Dick roared at the attempted consolation. "What a Job's comforter you
are, Win!" he said with a broad grin; "but as you say, little sister, a
man's personal appearance, though it sometimes goes a long way, is not
the main thing, and I reckon Dick Blake will manage through the world
well enough in spite of freckled skin and fiery hair."

"Of course he will," replied Winnie; "there's no doubt about that."

Then the two began to talk seriously and lovingly their own
heart-thoughts, and the minutes passed all too rapidly. Both started
when the clock struck the hour for retiring, and there was a little
quiver in Winnie's voice as she wished her brother good-night, and
thought that only another evening, then the kind face bending over her
would be looking out on the wide waste of waters, and she would have to
whisper her loving good-nights to the stars instead. "Oh, my dear, my
dear," she sobbed to herself in the darkness, "how sorely, sorely I
shall miss you! But I am so glad there is a great, good Father in
heaven who will guide and keep you wherever you are. Oh! if Aunt
Judith were only here to say something comforting to me--something that
would ease this ache of sorrow at my heart and help me to feel strong
and brave."

Then, as she lay weeping out her loneliness in the quiet night, some
words she had read in one of Aunt Judith's books stole softly into her
mind, like a ray of golden sunlight penetrating through the chinks of a
darkened room: "Whatever is grieving you, however burdensome or trivial
the trouble may be, tell it to Jesus."

Winnie's eyes flashed, and springing out of bed with sudden
determination she knelt down, a little, fragile figure, by the window
ledge, and prayed reverently and trustingly her first heart-prayer. It
was a very simple petition, uttered in Winnie's own quaint style, at
the language of which some people might have smiled; but I think that
in heaven there would be a great hush amongst the white-robed throng as
they bent their heads to catch the first breathings of a child's soul
upwards. And oh, the bursts of hallelujahs as the trusting words
floated to the throne of grace, and told of a young heart groping in
the darkness for the strong, firm clasp of a Father's hand!

Next afternoon, when the carriage drove round to the door as appointed,
the little girl, running downstairs warmly muffled up, found Edith
wrapped in soft velvets and furs, thoroughly equipped for the drive.