lized child was fast becoming
a hump-back!

'I will not attempt to describe the feelings of the mother, who
was thus doomed to witness from day to day the slow growth of that
which was to make one so dear to her a cripple and a dwarf.
Suffice it to say, her love as well as care seemed to be
redoubled, and EMMA became more than ever the child of her
affections. Nor did her little companions neglect her when she
could no longer join in their out-door sports, and her own
sprightly step had given place to a slow, stooping-gait, and the
sweet ringing voice to a sad or querulous tone, that sometimes
made the very heart ache. On the contrary, all vied with each
other in administering to her amusements. Among them, none clung
to her with more assiduity than her brother WILLIAM, who was the
nearest to her own age. He gave up all his own out-door play, in
order to be with her, and seemed never so happy as when he could
draw a smile, sad though it was, from her thoughtful features. But
after a while, EMMA grew wayward under her affliction; and
unfortunately, though generally good-natured, WILLIAM had a quick
temper, to check which required more self-command than commonly
falls to one so young. Sometimes, therefore, when he found plan
after plan, which he had projected for her amusement, rejected
with peevish contempt, he could hardly conceal from her his own
wounded feelings. Yet, though at times apparently ungrateful, EMMA
was perhaps not so in fact; and she loved her brother better than
any one else, save her mother. It was only in moments when her too
sensitive nature had been chafed perhaps by her own
reflections--for like the majority of children in her
circumstances, she was thoughtful beyond her years--that her
conduct seemed unkind. And then, when she marked the clouded
expression of her brother's face, she would ask forgiveness in so
meek a spirit, and kiss his cheek so affectionately, that he
forgave her almost as soon as offended.

'Years thus passed on, when one day, after she had been more than
usually perverse and fretful, WILLIAM, who had been reading to
her, on receiving some slight rebuff, started suddenly from his
seat by her side, called her '_a little hunch-back_,' and left the
room. In a moment, however, his passion subsided, and returning,
he found his sist