SUNDAY EMPLOYMENTS.

19

"the redeemed of the Lord," that shall "return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."'

'Aren't you ready to have candles?' said Thornton suddenly quitting his seat at the window. It's excessively stupid sitting here in the dark.'

Rosalie reached out her hand to the bell-cord, while Hulda exclaimed,

Stupid! O that was because you were too far off to hear what Alie was talking about.'

'It was not because I was too far off.'

'But how could you feel stupid, then?' said Hulda. 'I'm sure it was beautiful.'

'It,—what?'

'Why, what she was repeating to me.'

'So let it remain then,' said Thornton. more wood, Tom-and last night's paper.'

'Bring some

'You must not expect to find everybody as fond of my talk as you are, Hulda,' said Rosalie, with an attempt to bring down the child's look of astonishment. 'I am not a very brilliant expositor.'

'What is an expositor?' said Hulda.

'A person who explains particular passages or books.' 'I think you are brilliant,' said Hulda, with a smile that certainly was.

'Why don't you ask me who I heard this afternoon?' said Thornton abruptly.

'Gentlemen sometimes prefer to give an unsolicited account of their movements,' said his sister, with a look and smile that might have stroked any fur into order.

'You shall have it then,' he answered.

Ackerman and Lieutenant Knolles.'

'I heard Will

A flush of deep feeling came to her face and left it as

quickly, but she said nothing; only her eyes which had been raised to his with interested expectation fell again, and her cheek once more rested upon Hulda.

'We had a very fine walk,' Thornton went on, and then a game of billiards, and so home with the church goers.'

Still she said nothing, nor raised her head, although its support was suddenly withdrawn; for Hulda having with some trouble taken the meaning of such strange words, started up and exclaimed,

But it's very wrong to play billiards on Sunday and not go to church! Don't you know that, Thornton ?'

'I know that you concern yourself with what is not your business,' said the young man hastily, his hand giving more evident token of his displeasure. But it did not reach Hulda's cheek, only the shielding hand of her sister.

An indignant outburst was upon the child's lips, but the same hand was there too; and before Hulda had made up her mind whether she was too frightened or too angry to cry, Rosalie had taken her quietly out of the room. Her doubts were easily resolved then, and long before they had reached the top of the stairs she was sobbing her little heart out upon Rosalie's neck. And more for her sister's wrong than her own,-the shielding hand was kissed and cried over a great many times before Hulda's grief would let her speak, or Rosalie's silent agitation submit to control. She bent herself then to the task of calming Hulda,checking her displeased and excited speeches about Thornton, drying her tears, and endeavouring to make her understand that it was not always best for little girls to reprove their grown-up brothers. A difficult task! without compromising either Thornton or the truth.

'I don't care!' was Hulda's satisfactory conclusion,—' I shouldn't love him if he was fifty times my brother! And I don't want to.'

A SISTER'S LOVE.

"I love him very much, Hulda.'

21

I shouldn't think you would!' and a fresh shower of tears was bestowed upon Rosalie's hand.

'Why my hand was not hurt,' said her sister.

'I don't care!' said Hulda,-'it makes no difference.' 'O you are wrong, dear child,' said Rosalie, you mus love him and try to please him. Come, look up—a little impatience is not worth so many tears.'

The child looked up inquiringly,

as if she had

detected tears in her sister's voice; but Rosalie's face was calm, though very, very grave.

'If you will jump down from my lap and ring the bell,' she said, 'Martha shall bring your tea up here, and then we will talk and you shall go to bed.'

So the bell was rung and Martha came and went according to directions; but when she came the second time with the tray, Miss Jumps stood still.

You aint afraid of getting fat, Miss Rosalie, be you?' she said, 'cause you'll be in no danger this some timethat a brave man couldn't face, as Tom says. Now there's bread and butter down stairs no thicker than a thought, and beef, and preserves-and I'll fetch you up a cup of tea that shall smoke so you can't see it. What'll you have? Air's good enough in its way, but folks can't live on nothing else.'

'Thank you Martha,' said her mistress, but I am not ready for tea yet. Ask Mr. Thornton when you go down how soon he wishes to have it.'

'I smell salt water,' said Martha Jumps as she went down to the kitchen, 'I say I do, sartain sure. One of my forbears must have been a sailor, and no mistake.

Tom!-Tom Skiddy!-go up to the parlour straight, and ask Mr. Thornton if he wants his tea to-night or to-morrow morning. I guess he'd just as soon wait till morning,and I'd as soon he would, and a little sooner.'

'It's like enough you'll be gratified then,' said Tom, 'for I was up to the parlour a matter of five minutes ago to ask when he wanted tea; and all I got was, that when he did he'd let me know.'

The evening had worn away, and Thornton and the newspaper still sat vis-à-vis at the table, when the door was quietly opened and Rosalie came in. He heard her well enough, but the debating mood he had been in resolved itself for the moment into a committee of pride and false shame therefore he did not speak nor look up. Neither when her hand was laid on his forehead and its touch said a great deal to him, as the fingers stroked back and played for a moment with his hair did he see fit to notice it. softly, 'I wish you would put up

'Thornton,' she said the paper and talk to me.'

Because you do not wish me to read the paper, or because you do wish to talk - which?'

'A little of both.'

'Well-' and he sent the paper skimming across the table-there. - Now I am ready to hear what you've got Let me have the lecture at once and be done

to say.

with it.'

I have no lecture to give,' she said gently. I am neither wise nor strong-hearted enough to-night.'

'I should think you were troubled with small doubts of your own wisdom,' said Thornton, — 'why did you interfere between me and Hulda?'

To save her from unmerited punishment.'

Unmerited! she was excessively impertinent.'

'She did not mean to be -you forget what a child she is, and that you are her brother.'

' And therefore she may say what she likes, I suppose,' said Thornton. 'It's a privilege to have sisters at that

rate!'

He had not looked at her since she came in, but the pure image in his heart was never brighter than at that moment he felt what a privilege it was.

6

'Yes,' Rosalie answered, as she knelt at his side with her hand on his shoulder. Yes it is a privilege to have sisters and brothers, to have any near and dear friends

in this wide world; an unspeakable blessing.'

6

Is that the blessing you have been crying over tonight?' said Thornton, glancing at her in spite of himself. 'It seems not to afford you much satisfaction. I wish you would speak out at once!' he added impetuously. Why don't you tell me that I have done all manner of bad things - shocked you, disgraced myself, and so forth? Say-why don't you 1?'

'Because you had said it all to yourself before you came home,' she answered steadily and without looking at him.

The words were spoken very gently but in a way not to be contradicted-if indeed he had been so inclined; but among all the qualities, good, bad, and indifferent, that went to make up Thornton's character, a few had never been tampered with. Foremost among these stood truth. The very feeling which had moved him to tell how he had spent the afternoon, was partly good and partly bad. The strong contrast of the quiet rest of Rosalie's hope with his own restless cravings, had wrought upon a mind dissatisfied with itself till for a moment he was willing to make her dissatisfied; but another feeling had wrought too in prompting the disclosure the consciousness that she thought he

had been more faithful to her wishes than was the truth.

Therefore when she told him that he was displeased with himself, no word of equivocation passed his lips; though he coloured deeply.

You speak with sufficient boldness!' he said. And you do not call this lecturing one?'