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"Make her fit to be an angel, make her love to please Thee, and, when it is time, take her to the home where there shall be no more pain or trouble. Amen." "No more pain--no more trouble," murmured Dolly, her mind wandering again; "want to be an angel--I'll give her the cup," she cried; "they say it kills folks to be t...
"Yes," said Mrs. Stanton. "He sees all we do." "And did He like me a little 'cause I did it?" "Jesus was glad when He saw you give up the cup, Dolly, because it was not yours, and it was right for you to tell where it was. He is always glad when we do right, or when we are sorry for doing wrong." "Can I speak to Him?"
"Yes: He is always ready and willing to listen to you, my poor child." "Guess I'll tell Him," muttered Dolly; and, trying to put her hands together as she had seen Mrs. Stanton do, she said, "Jesus, I'm true sorry I sp'iled them gardens, and I want to be a angel, if you _could_ please to let me." It was the first praye...
The two ladies and the gentleman sat down upon the rocks, while Lem took his place in front of them, hugging up his knees, and staring from one to another with half-frightened, half-sorrowful, looks. They were all silent for a little time, then Lem suddenly said,-- "Mister, when folks goes to be angels they mostly dies...
"I cannot tell: that will be as God sees best. Dolly is very sick; but we will do for her all we can, and we will ask Him to make her His own little child, so that if she dies she may be fit to live with Him, and if she lives, she may be ready to serve Him and love Him on earth." "I'll tell you, mister," broke forth Le...
Lem scarcely spoke without using some very bad word, such as is not best for me to write or you to read; and Mr. Stanton was waiting his time to speak to him about this. It came now. "But maybe she'll die," continued Lem. "Anyhow, you and your folks has been real good to me and Doll: what for I don't know, for we did p...
"Plenty more," said Mr. Stanton; "what I want you to do for me, is not to use bad words." "Never had no schoolin'," said Lem, a little sulkily. "Schooling will not help you in the way I mean," said Mr. Stanton; and then he explained to Lem what kind of words he did mean, telling him how wicked and useless they were, an...
"I want to be a angel," she said; "there's no pain, no tired, there--where's the singin'--I like it," and so she wandered on, calling upon the little girls and begging them to sing. In vain did Mrs. Bradford and Mrs. Stanton sing for her the two hymns which had taken her fancy, she only looked about more wildly for Mag...
Dolly's wild eyes turned towards them, and softened a little with pleasure at the sight; and her loud, hoarse cries ceased. It was evident she knew them. "Sing, 'I want to be an angel,' my darlings," said mamma. It was strange to see how the sweet sounds now soothed the sick child, though they had failed when tried by ...
"To whom?" asked Bessie. "To Him what has the angels, and is glad if we're good,--Jesus." "Oh, yes!" said Bessie; "we speak to Him very often: when we say our prayers, that is speaking to Jesus; and He always listens too." "Then you speak to Him for me, will you? You knows Him better than I do: I don't know Him much, o...
"What shall we tell Him?" asked Bessie. "Tell Him I'm so tired this long while, and the pain aches so, and if He _could_ just let me be a angel, I'd never do so no more; and I'm sorry I plagued you, and I'll do just what He bids me. I'm sorry I broke Miss Porter's plate too." "Yes, we'll tell Him," said Bessie gently; ...
Maggie and Bessie sang again, and before long poor Dolly's eyes closed, and she lay quietly sleeping; while our little girls, having left some of their berries for Lem to give her when she woke, went home with their mother and other friends. [Illustration] [Illustration] XV.
_A FRIEND IN NEED._ THREE weeks had passed away, and still Dolly lay very ill. The terrible rheumatic pains were better, it is true, and she could now be moved without causing her so much agony; but she had a racking cough and much fever, and showed, in many other ways, how very sick she was. Lem said she had had a cou...
Day by day she grew more gentle, more humble, more quiet, more unlike the Dolly of old, on whom kindness and harshness had both been thrown away. Poor child, perhaps it was that she had had so much of the latter, that she had not known how to believe in the former when it came to her. It was touching to see her peniten...
"Dolly," said Mrs. Bradford, gently, "where did you get this handkerchief?" "Off old Miss Mapes' currant-bush," said Dolly, promptly; adding, in an aggrieved tone, "I want her to have it 'stead of her plate, and she won't." "Because it is not yours to give away." "Then 'taint mine to keep," said Dolly; "and I guess Jes...
"He wants you to give it back to Mrs. Mapes, because that is the only right thing to do, Dolly." "Old Miss Mapes is hateful," answered Dolly. "She chased me off the road when I didn't do nothin', and threw a hoe at me and cut my foot, and that's why I took it; I'd liever Miss Porter would have it. She's good." "But if ...
"Yes," said Mrs. Bradford. "He was grieved when He saw you take it; and He will know you are truly sorry if you send it back to her." "I'll do it, then," said Dolly; "you can take it to her: but don't you tell her I did it for her, 'cause I don't,--it's only for Him." Poor child! it was perhaps as much as was to be exp...
Next to the two hymns which had first taken her fancy, this seemed to be the one Dolly liked best; and now she often asked for it. Bessie repeated it. When she came to the two last lines of the second verse,-- "In the kingdom of thy grace, Give a little child a place," Dolly said, "I'm going to say, 'Give a better chil...
"He did help me," said Dolly. "He let her"--motioning towards Bessie--"come and tell me about Him." The small, dirty hut, with the hard ground for its floor, its miserable roof, and chinks and crannies which let in the wind and damp, was no place for a sick child on these cool August nights; and now that Dolly could be...
"O Aunt Bessie!" she cried, "look what a lovely bunch of red leaves. It is just what you said you wanted for that c'llection you are making. I wonder if Uncle Ruthven could not reach it for you." Aunt Bessie turned and looked. "I can reach it for myself," she said. "Uncle Ruthven is upon the rocks, after those climbing...
It was too late. She looked up, kissed her hand gayly to her husband, and turned to obey. But her foot was already upon the treacherous gravel, and she slipped a little, recovered herself; then, startled, tried too suddenly to spring upon firmer ground, and slipped again. The gravel gave way more and more beneath her w...
For it was as he had said. As she slid downwards, Mrs. Stanton had clutched wildly at the bushes growing below, and had succeeded in laying hold of them. But the bushes were slender, and not deeply rooted in the loose gravelly soil, and though Mrs. Stanton was a small, slight woman, even her light weight was too much f...
"Not while God gives life and power to this hand. Courage, my darling, courage. Go, some of you, for help, ropes and men," he said, turning his haggard face towards the others, and still speaking in that strange tone, so unlike his own. In an instant, Mrs. Bradford was far up the road on her way to the house. To her li...
"Oh! why don't help come to us?" she sobbed out. "Why don't God send us help?" Bessie raised her head from Mrs. Rush's lap, where she had hidden her face. "Maybe we did not ask Him quite right," she said. "Aunt May, say a prayer for Aunt Bessie and for us all." Mrs. Rush tried to speak, but could not. One ceaseless, ag...
"Shall I say it, Aunt May?" Mrs. Rush nodded assent; and, kneeling at her side, Bessie clasped her little hands, and looking up to heaven, said,-- "Dear Father in heaven, we are so very troubled, we don't any of us know quite what to say; but you know what we want, even if we can't find the words, and our heart-prayers...
But she was right. The all-merciful Father had heard their earnest "heart-prayers," which could not be put into words; and help, such as they did not look for, was at hand. None saw the figure bounding down the mountain side with such headlong speed--now swinging itself down some steep ascent by the branches of a tree,...
As he turned away, with another silent appeal for help, Lem stood before him. "I seen it up there," he said, hurriedly, "and thought I'd never git here. I say, mister,"--to Mr. Stanton,--"if I only had a rope, or a bit of something to fasten about me, I know I could get down there, and put it about her, so you could hi...
The children and Mrs. Rush had risen, and were listening; and now a quick thought darted into Maggie's mind. "Uncle Horace," she said, springing eagerly forward, and pointing to the broad plaid ribbon about her sister's waist, "there's my sash and Bessie's. Wouldn't they be of any use?" "Thank God! the very thing!" exc...
"With God's help, and what you can give me, I trust so," he answered. "You must keep far enough from the edge not to slide over yourselves, you see," said Lem, coolly, as he and the Colonel drew strongly upon the knot. The Colonel measured the ribbon with his eye. Tied around Lena's waist, it would scarcely give the le...
No one could bring such help as papa, Bessie thought; and there he came, running down the hill, and stood among them. A few words made him understand what they were about; and, as Lem was now ready, he, with the Colonel, took fast hold of the long ribbon. Slowly and carefully, with the Colonel's cane in his hand, the b...
"By God's mercy, yes," said Mr. Stanton. "May he bless you for this, my brave boy. I will be a friend to you as long as I live." Lem immediately turned half a dozen somersets, which, in spite of their admiration and gratitude, greatly disgusted Maggie and Bessie; for they did not see how he could have the heart to do s...
XVI. _LEM'S SORROW._ IT would be impossible to tell what joy and gratitude filled the hearts of all at the Lake House that night. It was true, indeed, that the dear one who had been snatched from such a fearful death was very ill from the fright and shock, weak and exhausted, and dreadfully nervous. Her arm, too, was b...
It was necessary to keep the house very still, on account of Aunt Bessie, who was so very nervous that the least sound disturbed her; and roguish, noisy Frankie was, by Aunt Patty's earnest request, allowed to go to her house, where, for a few days, he lorded it over that humble servant of his to his heart's content. B...
Maggie said nothing, but stood with swimming eyes, and rising color, gazing at her aunt, till Mrs. Stanton said,-- "Have you not a word for me, dear Maggie?" Then Maggie gave a wistful kind of a smile, and tried to speak, but broke down in a half-choked sob. "Do not be worried about me, dearie," said Aunt Bessie; "I sh...
Maggie did not answer, except by gently kissing the poor hurt hand, which lay upon the coverlet; but it was plainly to be seen that she was a good deal excited; and Uncle Ruthven, fearing one of her sudden bursts of crying, said the children had stayed long enough, and led them from the room. Then Maggie's tears came f...
"Oh! my posy boxes, bring 'em along, Lem." Lem obeyed, and, taking up the two flower-pots which contained the scragly, sickly looking plants, trotted along beside Mrs. Bradford with one on each arm. "She sets such a heap on the old things," he said to the lady as if in excuse. "I'm sure I don't know what for; but since...
Lem thought himself rather a hero, and not without reason, for the share he had had in saving young Mrs. Stanton's life; and was much inclined to talk of it to any one who would listen to him. He was still rather shy of the boys; but since the little girls had been so often to see Dolly, he had been quite friendly with...
"Think I could get a sight of my gentleman, to-day?" he asked of Mrs. Bradford. "Of my brother?" said the lady. "Yes, I think so; he said he would see you when you came to the Lake House." "That was a fustrate job I did for him--getting the lady up; now, warn't it? He said he'd never forget it." "We shall none of us fo...
"No, I aint goin' to," said Lem, with a self-satisfied air. "I'll tell you if it hadn't been for me, the lady would have been gone afore those fellers got there with the ropes. He couldn't ha' held on much longer, and like enough they'd both gone down together." Mrs. Bradford shuddered at the thought. "Now, what do you...
"Well," said Lem, "you give me these clothes, and now I'd just as lieve he'd give me one of his old hats and a red shirt; so I'd be decent-like; and then I'd like him to get me to be an engine driver on one of them railroads. If it wasn't for Dolly I'd like to be sent off on a ship to the place where the tigers and ele...
"She aint, I tell you," he said, fiercely. "You mean she's a goin' to be an angel,--what she's always talking about nowadays,--and she'll have to die for that,--_he_ said so,--and she aint agoin' to. She's better now, I know; for she don't screech out with the pain like she used to." "No," said Mrs. Bradford, standing ...
"My poor boy," said Mrs. Bradford, pityingly, "neither my brother, nor any other person can do more for Dolly than to make her comfortable for the few days she will be here. Her life is not in his hands, or in the doctor's, but in those of God, who sees best to take her to Himself." Lem threw himself passionately upon ...
"Like enough I'll miss her," said Lem, in a sullen kind of sorrow. "But," said Mrs. Bradford, "you may see her again if you will live so that Jesus may some day take you to dwell with Him in His glorious home. Will you not try to do this, Lem?" "Couldn't no way," replied Lem, sitting upright; "they say only good folks ...
"She's gettin' awful good, that's true," said Lem. "She made you take back old Miss Mapes' handkercher, and made me go and tell Miss Jones she was sorry for unhookin' her clothes-line and lettin' down the clothes in the dirt; and, oh! do you think, there's the biggest kind of a squash down in Todd's cornfield, and I wa...
"Sick people often take such fancies," said Mrs. Bradford; "and when Dolly has gone you will be glad to think that you have pleased her by even such a small thing as caring for her plants." "And I do think they've picked up a bit," said Lem. "See, this one has two buds on it. I wouldn't wonder if they made flowers." Wh...
"To be sure, child," said Mrs. Porter; and Mrs. Bradford, taking the flower-pots from Lem, placed them in the little casement window opposite to Dolly's bed. Dolly looked pleased, but she was too much worn out to say more; and, when she had taken her tea, turned her face on her pillow, and fell into the most quiet slee...
_DOLLY GOES HOME._ DAY after day of the lovely September weather passed by, bringing change to God's world without and within. The days were warm and sunny, but the nights were cool; and now and then came the quiet frost, painting the grand old forest-trees and their clinging vines. The Virginia creepers--always the fi...
Maggie and Bessie came in to see her very often, bringing her fruit and flowers, and now and then some other little offering; some dainty which had been given to themselves and saved for her, a picture or a toy. For the toys she did not care much; indeed, they were so new to her that she scarcely understood them, and w...
"Lem," said Dolly to him one day, "why don't you be glad I'm going to Jesus? I'm glad. I asked Him a many times to take me." "'Cause I can't," said Lem, sullenly. "I thought we was goin' to get along fustrate if _he_ looked after us; but 'taint no good gettin' to be engine driver now, if you're goin' away." "Oh, yes, i...
"I don't know," said Dolly. "I guess, maybe it's just the bein' sick and dyin' is a good help. You know, Lem, if I hadn't a been sick and the little one found me there, I'd never a heard about Jesus, and I guess the best help He can give me is to take me right up there. I asked little one t'other day how she come in th...
"They're coming on nice, aint they?" she said; "don't they look pretty?" Maggie and Bessie were rather uncomfortable, for they did not think the forlorn marigolds pretty, and they did not wish to hurt Dolly's feelings by saying so; but mamma came to their relief, by saying, as she could with truth,-- "It has agreed wit...
"Certainly," said Mrs. Bradford, and sent Maggie over to the house for these things. When Maggie came back, Dolly wanted to raise herself and take the things from her, but could not do it. Mrs. Bradford put her arm under the pillow and lifted her. Then the child tried to fold and cut the paper; but the trembling finger...
Mrs. Bradford understood at once. Poor, simple Dolly had seen the gardener shielding his choice blossoms by a circlet of fringed paper; and she would fain do as much for the stunted little favorite which was so lovely in her eyes. "Maggie will cut it for you," said the lady; and, under her mother's direction, Maggie's ...
But mamma was back and forth all day,--far more so than usual; and in the afternoon, when the hour came for Sunday school, the children, knowing she was there, ran over to give her a kiss before they went to their class. "We'll ask Dolly what she wants us to sing," said Maggie; "for you know she can hear us quite well ...
The children felt the solemn hush; and their little feet paused upon the threshold of the open door. Mamma and papa were there, Uncle Ruthven and Mrs. Porter; and poor Lem, crouched at Mr. Stanton's feet, his hands clasped about his knees, his head bent upon them. Mamma put out her hand, and beckoned to the children; a...
"You was good to Doll," she said, in a faint whisper. "Jesus sent you. He loves you, 'cause you was good--and--I'll be an angel--and tell Him--you teached me about Him, and--He'll love you more. Good-by." "Good-by, Dolly," said Bessie, not knowing this was to be the last good-by, and yet with the tears gathering in her...
"Rest for the weary," sighed Dolly. "My darlings," said mamma, "ask Aunt May to leave the lessons for this afternoon, and let you sing as long as you can;" and drawing them to her, she kissed first one, and then the other, with a long, tender kiss. Dolly's eyes followed them, as they went out, and then came back to Mrs...
"I guess, if I'd had a mother, she'd kiss me, like that,--don't you?" "Shall I kiss you, Dolly?" asked Mrs. Bradford, with tearful eyes. "Could you?" said Dolly, with a brightening look. Warm from the loving mother's heart came the motherly kiss, which Dolly had never known before; and with a long, satisfied sigh, she ...
Then came the sweet voices of the children and their teacher, hymn after hymn of infant praise floating in, as it seemed, on that soft, shimmering sunshine, and filling the little room with music. Dolly lay still, and they could not tell whether she were listening or not. Presently, she opened her eyes again, started, ...
"She telled me I was to bring 'em to you, and say, maybe they'd go a little bit to make up for the sp'ilin' of your gardens, and maybe, when the flowers was out, they'd do to go to the show. That was what she was settin' so much by 'em for, when she lay a dyin'." The tears which had not fallen over the happy little chi...
"M. and B. Happy were very thankful to our Father in heaven, because he let them be of a mind to forgive Dolly. If they had not forgiven her, and made up their resolutions to do a kind thing for her, then B. would have run away when she saw Dolly, and not waited to speak to her and give the banana, and so nobody might ...
_GOOD-BY TO CHALECOO._ AND now there was much talk of going home, and the time for the flower show was at hand, and our Maggie and Bessie could not help a little feeling of sorrow, that they had nothing to show that they had tried to do as well as the others. They had thought they should not mind it so very much; but a...
"O Maggie!" she said: "we forgot to water Dolly's marigolds. Let's run and do it before we go." Away they scampered to the side of the house where they had stood Dolly's treasures, but came back in a moment, with wondering faces, crying out,-- "Somebody has moved our marigolds." "Where are our marigolds?"
"Never mind the marigolds now," said papa, catching up Bessie, and putting her into the wagon, where, the next moment, she was seated on Colonel Rush's knee,--"never mind the marigolds; they are safe, and will keep until you come back again;" and then he whisked Maggie into the wagon, and she was nestled into a seat be...
What a delightful bustle there was when our friends arrived at the homestead, and the whole family came pouring out to receive them! For the time, Maggie and Bessie forgot the little sore spot in their hearts which was caused by the thought that they had no share in that which brought them all together, until lisping l...
Maggie gave a little sigh. "Bessie and I want a canary very much," she said. "There is one in the nursery at home; but we want one for our own room, and we are going to ask mamma to let us have it next Christmas." "I'd jutht like you to have thith one, 'cauthe you're tho good and I love you," said Katy, and she put up ...
While the gentlemen were gone, making these last arrangements, the children had a good play; and in about an hour's time they were all called in to take part in the great event of the day. The spot chosen for this was the latticed piazza which served as the children's summer play-room; and here a long table was set out...
They kept very close together, these two generous little girls, and hand in hand walked round the table to look at the pretty sight. Each article was labelled with its owner's name, and behind such as took a prize was the reward it was thought to have merited. Not a child but had some one pretty or useful gift; even th...
Maggie and Bessie ran round to the other side; and there, to their great surprise, stood Dolly's two marigolds. Forlorn enough they certainly looked among the flourishing plants and bright blossoms which had been the fruit of their cousins' labors; even more forlorn than they had done when Dolly left them as her dying ...
But Maggie exclaimed with a trembling lip,-- "Fred, Fred! it wasn't fair. You ought not to make fun of poor Dolly's marigolds, and to hurt our feelings that way." "I did not do a thing," said Fred, "and knew no more about it than yourself." "Nor I," said Harry: "most likely it was papa or some grown-up person; and cert...
Maggie looked at the card, as her brother moved the cage nearer to her. "'For our Maggie and Bessie--the dear'--oh! what is it Harry? read it to me quick." Harry read it,-- "For our Maggie and Bessie, the dear little workers in the garden of the Lord, who tended the Christian plants of patience, kindness, and forbearan...
"I don't understand it," said Maggie. "Does it mean the canary is for Bessie and me?" "Of course," said Harry. "But I am sure we ought not to have any credit about the marigolds," said Maggie, still wondering. "If there is any, it is Dolly's or Lem's." "And Harry," said Bessie, "the marigolds are pretty ugly. I don't m...
"Dolly left you the marigolds," said Harry; "so, if they win a prize you ought surely to have it, and I am glad of it,--that I am. But I don't quite think it was these poor little scrubs that had that honor." "But, O Maggie! just to think of that lovely, darling, little birdie being for us," said Bessie, pleasure begin...
Maggie and Bessie were in ecstasies, and Cousin Alexander certainly had reason to think his kindness had given all the pleasure he intended it should. This was the last day they were to spend at the homestead, and the children made the most of it. Every nook and corner was visited, and all kinds of odd traps were dragg...
But he was bright enough the next morning; for he woke the little girls with his song some time before the hour at which they were accustomed to rise. Bessie, always a light sleeper, was the first to be roused by his sweet notes, that soft, half-doubtful little trill with which he began; but, as it rose into a gush of ...
"Or, if He had not helped us very much, we might not have taken them up, when we did find them," said Bessie. "It was pretty hard work to take up that first one of giving the banana to Dolly; and, Maggie, do you know I did such a very naughty thing as 'most to wish He did not give me the chance I had asked for: but, af...
So from this day the canary was called Marigold, nor was it long before he knew his name, and would answer with a chirp when it was called. In two or three days more, they said good-by to Chalecoo and all its pleasures. The parting was a hard one on all sides, especially for Mr. Porter's family, who knew how much they ...
"Good-by! good-by! good-by!" The words, so hard to say, were spoken; and dear old Mrs. Porter stood upon the piazza steps, wiping her eyes with her apron, as she watched the wagons going slowly past the lake, and carrying our friends down the mountain for the last time. "Well, I hope we may see them all back another su...
"Well," said Mr. Porter, when he had taken the homeward-bound party safely to the place where they were to take the boat down the river, "I reckon one of the best jobs I ever did was to take you up Chalecoo mountain for the first time, and one of the worst to bring you down for the last." "But you can find _consolement...
[Illustration: THE END] Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son. Transcriber's Notes Minor punctuation typos have been silently corrected.
Retained both spellings of "Fanny" and "Fannie." Page 41: Changed "eat" to "ate." (Orig: cracked and eat his almond.) Page 354: Retained original sentence, but Dolly was dead. (Orig: "Well, I hope we may see them all back another summer," she said to Dolly and Fanny, who stood beside her,) End of Project Gutenberg's Be...
= = = PG46762 = = = BESSIE AND HER FRIENDS E-text prepared by Melissa McDaniel, Matthias Grammel, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org)
Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 46762-h.htm or 46762-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46762/46762-h/46762-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46762/46762-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. S...
_BOOKS BY JOANNA H. MATHEWS._ I. THE BESSIE BOOKS. 6 vols. In a box. $7.50. II. THE FLOWERETS.
A SERIES OF STORIES ON THE COMMANDMENTS. 6 vols. In a box. $3.60. III. LITTLE SUNBEAMS. 6 vols. In a box. $6.00.
IV. KITTY AND LULU BOOKS. 6 vols. In a box. $6.00. V. MISS ASHTON'S GIRLS. 6 vols. In a neat box. $7.50.
VI. HAPS AND MISHAPS. 6 vols. $7.50. _BY JULIA A. MATHEWS._ I. DARE TO DO RIGHT SERIES.
5 vols. In a box. $5.50. II. DRAYTON HALL STORIES. Illustrative of the Beatitudes. 6 vols. In a box. $4.50. III. THE GOLDEN LADDER SERIES.
Stories illustrative of the Lord's Prayer. 6 vols. $3.00. ROBERT CARTER AND BROTHERS, _New York_. * * * * * *
[Illustration: Bessie's Friends. FRONTIS.] [Illustration: Decoration] BESSIE AND HER FRIENDS. by
JOANNA H. MATHEWS, Author of "Bessie at the Seaside," "Bessie in the City," &c. "_Speak not evil one of another._" "_Bear ye one another's burdens._"
New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 530 Broadway. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by Robert Carter and Brothers, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. To _MY SISTER BELLA_,
WHOSE LOVING CONSIDERATION _Has lightened the "burden" of many an otherwise weary hour_. _CONTENTS._ PAGE
_I. Jennie's Home_ 7 _II. The Police-Sergeant's Story_ 30 _III. Little Pitchers_ 48 _IV. Papa's Story_ 64
_V. Light through the Clouds_ 95 _VI. Uncle Ruthven_ 117 _VII. An Unexpected Visitor_ 143 _VIII. Franky_ 167
_IX. Bear ye One Another's Burdens_ 181 _X. Two Surprises_ 200 _XI. Blind Willie_ 224 _XII. Maggie's Book_ 241
_XIII. Disappointment_ 269 _XIV. Aunt Patty_ 294 _XV. Willie's Visit_ 314 _XVI. Willie's Recovery_ 336
[Illustration: Beginning of book] _BESSIE AND HER FRIENDS_. I. _JENNIE'S HOME._
"Morher," said little Jennie Richards, "isn't it 'most time for farher to be home?" "Almost time, Jennie," answered Mrs. Richards, looking up from the face of the baby upon her lap to the clock upon the mantel-piece. A very pale, tiny face it was; so tiny that Sergeant Richards used to say he had to look twice to be su...
"That will come by and by, Jennie." "But long before I am so big, you'll be quite well, morher." "I hope so, dear, if God pleases. It's a long, long while to sit here helpless, able to do nothing but tend poor baby, and see my dear little daughter at the work her mother ought to do." "Oh, morher, just as if I did not l...