nor ceased her missionary efforts on their behalf until,
with the aid of brother Edward, and the consent and co-operation of our
parents, she had established them both as servants in the family, where
they had opportunity and encouragement to fit themselves for decent and
useful lives.

But their rise in life had not caused Bill and Jim to forget their less
fortunate little friends and _proteges_,--for Bill, too, had in his way
been good to Tony and Matty, though he was not nearly so generous and
self-sacrificing as Jim,--and they made them sharers in their improved
circumstances so far as they were able. Jim had proposed that they also
should be taken into our household, and nursed and cared for; but, as
father and mother objected to having the house turned into a wholesale
reformatory and hospital, his modest plan was not carried out. Some
help, however, had been extended to the two cripples, who could have
been provided with good homes in some beneficent institution, could the
wretched mother have been induced to give them up; but, thinking
probably that they excited sympathy by which she could profit, she
refused to do so.

Ever since Jim had fallen upon happier times, it seemed that the boy's
whole nature had expanded, and he was constantly on the lookout, to use
his own language, "for a chance to do a make-up for all the good done
to me an' Bill." A certain ambitious and not unpraiseworthy pride, too,
and a strong sense of gratitude and obligation to those who were
befriending and helping them, particularly strong in Jim, were causing
both boys to make the most of the opportunities offered to them.

And now, it would seem, Jim was actuated by schemes of wholesale
benevolence for one, two, and four legged animals.

He had proved himself quite a hero during the last summer; had, through
the force of circumstances and appearances, fallen under unjust
suspicion, but had been absolutely and triumphantly cleared (the story
of which may be found in "Uncle Rutherford's Attic"); and had made
himself an object of considerable interest, not only to the members of
our own family, to whom he had shown great loyalty and fidelity under
severe temptation and trial, but also to outsiders who had known of the
story of his adventures. Hence, he had been made the recipient of
various tokens of this interest and appreciation, mostly of a pecuniary
nature, and he now felt himself to be quite a moneyed man.

With the generosity wh