Madeline Leslie

“ Hardy did to Johnny and his mother one evening, with Ella sitting on his knee.
"There," he said, drawing a plan on Johnny's slate, "is the front door, which leads into the entry. Out of this on one side is a room, which we will call the Sunday-room; because I shall, by and by, [102] have an organ in there, and we will sing psalm tunes on Sunday."
Johnny gave a scream of delight, and Ella asked, "May I sing, too?"
"Certainly, my dear. Now here on the other side is the room where we shall live and take our meals. ”

“ When you tell your first lie, bring it to me."
"I don't dare to tell lies, sir; mother says God hates liars; but 'those that speak the truth are his delight.'"
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"That's true doctrine; and here we are." ”

“ Now I want your wife to join with mine and just make the widow's hovel a little more tenantable. They'll work together finely, I know. Mrs. Miles says she is sure a little nourishing food will do more for the poor soul than a shop-full of medicine. You see, the poor creature thinks herself in a decline."
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Mr. Manning tied up the bundle and handed it to Johnny; and then the two started off for home, the boy having looked the thanks his trembling lips refused to utter.
"Now, Johnny," said Mr. Miles, "here's your medal; wear it around your neck as long as you are a truthful boy. ”

“ JOHNNY'S NEW FATHER.
HE cold weather came on early this year. As he ran shivering home from school, Johnny saw, at almost every house, the preparations for winter. Here was a pile of wood, and there a large heap of coal, suggestive of warmth and comfort. Two days more and the important question [88] about the factory would be decided. If Mrs. Miles went away, it would be very desolate. God only knew how they should be able to get along. ”

“ It was a silver dollar; but he did not know it. He had never seen one. He thought it was a temperance medal, like what he had seen strung around the boys' necks.
His eyes shone with pleasure; he [15] had often wished for a medal, and he determined that when he reached the factory he would thread a piece of yarn through the hole and wear it outside his jacket.
The place where Johnny worked was a stocking factory. His part was to wind the skeins of yarn upon the long spools, from which the men and large boys wove it into stockings. ”

“ In the evening Johnny and his mother were eagerly talking over the various events and scenes of the day when Mrs. Miles opened [23] the door and presented herself before them.
"I feel sure," she had said to her husband, "that the child told me the truth. His eyes were too honest to deceive; but still I mean to go this very day and see for myself. Why, they have nothing to eat and are on the very verge of starvation!"
"I wish, Johnny," Mrs. Talbot was saying, "that the dollar was ours; and then you should have a pair of shoes ”

“ Y the industry of Johnny, and the wages of his kind mother, the family at the cottage had passed a very comfortable summer; but now work was scarce, and the widow looked forward with some dread to the cold weather.
She well knew that more than [75] one third of the women who worked for the factory had received no hose for several weeks; and that it was only through her friend's exertions that Mr. Miles sent it regularly to her. ”

“ He was a carpenter, and could get good wages, which supported us in great comfort. Johnny was almost seven years old when Dexter, that is, my husband, told me he wanted to bring home one of his workmen to live with us. The man had no home, and, as he did not think it right to spend his evenings in a tavern, he was very lonely. His name was Robert Hardy, and he gave very little trouble. He grew to be fond of Johnny, and spent many leisure [46] hours in amusing him and making him playthings. ”

“ Johnny was still in the factory; and Mrs. Talbot worked away at the hose, making a very comfortable [54] living. She could smile now at Ella's cunning ways, and laugh with Johnny at the news he brought from the mill, after his day's work was done.
He was in Mrs. Miles's class in Sabbath school,—her best scholar, she said. He had won a prize already for obtaining two new scholars ”

“ He pulled his stool close to the small wheel, on which was a large skein of fine yarn, and began to turn it with his foot, when the woman came back, bringing a small basket.
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"Here, Johnny, eat this and this," giving him a buttered biscuit and a piece of cold meat; "and carry the rest home. There is enough for you, your mother, and Ella, to have a good dinner." ”

“ She took a class in the Sabbath school, and told her husband she meant to have some scholars from the factory. Two or three times she had noticed Johnny running up the steps, and thought, "that boy is too small for such work." ”

“ Talbot. Good-night."
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CHAPTER IV.
A SAD STORY.
T was, indeed, time that help should come to the poor widow, for a cough had fastened itself on her lungs, which would soon have ended her life. The room was damp and chilly, and her clothing quite too scant for winter. Mrs. Miles would not wait till she had earned [42] money to buy wood and clothing and food.
"They would all freeze and starve," she told the people where she went begging. "I want to get something to save their lives; and then, when she is comfortable, the woman can earn enough to support her family." ”

“ It's too cold to go to work without something warm."
Johnny looked in the bowl which stood on the hearth, near a few smouldering brands, and shook his [12] head as he answered,—"I'm not very hungry, mother. There's only enough for you and Ella." Then without another word he hurried away, for the factory bell was ringing ”