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Show "Wee Elsie." Near the shore of one of our prettiest English lakes stands: a little white house, its gay garden-lull garden-lull ot flowers. It is placed at the foot of the. mountain which rises on one .side of the lake; and The hill ascends so close to the hack windows that IIktc is only room for a very small lawn in the flat space before the drawing room. From the lawn a number of little walks wind through a shrubbery, up the hillside, and lead to a green gate beyond .which the path goes on, up the mountain. Though the garden is not large, it is very pretty, and as you stand on the grass near the mountain ash, you can see right across the lake over to the woods on its other side, while in front of you stands the little white house, or rather cottage, whose walls Ore nearly hidden by climbing roses. ! One lovely day in summer, three children, who had come out to play in the garden, sat down under the mountain ash, close to the big bed of heart V ease. They were not playing now, and though they were very fond of the. view, they were not looking at that either, for they were too busy talking. Reginald and Grace, the two eldest, were sitting side by side. Reginald was 10 years old, and Grace ! was a year younger. They were tall, strong chil- i dren, with rosy cheeks and curly brown hair. At iheir feet sat their little sister Elsie, who was ouly j 0 "Bonnie wee Elsie" as she was generally called. ! She had been given that name because she was so tiny and had 6uch a gentle, loving face, with golden curls and great blue eyes. Reginald and Gracp loved her very dearly, and took great care of her, so that their mother could always trust her with ihem. And Elsie did everything they told her, and when they talked she listened, and wondered to think how much they knew. "Reggie," Grace said, "you know what mother read yesterday morning about God coming in the wind; I forgot .ihe words." Reggie knew, and he said, "He did fly upon the wings of the wind.." "Yes, that is it. Didn't you think about it last, night when the wind blew? I did. I thought that is God passing by, and then I wasn't afraid." "Oh, but Grade," Reggie said, "that means that he sends the wind. He does not come on it himself." him-self." Gracie looked sad and a little puzzled. "Doesn't he?" she said; "you know we shouldn't see him, because he is a spirit." "I'll ask mother." Reggie said; "but I know it means that the wind does what God wishes." "And I thought," Gracie went on, "perhaps he came in the sunlight, too, and it was God making us warm. God is everywhere. Why couldn't he be in the sunlight?" "Is (iod in the sun?" asked little Elsie; and Reggie said: "God is in heaven, Elsie, but he made the sun, and he sends the sunlight;" and then they did not talk any more just then. ELie was glad, for she was tired of listening, and could not quite understand under-stand what they had been saying, but she wondered whether heaven, where God lived, was iu the beautiful beau-tiful sun, and thought it was very good of him to send us his sunlight. Ey-and-by Reginald said, "Let us go up the hill and see John Mends and Susan." John Mends was an old servant of the children's papa, find now he did not do any more work he lived with his wife. Susan, in a cottage about a, quarter of an hour's walk from the green garden gate at the top of ' shrubbery. The children were allowed to go tht i .u "e, for, though the road was only a rough m u." ath. they were mountain children and used ) - ambling and the two elder ones took care of ? si . It was a very pretty walk-On walk-On one side of tlu m ves the grassy slope of th mountain, and the r .-MLh. stony way leading to the top winding away toward the left. On their other side was a steep bt.nk covered iu many places with bushes, and at the bottom of which ran a little stream. The sky was very blue over their heads, though there were one or two black clouds in the distance. The sun shone out so brightly that it made them quite hot, so that they were glad to get to old John's cottage and sit down to rest on the bench before the door. John was out, but Susan was very glad to scp them, and she brought them some cakes of a sort which she made very well, so that the children were very fond of them. Then, when they were rested and cooled, they ran down the walk past the cabbage, cab-bage, beds to where the beehives stood, and looked at the bees, and Susan gave them some of the wallflowers wall-flowers and stoccks which were planted close by that the bees might rt the honey from them. And after that they fed Susan's pigeons, and one pigeon that was very tame came and sat on Gracie's shoulder. shoul-der. Then how they all screamed with delight ! Oh. what happy children they were. Presently Susan said, ' I think there is going to be a etorm. The sky is getting so black, Mastc Reginald. You had better all of you run home as fast as you can, and then you will be back before it comes on." So they said "Good-bye" to Susan and set off. Susan called after them. "I think you will get home before the rain comes," and so, perhaps, they would if it had not been for Gracie's frock. A they were running along a bramble caught tigb hold of the hem, and she could not get it undone, so she called Reginald to help. While they wero busy about the bramle they cud not look at Elsie, and she went on a few steps by herself. She had forgotten about the storm, and she thought: ( ) ' "Now I will hide and hear Reggie call 'Elsie' 'Wee Elsie! Where is my Elsie?"" . She saw a path that led to the stream, and sho began to go down it. This was very foolish, but she had beon there once with Reginald, and she did not know she ought not to go alone. But when shf got a little way she felt a big drop of rain, for the storm was coming fast. When Elsie felt the rain-she rain-she turned to go back, but the path was muddy and steep, and it was much harder to go up than to come down. Elsie's little foot slipped; she caught at p bramble to help herself; the bramble gave way, and poor little Elsie rolled right down the bank nearly to the bottom. She was not very much hurt, but was bruised and terribly frightened. She cried and called out, but the rain was coming fast, and the wind had begun to blow and make a great noise, and she was close to the brook, and that made a noise, too, so that, though she called with all her might, "Reggie! Gracie! Reggie! Come to Elsie!" El-sie!" Reggie and Gracie could not hear her, but ran home looking for her all the way. When thev got home, and still had not found her, Gracie began be-gan to cry, and Reggie got quite white with fear, fer they could not think what had happened to her, and they ran in to their parents crying: "Father! Mother! Elsie is lost in the rain. What shall we do?" Meanwhile poor wee Elsie, all alone, was sobbing sob-bing as if her heart would break. Her hat had fallen into the stream, and the heavy rain soaked all her golden hair, and wetted her coat and frock all through. She was very cold, and the wind blew all her things about, and nearly threw her down when she tried to stand. Oh.-how she lojiged for the ram to stop and the sun to come! She could not climb up the bank again; she could only sit still and cry. "Reggie!" she called again, and then "Mother! Mother!" as if her mother must hear her and come. Then she thought how the latter had told her God took care of little children, and she said, "Oh, God, come to Elsie! Take care of Elsie!" She thought about Our Divine Lord, who heard what little children chil-dren said, and sent them what they asked for, and then she remembered how Gracie said God sent the sunlight, and she sobbed out the tears runniny fast down her cheeks all the time '"Dear Lord Jesus, Je-sus, send, please send God's sunlight!" Just then through a break in the driving clouds out came th sun. It shone full on Elsie, and the tears dried up on the little thing's face, for she felt safe. At thai moment she heard a great cry of joy, and lookinar up she saw father and mother, Reggie, Gracie and nurse, all above on the path. The sunbeam had fallen straight on Elsie's hair and made its gold threads glitter, so that it caught papa's eye, and so he found his little girl. Very soon wee Elsie was carried home and put into a warm bed, lest she should catch cold; but as soon as she found herself in her mother's arms, sh1 put her little mouth up to her mother's ear and whispered, ''Mother, God did send his sunlight." And when "wee Elsie" was not "wee" 'Elsie any more, but had grown into a woman still when trouble trou-ble came and she prayed to God to help her she often remembered now of old he had answered her prayer, and sent his sunlight. |