of the organ towards her, and she raised her tearful eyes to
heaven and said, "Oh God, help me!"

And the sun shone clearly! And straight before her stood the angel of
God in white garments, the same she had seen at the church-door; but he
no longer carried the sharp sword, but in its stead a splendid green
spray full of roses, and he touched the ceiling with the spray, and the
ceiling rose up high, and where he had touched it there gleamed a golden
star. And he touched the walls and they widened out, and she saw the
organ which was playing; she saw the old pictures of the preachers and
the preachers' wives.

The congregation sat on cushioned seats, and sang out of their
prayer-books. For the church itself had come to the poor girl in her
narrow chamber, or else she had come into the church. She sat in the
pew with the clergyman's family, and when they had ended the psalm and
looked up, they nodded and said, "It is right that thou art come!"

"It was through mercy!" she said.

And the organ pealed, and the children's voices in the choir sounded
sweet and soft. The clear sunshine streamed warmly through the window
into the pew where Karen sat. Her heart was so full of sunshine and
peace, and joy, that it broke. Her soul flew on the sunshine to God, and
there no one asked after the _red shoes_.

* * * * *

Hans Christian Andersen is an excellent allegorist, and has very
ingeniously woven together a most interesting fabric in this story of
Karen, who, I am sure, every child cannot fail to see is a fabulous
heroine. And yet there is something so s