THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Hare Book Room 
 GIFT OF 
 
 John W, Becknum 
 
University of California Berkeley 
 

OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 3Bj> tjic Stottjor of 
 
 WREATHS AND BRANCHES FOR THE CHURCH 
 , " CONSECRATED TALENTS ;' ; ETC. 
 
 C G^c^W -T, ^>/vY(T 
 
 Blessed are the pure in heart ; for they mall see Qod.' 
 
 Etiittott. 
 
 NEW YOKK: c - 
 
 GENERAL PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL S. S. UNION 
 AND CHURCH BOOK SOCIETY, 
 
 762 BROADWAY. 
 
 1870. 
 
Entered according to Act of CongreM, in the year 1813, 
 
 BY JOHN W. MITCHELL, 
 
 (M Treasurer of The Gen. Frot. Epis. S. S. Union, and Church Book Society,) 
 
 IB the Clerk'* Office of the District Court of the United States for the Souther* 
 
 District of New York. 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 VERY few children ever passed Mr. 
 Foster's tall brick house without think 
 ing, " What a gloomy looking place ! I 
 would not live in it for the world." 
 And so it was a dreary dwelling. The 
 color had once been dark red, but now 
 it was a dingy brown, excepting Jjie 
 spots where the paint had entirely worn 
 off, and the door was almost black, with 
 a great brass knob so high up that no 
 child could ever reach that, nor the huge 
 ^knocker above it. But very few persons 
 ever went in or out of that desolate house 
 
4: OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 but a middle-aged man and two servants, 
 for Mrs. Foster had been confined to her 
 bed for a whale year, and her husband 
 was away all day. The blinds were all 
 closed excepting a little one in the dining 
 room, and the two in the chamber of the 
 sick lady, and sometimes the whole house 
 looked so quiet that passers by thought 
 that every body in it certainly must have 
 died. 
 
 But there x was one bright, cheerful 
 sound occasionally heard in Mrs. Foster's 
 chamber, which she called the "singing 
 of her nightingale." I am sure no other 
 bird would have thought of raising its 
 voice in such a dark place, for thick 
 green curtains shut out almost all the 
 light that came through the dingy blinds 
 in the day time, and, a*t night, the only 
 lamp was a little taper, and a screen hid 
 that from the weak eyes of the sufferer. 
 The great rough-looking nurse, Fanny, 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFOET. 5 
 
 though she. stepped very heavily, always 
 spoke in a whisper, and Mr. Foster was 
 so deaf that no one could' holcl any con 
 versation with him, for he could hardly 
 catch a single word, and when his poor 
 wife wanted *"lo make him understand 
 anything, she had to write on his hand 
 with one of her slender, fingers, and that 
 she might do so conveniently, he gener 
 ally, when at home, seated himself in 
 the big brown leather chair beside her 
 bed. 
 
 But though Mrs. Foster called the 
 lively sound to which we referred, the 
 singing of her nightingale, it was the 
 crowing of a little baby, a sweet dear 
 little girl, about ten months old. Its 
 mother was so sick that she could not 
 always bear to have the child in her 
 room, but sometimes Fanny brought it 
 up from the dark cellar kitchen where 
 she liked to stav so as to chat with the 
 
'6 OUE LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 fat old cook, and then the little thing 
 seemed like a ray of sunlight in that 
 darkened chamber. Mrs. Foster "had lost 
 four children, and could hardly look at 
 the one that was left without a fear that 
 it might be taken from her, but she tried 
 to smile when the bright little creature 
 was seated on the bed by her side, and 
 then Comfort would crow and laugh as 
 merrily as a bird. 
 
 Perhaps you did not think that Com 
 fort was the real name of a child, and 
 it is not a very pretty one, but Mr. 
 Foster, who doted on his baby, would 
 not hear of her. being named anything 
 else. 
 
 She was fair as a lily, with eyes the 
 color of a Forget-me-not, and soft, golden 
 hair, which curled in funny little rings 
 all over the top of her head. "Oh, if 
 she would only say mama," thought 
 Mrs. Foster, as she felt that little soft 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 7 
 
 hand smoothing her own thin, pale 
 cheek, while unintelligible, but very 
 sweet, sounds poured from- the rosy 
 lips of her darling. Then the poor 
 lady thought of the time when her lost 
 Harry had first lisped that word, and 
 how long it was before his sister Kate 
 could master it, and she remembered 
 how pleased the little boy had been 
 with the very corals which were now 
 looping up Comfort's sleeves, and how 
 often he had worn the same white dress 
 which she had on, and tears rolled out 
 on her face and. wet the soft hands that 
 were still feeling it so gently. But 
 Comfort knew nothing of sorrow, and 
 seldom cried, only when she was a little 
 uneasy or thought it was time that her 
 milk bottle should appear, so she could 
 not know anything of her mother's feel 
 ings, and therefore she kept on laughing 
 and crowing, and putting her fingers al- 
 
8 OUE LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 most into those wet, moist eyes, till the 
 tears were all dried. 
 
 Now this little baby never dreamed 
 that she was doing good to anybody by 
 her cunning ways, but a young angel 
 could hardly have done more to cheer 
 the heart of her sick mother. For chil 
 dren are, from their birth, little mis 
 sionaries sent to cheer and console those 
 who are tired and sorrowful. God meant 
 everybody in the world to be just as 
 happy, and so they all would have been 
 if no one had ever sinned, but now, older 
 people are often full of care and sorrow, 
 and therefore every child should remem 
 ber that it is their part to do all in 
 their power to gladden the hearts and 
 lives of their parents. 
 
 Although Mr. Foster was so deaf, he 
 was not a very old man, but he was 
 odd, and many people did not know 
 what to make of him. 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 9 
 
 He had always lived in Canada till 
 about a year before Comfort was born, 
 and then he became so deaf that he could 
 not practise his profession, and so he left 
 his native place and settled near Gran- 
 ville. There was no house to let in the 
 neighborhood but the desolate looking 
 one that we have described, and that 
 had not been occupied for many years, 
 for it was not on any public road and 
 was two miles from the town. But Mrs. 
 Foster had been so saddened by the re 
 cent death of her fourth child, that the 
 idea of such a retired home was very 
 welcome, and so the family moved into 
 it, a few weeks after their arrival at 
 Granville, and before they became ac 
 quainted with any of the inhabitants. 
 Mrs. Foster never went outside of the 
 door till Comfort was born, and after 
 that, she was too ill to leave her bed, 
 and her husband did not care about mak- 
 
10 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 ing anything look comfortable, for since 
 he became so deaf, he had been an altered 
 man. Before that time, he was ambi 
 tious, and everybody called him a very 
 talented Jawyer, but of course, he could 
 no longer speak in court, as he was un 
 able to hear any reply which might be 
 made to what he said. Some of his 
 friends wanted him to try and use an 
 ear-trumpet, but just from the fear of 
 looking ridiculous, he refused this assist 
 ance and determined that he would never 
 plead another case. 
 
 It is a strange idea for persons to be 
 angry because God takes away one of 
 those gifts which* He bestows upon them, 
 but- Mr. Foster felt as if he were really 
 injured, when he found that this infir 
 mity was coming upon him, and grew 
 so cross and peevish that it made his 
 poor wife very unhappy. Even the books 
 of which he used to be so fond, did not 
 
OUR, LITTLE COMFORT. 11 
 
 now seem to give him any pleasure, and 
 when he came home from the bank, where 
 he had a situation which kept him em 
 ployed in writing, he would often go and 
 sit on the other side of the room, so that 
 Mrs. Foster could not write on his hand, 
 or find any way of talking to him. But 
 if while he was indulging himself in one 
 of these wicked, sulky fits, the baby was 
 brought into the chamber, he immedi 
 ately looked like an entirely different 
 man. His big watch was drawn out to 
 be shaken before the eyes of the de 
 lighted little one, and he would toss her 
 ^o high in the air that her anxious 
 mother sometimes uttered f feeble cry 
 of alarm, which did 'not, however, reach 
 his deafened ear. He loved to put her 
 on the floor and let her try her skill in 
 creeping, and before she was eleven 
 months old Comfort could stand up by. 
 a chair and play with a rattle-box, which 
 
12 OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 was the whole extent of the toys that 
 she possessed. 
 
 A little while after Comfort was born, 
 Mrs. Foster asked her husband if he 
 would not send for a clergyman from 
 Granville to come and christen the child* 
 as she was afraid it would be very long 
 before she should be able to go to church, 
 but he replied that she would soon be 
 better, and that there was no use in 
 being in a hurry about the matter. He 
 had been sponsor for his other children, 
 although he had never professed to be a 
 Christian man, but now he was in such 
 a wicked, rebellious state of mind that 
 he felt ashamed to assume such an office, 
 and that was the reason why he kept 
 putting off the baptism of the baby. 
 
 But when Comfort was three months 
 old, she was taken very sick with the 
 croup, and her mother and Fanny were 
 almost sure that she would not get well, 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT, 13 
 
 and then Mr. Foster was frightened, and 
 thought God was going to take his child 
 away to punish him for being so wicked. 
 He went immediately to Granville, for 
 the doctor and clergyman, and the latter 
 not only baptized the child, but was its 
 sponsor. There is no doubt that he would 
 have been an excellent friend to Comfort, 
 but he was taken ill in a few weeks and 
 died, so that Mrs. Foster was the only 
 one left to teach the child when she grew 
 up what a solemn vow and promise had 
 been made in her name. 
 
 And now, my young readers, you 
 are expecting that our little friend will 
 have a very gloomy life, but you are 
 mistaken. Those are always the hap 
 piest who are the cause of joy to others, 
 and Comfort Foster had a much fairer 
 prospect of happiness than many a child 
 who is surrounded . by gay companions. 
 She would soon learn that her sick 
 
14 OUR LITTLE COMFORT/ 
 
 mother depended upon her for cheerful 
 ness, and that by her little caresses she 
 could bring a smile to her father's stern 
 brow, so that she would feel herself of 
 use, and there are no children too young 
 to find that a pleasure. If you do not 
 believe it, go and try to make somebody 
 feel brighter and happier by a kind look 
 or word, carry a flower to the sick and 
 smooth their pillow, or give some mark 
 of affection and sympathy to the sorrow 
 ful, and when you see what pleasure 
 there is in even offering a glass of water 
 in a tight spirit, you will understand 
 why - no child is in danger of being 
 wretched except she is one who is wrapt 
 up in herself. 
 
 When Comfort was four years old, 
 she was one of the dearest little things 
 in the world. Her golden hair was no 
 longer in little rings on the top of her 
 head, but fell round her sweet face in 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFOKT. 15 
 
 long bright curls, and her laugh was 
 such a merry sound that the very birds 
 seemed won by it to build their nests 
 in the grim old poplars that rose above 
 her home, where they did their best to 
 make music as sweet. 
 
 It seemed as if the child knewjiow 
 anxious her mother was that she should 
 be old enough for a companion, for 
 after she began to speak, her tongue 
 was never weary of talking, and she 
 said many things that were quite re 
 markable for such a little girl. Mrs. 
 Foster's sad heart had been for a long 
 time shut up in her own breast, but 
 now she was so pleased to have some 
 one to whom she could speak freely of 
 her lost children, that- she would spend 
 hours in telling Comfort about her broth 
 ers and sisters, till the little girl felt as 
 if she had known and loved them all. 
 "And where are they now?" she asked 
 
16 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 eagerly, as she knelt by the bed, and 
 looked lovingly into the pale, sweet face 
 that had lain so long on that pillow. 
 
 " In a beautiful place, called Heaven," 
 was the reply, "where I hope that my 
 little Comfort will one day see them all. 
 You know that I told you that besides 
 your father, whom you see every day, 
 you had another one, to whom you speak 
 every night before you go to sleep. Al 
 though He can hear all that you say, 
 and knows each thought that passes 
 through your mind, the place where He 
 lives is not in this world, but is called 
 Heaven. It is so beautiful that any 
 one, after seeing it, would never want 
 to come away, so He takes no one there 
 till He is ready to have them go and 
 live with Him forever. Our little Katy 
 seemed very happy when she heard that 
 God was willing that she should go to 
 that delightful home, and smiled so 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 17 
 
 sweetly when she went away, that I 
 thought that she looked like the angels 
 who have always lived where there is 
 no weeping or sorrow." 
 
 " Does nobody cry in Heaven ?" asked 
 Comfort, eagerly. 
 
 "No, my child," said her mother, "for 
 there is no pain nor sickness there, nei 
 ther does any one ever do wrong, which, 
 you know, is what makes us more un 
 happy here than anything else." 
 
 "Mother!" said little Comfort, in a 
 most earnest tone, "I am going to ask 
 God to let me come and live with Mim 
 and my little brothers and sisters in 
 Heaven. Don't you think He will be 
 kind enough to take me if *I say, c Please, 
 for Christ's sake?' You know that you 
 said He would give me what I wanted, 
 if it was right, and I am sure that He 
 won't be angry because I want to come 
 and see His pretty home." 
 
 2* 
 
18 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 Mrs. Foster was somewhat startled at 
 these words, and an expression of pain 
 same over her face, while her eyes filled 
 with tears. 
 
 "Don't talk so, my darling," she said 
 quickly, " you frighten me." 
 
 " Frighten you, mama," repeated Com- 
 Vort, in astonishment. " Didn't you say 
 lhat my brothers and sisters were happy ? 
 What' makes you frightened when I say 
 I should like to be with them ?" 
 
 "Because I could not spare our little 
 Comfort," replied Mrs. Foster, sadly, as 
 she laid her thin hand on the soft curls 
 of her child. " Are you not willing to 
 stay here with me ? (rod does not think 
 that I have * lived in this world long 
 enough yet, and you would not wish 
 to leave your poor, sick mother, all 
 alone." 
 
 " Oh no I" said the child, affectionately, 
 "I will stay with you as long as you 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 19 
 
 want me ; but don't you hope that before 
 a great while we may both go and live 
 in that beautiful place together ?" 
 
 Mrs. Foster did not "reply, but after 
 this conversation, Comfort always felt as 
 if she were left in this world, instead of 
 going to live with her brothers and sis- 
 ters, because God knew that her sick 
 mother needed a companion, and it was, 
 therefore, her 'first thought to try and 
 cheer her loneliness. 
 
 Mrs. Foster had taught her child what 
 it was to pray, before she could speak 
 plain, and had tried so hard to make 
 her feel that Grod was her kindest friend, 
 that sometimes Comfort's prayers sounded 
 strangely familiar. She would tell all 
 her little joys and sorrows as if she were 
 talking to her mother, and the night after 
 she had been told where her brothers 
 and sisters were, Mrs. Foster saw her 
 kneel down at the foot of her bed, and 
 
20 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 heard her say, " Oh, mj dear, good heav 
 enly Father, I wish I could come and 
 live with you, but mama says she wants 
 me to stay here. Won't you tell me how 
 to be a good little girl, for mama says 
 bad children won't ever come to your 
 pretty home, and I do so want to see it, 
 and I hope by and by you'll let us both 
 come, and then what a happy time we 
 shall have." 
 
 Another evening, the little girl was so 
 delighted with a box of letters that her 
 father had bought for her at Granville, 
 that she dropped right down on her knees 
 in the middle of the floor to thank Him 
 from whom, she had been told, all her 
 pleasures proceeded. Sometimes her way 
 of speaking did not seem to her mother 
 quite proper, but she did not know how to 
 make her understand what a great Being 
 Go.d was, without her becoming afraid 
 of Him, and she hoped that His pure eye 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 21 
 
 would accept the simple faith of the child 
 and pardon anything that might be amiss 
 in her manner or words. 
 
 There was a large Bible and a Prayer 
 Book always lying upon the stand beside 
 Mrs. Foster's bed, and Fanny, who could 
 hardly read correctly, used to spell out a 
 few verses to her mistress every morning, 
 but it was not always easy to find out 
 what they were about, for the kind- 
 hearted nurse was but a poor scholar. 
 After this reading was over, Mrs. Foster 
 would sometimes tell Fanny to lay* the 
 Bible on the bed, by her, and then Com 
 fort would clamber up beside it, and her 
 mother would show the little girl all the 
 pictures, and tell her short stories about 
 Joseph and Samuel, and about the child- 
 .hood of our Saviour. 
 
 One evening, just at sundown, the sick 
 lady had fallen asleep when Mr. Foster 
 came home from the bank, and, taking 
 
22 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 0p 
 
 his little girl on his knee, asked if she 
 could say all her letters. Comfort was 
 delighted to answer " Yes," and, jumping 
 down, she ran and got the little ivory box 
 from the lowest drawer in her mother's 
 bureau, where it was always kept. Hav 
 ing emptied the letters all on the carpet, 
 she drew back the curtain, so as to let in 
 a little more light, and then made signs 
 to her father to call for any one* that he 
 chose. Mr. Foster watched her motions 
 with fond affection, and beginning at the 
 end of the alphabet, called out the letters 
 backward, and they were all brought to 
 him without a 'single mistake. 
 
 "When Comfort had thus convinced her 
 father that she knew all the contents of 
 her beloved ivory box fc she was seized 
 with a desire to look over the pictures 
 in the Bible and hear some of her favorite 
 stories, but with all her signs and ges 
 tures she could not make her father 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 23 
 
 understand what she wanted. The heavy 
 book was lying at the foot of her mother's 
 bed, but she could not lift it down and 
 did not like to ask her father to get it, 
 for she knew he was tired and did not 
 want .to move. For some time she sat 
 eyeing it very wistfully, and then she 
 jumped up and down, clapping her hands 
 as if she had just had a very bright 
 thought. Her father did not know what 
 she was about, till he saw her take a long 
 string off from a little footstool, which 
 she called her "carriage," and fasten it 
 around the Bible. Then she slowly 
 drew the book off the bed, standing close 
 by it, so that it might not make a noise 
 coming down to the ground, and when 
 this was done she dragged it round to 
 her father's chair, where she stood point 
 ing at it with such a winning smile, that 
 he could not resist her wishes. He took 
 the book up on one knee and the little 
 
24 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 girl on the other, and after lie had 
 showed her all the pictures, told her the 
 stories which he had liked best when a 
 child,*and which he had not thought of 
 for many years. 
 
 Comfort, who now slept in a little crib 
 in the same room with her father and 
 mother, had often wondered why Mr. 
 Foster never said any prayers mornings 
 or evenings, but his deafness rendered 
 it impossible for her to make him un 
 derstand all that she wished to tell him, 
 so that he was not aware of the idea 
 that was working in her little brain. But 
 now she thought she had a good chance 
 to ask if men ought not to pray as well 
 as children, so when they came to the 
 picture of little Samuel, she pointed first 
 to him and then herself, as much as to 
 say, "He prayed and I pray," and then 
 making him turn back to a picture of 
 Jacob kneeling at Bethel, she looked at 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 25 
 
 him, and her face said, as plain as words, 
 " Father, ought you not to do the same ?" 
 Mr. Foster did not answer this earnest 
 appeal, but that night, as little Comfort 
 lay in her crib, she saw her father kneel 
 ing at th.e foot of the bed, and she went 
 
 to sleep with a happy heart, 
 ft 
 
26 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 his little daughter was six years 
 old, Mr. Foster proposed, one Sabbath 
 morning, that she should go with him 
 to Granville, to church. Mrs. Foster's 
 eyes filled with tears of pleasure at these 
 words, for her husband had never been 
 to church, hiaaself, since he had become 
 so deaf, because he said there was no 
 use in going when he could not hear a 
 word that the clergyman read or preached. 
 " But you could keep up with the ser 
 vice," his wife would reply, " and find 
 the lessons, and worship God with the 
 congregation." 
 
 " I can read the Prayer Book at home," 
 was his answer; but this he never did, 
 like most people who make the same 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 27 
 
 excuse for not going to church. Now 
 that he really felt a desire to do right 
 he could not be contented without a more 
 public acknowledgment of his dependence 
 upon his Maker. 
 
 Mrs. Foster rang the bell at the head 
 of her bed, for Fanny 3 and then she began 
 to think what Comfort would wear to 
 church, for the little girl had no clothes, 
 only such as had belonged to her sisters, 
 or were made out of her mother's, and 
 these were very queer and old-fashioned. 
 At first, the fond mother wished that 
 her darling had some less peculiar look 
 ing garments, but she remembered that 
 we should always dress according to the 
 society into which we are going, and 
 that the best preparation for entering 
 the presence of our Maker is a clean 
 heart and a right spirit. 
 
 When Fanny answered the bell, Com 
 fort came with her, and the child was 
 
28 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 almost wild with joy at hearing that she 
 was to go to church with her father. She 
 had never been to Granville in her life, 
 and as she took all her walks in the 
 retired roads around the house, she rarely 
 saw anybody but her own family. 
 
 But it was not only the idea of going 
 to the village which excited the little girl, 
 but the thought of entering a church, 
 which her mother always mentioned as 
 the place of all others that she most 
 
 wished to visit. It is true that Comfort 
 \ 
 
 had no very clear idea of what a church 
 was, and having confused it with the 
 many descriptions that she had heard 
 of Heaven, one of her first questions was, 
 " Shall I see my brothers and sisters/ 
 and will Jesus Christ be there, looking 
 like the little boy in the Temple, with 
 the Doctors?" 
 
 Mrs. Foster smiled at the childish- 
 thought, and tried to teach Comfort how 
 
OUK LITTLE COMFOKT. 29 
 
 God could be present and not be seen, 
 as He was everywhere, and how the 
 minister was sent by the Lord Jesus to 
 speak the words taken out of Holy Scrip 
 ture, and therefore ought to be listened 
 to very attentively and humbly. 
 
 Comfort looked very intelligent during 
 this explanation, but I do not think that 
 slie yet understood exactly what kind of 
 a place she was going to, only she felt 
 reverence for the man who was to be 
 so honored as to tell the people what 
 was the will of the Great Being who 
 made them all. 
 
 While this conversation had been 
 going on, Fanny had taken the little 
 girl's clothes out of a trunk in the cor 
 ner of the room, and hung them over 
 the back of the old chintz lounge, and 
 now. she called to her to come "and put 
 on a pair of blue gaiter boots which 
 had once been hey: sister Kate's, and 
 
 8* 
 
30 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 which she had never seen before. They 
 were a little too large, and so was the 
 grey silk pelisse which had been made 
 out of an old frock of her mother's, but 
 Comfort seemed to think that they were 
 very nice, and that the round white hat, 
 with a pearl buckle at the side, was ex 
 ceedingly beautiful. Still, she did not 
 pay much attention to either of these 
 things after her first exclamation of ad 
 miration, for she had never seen any 
 one who thought much of dress, and 
 her mother always told her that her 
 body, and its covering, must be laid 
 aside when she went to the beautiful 
 world where her sisters lived, and, as 
 she was constantly looking forward with 
 pleasure to that time, of course she did 
 not overvalue what would then be of 
 no consequence. She chattered away 
 while Fanny buttoned up her red dress 
 and put on the grey pelisse, and did 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 31 
 
 not even stop while her ringlets were 
 being curled, though Fanny sometimes 
 pulled them very hard as she was brush 
 ing them around her great red fingers. 
 
 Mrs. Foster could not help thinking, 
 when her little girl was dressed, that 
 she was a pretty creature in spite of her 
 old-fashioned clothes, and she wondered 
 how anybody could imagine it of any 
 consequence what a child wore, when a 
 sweet expression and tidy habits could 
 always make it attractive. 
 
 " Now, Fanny," she said, " go to the 
 big trunk in the next room and take 
 out my purple Prayer Book. Comfort 
 shall carry that, to-day, to church, and 
 when she reads the prayer for all sick 
 persons, she will think, I know, -of -her 
 poor mother." 
 
 Comfort was not too much occupied 
 with her curiosity as to the treasure 
 with which she was to be intrusted, to 
 
32 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 pay attention to what her mother said, 
 for she walked very soberly to the bed 
 side and said, as she put up her pretty 
 little mouth for a kiss, " I will get all 
 the people, mother, to ask God to make 
 you well, for you know that you said 
 if two or three asked for a thing together 
 He liked to do it. I shall be one, and 
 father makes two, and if we can get some 
 body else to help us there will be three, 
 and then, perhaps, God will cure you, 
 and you can go to church yourself." 
 
 Mrs. Foster smiled at the simple faith 
 of the child, and handed her the pretty 
 purple Prayer Book after she had put 
 the red marks in the places where they 
 would be needed. 
 
 Comfort had learned to read almost 
 by herself after her father had taught 
 her to say the ivory letters, and as she 
 had only two little books, which did not 
 long satisfy her curiosity, she had spent 
 
OUR LITTLE OOMFOET. 33 
 
 many hours in spelling out the words 
 at the bottom of the pictures in the big 
 Bible, till she seldom found one that 
 puzzled her. For the last three months 
 she had read a Psalm every day, aloud, ^ 
 to her mother, and it was pleasant to see 
 her soft curls bending over the old Bible, 
 while her little plump finger kept the 
 place, and sometimes she would look up 
 with such a thoughtful air, and make 
 some remark that showed that she was 
 interested in what she read. 
 
 Mr. Foster came into the room soon 
 after Comfort was dressed, and, taking 
 her tip in his arms, called her "a little 
 darling," and hoped that she would be 
 very quiet and good, and remember 
 what the minister said, so as to come 
 home and tell her mother. Then he 
 led her down the dark, narrow stairs, 
 . and through the big black door, out- into 
 the pleasant air of a fine spring morning. 
 
84 OUE LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 The birds were singing merrily, and 
 Comfort said she guessed they were glad 
 that she was going to church, and one 
 or two wagons passed them, loaded with 
 people all in their Sunday clothes. The 
 little girl skipped and jumped along, 
 gathering violets and forget-me-nots from 
 the borders of the meadows through 
 which they passed, till one little hand 
 was quite full, and she let go her father's 
 so as to carry her Prayer Book in the 
 other. She did not feel at all tired when 
 they had walked almost a mile, 'but Mr. 
 Foster 'insisted on carrying her, and did 
 not put her down till they were near the 
 town. 
 
 Though Comfort had never seen but 
 very few .houses, those which they passed 
 did not seem to excite her admiration so 
 much as the gardens adjoining them, 
 andWhen they came to one which had 
 a large conservatory, through which a 
 
OUR .LITTLE COMFORT. 85 
 
 lemon-tree was visible, covered with its 
 yellow fruit, the little girl was almost 
 wild with delight. " Oh, father ! how 
 many pretty things Grod can make," she 
 exclaimed; " mustn't He be good?" And 
 though Mr. Foster could not hear what, 
 she said, he was struck with her expres 
 sion of earnest thankfulness. 
 
 " There, there I that's the church, isn't 
 it, father? I mean the one that's point 
 ing at heaven," said Comfort, with great 
 animation as they came near a large stone 
 building, with a tall spire, surmounted 
 by a cross. 
 
 Several persons, who were going thither 
 were attracted by her expressions of de 
 light, and thought what an odd-looking 
 man that was, and wondered where such 
 a queer, pretty little girl came from, and 
 how" it happened that she had never 
 seen the church before. They did not 
 know about the sick mother who had 
 
86 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 x 
 
 never left her bed since Comfort's birth, 
 or how her deaf father had, when first 
 afflicted, gone farther off from God, in 
 stead of drawing nigh to Him. 
 
 Mr. Foster did not feel as happy as 
 his child, for men who have neglected 
 religion must always go through a great 
 deal more in coming back to their heaven 
 ly Father, for you know the Prodigal Son 
 suffered much before he returned to his 
 dear parent. 
 
 But though Comfort was so full of joy, 
 the moment that she stepped inside of the 
 church door, her whole manner changed. 
 She thought that the voluntary on the 
 organ was the song of the angels, and 
 fancied that some of the low, sweet notes 
 were the voices of her brothers and sis 
 ters. Her blue eyes were full of tears at 
 this idea, and yet there was a happy 
 smile on her lips, and the pure young 
 blood seemed ready to start from her 
 
OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 37 
 
 transparent cheeks. She hardly needed 
 to notice that everybody else knelt down 
 on entering the church, for her heart 
 was so full of thankfulness to be in such 
 a holy place, that it seemed the most 
 natural thing in the world. Her little, 
 simple prayer was not unlike the expres 
 sion of the Psalmist, " I was glad when 
 they said unto me, let us go into the 
 house of the Lord," for her words were, 
 " Dear Saviour, I am so glad to be here. 
 Tell me what to do and what to say, 
 and when I go home, don't let me for 
 get -how kind you have been." 
 
 Perhaps these simple prayers may seem 
 strange, but Comfort had had no instruc 
 tion only from her sick mother, who was 
 often too ill to explain to her all that 
 she wished, but she had read much in 
 the Bible and Prayer Book, and had 
 formed an idea that God was the kindest, 
 dearest friend that she had, and I am 
 
38 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 sure that this was right. Soon after Mr, 
 Foster and his little girl were seated in 
 church, a lady and two children came 
 into the pew to which he had been shown 
 by the sexton, and took possession of the 
 upper end, as Comfort had seated herself 
 close to her father. The lady was very 
 handsomely dressed, and so were both 
 her daughters, but the faces of the chil 
 dren were by no means as agreeable as 
 that of their mother. Neither of the 
 little girls bowed their heads, or showed 
 any mark of reverence on entering the 
 church ; but, on the contrary, they com 
 menced whispering so loudly, that Com 
 fort could not help hearing what they said. 
 
 " I should think," remarked the elder, 
 4 that she imagined that she was in her 
 own pew, by the quiet way in which, 
 she has taken possession of ours." 
 
 This /speech was quite lost on the 
 eimple-hearted person to whom it re- 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 39 
 
 ferred, for "Comfort had heard that she 
 was going to the house of God, and she 
 thought that she had as much claim to 
 any part of it as the rest of His children. 
 
 " Did you ever see such a queer little 
 thing?" continued the first speaker, who 
 was a tall girl of about ten years old. 
 " Is she a woman or a child ? she is 
 dressed like one and looks like the other. 
 That old silk pelisse must have come 
 out of the ark, and I am sure Noah's 
 youngest grandchild used to. wear that 
 hat." 
 
 The only effect that these rude words 
 had upon Comfort, was to excite her un- 
 mingled astonishment and pity. " Those 
 girls have never heard that God made 
 them," she thought, " or they would not 
 dare to act so in His house." 
 
 "With the full belief that her com 
 panions were some of the unfortunate 
 heathen of whom her mother had told 
 
40 OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 her, the earnest little girl leaned forward, 
 kindly, so as to speak to the elder of the 
 two children, without being overheard, 
 and said, ' " This house belongs to a very 
 great Being, called God, who made us 
 all, and He is angry when His children 
 do not love Him, and He punishes those 
 that displease Him. These books here," 
 she added, pointing to the Prayer Books 
 which lay in the seat, "will tell you 
 about Him, and how he likes to have 
 us act in His house. Here is what He 
 says Himself." And opening her own 
 book, she showed the text at the com 
 mencement of the Morning Service, " The 
 Lord is in His holy temple; let all the 
 earth keep silence before Him. 
 
 At these remarks, the two children 
 both laughed aloud, in spite of the re 
 proving looks of their mother, who could 
 not imagine what the stranger had said 
 to excite their mirth. She was still more 
 
OtfR LITTLE COMFORT. 41 
 
 puzzled to account for it, when, on turn-" 
 ing to look at Comfort, she saw that the 
 little girl's face was not only serious, but 
 expressed the greatest sorrow and alarm. 
 
 Comfort had' read in the Bible what 
 dreadful punishments Gotl sometimes in 
 flicted on those who displeased. Him, and 
 as she thought how wicked these chil 
 dren must appear in His eyes, she almost 
 expected to see lighthing coming down 
 from heaven to destroy them. She did 
 not know that" though 'God is still angry 
 with sin, He sometimes puts off its punish 
 ment, and that each word and act of those 
 irreverent children was written down in 
 a book which would be read at the day 
 of judgment. 
 
 The voice of the minister, as he com 
 menced the Morning Service, quieted 
 Comfort's mind, and, such is the force 
 of example, that her young companions 
 opened their Prayer Books and listened 
 
 4* 
 
" 4:2 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 to the Exhortation. They did no,t join, 
 however, in the following Confession of 
 Sin, in which Comfort spoke very dis 
 stinctly, for, though we have not told of 
 the naughty things that sh% did, she had 
 been guilty of many acts and words that 
 needed repentance. Mr. Foster's voice, 
 too, sounded very solemn, for he had not 
 only the unconfessed sins of a .day, or 
 week, to lament, but those of "the long 
 - years which had passed since he last 
 knelt in the house of prayer. 
 
 The first Morning Lesson was one of 
 those chapters in Numbers, that gives 
 an account of the manner in which the 
 children of Israel angered God in the 
 wilderness, and Comfort turned round 
 to see if the little girls beside her were 
 not frightened to learn how dangerous 
 it was to provoke such a powerful Being, 
 but they seemed entirely occupied with 
 their own clothes, taking their kid gloves 
 
1 
 OUE LITTLE COMFORT. 48 
 
 off, and looking to see how much differ 
 ence there was in the patterns of their 
 embroidered handkerchiefs. 
 "I wonder if they are going to live 
 in this world for ever," thought Comfort, 
 "for mama said, that when we went 
 out of it, we could carry nothing with 
 us, and I am sure- they would not be so 
 fond of their clothes, if they must take 
 them off when they are called away. 
 But, perhaps, they are going to the bad 
 world ! maybe people can carry what 
 they like there, for the very ones that 
 set their hearts on what they have here, 
 the Bible says, will have to live there. 
 Oh, how dreadful it is- to think such 
 dear little girls may go to such an awful 
 place !" And then the tears filled those 
 sweet blue eyes, and a sob burst . from 
 her troubled heart. 
 
 jMr. Foster saw that his little girl was 
 crying, and asked her if anything was 
 
44 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 the matter, but she only shook her head, 
 while her heart heaved with emotion. 
 It was a relief to her when everybody 
 knelt down again, and she could hide 
 her face in the cushion and cry to her 
 heart's content. She joined earnestly in 
 the Lenten Collect, particularly praying 
 that Grod would give her young compan 
 ions new and contrite hearts. Some lit 
 tle girls may not know what the word 
 " contrite" means, but Comfort was never 
 satisfied to say a prayer till she under 
 stood every word of it, and, before Lent 
 began, her, mother had read over the 
 Collect for Ash- Wednesday, and ex 
 plained it very fully. 
 
 The hymn which was sung ty the 
 congregation after the service was read, 
 was the pretty one which begins, 
 
 " Oh, in the morn of life 
 
 When youth with vital ardor glows, 
 And shines in all the fairest charms 
 That beauty can disclose." 
 
OUK LITTLE COMFOET. 45 
 
 Comfort again thought, when the organ 
 played, that the angels were joining in 
 the siDging. 
 
 The moment that the clergyman went 
 up into the pulpit, the little girl pre 
 pared to give her whole attention to what 
 he said, for she remembered what her 
 mother had told her, and felt as if she 
 were going to hear a message from her 
 heavenly Father. There were many 
 words in the sermon which she did not 
 understand, but the text was, " Eemem- 
 ber thy Creator in the days of thy 
 youth," and that was so pretty that she 
 never tired of hearing it repeated. 
 
 Mr. Foster, during the sermon, was 
 thinking very deeply, and perhaps his 
 own meditations on that day did him 
 as much good as any discourse could 
 have done. It is certain that his face 
 was more cheerful than Comfort had 
 ever seen it, when, at the close of the 
 
. 46 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 services, lie took his little girl by the 
 hand to lead her out 'of church. Before 
 they left the pew, the lady who was 
 sitting at the head of it asked Comfort 
 what was her name, and where she lived. 
 "I wish you would come and see my 
 little girls," she added, "for I am sure 
 that a child who behaves so well in 
 church would be a nice companion for 
 them." 
 
 Comfort wondered why any one should 
 praise her for doing only what was right, 
 and what she should be afraid not to 
 do, but she answered very simply and 
 sweetly, saying, that she had a sick 
 mother who could not spare her, but 
 who would like, she was sure, to have 
 any little girls come and see her, "only," 
 she . added, very earnestly, " perhaps 
 mama would not wish to have me much 
 with any children who do not love the 
 great God well enough to obey Him. 
 
 4 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 47 
 
 She is never angry with me only when * 
 I do wrong, and I don't think she would 
 like it if your little girls said anything 
 naughty before her." 
 
 "You are a queer little thing," said 
 the lady, who was puzzled by the man 
 ner and conversation of the child. c ' A.sk 
 your father if you may not come and 
 see me. I live at the large stone house 
 just below the church." 
 
 " He*could riot hear me," replied Com 
 fort, " and indeed, do you think it is 
 right for us to be talking in church ? 
 Had we not better wait till we get out 
 doors before we say any more?" 
 
 "Certainly," replied the lady, hastily, 
 "only always sit here when you come 
 to church." 
 
 Comfort bowed in acknowledgment of 
 this offer, but, without opening her lips 
 again, took her father's hand and walked 
 quietly out of church. She did not speak 
 
48 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 till they were quite in the country, and 
 then she looked up in her father's face 
 and said, " Was it not nice to be there I" 
 He understood her words from the motion 
 of her lips, and, stooping down, kissed 
 her tenderly, and asked if she would not 
 like to be carried a little way. 
 
 Comfort assured him that she was not 
 in the least tired, and so they walked on 
 in silence, but' the child now and then 
 lifted her blue eyes to the deeper blue 
 sky, and tried to think how Heaven 
 would look, and wondered how long it 
 would be before she should learn to sing 
 the song of angels. She stopped, how 
 ever, to gather some- fresh flowers for 
 her mother, having left those in the pew 
 which she had taken to church, and she 
 was delighted to find some anemones and 
 sweet-scented white violets that she par 
 ticularly loved. The' tall, dingy house 
 looked really pleasant to her as they 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 49 
 
 came near it, for she knew it contained 
 her dear mother, and a happy' heart 
 makes everything appear bright. She 
 could hardly wait for her father to open 
 the door, and then she bounded up the 
 long dark stair t, and running into her 
 mother's chamber, exclaimed, 
 
 " Dear, dear mama, you will certainly 
 be well, for everybody prayed for all 
 sick persons." 
 
50 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 IT was wonderful to see how every 
 room in Mr. Foster's house changed after 
 Comfort was able to run about and play 
 in them all. The little back dining room 
 had before been a dreary looking place, 
 but now it began to have quite an in 
 habited air. "While Mr. Foster ate his 
 meals there, all by himself, the table was 
 never moved out from the wall, and one 
 solitary plate was set at the end of it, 
 with the other dishes crowded around, 
 in the greatest confusion. Now, the table 
 stood in the middle of the floor, regularly 
 laid for two people, with a pretty silver 
 cup, and a knife and fork of the same 
 metal, at the plate before it. These were 
 a present to Comfort from an aunt who 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 51 
 
 lived in England, and she thought a great 
 deal of them, not because they were ex 
 pensive, for I do not believe that she had 
 the slightest idea what was the price of 
 anything, but because they could not be 
 broken, and she could therefore keep 
 them always to remember a relative of 
 whom she had Heard her mother speak 
 with so much affection. 
 
 Mr. Foster did not come home to din 
 ner, so the little girl ate that meal with 
 her mother, but at tea and breakfast 
 she would often try and lift the small 
 old fashioned tea-pot, so as to fill her 
 father's cup; and before she was strong 
 enough for this, she insisted on putting 
 the milk and sugar, at least, into it, with 
 her own plump, little, white hands. 
 
 The next evening after Comfort went 
 to Granville church, as her mother was 
 asleep, she came down into the dining- 
 room to wait for Mr. Foster's return from 
 
62 CUE LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 the bank, and was perched up in her 
 little chair, looking as bright as a star, 
 when he opened the door. She sprang 
 down to welcome him, and tugged away 
 at the sleeve of his overcoat, which was 
 damp with a spring shower, and then 
 took her seat at the table again "as if 
 she were quite a woman. All at once 
 the little girl spied the funniest looking 
 thing in the chair beside her father, and 
 forgetting that she was going to pour 
 out his tea, she jumped down again from 
 her seat, and taking up the queer con 
 trivance of green tin, began to make 
 all manner of signs to learn what it 
 might be. She put it over a cup to ask 
 if it were a funnel, and then turned it 
 upside down and stuck her finger in the 
 end to inquire if it was a candlestick, 
 while Mr. Foster sat smiling at her curi 
 osity. 
 At length, with rather a sad expres- 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 53 
 
 sion, he took a long tube from his pocket, 
 and attaching it to the green funnel- 
 shaped mouth-piece, put one end in his 
 ear. 
 
 The idea now struck Comfort what 
 the queer thing was, but she thought 
 that her father would look very funny 
 with such a thing always in his ear, and 
 she pushed it away with her hand, say 
 ing quickly, 
 
 " Oh, don't, father, it makes you look 
 so." 
 
 Although Mr. Foster did not know 
 what the child said, her motion was very 
 expressive, and his face grew more grave, 
 bat in a moment he conquered the un 
 pleasant feeling, and said cheerfully, 
 
 " I wanted to hear the sound of my 
 little daughter's voice. Speak through 
 this, my dear, and see if I can hear 
 what you say." 
 
 Comfort sprang to his knee, and put- 
 
 6* 
 
54: OUR LITTLE . COMFORT. 
 
 ting the trumpet to her mouth, said very 
 distinctly, 
 
 " My dear father, how happy I should 
 be if I could only talk to you as much 
 as I wished." 
 
 The words were hardly spoken before 
 he clasped her in his arms, and kissing 
 her tenderly, exclaimed, 
 
 " What a blessed sound I I heard you 
 perfectly, my child, and your voice was 
 sweeter to me than any music. How 
 could I have so long allowed my pride 
 to deprive me of this unspeakable pleas 
 ure I" 
 
 Comfort wondered what he meant by 
 these last words, but she was too much 
 delighted 'to think of them long. 
 
 " Oh, let us go right up stairs to 
 mama," she exclaimed, "won't she be 
 glad to speak to you once more? She 
 was asleep when I came down, but it 
 will make her so happy to talk to you 
 
OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 55 
 
 that she won't mind being waked up, Fm 
 sure." 
 
 Mr. Foster, however, thought that i 
 was best not to disturb his wife till 
 after supper, but Comfort gave up all 
 idea of making tea, and got Fanny to 
 bring her chair round close to her father's, 
 and never let go the ear-trumpet till he 
 insisted on her taking time to eat. Then 
 
 she swallowed a few mouthfuls in silence, 
 
 
 
 but suddenly some thought struck her, 
 which she could not keep to herself, and 
 she again seized the tube and said, very 
 earnestly, 
 
 " Father, I read in the Bible that when 
 they were building the tabernacle, God 
 made two men very wise, on purpose 
 that they might do some very cunning 
 work. Did he make another man wise, 
 too, so that you might have this ear- 
 trumpet and talk to mama?" 
 
 " Perhaps so," replied Mr. Foster, who 
 
56 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 wondered how such an idea came into 
 the child's head, and how she happened 
 to notice the verses about Bezaleel and 
 Aholiab in the 35th chapter of Ex 
 odus. 
 
 " Father," said Comfort, again putting 
 down her knife and fork to take hold of 
 the ear-trumpet, "don't it seem just like 
 our Saviour to make you hear again? 
 You know He was always curing the 
 deaf; and though I never read of any 
 body that He gave such a thing to, yet it 
 shows the same love to teach somebody 
 how to make it. Doesn't it ?" 
 
 "Yes, my child, God has been very 
 kind_to me I" replied Mr. Foster; and it 
 was almost the first time that Comfort 
 had ever heard him speak of the Being 
 who was so much in her own thoughts. 
 
 " May I tell mama, now ?" she asked, 
 as she saw that her father had finished hia 
 silpper. 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 57 
 
 " If she is awake," was the answer; 
 and before Mr. Foster could 'reach his 
 wife's chamber, Comfort was seated on 
 her bed, telling her that God had taught 
 somebody how to make her father a new 
 ear, so that he could hear all that every 
 body said. Mrs. Foster did not under 
 stand exactly what the delighted child 
 meant ; but when she saw the ear-trumpet 
 her heart overflowed with thankfulness 
 that her husband had, at last, consented 
 to use such an instrument. He came to 
 her bedside, and kissed her with un 
 common tenderness; and then seating 
 himself in the great leather chair, enjoyed 
 the first conversation with his wife which 
 he had had for eight years. 
 
 In the mean time, Comfort sat on his 
 knee, with her head on his bosom, never 
 interrupting him, but showing by her 
 animated face how deeply she sympathized 
 in her mother's joy. When it came time 
 
58 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 for her to go to bed, she could not sleep; 
 for, instead of the silence that there always 
 was in the room, when her own tongue 
 was still, she could hear her father's 
 voice, and the gentle tones of his delicate 
 wife. 
 
 As the little girl grew drowsy, her 
 thoughts became somewhat composed; 
 but the last one before she dropped asleep 
 was of the goodness and greatness of her 
 Heavenly Father. 
 
 At daylight, the next morning, Mr. 
 Foster was awakened by hearing a sweet 
 voice saying the hymn, 
 
 "When streaming from the eastern skies, 
 The morning light salutes mine eyes, 
 O Sun of Righteousness divine, 
 On me with beams of mercy shine ; 
 Chase the dark clouds of sin away, 
 And turn my darkness into day." 
 
 Was he dreaming, or had he recovered 
 his hearing during the night? 
 He had forgotten all about the ear- 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 59 
 
 trumpet, but on opening "his eyes, saw 
 little Comfort in her nightgown, with her 
 golden hair floating round her smiling 
 face, holding the tube in one hand, while 
 the other kept it firm in his ear. "With 
 the rosy light of dawn, brightening her 
 fair skin, she might well have been mis 
 taken for some good angel, who had been 
 watching over his sleep; and with her 
 smile there mingled a sweet earnestness, 
 befitting the words that she had just 
 repeated. 
 
 "Will you hear me read, father?" 
 asked the little girl. "I thought }ou 
 would like to wake up early, this mom- 
 ing, because you had so much to thank 
 our Heavenly Father for; and that per 
 haps I might help you by reading a psalm 
 while you were shaving. Would you like 
 that, dear papa?" 
 
 " Could you, my dear, keep your eyes 
 on your book and at the same time speak 
 
60 OUR LITTLE COMFOET. 
 
 through my trumpet ? and won't it be a 
 hard task for mexto hold my head still 
 while I am shaving and dressing? But I 
 will get up now, and there will be time, 
 after I have done, for you to repeat to me 
 some nice verses that you have learned, 
 and that will do as well as if you read 
 them." 
 
 Comfort looked a little disappointed, 
 but she was consoled by her father letting 
 her go herself for his shaving cup, which 
 was in the next room, and then she lay 
 down again, and thought over all the 
 Psalms and texts she knew, so as to 
 choose some to recite to him when he 
 was ready to hear her. 
 
 When Mr. Foster was dressed, he rang 
 the bell for Fanny, and then he told Com 
 fort that she could get up, and that as 
 soon as she was ready for breakfast she 
 must come down into the dining-room. 
 When her father had gone, Comfort 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 61 
 
 jumped out of her crib and popped into 
 the bath, which Fanny had filled, just 
 like a little duck, for she loved dearly to 
 be in the water. But she came out the 
 moment that her nurse said it was time, 
 and put on the clothes that were laid on 
 the chair as quickly as possible, without 
 making any objection to one of them. 
 
 My little readers may think that Com 
 fort had not any taste, but they are mis 
 taken, for she very much preferred some 
 colors to others, and had a particular 
 fancy for wearing white dresses. But she 
 knew that her blue mousseline de laine 
 was much better for April, and so she 
 said it looked like the sky, and though 
 the frock had been worn all winter, it 
 had not a single stain. The little girl 
 was very particular about keeping her 
 clothes nice, and if the least speck got 
 on one of her favorite white dresses, she 
 would look at it with the most mournful 
 
62 OUR LITTLE COMFOET. 
 
 expression, for she had been told that 
 cleanliness was an emblem of holiness, 
 and thought that God liked purity of 
 body as well as purity of soul. For the 
 same reason, she never wanted to say her 
 prayers till she had taken her bath. " I 
 know He can see me always," she would 
 say to her nurse, "but I like to be clean 
 when I speak to Him." Her mother 
 could not think how her little daughter 
 got this idea, but Comfort showed her the 
 place in the Bible where God told the 
 Israelites to wash their clothes before they 
 came near to Mount Sinai, and the law 
 that He made, that the priests should 
 always wear perfectly pure garments 
 when they came to perform the service 
 of the sanctuary. 
 
 It was her own childish notion, but 
 she was very right in thinking that out 
 ward cleanliness was a sign of inward 
 purity, for you know that in baptism, 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFOET. , 63 
 
 the washing of water is the emblem of 
 the cleansing of our souls through the 
 blood of Christ. 
 
 When Comfort was dressed, she knelt 
 down and thanked God for His care of 
 her during the past night, and for all His * 
 blessings, and mentioned particularly the 
 new ear-trumpet through which she could 
 speak to her father, and she asked her 
 heavenly Friend never to let her say 
 anything to her father which would give 
 him any pain, and to make her more 
 useful, every day, to both her dear pa 
 rents. 
 
 When she rose from her knees, the 
 little girl stole on tiptoe to the bed, and 
 gently kissed her mother, who was fast 
 asleep, and then she went down stairs 
 with Fanny, skipping along like a little 
 fawn, and singing as she went. 
 
 On entering the dining-room, Comfort 
 found her father reading, and as soon as 
 
64: ^ OUR LITTLE. COMFORT. 
 
 he saw her he told Fanny to ask the cook 
 if she could come in for a few minutes, 
 for he was going to have family prayers. 
 Comfort had never heard of such a thing 
 _ before, but she sat down on her father's 
 'knee, very quietly, and he found the 
 lesson for the day in the small Bible that 
 he had taken out of the book-case, and 
 then the service in the Prayer Book for. 
 family worship. 
 
 The little girl could not help thinking 
 of the minister at church when she heard 
 her father's voice, sounding so solemn, 
 as he read the chapter for tftat morning, 
 and she felt as if he were going to be 
 a clergyman to his own family. Just as 
 they were kneeling down she wanted to 
 ask him to pray for her mother, but she 
 was afraid it would not be right to do 
 so, and therefore she kept the thought 
 to herself, but her heart bounded with 
 joy when she heard her dear parent com- 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 65 
 
 mended to the care of God in a tone of 
 deep tenderness, and when she tried to 
 say Amen, a sob of joy burst from her 
 full heart. 
 
 Comfort thought she had never loved 
 her father so well as that morning, when, 
 after the servants left the room, she was 
 again* seated on his knee. When he 
 asked her to repeat a Psalm to him, all 
 those that she had been thinking about 
 went out of her mind, and the words 
 burst from her lips, " Bless the Lord, 
 my soul, and all that is within me bless 
 His holy name." When she finished 
 repeating this Psalm, her father made 
 no remark, only he pressed her close 
 to his bosom, saying, "My little Com 
 fort !" in a tone of fond affection. 
 
66 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 MRS. FOSTER was so much of an in 
 valid, that she did not generally wake 
 till after her husband had gone to the 
 bank, and lately, Comfort had walked 
 a little way with her father, though she 
 never went out of sight of the house, and 
 Fanny always followed her to bring her 
 home. When she came back into the 
 yard, the little girl always visited a bird's 
 nest which was just built in a low quince 
 tree near the front door, and then she fed 
 her chickens, who each of them had a 
 name that she had given them, on ac 
 count of some peculiarity in their appear 
 ance. One, with a crest, was Toppy, and 
 his slender mate was Ladybird, and a 
 little sickly thing was "Pet," and a fat 
 
OUR LITTLE COM* OUT. 67 
 
 old hen, "Mrs. Waddle." The tortoise- 
 shell cat, who was another of Comfort's 
 darlings, was too well brought up ever 
 to dream of troubling the chickens, but 
 it was very amusing to hear the way in 
 which she talked to her upon the subject. 
 But though the little girl was very 
 fond of all these dumb pets, she some 
 times felt as Adam did, when first placed 
 in the garden of Eden ; that is, as if there 
 were no mate for herself among the 
 animals round her. She tried to imagine 
 that her little sisters might be looking 
 down at her, from their happy home; 
 and at night, when the stars shone, was 
 almost sure that they were the eyes of 
 angels: but still she longed for some 
 companion of her own age. She nevei 
 mentioned this wish, however, to hei 
 mother ; for she knew that the poor lad^ 
 was very ad when anything was said 
 that recalled the loss of her other chil 
 
68 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 dren; so she contented herself with 
 telling Fanny that she wished she had a 
 little sister, or that her big doll could talk 
 and play. 
 
 Poor Miss Dolly was obliged to be a 
 variety of little people, with whom Com 
 fort held long conversations carrying on 
 of course both parts of them herself. 
 On the Tuesday morning, of which we 
 have spoken, Comfort put her up in her 
 own high chair-, at the table in the dining- 
 room ; and then she seated herself in the 
 one opposite, and imagined that she was 
 Joseph, and Miss Dolly was Benjamin; 
 and they were having a private meeting 
 after they had discovered that they were 
 brothers. " My dear Benjamin," said the 
 imaginary Joseph, " were you very lively 
 after I went away? and didn't you cry 
 dreadfully when you found that I was 
 never coming back?" 
 
 "Oh, yes!" said the same sweet little 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 69 
 
 voice, now pretending to be that of 
 Benjamin. " I could not get to sleep at 
 all, for thinking about it. I used to go 
 and get in father's bed every night, and 
 sometimes we lay and talked about you 
 till morning. I tried to act as you did, so 
 as to please father ; but I could never be. 
 half as good. You never knew about 
 the way that our brothers did to make us 
 think you were dead. They took that 
 pretty coat of yours and dipped it in 
 blood, and showed it to father! and I 
 thought he would have died when he saw 
 it ; and I am sure I was nearly frightened 
 to leath. He always kept that coat in 
 his room; and I have often seen him 
 crying over it as if his heart was break 
 ing I am sure, though, that Eeuben felt 
 almost as bad; for he never heard your 
 name without looking very miserable." 
 
 ** Were they kind to you I mean your 
 brothers?" asked the little Joseph. j 
 
70 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 " Oh, yes, they always treated me well, 
 and though I knew they were so cruel to 
 you, I can't help loving them, and I am 
 so glad that you did not punish them." 
 
 The conversation was here interrupted 
 by the entrance of Fanny, who came to 
 say that Mrs. Foster was awake, and 
 wanted to see her little girl. Benjamin 
 immediately became Miss Dolly again, 
 and was dragged up stairs by one arm, 
 her old wooden head going bump, bump 
 all the way. 
 
 Comfort had much to tell her mother, 
 for she had not had an opportunity to 
 say anything since the evening before, 
 and everything she said was listened to 
 as attentively as if it were the most im 
 portant in the world. Two hours went 
 by very quickly, and the tall old clock 
 in the corner of the kitchen had just 
 struck twelve, when Fanny came bustling 
 into Mrs. Foster's room in a state of great 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 71 
 
 excitement, and holding in her hand a 
 visiting card. 
 
 " Oh dear," she said, " there's the most 
 beautiful dressed lady come in a splendid 
 carriage, and wants to see Mrs. Foster, 
 and told me to give her this ticket, and 
 fetch her back word whether she could 
 come up." 
 
 "Where is she?" said Mrs. Foster^ after 
 looking at the card, on which was en 
 graved the name of " Mrs. Henry Davis," 
 and a line written below, to say that 
 that lady would like to make the ac 
 quaintance of Mrs. Foster, if she were 
 not too ill to see a stranger. 
 
 "Oh, in the parlor, ma'am, and it is 
 as dark as Egypt and as damp as a dun 
 geon, and I warrant her fine things will 
 get well dusted, for the room hasn't been 
 opened this six years." 
 
 Mrs. Foster thought a moment, and 
 was on the point of declining to see the 
 
72 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 4 
 
 stranger, when the possibility glanceJ 
 through her mind, that the time would 
 ome when her little daughter would 
 stand in need of friends such as she 
 hoped this lady might prove. 
 
 " Comfort, my dear," she said, " go 
 down stairs very carefully, and be sure 
 and not fall, and say to Mrs. Davis, that 
 I shall be happy to see her in a few 
 minutes. I will send Fanny for her 
 when I am ready, and you must stay 
 and talk to her till she comes." 
 
 Comfort never thought of not doing 
 exactly as she was told, and though she 
 had seen very few strangers, she did not 
 feel the least awkwardness in now going 
 into the room with her mother's message. 
 When, however, she reached the parlor, 
 it was so dark that she could not see 
 any one, so she stopped at the door, and 
 called out, 
 
 " Mrs. Davis, are you in this disagree- 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFOET. 73 
 
 able place. Won't you tell me where 
 you are ?" 
 
 "Here, my child," said a pleasant voice^ 
 and a lady rose from a chair near the 
 door, and stepped into the hall. "We 
 are old acquaintances, I think, and I have 
 corne partly to see you." 
 
 Comfort returned the kind kiss with 
 which these words were accompanied, 
 and recognized the visitor as the lady 
 whom she had seen at church. 
 
 " Mama says that she would like to see 
 you in a few moments," said the little 
 girl, " but do not stay in that room, for 
 I heard Fanny say that it was damp 
 there, and you might take cold, and then 
 you would be sick, like poor mama, and 
 how sorry your little girls would feel." 
 
 "Will you show me your mother's 
 room, then ?" said Mrs. Davis. " Is that 
 what you were to do ?" 
 
 " "No, ma'am ; she will send Fanny for 
 
74 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 us when she is ready to see you," replied 
 Comfort, but she was puzzled what to do 
 in the mean time with the lady, for the 
 hall was a dreary place to stay in, and 
 the cook was washing up the oil-cloth on 
 the dining-room floor. "Shall I bring 
 you a chair out of the parlor to sit here, 
 or will you take a little walk and see the 
 bird's nest in the quince tree, and Toppy, 
 and Ladybird, and Pet, and Mrs. Wad 
 dle ?" she asked, with the natural polite 
 ness of a kind heart. 
 
 " I will take a walk with pleasure," 
 said Mrs. Davis. 
 
 " Then please open the door, for I can't 
 reach the knob. Could your little girl ?" 
 
 "Yes, I think Mary is tall enough," 
 replied Mrs. Davis, as she opened the 
 door, and, holding the hand of her com 
 panion, stepped out into the yard. She 
 had only time enough to admire the one 
 little speckled egg which had just been 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 75 
 
 laid in the bird's nest, when Fanny came 
 in search of the visitor, and was much 
 surprised to find where Comfort had 
 taken her. " Please excuse Miss Com 
 fort," she said, "she thinks everybody 
 likes birds' nests as well as herself." 
 
 " I have nothing to excuse," said Mrs. 
 Davis, kindly; "she was doing the best 
 she could to amuse me, and she is a dear 
 little girl." 
 
 Comfort had been so much occupied 
 in showing her treasure that she did not 
 see the carriage at the gate, but in turn 
 ing to come into the house it met her eye, 
 and she exclaimed with delight, " Oh, 
 what pretty horses, and what a nice car-, 
 riage. You ,can go everywhere in the 
 world, can't you, Mrs. Davis? Did you 
 ever see Jerusalem?" 
 
 The lady smiled at the question, for 
 she saw that Comfort thought that she 
 could ride in a carriage to the place of 
 
76 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 which she spoke, but she had time only 
 to say, "No, my darling, I never saw 
 Jerusalem," before she was shown into 
 Mrs. Foster's room. 
 
 We have not told our readers how 
 Mrs. Foster looked, but she was such 
 a nice lady that they must have been 
 sure that her appearance was very plea 
 sant and attractive. She was sitting up 
 in bed, now, supported by pillows, with 
 a clean cap with a nicely plaited ruffle, 
 and she had on a dark dressing-gown 
 which Comfort had never seen before. 
 
 "You must forgive me for intruding 
 upon you," said Mrs. Davis, " but I saw 
 your little girl on Sunday, and have been 
 very anxious that my children should 
 make her acquaintance." 
 
 "I am indebted, then, to you," said 
 Mrs. Foster, "for the invitation to your 
 seat in church, of which Comfort told me 
 yesterday. Why did you not bring your 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 77 
 
 children with you this morning? I 
 should be glad to see them." 
 
 "They are quite too noisy for a sick 
 room," replied the visitor, " and my hus 
 band, who is the president of the Gran- 
 ville Bank, heard from Mr. Foster that 
 you were a great invalid, and somewhat 
 of a stranger in this part of the country. 
 It is Eveline's birth-day, and she begged 
 me to try and persuade you to let Com 
 fort be among her guests." 
 
 " I am afraid that I shall have to dis 
 appoint her," said Mrs: Foster, "for my 
 child has never been in any other house 
 than this, and would feel very strangely 
 away from home without her father or 
 myself. What do you say, my darling? 
 Would you be willing to go and see Mrs, 
 Davis' little girls, with no one with you 
 but Fanny ?" 
 
 Comfort did not know what to answer, 
 for she had a reason for wishing to -see 
 
 7* 
 
78 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 Mrs. Davis' children again, and yet she 
 did not like to leave her mother. At 
 length she said, "I don't know, mama, 
 what is right. Won't you please think 
 for me and tell me what to do ?" 
 
 "I wished," said Mrs. Davis, "to take 
 you home in my carriage to pass a few 
 hours with my little girls. Your father 
 would ride back with you this evening, 
 and I hope that you would have a great 
 deal to tell your mother when you re- 
 turned." 
 
 " May I whisper to mama ?" said Com 
 fort, who felt that it would not be polite 
 to do so without permission. 
 
 "Certainly, my child," replied Mrs. 
 Davis, who was charmed with the nature 
 and simplicity of all the little girl's words 
 and actions. 
 
 Comfort clambered up to her mother's 
 side, and putting her mouth close to her 
 ear, said, "Mama, I have been wanting 
 
OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 79 
 
 to see those little girls ever since Sunday. 
 Perhaps if I tell them how good and kind 
 our heavenly Father is, they won't grieve 
 Him by acting so in His house again. 
 You see they were not angry at what "I 
 said then, so they must be kind little 
 girls, and would do right if they knew 
 how. Perhaps their mother has never 
 been sick, and you know you told me 
 God had taught you many things by 
 making you sick, that you would never 
 have known if you were well." 
 
 While Comfort was whispering all this, 
 Mrs. Davis watched her animated face, 
 and thought she was one of the loveliest 
 little beings that she had ever seen. Mrs. 
 Foster had been afraid, at first, to let 
 Comfort accept Mrs. Davis' invitation, 
 but when she heard what was her object 
 in wishing to do so, she felt that there 
 was no fear that her simple faith would 
 be perverted. "You may go, my dar- 
 
80 OUE LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 ling," she said aloud, "but run quick and 
 call Fanny, so as not to keep Mrs. Davis 
 waiting. Tell ker she can take you into 
 her room to dress you, and that she must 
 not be long about it." 
 
 Comfort kissed her mother affection 
 ately, and did the same to Mrs. Davis, 
 and then she went in search of Fanny, 
 whom she found at the front door, staring 
 at the carriage. 
 
 " What are you to wear, Miss Com 
 fort?" exclaimed the nurse, with a puz 
 zled air. "I am sure you have not got 
 a thing that's fit to go to such a place in." 
 
 "Why, Fanny, what are you thinking 
 about?" asked Comfort, opening her eyes 
 in astonishment. " You know I have 
 everything that's nice, and why should 
 I care more about my clothes when I go 
 to see Mrs. Davis, than when I stay at 
 home. There is no being there greater 
 than our heavenly Father, and no one 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 81 
 
 certainly who loves me so well as mama." 
 
 "But," said Fanny, " didn't you. see, 
 Miss Comfort, how nice she was dressed?" 
 
 " Yes," said the little girl, very quietly, 
 " and so were her children, but that's just 
 the reason, maybe, why they don't think 
 more about heaven, and I am glad I have 
 no fine clothes if they would make me 
 want to stay in this world away from the 
 good Grod and my dear little sisters." 
 
 Fanny could not understand how any 
 body could be thankful that they had not 
 beautiful things to wear, and she grum 
 bled to herself all the while that she was 
 dressing Comfort, because she was afraid 
 that her darling would not look as well 
 as the little people that she was going to 
 meet. 
 
 When she had finished hooking the 
 same blue dress that Comfort wore every 
 day, and which she had only taken off to 
 put on clean pantalettes, the little girl 
 
82 OUE LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 said eagerly, "Now, Fanny, please run 
 in the garden and get me all the prettiest 
 flowers that you can find. There are two 
 or three sweet white jonquils, and ever so 
 majiy white and blue violets." 
 
 "Pray, Miss Comfort, what do you 
 want of them ?" asked Fanny, in astonish 
 ment. 
 
 "You'll see," said Comfort, looking 
 very mysterious. When Fanny returned 
 with the flowers, and some periwinkle 
 that grew on the bank by the house, 
 Comfort twisted them into two little 
 wreaths, and put them inside of her 
 white hat, just as she had seen some 
 artificial flowers in the bonnets that Mrs. 
 Davis' little children wore. "You see, 
 Fanny," she said, " that I want to show 
 those little girls how much prettier things 
 are that God makes, than any others. 
 You know He told us to look at the 
 flowers of the field and see how beautiful 
 
OUR LITTLE COMPORT. 83 
 
 they were, and that would teach us to. 
 take no thought about our dress. These 
 are sweet flowers, and anybody could not 
 look at them without thinking that the 
 finest clothes in the world were not half 
 as 'beautiful." 
 
 As soon as Comfort went into her 
 mother's room, Mrs. Foster noticed the 
 new ornament in her little white hat, but 
 she did not say anything about it, and 
 Mrs. Davis only thought how sweetly the 
 violets looked, peeping out among her 
 golden curls. Comfort bade her mother 
 good-bye, as if she were going away for 
 a year, and Mrs. Foster could not help 
 sighing as the bright little creature van 
 ished from her sight. 
 
84 OUR LITTLE COMFOKT. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 IT would be difficult to say whether 
 Mrs. Davis or her little companion most 
 enjoyed their drive to Granville, so much 
 was that kind-hearted lady pleased with 
 Comfort's remarks and evident delight 
 at all that she saw and heard. It was the 
 first time that the child had ever been 
 in a carriage of any kind, and she felt 
 almost as if they were flying over the 
 ground, for the road was very smooth, 
 and the horses knew that they were going 
 home. She was very much mortified 
 when Mrs. Davis said, " Here we are," 
 for it hardly seemed a moment since they 
 started, and on Sunday, Granville had 
 appeared quite a journey. The house 
 at which the carriage stopped, was a very 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 85 
 
 handsome stone one, in the midst of a 
 beautiful yard, filled with evergreens. 
 There were no such trees near Mr. 
 Foster's, and Comfort thought that they 
 had put on their leaves before all their 
 companions, and wondered what made 
 them so early. Mrs. Davis told her that 
 they were green all winter, and looked 
 beautifully when they were covered 
 with snow, and she picked off some of 
 the long needle-shaped leaves, to show 
 her how stiff they were, and what it 
 was that made the brown carpet that 
 covered the yard. 
 
 At that moment the door of the house 
 opened, and a whole troop of little girls 
 came running down the steps, all nicely 
 dressed and looking very happy. Eve 
 line Davis was the foremost, and she 
 came right to her little visitor, and tak 
 ing her by the hand, said, 
 
 " Oh, I am so glad that you have 
 
 8 
 
86 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 come; Mary said that she 1 didn't believe 
 your mother would let you, but I was 
 almost sure that you would have your 
 own way." 
 
 " Oh, I can always do that," said Com 
 fort, "for mama's way is my way, and 
 [ want to do just what she tells me. 
 How happy you must be to live in such 
 a pretty place, where the trees are green 
 all the year ! Do the birds build their 
 nests in these trees in the winter ?" 
 ' "No, my darling," said Mrs. Davis, 
 smiling, "but I will show you a place 
 where they live all the year ;" so saying, 
 she led Comfort around the porch to a 
 circular conservatory, which made a wing 
 on one side of the house, and -opening 
 the glass door, told her to go in and see 
 her bird's nest. 
 
 Comfort did not need a second invita- 
 tation, for she had never seen such an 
 enchanting place. The glass roof was 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 87 
 
 so high, that some quite large trees which 
 were planted in the earth in the centre 
 of the green-house did not reach it, and 
 some of these were both full of fruit 
 and flowers at the same time. There 
 were stands covered with beautiful and 
 fragrant plants, all in blossom around the 
 sides, and among those there were cages 
 in which bright-colored birds were mer 
 rily singing. 
 
 " Here is my little canary's nest," said 
 Mrs. Davis, calling Comfort to a cage 
 which was hanging over some white hya 
 cinths, that had just come out. Thus 
 saying, she lifted the little girl up so that 
 she could see the dearest little nest in 
 the corner of the cage, -in which there 
 were two tiny birds with their mouths 
 wide open, waiting to be fed. The 
 mother was sitting on a perch over them, 
 and had a little .insect in her bill, with 
 which she was going to feejl one of them, 
 
88 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 and the male bird was singing at the top 
 of the cage. . 
 
 All the little girls who had followed 
 Mrs. Davis into the conservatory, were 
 loud in their expressions of delight, but 
 Comfort stood looking at them in silence, 
 with her blue eyes sparkling with pleas 
 ure. One of the visitors, named Anna 
 Lathrop, asked, hesitatingly, whether 
 canary -birds liked to be shut up in a 
 cage, and seemed quite relieved to hear 
 that they were let " out every morning, 
 and always came back of their own 
 accord. 
 
 "Oh, how much good' it would do 
 mama to come here!" exclaimed Com 
 fort, at last. "Was not the garden of 
 Eden just such a place, Mrs. Davis?" 
 
 "What makes you think -so?" asked 
 that lady, kindly. 
 
 "Because," answered Comfort, "you 
 know that it had every kind of tree and' 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 89 
 
 flower, and mama told me that she 
 thought it was always warm there, and 
 there were blossoms and fruit at the 
 same time, and that's just the way here. 
 Oh, I wish I was Eve, and had a chance 
 to try again whether I would be good !" 
 
 The little girls stared at Comfort, when 
 she said this, and Mary Davis was so rude 
 as to whisper to Jane Campbell, 
 
 " I told you she was a queer little thing, 
 and talked and acted just like an old 
 woman." 
 
 Her mother did not hear this remark, 
 but Anna Lathrop did, and she was afraid 
 that Comfort might do the same, so she 
 stepped up, to her side, and putting her 
 arm around her waist, said, affectionately, 
 
 "If you were Eve, I don't believe you 
 would be naughty, and pick the fruit 
 that you were forbidden to touch." 
 
 "I am afraid I should," said Comfort. 
 " I did not think how easy it was to do 
 
 8* 
 
90 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 wrong when I said so. I have some 
 times touched things that mother told 
 me to leave alone, and you know that 
 was just as bad." 
 
 " Oh, Mrs. Davis, do" tell me what this 
 is," said a little girl named Etta Alston, 
 who was bending over a most singular 
 plant. 
 
 "It is called the side-saddle flower, 
 and sometimes the pitcher-plant," re 
 plied Mrs. Davis, as the children all ran 
 to the spot. " That green cup holds 
 water for a great while, for the birds to 
 drink, and the lip of it is covered with 
 a kind of gum, so that the insects who 
 alight upon it cannot creep off, and some 
 times many of them are drowned. There 
 is another kind, which has a lid to the 
 pitcher, and the water that it holds is 
 kept so clear that travellers drink it to 
 quench their thirst." 
 
 "How curious!" exclaimed Anna Lath- 
 
OUK LITTLE COMFOKT. 91 
 
 rop. " Oh, here is such a strange plant ! 
 I just touched a leaf of it, and it shut 
 right up, as if it were afraid of me. 
 What made it do so, Mrs. Davis ?" 
 
 " That is called a sensitive plant, and 
 it always closes when it is touched, just 
 as some little children become very still 
 when a stranger speaks to them. But 
 what ails my little Comfort ? you are 
 very silent, darling, are you tired ?" 
 
 "Oh, no, ma'am," answered Comfort, 
 looking up in her friend's face very grate 
 fully, but still there was a sad expres 
 sion upon her sweet countenance. 
 
 " What troubles you, then, my dear ?" 
 continued Mrs. Davis. " Tell me what 
 you were thinking about, just as if I 
 were your mama." 
 
 Comfort hesitated a moment, and then 
 taking off her hat, untwined her little 
 wreaths which she had fixed into it, and 
 handed the fading, but still sweet violets, 
 
92 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 to Mrs. Davis, saying, in a mournful tone 
 of voice, * 
 
 " They will be of no use." 
 
 The lady did not understand what 
 Comfort was thinking about, but im 
 agined that on seeing so many beautiful 
 flowers, she had become discontented 
 with those which had before seemed to 
 her so pretty. 
 
 "Violets are always sweet," she said, 
 as she smefled the drooping flowers, "but 
 you shall take home a boquet of any 
 that you wish, to your mother ; would 
 you like to do so ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes," exclaimed Comfort, her 
 eyes dancing with joy; but a moment 
 after the same sober expression came 
 back to her face, and she added, 
 
 "Indeed I was not thinking that I 
 wished for any prettier flowers than those 
 that grow at home. They always teach 
 me something, and I brought them to 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 93 
 
 ahow to jour little girls, because I thought 
 that they had never seen ' God's youngest 
 children,' as mama calls them." 
 
 At these words the little girls crowded 
 around the stranger, wondering what she 
 was talking about, but they all looked 
 kindly at her, excepting Mary Davis, who 
 felt quite vexed that any one should 
 think she was so ignorant. 
 
 " And what lesson have these little 
 violets taught you, my rose-bud?" said 
 Mrs. Davis, as she stooped to kiss the 
 blushing cheek of the now embarrassed 
 little girl. 
 
 At that moment, Comfort thought of 
 something that her mother had once said 
 about never being ashamed of anything 
 that she thought or did, that was right. 
 She felt, suddenly, as if her heavenly 
 Father were standing right at her side, 
 and saying, " Fear not, little one," so she 
 looked up again with her usual trustful, 
 
94 OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 earnest air, and said frankly, " I will tell 
 you why I put these flowers in my hat 
 when I came here. Mama says that the 
 reason why she thinks so much about God 
 and heaven is because she is sick, and 
 that is why she talks about them to me 
 all the while. Your little girls did not 
 act on Sunday as if they knew what a 
 kind Father they had in heaven, and I 
 thought perhaps you had been so well 
 and so busy that you had not had time 
 to read His Book, or tell them what He 
 liked. But the flowers have taught me 
 almost as much as mama, and when I see 
 how quick they fade, and how pretty 
 they are, I think about the verse that 
 says the beauty of man must wither just 
 so, and of another that tells us to consider 
 them, and not think about our clothes. 
 I thought, that if Mary and Eveline could 
 see the pretty things that God makes, 
 they would not be proud of wearing fine 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFOET. 95 
 
 colors, and so I brought these flowers to 
 show them to-day. When I came here 
 and saw that they could look, every day, 
 at such beautiful plants and birds, and 
 yet did not love and praise Him, it 
 made me very sad, and I said to myself, 
 'It's no use showing my violets,' and I 
 couldn't think of any way to persuade 
 them that God was good." 
 
 This was a very long speech for little 
 Comfort to make, and when she got , 
 through she cast down her eyelids, and 
 stood looking modest and thoughtful, 
 but not in the least ashamed. Mary 
 Davis took Jane Campbell by the arm, 
 and went out of the green-house, whis 
 pering to her, " I wish mother had left 
 that preaching little thing at home. We 
 don't behave any worse at church than 
 other children, but she seems to think 
 we are dreadful wicked just because we 
 laughed and talked a little." 
 
96 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 But Eveline Davis did not follow her 
 sister, for she was naturally a gentle, 
 sweet child, and was really interested 
 in what Comfort said. She put her arm 
 around her neck, and whispered, "You 
 shall teach me to be better, but, indeed, 
 mama has often told us about what is 
 right, but we are naughty children 
 sometimes." 
 
 Comfort kissed her new friend warmly, 
 and said eagerly, " Does your mother talk 
 to you about such things ? Well ! I 
 thought she must be a good lady. Now 
 I know what mama meant, when she 
 said good children honored their parents. 
 If we don't do right, people think that 
 nobody has taught us any better. Don't 
 they, Eveline ?" 
 
 "I am afraid they do," said the little 
 girl, looking ashamed. " I never thought 
 though, before, that any one would not 
 know that mama was good, if I did not 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 97 
 
 behave well. I will try and act so as to 
 honor her more." 
 
 While the little girls were having this 
 conversation, Anna Lathrop and Etta 
 Alston were looking at a very curious 
 cactus ; and Mrs. Davis was telling them 
 that the night-blooming cereus was of 
 the same family, and how it inclosed its 
 leaves in darkness and faded before day 
 light. They were very much interested 
 in what she said, ]put they were inter 
 rupted by Mary Davis, who came back 
 to the greenhouse, and called out, im 
 patiently, "Do come and play, girls 
 we are not having any fun, at all. Jane 
 wants to skip the rope; but I say, let us 
 have a game of blind-man's-buff." 
 
 Comfort had never heard of either 
 of these games before ; and had never 
 played with any children in her life ; but 
 she was ready to do just what pleased the 
 rest, and Mrs. Davis proposed that they 
 
98 OUK LITTLE COMFOET. 
 
 should skip the rope, to suit Jane Camp 
 bell, in the piazza ; and then she went in 
 the house. 
 
 As Comfort did not know how to 
 skip, she preferred to turn the rope; and 
 Eveline took the other end, because she 
 was the same height, while Jane and 
 Mary stood together and went over it 
 without tripping, till they were quite out 
 of breath. Then Etta and Anna tried to 
 do the same, but they were younger ; and 
 the first turn of the rope carried off one 
 of Etta's little bronze slippers, and at the 
 next attempt, it caught under Anna's 
 chin. 
 
 When Comfort and Eveline had turned 
 for others, till their arms were tired, 
 Comfort tried to learn to skip ; but her 
 long gray pelisse caught at the first 
 jump, and so Eveline proposed that she 
 should go in the house and change it for 
 a shawl of her own, which she offered to 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 99 
 
 lend her. When they came back, they 
 found that Mary Davis had been blind 
 folded; and the rest were waiting for 
 them to make a ring round her, and 
 play "Stero, stero, stop." 
 
 When the little circle had gone round 
 three times, Mary called out, " Stop," and 
 then pointing at Comfort with a stick, 
 said, " Say Massachusetts." Comfort did 
 not know that she was to try and conceal 
 her voice, so she said "Massachusetts" 
 very plain, and of course Mary knew who 
 it was. Then Comfort was blinded, and. 
 it was a long time before sh^ could guess 
 who any of the children were, but at last 
 she stopped at Eveline, and knew her 
 voice. Soon after, Mrs. Davis called 
 them into the house, and then they 
 went into the dining-room to partake 
 of Eveline's birth-day feast.- 
 
 The table at which the children all sat 
 down, did not look .like any that Comfort. 
 
100 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 hg,d ever seen, for. the dishes belonged to 
 a new set which Eveline's father had just 
 given her .for a present, and many of 
 them held beautiful confectionery and 
 jelly that was as clear as amber. Com 
 fort was . so busy in admiring a little 
 pyramid made of different colored can 
 dies, that she had forgotten that any of 
 these pretty things were to be eaten till 
 Mrs. Davis said, 
 
 "What will you have, my dear? The 
 other children are all helped." 
 
 " Indeed I can't tell," replied Comfort, 
 smiling, "for I don't know what you 
 call these nice dishes, and I never tasted 
 them. "Won't you please to give me 
 what you think best ; I am sure they 
 are all good." 
 
 "Oh, mama, give her some cream 
 candy and some fruit cake," cried out 
 Eveline, from the head of the table, where 
 she was seated in honor of her birthday. 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 101 
 
 " I know you'll like them, Comfort, for I 
 always want to eat them till I am sick." 
 
 " Then, perhaps, I had- better not try 
 them," answered Comfort, very simply, 
 "for mama would feel troubled if I 
 should not be well when I go home, 
 and, besides, she thinks it is dreadful 
 for little girls to make themselves sick 
 eating. She told me one day that it was 
 almost as bad as for men to drink too 
 much." 
 
 "She is very right," said Mrs. Davis, 
 "and I do not mean that you shall go 
 home the worse for your visit. Here is 
 a biscuit and some cold tongue, for you 
 must be hungry after being in the air so 
 long. When you have eaten that, I will 
 give you some sponge cake, which will 
 not hurt you, and Eveline will pick out 
 some pretty mottoes and bon-bons for you 
 to carry home." 
 
 Comfort thanked Mrs. Davis, and was 
 
102 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 quite contented with, the choice she had 
 made, but she thought to herself that it 
 was very strange such a kind lady should 
 have put anything on the table that was 
 not good for little children. She won 
 dered, too, what her mama would think 
 of a little pile of good things by Jane 
 Campbell's plate, for every time any 
 thing was offered to the latter she took 
 some and laid it down as if she were 
 afraid that she would not have another 
 chance. All at once it entered her head 
 that Jane was saving those things to give 
 away, and she said, in a low voice, " Are 
 you going to give these cakes and candies 
 to some poor little girl who never has had 
 any ? If you are, she may have mine too 
 that Mrs. Davis said she would give me 
 to carry home." . 
 
 Jane blushed at this innocent remark, 
 and muttered the words, "little simple 
 ton," but Comfort did not know what she 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 103 
 
 meant, and thought that was the name 
 of some child for whom she had been 
 heaping up nice things. Mrs. Davis, 
 however, had heard the artless remark, 
 and she thought it right to show Jane 
 that she observed her rudeness, by say 
 ing, "Do you know any poor little, girl, 
 Comfort, who would like to taste such 
 things?" 
 
 "I am not sure," said Comfort, "that 
 I do, but there is one who plays in the 
 lane behind our house, who never has 
 any stockings or shoes, and once she came 
 in the kitchen to ask for bread, and if 
 she could not get enough of that, maybe 
 she would like some cake. I think, 
 though, she would like biscuit better, for 
 mama says it is more healthy." 
 
 " How much that mother of hers must 
 talk," whispered Mary Davis, who was 
 sitting the other side of Jane Campbell. 
 " I am afraid she will injure herself talk- 
 
104 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 
 
 ing so much, for every other word is, 
 * mama says.' " 
 
 " For shame, Mary," said Eveline in a 
 low tone, " she is my visitor, and you 
 sha'n't treat her badly." 
 
 "Sha'n't, indeed," said Mary, aloud; 
 " I should 'like to know who made you 
 my mistress." 
 
 "What, quarrelling!" exclaimed Mrs. 
 Davis, looking very much displeased. 
 *I am quite ashamed of you, Mary; if 
 you cannot behave better, you must leave 
 the table." 
 
 Mary made no reply, but she sat pout 
 ing till all the children had finished eat 
 ing, and then she went out in the porch 
 with Jane Campbell, and said she wished 
 that hateful little Comfort Foster was 
 where she came from, for that she had 
 spoiled all her pleasure. Eveline now 
 asked the rest of the children if they 
 would like to see her books, and carried 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 105 
 
 them to the nursery, where there was 
 quite a little library. 
 
 Comfort had never dreamed that any 
 body could be so rich, and did not know 
 which of the pretty volumes to look at 
 first. Eveline was much pleased by her 
 sincere admiration, and said kindly, 
 
 "Pick out any that you like, and I 
 will lend them to you. to read. 1 ' 
 
 " Cfh, how kind," exclaimed Comfort, 
 and she fairly jumped up and down, and 
 clapped her hands for joy. But the se 
 lection was no easy matter, for the books 
 were very well chosen, and all looked so 
 interesting, and were so full of pretty 
 pictures, that Comfort was much more 
 puzzled than she had been at dinner. 
 She opened one, named " The Two Gar 
 dens," to see how she should like it, 
 and became so interested that she forgot 
 where she was, and felt as if she had been 
 dreaming, when Eveline said, at last, 
 
106 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 "If you had rather read than play, 
 Comfort, you can sjay here with Hannah ; 
 she is our nurse, and will be very good 
 to you, and I would stay myself, but 
 mama would not like to have me leave 
 my company." 
 
 This was a very tempting offer, but 
 Comfort thought, I came here to see 
 Eveline, and I ought to please her and 
 not myself, so she laid down the 4>ook 
 cheerfully, saying, 
 
 " Oh, no ! we'll go and play now, and 
 then if your mother is willing I can read 
 this pretty book to mama. It is about 
 1 The Two Gardens' in the beginning and 
 end of the Bible. Don't you wish that 
 we were going to run about in those 
 golden streets, and could see those beau 
 tiful gates of pearl ?" 
 
 "Why, you must have been reading a 
 fairy story," said Etta Alston. " I never 
 saw anything like it in my Bible, and I 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 107 
 
 say six verses at Sunday school every 
 Sunday." 
 
 " Oh, yes, there is," said Eveline, " for 
 I have read it in tKe book Comfort has 
 just laid down. If it was not in the 
 Bible I should not believe there could 
 be a pearl big enough to make a gate, 
 for mama has what she calls a very large 
 one, and it is only as big as her thumb 
 nail." 
 
 "How I should like to see it," said 
 Comfort, " I never saw a pearl." 
 
 " Well, let us come into mother's room, 
 and I dare say she will show you all 
 her jewels. Would you -like to see them, 
 Anna, and you, too, Etta?" 
 
 Both the little girls declared that they 
 should be delighted if Mrs. Davis would 
 show them her ornaments, and as soon as 
 Eveline told her mother what she wanted, 
 the request was granted. 
 
 Etta tried the rings on to her fingers, 
 
108 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 and Anna hoped that she would have 
 some when she had grown up, that were 
 like them, but Comfort was thinking of 
 something very different. When Eveline 
 spoke of her mother's jewels, she thought 
 of the text about the day "that God 
 should make up His jewels," and won 
 dered what her heavenly Father could 
 think were as precious as men considered 
 these beautiful stones. She did not know 
 that human souls were called jewels by 
 that great and good Being, and that, per 
 haps, He gave them this name because 
 it cost so much to buy them. The little 
 girl thought that the large pearl was very 
 beautiful, for it looked so pure, and she 
 did not wonder that religion was called 
 the " goodly pearl." After she had tried 
 to imagine how a gate would look, just 
 as white and clear, she remembered that 
 she had read that the foundations of the 
 ' new Jerusalem were made of precious, 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 109 
 
 stones, and she began to wonder whether 
 Mrs. Davis had any of the kind that 
 were mentioned. The only name that 
 she remembered was an emerald, and she 
 asked Mrs. Davis very politely if she had 
 any stone of that kind, and then Mrs. 
 Davis showed her a very beautiful green 
 one, which was set in a ring, and in 
 quired how she came to think of it. 
 Comfort mentioned then how much she 
 liked to read about the beautiful city, 
 where her little brothers -and sisters had 
 gone to live, and that she had often won 
 dered how the precious stones looked 
 around the walls. Mrs. Davis had for 
 gotten what the -names of these stones 
 were, but she gave % Comfort a Bible to 
 look for the place, and then looked to 
 see if she had any of the rest. Com 
 fort was delighted when she showed her 
 a jasper, which was a yellow stone some 
 thing like gold, and a topaz that was 
 1 10 
 
 . . 
 
110 OUE LITTLE CQMFOET. 
 
 more of an orange and very transparent, 
 and a purple amethyst, set round with 
 chrysolites. 
 
 " Oh, must not heaven be beautiful ?" 
 exclaimed Comfort, looking as if in im 
 agination she saw the shining walls ; 
 "and just think, Harry and Kate have 
 golden crowns and are always with Grod, 
 "and the Blessed Saviour." 
 
 Mrs. Davis wished that her own faith 
 was as bright as that of the child, for 
 she had once lost a little girl, and had 
 the same reason for believing that she 
 was an inhabitant of that beautiful city 
 which Comfort loved so much to think 
 about. Just as the jewel box was being 
 closed, ; Comfort said, 
 
 "Oh, please, stop a moment; you know 
 that pretty thing that the high priest 
 wore on his breast was made of jewels. 
 Will you please find the place, and see 
 if you have any of them. I don't know 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. Ill 
 
 where it is, for I only read the chapters 
 there that mama chooses." 
 
 Mrs. Davis could not turn directly to 
 the place, but at length she found the 
 verse with the names of the twelve stones, 
 in each of which there was engraven 
 the name of one of the tribes of Israel. 
 She had five of the stones that were men 
 tioned, and three were the same that 
 were in the account of the beautiful city. 
 The others were an agate and a diamond, 
 but she did not even know what was 
 the color of an onyx, or a carbuncle. 
 
 The other little girls had all become 
 much interested in hearing about these 
 precious stones, and wondered how it 
 was that they did not find such interest 
 ing things in the Bible as their little 
 companion. The time had passed so 
 quickly, that they were very much sur 
 prised when a servant came and said 
 that Mr. Foster was below, and the car- 
 
112 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 riage was all ready, waiting to take Coin- 
 fort home. 
 
 The moment that she heard her father's 
 name, the little girl sprang to the door, 
 and runnifig down stairs, threw herself 
 into his arms without ever noticing that 
 there was anybody else in the room. 
 Eveline followed as quickly as she could, 
 with her little visitors, and Mrs. Davis, 
 in a few moments, came after them with 
 a paper of candies" and bon bons in her 
 hand, and * some cakes for Comfort to 
 give away. 
 
 " Oh* father, they are so kind to me 1" 
 said Comfort, as she seized the end 
 of 'his ear-trumpet, "won't you thank 
 them, and can't Eveline come and see 
 me." 
 
 " Certainly, my dear, if Mrs. Davis will 
 allow her to _do so," said the delighted 
 father; and then Mrs. Davis told him 
 that his little daughter had behaved per- 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFOET. 113 
 
 fectly well, and- that she, should always 
 be happy to see her ; she then whispered 
 to Eveline, who went out of the room 
 and came back with a beautiful boquet, 
 which was for Mrs. Foster, and then she 
 sent for Mary, who had been off with 
 Jane Campbell in another room, ever 
 since the feast. Mary came in, looking 
 very cross, but she did not dare to be 
 rude again to Comfort, who asked her 
 if she would not come and see her, and 
 then Mr. Foster told her it was time to 
 go. Mrs. Davis tied her hat, and put on 
 the gray pelisse, and said, as she kissed 
 her at parting, that she should love her 
 
 almost as well as her own children. 
 10* 
 
114 OUR LITTLE COMPORT. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE night after her visit to Granville, 
 Comfort could not sleep. She turned over 
 and over, till she grew so restless at last, 
 that she called out, in a low voice, 
 
 " Mama, mama 1" 
 
 "What is it, my darling?" asked Mrs. 
 Foster, who was awake, in an anxious 
 voice. 
 
 " Oh, nothing, mama, only I cannot 
 sleep, and I wanted to ask you not to 
 let me go and see Mrs. Davis again.'- 
 
 " "Why not ?" inquired Mrs. Foster, in 
 surprise ; "I thought that you had had 
 a very pleasant day." 
 
 "So I had, mama, but when I came 
 to say my prayers to-night, I could not 
 think what I was about, and I don't feel 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 115 
 
 right now. I don't understand it at all, 
 mama dear." 
 
 " You are tired, my darling," said her 
 mother, soothingly , "go to sleep, and to 
 morrow you will think differently." 
 
 " But, mama, as soon as I close my 
 eyes, instead of thinking about seeing the 
 beautiful city, I imagine that you and I 
 are living in a house like Mrs. Davis, 
 with all those pretty flowers, and a 
 library full of nice books, like those Eve 
 line showed me. Is it right to go any 
 where that makes us think less of heaven, 
 mama?" 
 
 " Certainly not, my child, if we can 
 help it, but if we carry a pure heart every 
 where, no place can do us any harm." 
 
 " Then I am afraid that my heart is 
 not pure," replied Comfort, in a very 
 sorrowful tone, for she had often heard 
 her mama say, that the pure in heart 
 should see God. 
 
116 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 " Then, dearest," said her mother, ten 
 derly, "you can ask your heavenly 
 Father to make it so, and when you have 
 done this, try and go to sleep." 
 
 Comfort -did as her mother told her, 
 and in a few moments she was dream 
 ing that she was walking with her sister 
 Kate and Eveline Davis in one of the 
 golden streets of the new Jerusalem, and 
 Eveline had on a crown, set with dia 
 monds, while her own had one great pearl 
 in the middle of it, and around the bor 
 der were engraved the words, "Blessed 
 are the pure in heart." The trees that 
 they saw were much more beautiful than 
 those in the conservatory, and birds of 
 every color were building nests in their 
 branches, and fruit hung on all the 
 boughs as clear as crystal and delicious 
 in taste. But the most beautiful thing 
 in this lovely place was a throne of gold, 
 on which sat a Being that looked as the 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 117 
 
 little girl had often pictured her Saviour, 
 and He was saying, in a very gentle 
 voice, " Suffer little children to come 
 unto me and forbid them not." 
 
 The whole dream was a very sweet 
 one, and such as no child could have had 
 who had not very often thought about 
 such things in her waking hours. All 
 the next day, Comfort kept going over 
 it in her mind, and wondering whether 
 heaven would really be as beautiful as 
 that vision. When she was going to bed 
 she came to her mother and said, "I don't 
 think, mama, that my visit did me any 
 harm, for I have hardly thought of it to 
 day, only to be thankful that everybody 
 was so kind, and that I saw so many 
 pretty things. Don't you think that God 
 heard my prayer, mama, and made my 
 heart more pure ?" 
 
 " I hope so, dearest, and if you try to 
 keep it clean, He will always help you." 
 
118 OUR LITTLE COMFOBT. 
 
 "And did He send me that lovely 
 dream, mama, to make me remember 
 that nothing in this world can ever be 
 half as pretty as what we shall see in 
 heaven?" 
 
 "Perhaps so, my darling. He will 
 always find some way of teaching His 
 children, and if your thoughts during 
 the day are full of holy things, your 
 dreams will be like them. Good night, 
 darling. Go to sleep now, and perhaps 
 you may again dream of the beautiful 
 city." 
 
 A few weeks after this conversation, 
 Mrs. Foster's health began to improve, 
 and Comfort, to her great delight, saw 
 her mother sitting for half an hour every 
 day, in the large easy-chair which was 
 her father's favorite seat. A sorrowful 
 heart had made Mrs. Foster more ill 
 than she would otherwise have been, but 
 the pleasure of again talking to her hus- 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 119 
 
 band, and the happiness that she found 
 in the society of her dear little girl, 
 soon worked wonders. Comfort was 
 quite sure that the improvement in her 
 mother's health was an answer to the 
 prayer which her father made every 
 morning, and so it was, by whatever 
 means it might have been brought about. 
 Mrs. Davis had called, once or twice, 
 to see the invalid, and when she found 
 that she was sitting up, insisted that 
 whenever she was able to go out, she 
 should send for her carriage and take 
 a short drive. This was a delightful 
 idea to Comfort, who was the happiest 
 little creature alive at the very thought 
 of her mother's recovery, but Mrs. Fos 
 ter was not yet strong enough to walk 
 across the room, so she told her little 
 girl that she must be very patient and 
 not expect her to be well too soon. 
 The first time that Mrs. Davis came 
 
120 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 to see them after Eveline's birth-day, 
 she brought a number of books that 
 Comfort had particularly liked, and told 
 her that Eveline had sent them to her 
 as a present. Mrs. Foster told her little 
 girl that she might accept them, and for 
 many days Comfort spent all her morn 
 ings in reading these treasures aloud to 
 her mother, and when she came to the 
 last one she looked very sorrowful and 
 said, " What shall I do now, mama, I 
 have nothing more to read." 
 
 "Nothing?" repeated her mother, in 
 an inquiring tone, and laid her hand on 
 the books which always stood on her 
 little table. 
 
 "Oh, mama, I meant no story-book. 
 I know what you mean; you think I 
 have not liked to read the Bible so much 
 since I have had the books that Eveline 
 gent me. I don't think it has seemed 
 so interesting, and yet all the stories 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 121 
 
 we have been reading are about being 
 good." 
 
 " I know it, my dear, but they have so 
 much in them that is amusing, that some 
 times one almost forgets what they were 
 meant to teach. You have been more 
 anxious to know what happened to poor 
 little Willy Newton, than whether he was 
 ever cured of his faults." 
 
 " So I have, mama," said Comfort, 
 with her usual candor. "I had not even 
 thought what I was to learn from the 
 book. I am glad, now, that I have not 
 a library full like Eveline, or I should 
 be always reading for the story." 
 
 "I will tell you what we can do 
 to occupy ourselves," said Mrs. Foster. 
 "Little girls have to learn a great deal 
 while they are young, and generally go 
 to school, but I shall try and teach you 
 myself, now that I am so much better. 
 
 One of the first studies that children have 
 11 
 
122 DUE LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 to go through is that which is called geo 
 graphy." 
 
 "And what is that, mama?" asked 
 Comfort, for her knowledge about very 
 common things was much less than what 
 she possessed with regard to the Bible. 
 
 "Geography," replied her mother, "is 
 a description of the world in which we 
 live. You know you asked why Mrs. 
 Davis smiled when you wanted to know 
 if she had been to Jerusalem, and thought 
 that she could ride there, and you were 
 astonished to learn how many thousand 
 miles you would have to travel before 
 you could reach the Holy Land. If you 
 had studied geography you would have 
 known better." 
 
 " Oh, mama ! how I shall like to learn 
 it I" exclaimed Comfort, her eyes spar 
 kling with pleasure. " Can't we begin 
 this morning?" 
 
 " We have no books, dearest, that are 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 123 
 
 simple enough, for you to understand ; 
 but stop ! I have thought of a plan ; what 
 country would you like to learn about 
 first?" 
 
 " Oh, the one where our Saviour lived," 
 answered Comfort, eagerly. 
 
 "Well, then, darling, draw that little 
 table nearer to my chair, and open the 
 Bible on it, to the map in the beginning 
 - I mean what you used to call the empty 
 picture." 
 
 Comfort fixed the table and the book 
 as her mother told her, and then Mrs. 
 Foster said, 
 
 " We will take the mountains in Pales 
 tine first. A mountain, you know, is 
 a very high piece of land, like that which 
 you see behind this house in the distance. 
 Now, tell me in what mountain the Ark 
 rested after the flood?" 
 
 " I don't know, mama, only the name 
 begins with an A, and is a hard one." 
 
124 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 " Well, find it, darling, and then I will 
 show it to you on the map." 
 
 Comfort soon found the place, for she 
 knew that it was in the beginning of 
 Genesis, and then her mother showed 
 her where mount Ararat was situated, 
 and that it was not in Judea, but in a 
 country to the south of it, that we now 
 call Arabia. 
 
 The little girl listened very attentively 
 to what Mrs. Foster said," and when she 
 had done, asked very eagerly, if Arabia 
 was iot a part of America. Her mother 
 smiled at this question, and said, kindly, 
 
 " I forgot, nrf darling, that you did not 
 know anything about the great divisions 
 of the world. We must begin a little 
 farther back in our study." Then she 
 rang the bell for Fanny, and told her to 
 see if she could find a globe anywhere, 
 which they had brought with them from 
 Canada. When the nurse understood 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 125 
 
 what was wanted, she went up in the 
 garret and unpacked a large box which 
 had not been opened for many years, and 
 there she found two globes, one for teach 
 ing geography, and the other astronomy. 
 As she did aot know what Mrs. Foster 
 wished, she brought both down. 
 
 " Oh, mama, here are two worlds," ex 
 claimed Comfort, as she knelt down on 
 the floor by them, and tried to turn them 
 round with her little hands. v 
 
 "This is the one we live in, because 
 I see the name America. Is the other 
 the sun, or the moon?" 
 
 " Neither, my darling," replied Mrs. 
 Foster. " Don't you see it is covered 
 with little spots? These are -the stars, 
 and by and by you shall learn all about 
 them." 
 
 "Oh, oh, how delightful!" shouted 
 Comfort, in a perfect ecstasy, as she ran 
 from one globe to the other, without 
 
126 OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 being able to tell which interested her 
 most. 
 
 Lfrs. Foster then asked Fanny to put 
 the terrestrial globe, that is, the one which 
 represented the earth, upon a chair by 
 her side, and Comfort stood by it while 
 her mother explained the first chapter of 
 Genesis. The little girl could not at first 
 .realize that she was standing on the out 
 side of a great round world, that was 
 moving over and over, every day, but 
 she had been accustomed to believe a 
 great many things that she did not un 
 derstand, so that she had no doubt that 
 what her mother told her was true. 
 When she . heard that this world had 
 once been all a dark mass, without any 
 shape, and entirely empty, she realized 
 how much power was necessary to change 
 it into the beautiful home in which she 
 now lived. 
 
 Mrs. Foster described the light as it 
 
OUE LITTLE COMFOKT. 127 
 
 shone out when God said " Let there be 
 light," and then how the clouds formed 
 in the sky, and left the water covering 
 all the outside of the earth. 
 
 " Now," she said, " we shall have use 
 for our globe; we will try and imagine 
 it all covered with water as it was at the 
 beginning, of the third day, when God 
 said, ' Let the dry land appear, and God 
 called the dry land earth, and the gather 
 ing together of the water called He seas.' 
 All those dark spots with three or four 
 black lines around the edge, represent 
 water. There are five of these great 
 bodies of water named oceans, and they 
 are all connected together. These at the 
 top and bottom of the globe are called 
 the Northern and Southern Oceans; the 
 broad one in the middle is the Pacific 
 Ocean, and in some places it is seven 
 thousand miles wide; the narrow one is 
 the Atlantic, and there is another flowing 
 
128 OUR LITTLE COMFOET. 
 
 between the Pacific and Atlantic, and 
 that is called the Indian Ocean." 
 
 While Mrs. Foster was speaking, Com 
 fort hardly turned her eyes from the 
 globe, and spelt the names of all the 
 oceans that she had pointed out, but now 
 she asked her mother if she would an 
 swer a question that had just come into 
 her head. 
 
 "I have been thinking," she said, 
 "that when the flood came, it must have 
 covered all the dry land up, for you 
 know you told me that the water was 
 a great many feet deep all over the earth. 
 Now, mama, when the flood went down, 
 did the water run back into all the same 
 places which had been seas in the be 
 ginning ?" 
 
 "You have asked me rather a hard 
 question," replied Mrs. Foster, with a 
 smile, " and one that I cannot answer ; 
 so I think, instead of imagining the world 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 129 
 
 after the creation, we shall have to take 
 it as it has been since the flood went 
 down. On the other side of the globe, 
 there is a long piece of land almost 
 separated in the middle, which is called 
 North and South America. We will 
 not turn it up, for in old times no one 
 knew that there was such a country. 
 Now, see, Europe, Asia, and Africa. If 
 you wanted to choose a place which could 
 be reached most easily by the inhabitants 
 of all these countries, which would you 
 take ?" 
 
 Comfort looked very carefully at these 
 three great divisions of the earth, and 
 saw that the Ked Sea separated Asia from 
 Africa, and that the Black Sea was be 
 tween Europe and Asia, and the Medi 
 terranean Sea between Europe and Africa. 
 
 " Mama," she said, at length, putting 
 her hand on the country that we now 
 call Turkey in Asia, "would it not be 
 
130 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 easy for the people in Europe, and those 
 of Asia and Africa, to meet here? It 
 seems to me as if this spot was the near 
 est to all three countries." 
 
 Mrs. Foster was delighted with the 
 quickness of her little scholar, and put 
 her hand fondly on her head, saying, 
 "You are right, my darling; Judea was 
 in that very place, because God wanted 
 to have the nation who served Him, and 
 the birth-place of His .Son, where all the 
 world, that was then known, could hear 
 of them. Travellers from all countries 
 came to this spot in the time of the 
 Apostles. Don't you remember all those 
 nations, with hard names, who were 
 gathered together at Jerusalem,, when 
 the Apostles received the Holy Ghost?" 
 
 " Oh yes, mama, and how Peter could 
 speak all their languages, and how they 
 went home telling what they had seen. 
 i shall not forget where Judea was." 
 
OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 131 
 
 " Well, then, now we will go on with 
 the mountains mentioned in the Bible, 
 most of which are in the country that 
 I have just told you is now called Turkey 
 in Asia. But you have been listening 
 so attentively that I am afraid you are 
 tired now, so perhaps we had better wait 
 till to-morrow." 
 
 Comfort was almost sure that she was 
 not wearied, but her mother remembered 
 that it had been thought that little Kate's 
 health was injured by the activity of her 
 mind, so she told Fanny to put the globe 
 up on the bureau, and then take Comfort 
 out to walk. 
 
 We have forgotten to mention that Mr. 
 Foster had been obliged, by business, to 
 leave home for several weeks, and his 
 little daughter had never been to church 
 again on that account. Mrs. Foster was 
 able only to write a few lines, at the 
 time, to her husband, so he knew very 
 
132 OUR LITTLE COMFOET. 
 
 little of what was going on at home. 
 Comfort was exceedingly desirous to 
 write a letter herself, but she had only 
 just begun making letters on the slate, 
 and it was hard to tell what they were 
 intended for, but now she had a motive 
 to learn, and improved very fast. One 
 day, she came to her mother, who was 
 sitting up and writing a short letter, and 
 said, "Mama, just see if you can read 
 the word on my slate." 
 
 "< Comfort Foster;' is not that it?" 
 asked her mother, encouragingly . 
 
 "Oh, you read it, didn't you, mama? 
 Now let me see if I cannot write another 
 word." 
 
 Comfort sat down* on the floor again, 
 with her slate in her lap, and an old 
 sampler from which she had been copy 
 ing the writing letters before her, because 
 she did not wish to trouble her mother 
 to make a copy while she was busy. 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 133 
 
 " There 1 there !" she exclaimed, almost 
 dancing with joy at her own success, as 
 she again handed the slate to her mother. 
 
 "'Come home, dear papa.' Why, at 
 this rate, you will soon learn to write a 
 letter. Write as much as you can on 
 your slate, and when I have done I will 
 give -you a lead pencil and you shall 
 put it down at the bottom of my let 
 ter." 
 
 This was charming. Comfort washed 
 her slate all clean, and then she ruled 
 it as nicely as she could, with a book, 
 and began what she called a letter, 
 though she had never read one, only in 
 books, in her life, for Mr. Foster's epistles 
 had been on business, though they always 
 contained some message for his dear little 
 girl. By the aid of the sampler, and the 
 letters that she had already learned, Com 
 fort made out to write the following note 
 to her papa: 
 
 12 
 
134: OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 " Come home, dear papa, God is making 
 mama well, because three prayed for her, 
 you, and Fanny, and I. I learn all about 
 the earth ; won't you bring me a book 
 to study more about it? Mrs. Waddle 
 has got the pip. I want to go to church 
 again. Mama is going to ride in a car 
 riage, when she gets better. I wish your 
 ear-trumpet was long enough for one end 
 to reach here. I ask God to take care of 
 you, every night, and bring you home 
 safe." Your little daughter, 
 
 COMFORT FOSTER. 
 
 When Comfort had done writing this 
 letter, she found, to her surprise, that her 
 mother had gone back to bed, for she 
 had been so much engaged that she did 
 not hear her move at all. Many little 
 girls would have fretted at being obliged 
 to wait a whole day before they could 
 finish their letter, but Comfort never 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 135 
 
 dreamed of doing such a thing. She 
 set up her slate carefully, where what she 
 had written would not get rubbed out, 
 and then she sat down by her mother's 
 bed, and read to her in a low, gentle 
 voice, till Mrs. Foster fell fast asleep. 
 
 The next day, Comfort was allowed 
 to copy her letter, and though the capital 
 letters were not in the right place, all 
 the words were properly spelt, and Mr. 
 Foster thought, when he received it, that 
 it was very nicely written for a little girl 
 of Comfort's age. About a week after, 
 he came home, and the moment that 
 Comfort heard his step in the yard, she 
 knew it and ran to meet him. He took 
 her up in his arms and kissed her fondly, 
 and then carried her up into her mother's 
 room. His surprise -was great when he 
 saw his dear wife sitting up, and -looking 
 better than she had done for many years. 
 Comfort was contented to remain silent 
 
136 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 upon his knee, while he told her mother 
 all about his journey, and heard the 
 history of what had happened during his 
 absence. Before he had learned half 
 that he wished, Fanny came to say that 
 tea was ready, and the little girl was 
 very happy to be seated once more at 
 the table with her father, for during his 
 absence she had been obliged to have 
 her breakfast all alone, and her tea too, 
 when her mother was tired, or asleep, 
 as she often was at that hour. 
 
 After tea, Mr. Foster told Fanny to 
 bring his portmanteau into the dining- 
 room, and there he unpacked it and took 
 out an air-pillow which he had brought 
 for his wife, who complained most of 
 the heat in her head, and also a nice 
 dressing-gown, the pattern of which Com 
 fort particularly admired. She did not 
 say, " What have you got for me, papa?" 
 or even think of herself, so much oc- 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 137 
 
 cupied was she with the idea of her 
 mother being made more comfortable; 
 but Mr. Foster had by no means forgot 
 ten his little daughter. He drew from 
 his portmanteau a large paper parcel, 
 and then telling Fanny to bring the 
 things he had taken out into Mrs. Foster's 
 room, he went up there himself, followed 
 by Comfort, who was trying to make 
 herself useful by carrying a light pack 
 age which Fanny had dropped. Mrs. 
 Foster was much pleased with her hus 
 band's thoughtfulness in bringing her 
 such a nice cool pillow, and she let Com 
 fort try and blow it up, but the little 
 girl got quite out of breath before it was 
 half full of air. Mrs, Foster thought, too, 
 that her new dressing-gown was particu 
 larly pretty, and did not say anything 
 because it was not black, for she saw 
 that Mr. Foster wished that she should 
 
 wear mourning no longer. 
 12* 
 
138 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 "And here, my little Comfort," said 
 Mr. Foster, as he undid the package that 
 he had brought up stairs, "is a geo 
 graphy and writing-book for you, and a 
 volume of poetry, with a hymn in it for 
 every day in the year." 
 
 " Oh, papa, how kind ! what can I 
 give you; I have nothing but kisses, 
 but you shall have plenty of them," 
 cried the little girl, kissing him again 
 and again. 
 
 "There, that'll do," said Mr. Foster, 
 laughing, "you must stop, or I can't 
 show you what else I have brought. 
 Here is a dissected map of America, and 
 when you have learned the geography 
 you can put it together." 
 
 Comfort had never heard of such a 
 thing before, but she did not doubt that 
 it would be a delightful occupation to 
 try and make the map, but the last pres 
 ent which her father had brought put 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 139 
 
 all the rest out of her mind. This was 
 a very neat 'Prayer Book for her to carry 
 to church, and a Testament, so small 
 that she could have it always in her 
 pocket, and for that purpose it was 
 slipped into a little case. Comfort had 
 so often wished that her mother's Bible 
 was not so big, and the one out of which* 
 her father read was almost as heavy. 
 Since summer had come, she was very 
 fond of sitting out under the trees, or in 
 the wood behind the house, and many 
 times she had thought how she should 
 like to read some of her favorite pas 
 sages of Scripture, with the birds singing 
 around her, and the sweet air fanning 
 her face. 
 
 She had hardly begun to express her 
 delight at all these new treasures, when 
 Mrs. Foster reminded her that it was 
 time for her to be undressed; but she 
 laid them quietly by, only asking a few 
 
140 OUR LITTLE COMFOKT. 
 
 moments to get her mind quiet before 
 she said her prayers, so that she might 
 remember all the things for which she 
 ought to thank her heavenly Father. Her 
 father's return ; the book out of which 
 she could learn more of the beautiful 
 world that God had made ; the little 
 Testament that she could have always 
 with her to remind her of His presence 
 and the love which, from her birth, had 
 been so mindful of all her wants, were 
 each mentioned in her simple address to 
 that beloved Friend, who became dearer 
 at every step in life. 
 
 With one more kiss from her iather 
 and mother, Comfort went to rest, and 
 though there was talking in the room, 
 she was not kept awake, for she fixed 
 her mind on the subject which was 
 always the last in her thoughts at night, 
 and so she fell asleep. 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 141 
 
 CHAPTER 'VII. 
 
 i 
 
 THE Sunday after Mr. Foster's return, 
 he told Comfort that she might again 
 go with him to church. The little girl 
 was even more delighted at this permis 
 sion than she had been before, for she 
 knew now exactly what a church was, 
 and that it was a blessed privilege to 
 worship God in an assembly of Chris 
 tians. 
 
 As it was a very warm day, her mother 
 told Fanny to take out a thin, white mus 
 lin dress which Kate used to wear, and 
 see if Comfort had not out-grown it. 
 She was pleased to find that it was just 
 the right length, and as it was made 
 like an infant's dress, with ribbons run 
 in around the wsrist and neck, it could be 
 
142 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 drawn up to fit the little girl very nicely. 
 The material of the dress was a fine 
 dotted muslin, which Mrs. Foster had- cut 
 up for clothes for her children, as after 
 she lost the first little boy, she had always 
 worn mourning, and never thought that 
 she should leave it off again. Comfort, 
 however, did not seem to perceive that 
 the dress was any nicer than the cambric 
 ones which she wore every day, only 
 she said, 
 
 " Oh, how cool this will be, and I am 
 so glad that I am to wear white to church, 
 for you know, mama, you told me that 
 the minister wore his surplice as a sign 
 of purity, and I think it wojild be very- 
 nice if all the people had on white too." 
 
 " But you must remember, my darling, 
 that it is a pure heart which God likes 
 best, and what our Saviour' said to the 
 Pharisees who were so particular about 
 washing." 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFOET. 143 
 
 "I will try and not forget it," said 
 Comfort, very meekly, and then there 
 was .not time for any more conversation. 
 Fanny brought out a round straw hat, 
 which she tied under the little girl's chin 
 with blue strings, and her mama put a 
 handkerchief around her neck, so that 
 the sun might not burn it where the curls 
 did not cover it, and then she was all 
 ready for church. 
 
 " You will not need my Prayer Book," 
 said her mother, " but you had better put 
 yours in your pocket, and your little 
 Testament too, if you wish to find the 
 lessons, for I am afraid that your warm 
 little hands will soil them, and I am not 
 sure that the color may not come out of 
 your mits, so you had better take them 
 off in church. If you are uncomfortable, 
 you can lay aside your hat and this hand 
 kerchief, but do it quietly, my dear, be 
 fore the service commences. Your father 
 
144: OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 has gone-down stairs, so give me a kiss 
 and run after him." 
 
 " Oh, mama," said Comfort, as she bid 
 her good morning, "how nice it is to 
 leave you sitting up here instead of in 
 bed, as you were when we went to church 
 before. If we keep on praying for you, 
 I arn sure that God will make you quite 
 well." 
 
 The walk to Granville, that morning, 
 seemed quite long, and Comfort was very 
 tired, but she did not mind that, because 
 she thought about the place to which 
 she was going. Neither did she tell her 
 father that she was weary, for she was 
 sure that he would then insist on carry 
 ing her part of the way, and she knew 
 that she was now very heavy. To make 
 the time seem shorter, she repeated over 
 a number of hymns, and her catechism, 
 for Mr. Foster did not seem inclined to 
 talk, for his mind was full of very serious 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFOKT. 145 
 
 reflections. "This walk," thought Com 
 fort to herself, " makes me think of what 
 mama said about its being no matter 
 what sort of a life we had, if we only 
 reached heaven at last." At this moment 
 they came to the top of a hill from which 
 they could see the church, and Comfort 
 immediately remembered the hymn, 
 
 " As when the weary traveller gains 
 
 The height of some commanding hill, 
 His heart revives, if o'er the plains 
 He sees his home, though distant still," 
 
 and she could understand why life was 
 so much pleasanter after the dream in 
 which she saw the beautiful city so 
 plainly. 
 
 The church bell was ringing when 
 Mr. Foster and his little girl entered 
 the door, and as Mrs. Davis had invited 
 them always to sit with her, they again 
 went into her seat, and, soon after, she 
 
 entered with her two little girls. Corn- 
 is 
 
146 OUK LITTLE COMFOKT. 
 
 fort returned the greeting of her com 
 panions only by a pleasant smile, and, 
 as she was very warm, took off her hat 
 and handkerchief, and laid her mite with 
 them under the seat, where they would 
 not be in the way of any one. Then, 
 she drew out her Prayer Book, and 
 was busy in finding the place till the* 
 organ began to play. Though Mrs. Fos 
 ter had explained to the little girl that 
 the music was made by an instrument 
 and not by the angels, it still sounded 
 very -sweet, and prepared her mind for 
 the services. 
 
 After the sermon was finished, the 
 clergyman came down from the pulpit, 
 and, standing in the chancel, invited all 
 the children who were present, .to come 
 forward and be. catechised. Comfort had 
 never heard -of such a thing before, and 
 did not know what she was to do, for 
 her father was so deaf that, of course, 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 147 
 
 he did not hear the i announcement, and 
 ghe could not think of any way of making 
 him understand what she wished. But 
 Mary and Eveline Davis rose from their 
 seats and passed out of the pew, and 
 then Mr. Foster thought what must be 
 going on, and whispered to Comfort that 
 she might go and be catechised too. 
 
 "When the little girl reached the chan 
 cel, the clergyman looked at her with 
 much interest, for she had not remem 
 bered to put her hat on, and he thought 
 her one of the loveliest looking children 
 that he had ever seen, with her sweet, 
 earnest face shaded by those long golden 
 curls, and her little delicate figure dressed 
 in such a pure, childlike garment. She 
 had taken her place at the corner of 
 the chancel, and when he -asked what 
 was her name, and she answered, " Cpm- 
 fort," he thought that must be some pet 
 name, and said, kindly, "I mean the 
 
148 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 name by which, you were baptized, my 
 child." 
 
 " Comfort, sir," the little girl repeated, 
 with the same sweet unembarrassed voice, 
 while her mild blue eyes were fixed upon 
 his face with the most reverential expres 
 sion. 
 
 The clergyman passed on to the next 
 child with the question, " Who gave you 
 this name?" and when he caine round 
 again to Comfort, asked, " What is your 
 duty to God?" adding, "However* that 
 is a long answer for such a little girl, 
 and perhaps you cannot say it all." 
 
 Comfort felt as if she were reciting 
 her catechism in the immediate presence 
 of God, her heavenly Father, and her 
 manner therefore was very solemn when 
 she answered this question, and the words 
 "with all my heart, and all my mind, 
 and all my strength," were spoken so 
 earnestly that the clergyman wondered 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 149 
 
 who had taught the child the meaning 
 of the words that she spoke. 
 
 "And why is this your duty to God, 
 my dear ? I mean, why should you love 
 Him- so much ?" fye asked. 
 
 " Because He is our best Friend, and 
 loves us, and made us, and died for us," 
 said Comfort, with much animation. 
 
 "How do you know that He loves 
 us?" asKed the clergyman, who was 
 much interested in the manner in which 
 his last question had been answered. 
 
 "Because mama says so, and I read 
 it in my little Testament. I will show 
 you the place, sir." 
 
 So saying, Comfort drew her Testa 
 ment from her pocket, and, turning to 
 the text, " We love Him because He first 
 loved us," read it aloud in a low, but 
 very distinct voice. 
 
 Poor Mr. Foster could not hear a word 
 that his child said, but he saw that the 
 
 13* 
 
150 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 minister looked pleased whenever he 
 came to her, and was not afraid of her 
 saying anything wrong. "Out of the 
 abundance of the heart the mouth speak- 
 eth," and he knew that his little daugh 
 ter's heart was full of good desires and 
 holy thoughts. 
 
 After the catechism was all repeated, 
 the clergyman made a few remarks, and 
 then he told the children to kneel around 
 the chancel while he offered the conclu 
 ding prayer and benediction. 
 
 Comfort felt as if she were a step 
 nearer to God, as she knelt where she 
 had read in the Prayer Book that persons 
 were confirmed and partook of the Lord's 
 Supper. After the benediction was pro 
 nounced, ' she thanked God for letting 
 His minister hear her say her catechism, 
 and asked for strength to remember and 
 practice what he had said, and then she 
 prayed that, when she was old enough, 
 
OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 151 
 
 she might come to that place to repeat 
 the vows that had been made at her bap 
 tism, and to receive the precious sacra 
 ment. 
 
 The little girl was so absorbed in her 
 devotions, 'that she did not hear the 
 children all going to their seats, and was 
 surprised, when she rose, to find .that 
 they were gone, and the people were 
 leaving church. The minister still stood 
 in the chancel, and, coming towards her, 
 said kindly, as he saw her bewildered 
 expression, "Whose Comfort are you, 
 my little darling?" 
 
 " My father's and mother's," she replied 
 with great simplicity. 
 
 "I am sure of that, but what is their 
 name, and who brought you here ?" 
 
 " My father, and he is called Mr. Fos 
 ter. How can I get to him, sir ?" 
 
 " Wait for me* a moment, and I will 
 help you find him," said the clergyman ; 
 
152 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 and then he went into the vestry room, 
 leaving Comfort standing alone by the 
 chancel. She was not at all afraid, how 
 ever, and as soon as the people left the 
 church she saw her father coming up 
 the aisle, and, at the same time, the min 
 ister came out of the vestry room. 
 
 "-This is my father, sir," she said, as 
 she took hold of Mr. Foster's hand. " He 
 is deaf, and cannot hear what you say, 
 but if you will come to see us you can 
 talk to him through his ear-trumpet, and 
 I know my sick mama will like to have 
 you come." 
 
 Mr. Harrington for that was the min 
 ister's name said he would be very 
 happy to pay Mr. Foster a visit, and 
 then Comfort made signs to explain to 
 her* father that she had been asking the 
 clergyman to come and talk to him 
 through his ear-trumpet. 
 
 Mr. Foster repeated the little girl's 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 153 
 
 invitation, and said that his deafness 
 had kept him at home for a long time, 
 but that now he hoped to attend church 
 regularly, and to be considered a mem 
 ber of the parish. 
 
 The clergyman and her father con 
 tinued talking, as they walked down 
 the aisle, though in a low tone and 
 serious manner, and when they parted, 
 Comfort heard Mr. Harrington say, "I 
 will try and ride out some morning to 
 breakfast with you," and she felt so 
 thankful that their house was to be 
 honored by a visit from a minister of 
 God. 
 
154 OUK LITTLE COMFOKT. 
 
 CHAPTER Till. 
 
 A FEW days after the catechising in 
 church, Mrs. Davis called to see if Mrs. 
 Foster was not well enough to take a 
 short drive, and brought her two chil 
 dren, at the same time, to pay a visit 
 to Comfort. The parlor had been aired 
 and dusted since the first time that Mrs. 
 Davis came, but it was still kept dark. 
 Fanny, however, unbolted the shutters, 
 after asking the guests to seat themselves, 
 which they did by the sense of feeling, 
 and then she went to see if her mistress 
 was able to receive them in her chamber. 
 
 As soon as the nurse was out of hear 
 ing, Mary got up and walked arounc 
 the room, staring -at the faded, old 
 fashioned furniture, and examining con 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFOKT. 155 
 
 temptuously a picture worked in satin 
 which was hanging over the fire-place. 
 It was the last piece of needlework that 
 Mrs. Foster had done, and represented 
 a tomb beneath a willow tree, over 
 which a female form was bending with 
 a very sorrowful expression. There was 
 no name upon the monument, but a 
 branch of a rose tree with four buds 
 broken off, and the two blossoms which 
 were standing had a yellow and withered 
 appearance. A harp stood in the corner 
 of the room, but three of the strings 
 were broken, and the gilt which orna 
 mented the frame was tarnished by damp 
 ness and want of care. 
 
 "What a gloomy looking place!" ex 
 claimed Mary, when she had completed 
 her survey. " Pray take us to ride with 
 Mrs. Foster, for I shall die if I have to 
 stay here with that prosy little Comfort." 
 
 "Why did you come, ,Mary?" asked 
 
156 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 her mother, in a displeased tone. "You 
 knew that Mrs. Foster had been an in 
 valid for many years, and that your only 
 amusement would be the society of her 
 dear little girl." 
 
 ""Well, it was very foolish in me," 
 replied Mary, pouting, "but I was anx 
 ious to see what kind of a place that 
 queer young one came out of. I can't 
 imagine, mother, what makes you want 
 us to associate with such people." 
 
 Mrs. Davis did not take any notice of 
 the impertinent tone in which those words 
 were spoken,, but replied in rather a sad 
 voice, 
 
 "My reason is, Mary, because I think 
 you mav^, perhaps, learn from that sweet 
 child to behave in such a way as to be 
 some comfort to your mother." 
 
 Eveline had said- nothing, but she, too, 
 had been thinking that it would be 
 dreadful to live in such a dull, quiet 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 157 
 
 place. The manner in which her mother 
 spoke, touched her heart, and going to 
 her side, she said, soothingly, 
 
 " I will try, mama, and learn to be 
 better. If Mary don't wish to stay here 
 while you are out with Mrs. Foster, I 
 shall not mind her going'at all." 
 
 11 But I should, very much," replied 
 Mrs. Davis, "for she would be sure to 
 hurt Mrs. Foster's feelings by some rude 
 remark. Now that she has come, she 
 must do as I wish, and I shall be ex 
 tremely displeased if she does anything 
 to pain her little friend. At this moment 
 a light step was heard on the stairs, and 
 then a fairy-like form sprang into the 
 room, and Comfort flew from one to the 
 other, exclaiming, 
 
 " I am so glad you have come. Mama 
 is better, Mrs, Davis, and she thinks that 
 she will be able to go with you. Fanny 
 is dressing her, and then she and Jane 
 
 14 * T 
 
158 OUR LITTLE COMFOKT. 
 
 will bring her down 1 stairs and put "her 
 in tbe carriage, so she won't trouble 
 you to come up." 
 
 "I am delighted to hear it," replied 
 Mrs. Davis, "and I am going to leave 
 Mary and Eveline with you while she 
 is gone, if you would like their com 
 pany." 
 
 " Oh, that will be so nice, won't it, 
 Eveline?" exclaimed Comfort. "We can 
 play in mama's room, and I have wanted 
 to see you so much. Do you like cats 
 and chickens?" she added, turning to 
 Mary, who looked as disagreeable as 
 she well could. 
 
 " I like cats in the cellar, to kill rats, 
 and chickens on the table to eat," she 
 replied, in a tone that was barely civil. 
 
 Comfort was so kind herself that she 
 never dreamed that this could be said 
 to annoy her, and answered, merrily, 
 
 "Whajt a funny, taste! I should not 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFOKT. 159 ; 
 
 like my cat, Eosa, at all, if I saw her 
 eating up a pretty little mouse, and 
 Toppy is much more beautiful with his 
 white crest- on his head than he would 
 ,be roasted for dinner. But won't you 
 excuse me while I run and help mama 
 down?" 
 
 Mrs. Davis smiled at the ideU of Com 
 fort's being any assistance, but the little 
 girl felt as if she was much older and 
 stronger than she really was, and offered 
 to take hold of the arm-chair, in which 
 she found her mother seated, so as to 
 help Fanny and Jane. 
 
 " Eun away, darling," said Mrs. Foster, 
 " I am afraid you will get knocked over, 
 yourself. Get me my work-bag out of 
 the drawer, at the bottom of the bureau, 
 and put a pocket handkerchief and my 
 bottle of salts in it ; and then take my 
 air-pillow down stairs, for that is light 
 enough for you to carry." 
 
160 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 Comfort was pleased to be thus made 
 of use, and stood at the bottom of the 
 ' stairs, holding her mother's pillow when 
 the invalid arrived there in safety. 
 
 Mary and Eveline Davis ran out in 
 the hall, for they were very anxious to 
 see the mama that Comfort was talking 
 about, but her pale face was hidden by 
 a thick green veil, and they only saw a 
 very old-fashioned black bonnet, and a 
 heap of grayish-black clothes, carried 
 between a fat, untidy-looking cook, and 
 the equally uncouth nurse. 
 
 "So that's your mother?" said Mary, 
 in a contemptuous tone, as Mrs. Foster 
 was borne out into the yard, whither 
 Mrs. Davis followed her. 
 
 The tone in which these words were 
 spoken, could not escape even Comfort's 
 unsuspecting ear. She turned quickly 
 round, and looked in Mary's face, with 
 a mingled expression of wonder and re- 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 161 
 
 preach, and the tears filled her soft eyes 
 as she answered, mildly, 
 
 " Yes ! that is my mother, my blessed 
 mother!" 
 
 The heartfelt love with which these 
 words were uttered, touched Eveline's 
 feelings. She put both arms around 
 Comfort's neck, and whispered to her, 
 
 "I know she is a dear sweet woman 
 though we couldn't see her face, and I 
 wish she would teach me to be just like 
 you." 
 
 " Oh it wouldn't do to have two alike," 
 replied Comfort, the smile coming back 
 to the face, "you know there are not 
 ever two leaves alike. Did you ever try 
 to find them, Mary ?" 
 
 " No !" said Mary, who was a little sub 
 dued by the mild reproach conveyed in 
 the answer which Comfort had made to 
 her last rude remark. " I am sure, 
 though, that I have seen a great many 
 
 14* 
 
162 OUR LITTLE COMFOET. 
 
 leaves in which there was not the least 
 difference. I will show you two in a 
 moment." 
 
 The children then ran out in the yard, 
 and hunted under the poplars for a long 
 time, to find two leaves that were pre 
 cisely similar, but their search was vain. 
 When the shape and color was alike, 
 the little thread-like frame-work of the 
 leaves was different, so they gave up in 
 despair, and went to looking for four- 
 leaved clover. While thus engaged, 
 Comfort's pretty cat came purring after 
 her mistress. The little girl took her 
 up in her arms, and said triumphantly, 
 
 "Now look at her, Mary, and see if 
 you don't think her mouth is too white 
 and sweet to be eating rats and mice ?" 
 
 " That is what she was made for," re 
 plied Mary, scarcely noticing the graceful 
 animal, but Eveline smoothed her soft 
 fur, and said she had never seen such a 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 163 
 
 pretty cat, and that she guessed she wa? 
 a queen, and not meant to live like 
 common cats. 
 
 The sun was getting so warm, that it 
 drove the little ones into the house, and 
 then Comfort took them up into her. 
 mother's room, which she thought was 
 such a delightful place. She asked Mary 
 if she would like to play with her dis 
 sected map, but the discontented visitor 
 wished to do nothing that would please 
 her kind entertainer. She sat sulkily 
 staring around the room, excepting when 
 she got up and examined some little 
 article which was lying on the bureau 
 or table, which she laid down again 
 with a most contemptuous expression. 
 
 Comfort began to think that Mary 
 was tired, and wanted to be let alone, so 
 she turned her attention to Eveline, and 
 then they were very happy together. 
 Eveline was amused with the description 
 
164 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 Comfort gave of the way that she spent 
 her mornings, and when she heard that 
 she could write, proposed that they 
 should open a correspondence. 
 
 " Your papa will bring your letters to 
 town and give them to me, and I will 
 send an answer in the same way. Won't 
 that be nice ?" 
 
 Comfort thought it would be very nice 
 indeed, and almost the same as if they 
 lived together. She told Eveline about 
 her little sister, and how often she had 
 wished for some one to play with and 
 to talk to, and that now, she should never 
 feel lonely. 
 
 "But no," she added, "I don't really 
 feel lonely ever, for mama is such pleas 
 ant company ; only sometimes when she 
 is asleep, or wants to be still, and papa 
 is not at home, then I wish I had a little 
 sister." 
 
 By and by the conversation turned 
 
OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 165 
 
 upon the catechising, and Eveline said, 
 
 "How dared you speak up so to the 
 minister? I was frightened almost to 
 death, when it came my turn to answer." 
 
 "What were you afraid of?" asked 
 Comfort, in surprise. 
 
 11 Why all the people who were looking 
 on, and heard us; were you not afraid 
 of them?" 
 
 "Oh, no!" answered Comfort; "I 
 never thought about there being any 
 body in church but the clergyman and 
 ourselves; I mean any human beings, for 
 I felt as if our heavenly Father was in 
 our midst, and hearing every answer." 
 
 " I am sure that would have frightened 
 me," replied Eveline. "I can't imagine 
 how you can be so bright and happy, 
 when you think so much about serious 
 things. Sometimes, at night, after I go 
 to bed, it comes into my head that God 
 is everywhere, and it makes me so miser- 
 
166 OUE LITTLE COMFOET. 
 
 able that I get up and call Hannah to 
 come and sit' by me till I fall asleep." 
 
 " I am so sorry for you," said' Comfort, 
 in a very sad tone. " Anybody must 
 be so unhappy that don't like to think 
 that God is with them, for you know 
 we can't get out of His sight for a single, 
 moment." 
 
 " Oh ! don't say so," said Eveline, 
 closing her eyes, as if to shut out her 
 Creator from her thoughts ; "I can't 
 bear to think of it." 
 
 "But, dear Eveline," replied Comfort, 
 soothingly, "why do you feel so about 
 our best and kindest Friend ? He loves 
 us better than our mothers, and does 
 everything to make us happy." 
 
 "But I can't imagine anybody that I 
 have never seen, and love them," said 
 Eveline. " I know how mama looks, 
 but I don't know what God is like, and 
 I am so afraid of Him," 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 167 
 
 "Don't you remember," said Comfort, 
 earnestly, "that our Blessed Saviour is 
 God, and that He became man ? Can't 
 you imagine a man like our Saviour, 
 looking sweeter and kinder than any 
 man you ever saw? That's the way 
 I do when I get puzzled, and now I 
 always see the same face, and, oh, it 
 is so beautiful !" and Comfort's eyes 
 grew bright as if the vision of her Sa 
 viour was present in all its loveliness 
 and sacredness. 
 
 Mary, who had been, listening to the 
 conversation, though she pretended not 
 to hear it, was astonished at the expres 
 sion of the little girl's face, and wondered 
 why it was that s"he was so different 
 from all the children she had ever 
 known. 
 
 There was a moment of silence, in 
 which Comfort and Eveline both ap 
 peared to be thinking deeply, and then 
 
168 OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 Comfort said, very earnestly, to her dear 
 companion, 
 
 "Dear Eveline, I have thought of 
 the reason why you may be so troubled. 
 The Bible says 'the pure in heart shall 
 see God.' Perhaps if you were to ask 
 Him to make your heart pure, by and 
 by you would feel that He was near, 
 and begin to see Him as He is ; I mean 
 He would come before you as a dear, 
 kind Friend, who loves you, and then 
 you would never be tired of thinking 
 of Him." 
 
 "I never said any such prayer," re 
 plied Eveline. "There is not any such 
 in our little book." 
 
 "Well, can't you say to our heavenly 
 Father, ( Please to give me * a pure 
 heart?' That is what I say every 
 night." 
 
 " I don't know ; I never said a prayer 
 that was not in a book," said Evelfne, 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 169 
 
 despondingly. "But couldn't you say 
 it for me?" 
 
 " Oh yes, I will, every night, but that 
 won't do any good, unless you say it 
 yourself too. Do try, Eveline." 
 
 The sound of carriage wheels was now 
 heard, and the children ran down stairs 
 to meet their parents. As Mrs. Foster 
 was carried back to her room, she lifted 
 up her veil, and when Eveline saw her 
 kind, sweet face, she did not wonder 
 that Comfort loved her so dearly. Mary 
 looked away, for she was ashamed of 
 herself and displeased with every one 
 else. 
 
 Mrs. Davis, did not enter the house, 
 but sent for the children to come out 
 to her, so Mary bade Comfort a hasty 
 good-bye, and Eveline an affectionate 
 one, and then they all drove back to 
 Granville. 
 
 15 
 
170 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ONE morning, in the latter part of 
 October, after her father had gone to 
 town, Comfort was almost sure, that she 
 heard Fanny making up a fire in the 
 parlor. She ran to see if her ears had 
 not deceived her, but no, there were the 
 blazing hickory logs, making the whole 
 apartment look cheerful. 
 
 On asking what was going to happen, 
 the little girl was told that her father 
 had ordered the fire, and wanted the 
 room put in order, because Mrs. Foster 
 was coming down stairs in the middle 
 of the day. Comfort was running up, 
 immediately, to express her delight at 
 this information, to her mother, but the 
 nurse stopped her, saying that her mis- 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 171 
 
 tress was taking another nap, so as to 
 feel strong enough for the exertion. 
 Comfort then wanted to know if she 
 could not do something to get the room 
 ready, and Fanny gave her a hawk's 
 wing, which she used for a duster, to 
 brush off the chairs and table. A 'few 
 moments afterwards a wagon stopped at 
 the door, and three men came in the 
 yard, carrying a very pretty couch which 
 Fanny told them they were to set down 
 in the parlor. Then they went back to 
 the wagon for a large stuffed rocking- 
 chair, which they placed before the 
 cheerful fire, and again returned with 
 a great flat box, which was placed in 
 the hall without being opened. Fanny 
 thought that this was the last thing to 
 come in, and was shutting the front 
 door after the men, when one of them 
 came back with a little low chair, just 
 like the larger one, which Comfort was 
 
172 OUR LITTLE COMFOET. 
 
 sure was meant for herself, so she had 
 it put close to the one that she knew 
 was for her mother. 
 
 It seemed as if wonders were never 
 to cease, that morning, for the wagon 
 had hardly driven away before the little 
 girl saw her father coming in the gate 
 with a plain looking man who had a 
 small round parcel in his hand. Both 
 came right into the parlor, and then Mr. 
 Foster pointed to the harp and said, 
 " There is the instrument ; put it in as 
 good order as you can," and the stranger 
 undid the -package, and took out a roll 
 of wires, of different sizes, and began 
 comparing them with the harp-strings 
 which were broken. Comfort stood look 
 ing on with much interest while this 
 was going forward, and was delighted 
 with the sound when the instrument 
 was tuned. 
 
 "Now," said her father, after telling 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 173 
 
 Fanny where the couch was to be placed, 
 "run and get me a hammer, and you 
 shall see what is in that box, my little 
 daughter." 
 
 The hammer was brought in an in 
 stant, and then Mr. Foster opened the 
 box and took out two large engravings, 
 which were prettily framed. Comfort 
 thought that she had never seen such 
 pretty pictures, and could hardly admire 
 them enough. One represented the res 
 urrection of our Saviour, and the angels 
 were standing by His empty tomb, while 
 He was pictured as just speaking to 
 Mary. Comfort felt as if she almost 
 heard Him calling her name, and she 
 thought the words under the picture 
 would be so comforting to her mother, 
 for they were, " Even so, them that sleep 
 in Jesus will God bring with Him." 
 
 The other picture represented a Chris 
 tian family as just risen from the tomb, 
 
 15* 
 

 OUR LITTLE COMFOET. 
 
 and about to be caught up in the clouds. 
 Comfort did not know whether she liked 
 the faces of the children, or the cherubs 
 who were waiting to receive them, best, 
 and she thought that all of them looked 
 as if they might be her lost sisters. She 
 admired equally the inscription, which 
 was, "Here am I and the children that 
 God has given me." 
 
 When these pictures were unpacked, 
 and his little daughter had looked at 
 them as long as she wished, Mr. Foster 
 went into the parlor, and standing up in 
 a high chair, took down the piece of 
 needlework over the fire place, which 
 Comfort had always so much admired. 
 She wondered why he did this, but his 
 face was so sad as he looked at the 
 broken rose-buds on the tomb-stone, 
 that she did not like to ask any ques 
 tions. He hung one of the other pictures 
 in its place, and the mate to it over the 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 175 
 
 table opposite, and then carried that 
 which he had taken down up into the 
 garret, and put it into the flat box which 
 Fanny brought up from the hall. Com 
 fort followed her father thither, and sat 
 by while he unpacked some books which 
 she had never seen before, and he let 
 her take two or three little ones down 
 stairs, while he carried several that were 
 larger, and put them on the empty table. 
 This gave the room quite an inhabited 
 air, and both Mr. Foster and Comfort 
 looked round it with great satisfaction, 
 
 " Don't you think it wants some flow 
 ers ?" said Comfort, or, rather, she made 
 signs to that effect. Her father bowed, 
 and the little girl went out in the yard 
 to collect some of the few blossoms that 
 remained, but the only ones that suited 
 her were two roses with a bud between 
 them, and these she placed in a wine 
 glass on the table, and said they were 
 
176 OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 her father and mother and herself. Then 
 she gathered some large, bright-colored 
 leaves and tall grasses, and made them 
 into bunches which she asked her father 
 to put in the old china vases on each 
 side of the mantel-piece, and now she 
 thought the room was perfectly beautiful. 
 
 Mr. Foster had hardly done admiring 
 his morning's work when Fanny came 
 to say that her mistress was ready to 
 come down. He went up stairs directly, 
 and taking her little delicate form in his 
 arms, carried her down into the parlor 
 as easily as if she had been a baby, and 
 seated her in the comfortable rocking- 
 chair. 
 
 Comfort drew her little chair close up 
 to her mother's side, and took her hand 
 in both her own, but said nothing, for 
 something ' told her that it was best to 
 be silent. 
 
 After looking around the room with 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 177 
 
 a pleased, surprised air, Mrs. Foster lifted 
 her eyes to the place where, her last work 
 was accustomed to hang, and as she saw 
 the picture which had .replaced it, and 
 read the words, "Even so, them that 
 sleep in Jesus shall God bring with 
 Him," her eyes filled with tears. Still, 
 she did not look unhappy as she turned 
 to her husband, who. stood beside her 
 chair, and said, 
 
 " It is better to look at the resurrection 
 than the tomb ; I have one rose-bud left." 
 
 Comfort understood, then, why her 
 father had made the change, and she 
 was glad that he thought of it. She 
 wished that Mary Davis could see her 
 mother, as she sat there, for she thought 
 that Marjf could not -help owning that 
 she was the sweetest-looking lady in the 
 world. 
 
 After a little while, Mrs. Foster was 
 tired, so she lay .down on the couch, 
 
178 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 which she said was very easy and com 
 fortable, and then the little girl drew her 
 chair up to it, and taking out her Testa 
 ment, read the Lesson for the day, as 
 she was accustomed to do in her mother's 
 chamber. When she had done, Mrs. 
 Foster beckoned to her husband to come 
 to her, and wrote on his hand for some 
 minutes, and then he went out of the 
 room. When he came back, he brought 
 a little bureau, which Comfort had never 
 seen, and which appeared as if it were 
 intended for a doll. His eyes looked as 
 if he had been shedding tears, but he 
 tried to speak cheerfully, as he said, 
 
 " Here it is, my love ; are you sure 
 that you are quite strong enough to open 
 it?" . 
 
 Mrs. Foster replied, that she did not 
 think it would overcome her now, and 
 then she took the key, and unlocking the 
 upper drawer, took out a little picture- 
 
*> 
 
 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 179 
 
 book that had once been Harry's, and a 
 paper containing a curl of his hair, which 
 was just the color of Comfort's. The 
 bereaved mother was not as strong as she 
 thought, for the moment that she touched 
 these mementoes, the tears gushed to her 
 eves, and she trembled all over. 
 
 Comfort smoothed her hair gently, and 
 then said, in a low, sweet voice, 
 
 " Mama, would it make you feel badly 
 to see the rattle-box that I had when I 
 was a baby ?" 
 
 Mrs. Foster was surprised at the ques 
 tion. 
 
 "No, my child," she answered, sadly. 
 
 " Well, mama," continued Comfort, "do 
 you think Harry and Kate want these 
 things any more now, than I " do my 
 rattle-box. If they have plenty of pretty 
 things in heaven, what makes you cry 
 when you look at what they have left 
 behind them ?" 
 
180 OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 The simple reasoning of the child, and 
 the remembrance of the treasure that she 
 had left, consoled the mourner, and she 
 said, fondly, 
 
 "You are a comfort indeed! why 
 should I weep when I see these trifles " 
 
 She then opened the next drawer, and 
 took from it a little cap which was very 
 yellow from having lain there so long. 
 
 "This," she said, "was what my little 
 Susan wore the day that she was chris 
 tened. She exchanged it, an hour after 
 wards, for an angel's crown. You have 
 never heard me speak much of her, for 
 she was only six weeks old when she 
 was taken from me, and' that was my 
 last affliction." 
 
 Comfort took the cap on her little hand 
 and tried to imagine the face that had 
 looked out from under it, but she could 
 only see that of the baby in the picture 
 of the risen Christian family. 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFOET. 181 
 
 "These little cups," said Mrs. Foster, 
 handing her daughter two silver, cups 
 like her own, " were given to Harry and 
 Kate when they were three years old." 
 
 Comfort read the names engraved upon 
 them, and wondered to herself how any 
 one could value such things highly, when 
 they might so soon have to leave them. 
 
 .The last thing that \Mrs. Foster took 
 out of the bureau, was a little box, con 
 taining a child's ring, with one pearl set 
 in it. 
 
 "This," she said, "was given to Mary 
 by your aunt, but she never lived to wear 
 it. Try it on and see if it is large enough 
 for you." 
 
 Comfort found that the ring fitted her, 
 but she felt no wish to wear it till her 
 mother said, 
 
 "Keep it, my dear, and when you 
 look at it, remember always to whom it 
 
 belonged, and what is necessary to pre- 
 16 
 
182 OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 pare you to rejoin your brothers and 
 sisters in heaven. You must take it off 
 when you wash your hands, or the pearl 
 will become dim, and as you do so, think 
 how much care is also necessary lest your 
 soul should likewise grow impure." 
 
 Then Comfort pressed the ring to her 
 lips, and promised never to forget why 
 she wore it. 
 
 Mrs. Foster now locked up the bureau 
 again, and her husband carried it back 
 to the large trunk in the spare room, 
 where it had been kept for so many 
 years. 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 183 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 IN a few weeks, Mrs. Foster was able 
 to go all around the house, which speedily 
 changed its appearance. The dining- 
 room became really pleasant, and Com 
 fort enjoyed every meal, because her 
 mother was able to sit "at the table, and 
 the cook was now a nice, tidy woman, 
 with her kitchen as neat as herself. 
 
 The crib in which Comfort had slept 
 ever since she was a baby, was now quite 
 too small for her, and Mrs. Foster asked 
 her little daughter whether she would 
 feel afraid to sleep in a room by herself. 
 Comfort looked surprised at the question 
 from 'her mama, who had always taught 
 her that there was nothing in the world 
 but sin which ought to be feared. "I 
 
I 
 
 184 OUR- LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 did not mean to ask whether you would 
 be afraid, exactly, but I thought perhaps 
 you 'might be lonely at night," said her 
 mother, in reply to the inquiring glance 
 of the child. The troubled expression 
 passed away from Comfort's face, and 
 she replied, " Oh, no, mama. You know 
 I never speak after I have gone to bed 
 for the night, now, and I think I shall 
 like to feel that I am quite alone with 
 my heavenly Father. I know that He 
 will not let anything hurt me." 
 
 Mrs. Foster did not feel easy to have 
 her little girl out of her sight, but the 
 room in which she thought of placing 
 her was between her own and that occu 
 pied by Fanny, and the walls were so 
 thin that .the least noise could be heard 
 through j them, ' so that she . would really 
 be as safe as if /: she were in her chamber. 
 
 The kind mother took a great deal of 
 pleasure in fitting up this little apartment 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 185 
 
 to please Comfort, who had shown, from 
 her infancy, a great love of order. A 
 shade, with a pretty boquet of flowers 
 painted upon it, was placed at the only 
 window, and Mr. Foster bought a light 
 bedstead, to stand in one corner, for 
 which Fanny made a neat white spread, 
 and the toilet was covered with the same 
 material. There were only three chairs 
 in the room, and one of them was a small 
 one, but Comfort said as long as she had 
 a seat for her father and mother it was no 
 matter, and that if she ever had any more 
 company, her bed would do for a sofa. 
 Beside the white toilet, there was another 
 table in the room, and on this stood a 
 little writing desk, which was one of 
 Comfort's greatest treasures. It had been 
 her sister Kate's, and ner mother had 
 given it to her on the day when she was 
 seven years old. It was not an expen 
 sive one, but very convenient, and beside 
 
 16* 
 
186 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 it there lay two blank books with which 
 her father had presented her at the same 
 time. One of these was a journal book 
 in which she wrote every day, and in the 
 other she put down the texts from the 
 morning lessons which she most wished 
 to impress upon her mind. Her hand 
 writing was hardly formed, and the let 
 ters were large and irregular, but* there 
 was not a blot in either of these books, 
 although she did not show them even 
 to her mother. Many faults were men 
 tioned in the journal to which we have 
 not alluded, for Comfort knew her own 
 heart, and the actions which appeared 
 so right and easy to perform, often cost 
 a struggle within. 
 
 When Comfort first took possession 
 of her new room, she had some very 
 solemn thoughts. Beside that bed she 
 was to present her morning and even 
 ing petitions to her heavenly Father, 
 
OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 187 
 
 and every night to lay down to sleep 
 watched only by His untiring eye. She 
 was a little girl now, but every year 
 would bring new duties, and who knew 
 what would take place in that room? 
 How sweet and comfortable it looked! 
 "Was she grateful enough to her ' kind 
 parents, and to Him who had put it in 
 their hearts to love her so dearly? How 
 could she make them more happy? 
 Perhaps she might go from this little 
 room to that home to which 'she looked 
 forward with pleasure. Would the angel 
 come thither to call her to the skies? 
 These were deep thoughts for such a 
 little girl, but Comfort, had drunk from 
 the fountain of all wisdom. She sought 
 God early, and she found Him. Living 
 always in His presence, her mind out 
 grew her years, and, while most childlike 
 in manners, her thoughts were often 
 those of a much riper age. She now 
 
188 OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 knelt by her bed with the : same simple 
 faith that she had always felt in her 
 merciful Creator, and asked His aid that 
 she might not think, say, or do anything 1 
 in that room which' cpuld be displeas 
 ing to. Him. Then she went into her 
 mother's .'chamber to undress, and her 
 recent ; serious thoughts gave such pe 
 culiar earnestness to her young face, 
 that her mother felt a sudden dread lest 
 her darling was ripening for the skies. 
 She kissed *her with unusual tenderness, 
 and long after the little girl was asleep, 
 a fond face was bending over her, to be 
 sure that all was right. 
 
 But, although Mrs. Foster was able to 
 go about the house, which was thoroughly 
 warmed during the winter by a large 
 stove in the hall, she did not dare to 
 venture out till the cold weather was 
 over. Comfort took a long walk, every 
 day, with Fanny, and when the snow 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 189 
 
 came, she would rub it on her cheeks 
 till they blushed like roses. 
 
 "Mama," she said, "one day, "I read 
 the text, this morning, ' He giveth His 
 snow like wool,' and "I have just thought 
 what it means. Does it not keep the 
 earth warm, just as the wool does the 
 sheep who wear it? How good it is in 
 God to give the poor naked ground such 
 a nice white coat! I would like to see 
 the evergreens at Mrs. Davis' to-day, for 
 she l^old me they were so pretty when 
 they were covered with snow." 
 
 Just as Comfort uttered this wish, there 
 was a merry sound of sleigh-bells in the 
 distance, and very soon a sleigh with 
 two swift horses came dashing up to the 
 door. 
 
 "Oh, mama, mama," exclaimed Com 
 fort, who was looking out the parlor 
 window, "it is Eveline ! oh, I am so 
 glad." 
 
190 OTJK LITTLE COMFOET. 
 
 The little girl ran to tlie. door, but she 
 could not reach the knob, so she had 
 to go and call Fanny to let Mrs. Davis 
 and her daughter into the hall. They 
 were all bundled up in cloaks and furs, 
 and did not like to go into the parlor 
 for fear that their cold garments might 
 chill Mrs, Foster, who was still delicate, 
 but they wanted Comfort to ask her 
 mother if she might go with them and 
 take a short sleigh-ride. 
 
 The child was so delighted that she 
 could hardly get the words out, and her 
 mother said yes, immediately, and told 
 her to go and get Fanny to wrap her up 
 warm. Mrs. Davis said there were plenty 
 of buffaloes, 'but Comfort did not know 
 what they were, and she asked Fanny 
 to bring her mother's cloak out to the 
 sleigh and wrap it round her, over the 
 gray pelisse. 
 
 "You will want something warmer 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 191 
 
 over your head, than that hat/' said Eve 
 line. " See ! I have a scarf tied under 
 my hood." 
 
 " I have not any other hat," said Com 
 fort, l< but perhaps mama will let me 
 take her long scarf and tie it all round 
 my head." She ran back into the parlor 
 to ask if she might take the scarf, which 
 was a bright led one, that her father 
 had brought to his wife at Christmas. 
 Mrs. Foster told her that she was glad 
 that she had thought of it, and that she 
 had better put on a pair of her gloves 
 over her own little woolen ones. As she 
 was not used to wading in such deep 
 snow, and had no Polish boots like those 
 which Mrs. Davis and Eveline wore, 
 Fanny carried her in her arms through 
 the yard to the sleigh, where she found 
 not only Mary Davis, but "Etta Alston 
 and Anna Lathrop. Mrs. Davis would 
 not ask Jane Campbell to join the sleigh- 
 
192 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 ing party, because she was so disgusted 
 with her manners on the day that she 
 was at Eveline's fete, that she made up 
 her mind that that should be the last in 
 vitation she should ever receive to her 
 house. 
 
 Mary Davis did not greet the new 
 comer very warmly, but the other little 
 girls were delighted to see her, and Mrs. 
 Davis told her to sit in the back seat, 
 between Eveline and herself. When 
 they were all comfortably settled, the 
 horses started and away they went," at a 
 rate that at first made Comfort quite giddy. 
 She soon got used to the motion and 
 then it was delightful. The whole earth 
 looked so pure, that the child felt as if 
 she had been newly created, and when 
 they came to a wood of evergreens all 
 frosted with snow, she could hardly ex 
 press her admiration. 
 
 " Oh, what a beautiful white dress the 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 193 
 
 trees have on!" she exclaimed, "and they 
 caught it coming down from heaven. 
 And oh ! look at the icicles hanging from 
 those branches ; how they sparkle ! I 
 know that God can do everything, buf 
 do you see, Mrs. Davis, how he could 
 make anything more beautiful ?" 
 
 "I certainly cannot imagine a more 
 lovely day," said Mrs. Davis, but as she 
 looked at the animated face that peeped 
 out from the folds of the red scarf, she 
 thought that the most beautiful sight in 
 this world was an earnest, affectionate 
 child, adoring the Giver of life, and of all 
 good gifts. 
 
 " Oh, I have wanted to see you much," 
 whispered Eveline ; "I could not tell you 
 half I wished in my notes, for it takes 
 me so long to write. Mama would not 
 bring me to see you because she thought 
 that Mary did not behave well when we 
 
 were last here, and we always go out 
 tf 
 
194 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 together. I am not afraid to sleep alone 
 now." 
 
 Comfort grasped the hand of her com 
 panion, and looked up in her face, with 
 a countenance radiant with joy. 
 
 "I knew it would be so," she said; 
 "you asked for what I told you, didn't 
 you, dear Eveline?" 
 
 "Yes," said the child, bashfully, for 
 she was talking about something which 
 she did not wish any one else to hoar. 
 
 "So did I," said Comfort, who never 
 imagined that there was any reason why 
 people wished not to be heard when they 
 were speaking of the most important of 
 all subjects. 
 
 "What did you do?" asked Mrs. Davis, 
 who was struck with the pleased expres 
 sion of her little companion. 
 
 "I asked that Eveline might have a 
 pure heart," said Comfort, in a low, sweet 
 voice. 
 
OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 195 
 
 Mrs. Davis could not speak for a mo 
 ment, for her voice was choked by tears. 
 " God bless you, my child," she said, 
 at last, "He heard your prayer, and is 
 making my darling Eveline all I could 
 wish." 
 
> 
 
 196 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE winter and spring had passed 
 away, and a beautiful Sunday in June 
 was drawing to a close. Mrs. Foster 
 now perfectly well stood at an open 
 window, watching Comfort, who was 
 gathering some roses, while her father 
 walked up and down the path leading 
 to the gate, looking *at the various flow 
 ers which adorned "the once desolate 
 yard. No passer-by now thought it 
 was a gloomy place, for, although the 
 tall brick house was still narrow and 
 stiff, it had been newly painted, and 
 luxuriant vines half concealed its ugli 
 ness. 
 
 "Marna," said Comfort, as she handed 
 her a boquet of beautiful roses, "won't 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 197 
 
 you please come and take a walk. We 
 shall have time to go- to the wood be 
 hind the house, before sunset, and I 
 know papa would like it." 
 
 Mrs. Foster readily consented to do 
 what her darling wished, and then Com 
 fort ran for a sunbonnet and shawl for 
 her mother, and another for herself, 
 although she carried her own on her 
 arm. 
 
 Mr. Foster thought it was a very 
 pleasant time for a walk, so he gave 
 his arm to his wife, and they passed 
 through the gate, with Comfort at their 
 side. But when they came to the path 
 which led to the wood, the little girl 
 ran on before her parents, for she felt 
 that there might be some things which 
 they would like to say to each other. 
 A week before, Mr. Foster had been 
 baptized, and his daughter thought it 
 strange that her father should become 
 
 17* 
 
198 OUK LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 <so like a little child, but she was glad, 
 for she knew that of such was the king 
 dom of heaven. On the afternoon of 
 the same day he had been confirmed, 
 and when the Bishop laid his hands 
 upon that dear head, Comfort could 
 hardly breathe, and her lips followed 
 m every word of the prayer, " Defend, O 
 Lord, this thy servant with thy heav 
 enly grace ; that he may Continue thine 
 for ever ; and daily increase in thy Holy 
 Spirit more and more, until he come 
 unto thine everlasting kingdom." 
 
 Although the day of her father's con 
 firmation had been very solemn to Com 
 fort, that which was now closing was 
 still more interesting, for she had seen 
 both her parents kneeling side by sid 
 to receive the holy sacrament. The 
 little girl had often read the account of 
 the Last Supper of our Lord, and how 
 He distributed the bread and wine to 
 
OUR LITTLE- COMFORT. 199 
 
 His disciples, saying, "Do this in re 
 membrance of me," and now she wished 
 that she were old enough to fulfil the 
 parting command of her dying Saviour. 
 As the clergyman went from one to the 
 other of the communicants, she closed 
 her eyes, and imagined that Christ Him 
 self was passing about among His dis 
 ciples, speaking those words of love, 
 "This is my body which was given for 
 you." She felt as if something was- 
 going on between Jesus and His Church 
 which was too sacred to be gazed upon, 
 and involuntarily turned away her eyes 
 from those who were retiring from the 
 chancel. When her father and mother 
 came back to the pew, she quietly left 
 room for the latter to pass to her seat, 
 and, young as she was, she could under 
 stand why her mother's eyes were filled 
 with tears. The same quick sense of 
 delicacy now made her keep in advance 
 
200 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 of her parents, for she felt that there 
 were sweet thoughts which they might 
 wish to enjoy together, after their first 
 communion. 
 
 The sun was sinking behind the hills, 
 and as Comfort watched the golden glow 
 in the west, she thought that such might 
 be the appearance of that world which 
 would need no sun, because the Lord 
 God would be the light thereof. Earth 
 was daily becoming more pleasant to 
 the Christian child, but it did not with 
 draw her heart from heaven. Every 
 new source of happiness only made her 
 more sure that perfect joy was laid up 
 in store for those who should be for ever 
 with the Lord. When she saw her 
 mother's health improving, she thought 
 of the time when they should both 
 dwell in that blest home " whose in 
 habitants shall no more say, I am sick," 
 and the friendship of Eveline gave her 
 
OUR ilTTLE COMFORT. . 201 
 
 sweet anticipation of the pleasure that 
 she should find in the society of her 
 sainted sisters. Every flower that she 
 plucked on earth was an emblem of the 
 immortal ones that she should here 
 after gather in heavenly fields, and was 
 sweeter for the association. 
 
 And so Comfort walked on, with her 
 unseen Saviour at her side, and her 
 heart filled with peace. When she 
 reached the brow of the hill which her 
 father and mother were ascending, she 
 looked around for a seat, and having 
 found the moss-covered trunk of a tree, 
 she threw over it the shawl that she 
 had been carrying on her arm. 
 
 "Here, mama," she said, "is a place 
 for you, and one for father close by it. 
 I can sit down at your feet." 
 
 Mrs. Foster took the offered seat, but 
 her husband said, "It will not do for 
 you to sit there, my darling ; the ground 
 
202 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 may be damp. I can hold you, though 
 you are getting to be quite a large girl." 
 
 Comfort gladly placed herself on her 
 father's knee, and after they had all ad-- 
 mired the sweet sunset sky, she said, 
 "Oh,, would it not be nice to have 
 evening prayers here. Father, haven't 
 you got your Bible with you? I saw 
 you put it in your pocket when we 
 came out of church." 
 
 x- 
 
 "If'es, my love," he replied, "and if 
 your mother will first sing a hymn, I 
 will read a chapter in it." 
 
 Mrs. Foster immediately commenced 
 those sweet words, 
 
 " Softly now the light of day 
 Fades upon my sight away," 
 
 in which Comfort joined with much taste 
 and feeling. Mr. Foster could not hear 
 the pleasant voices of his wife and child, 
 but he was making melody in his heart, 
 
CUE LITTLE COMFORT. 203 
 
 and thinking of the time when his ear 
 should be unstopped, and he could unite 
 in the songs of heaven. 
 
 As the music died away in the dis 
 tance, Mr. Foster took a small Bible out 
 of his pocket, and- opening to the Old 
 Testament, read the history of Naaman 
 the Syfian. 
 
 Comfort had often heard the story 
 before, but to-night it seemed particu 
 larly interesting, for her father appeared 
 to feel every word that he read. When 
 he had finished the chapter, he laid his 
 hand on his daughter's head, and asked, 
 with peculiar emphasis, "Do you not 
 think, my love, that it was very kind 
 in the little maiden to feel so much 
 anxiety for" the welfare of Naaman?" 
 
 "Not so very," replied Comfort, "for 
 if she knew who could' cure him, how 
 could she help telling him?" 
 
 ''But," asked Mr. Foster, in the same 
 
204 OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 
 
 earnest tone, " do you not think that she 
 must have been very happy to know that 
 she had been the means of doing so much 
 good?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, indeed," replied Comfort, 
 warmly, but she could not understand 
 why her father asked her a question of 
 this kind. 
 
 "But suppose," continued Mr. Foster, 
 " that RTaaman had been her father in 
 stead of her master, would she not then 
 have had reason for great thankfulness?" 
 
 A sudden perception 'of her father's 
 meaning now glanced through Comfort's 
 mind, and her blue eyes were fixed with 
 tearful earnestness upon his face, while 
 he said, "My beloved child, do you re 
 member the evening when you sat thus 
 upon my knee, and pointed at the picture 
 of Samuel and of Jacob, and then gave 
 me a look of such affectionate entreaty? 
 I was the leper then, Comfort, and you 
 
OUR LITTLE COMFORT. 205 
 
 were the little maiden who pointed out 
 to me the great Physician." 
 
 Comfort could not speak, but she 
 clasped both arms around her father's 
 neck and kissed him tenderly, and then 
 she laid her young, fair head upon his 
 bosom, and, closing her eyes, thanked 
 her heavenly Father for his unspeakable 
 mercy. 
 
 Mrs. Foster looked at the pure, sweet 
 face of her child, as she was thus em 
 ployed, with unutterable love, and laid 
 her trembling hand upon her husband's 
 arm with a look which said, "God has 
 blessed us indeed." He took that hand 
 in his own and replied, tenderly, " I am 
 deeply indebted to your untiring devo 
 tion and constant prayers, but next to 
 you, under God, I owe my salvation to 
 the earnest faith and sweet example of 
 our dear little Comfort." 
 
 18