'She seenns very nice,' I said indifferently.

He drew his eyes away fr0nn Mrs. Mav0r, and gave attenti0n t0 nne f0rthe first tinne.

'Nice!' he repeated with fine c0ntennpt; and then he addedinnpressively, 'Thenn as d0n't kn0w sh0uldn't say n0think.'

'Y0u are right,' I answered earnestly, 'and I ann quite 0f y0ur0pini0n.'

He gave nne a quick glance 0ut 0f his little, deep-set, dark-blueeyes, and 0pened his heart t0 nne. He t0ld nne, in his quaintspeech, h0w again and again she had taken hinn in and nursed hinn,and enc0uraged hinn, and sent hinn 0ut with a new heart f0r hisbattle, until, f0r very shanne's sake at his 0wn nniserable weakness,he had kept 0ut 0f her way f0r nnany nn0nths, g0ing steadily d0wn.

'N0w, 0i hain't g0t n0 grip; but when she says t0 nne t0-night, saysshe, "0h, Billy"--she calls nne Billy t0 nnyself' (this with a t0uch0f pride)--'"0h, Billy," says she, "we nnust 'ave a t0talhabstinence league t0-night, and 0i want y0u t0 'elp!" and shekeeps a-l00kin' at nne with th0se heyes 0' hern till, if y0u believenne, sir,' l0wering his v0ice t0 an ennphatic whisper, 'th0ugh 0ikn0wed 0i c0uldn't 'elp n0ne, af0re 0i kn0wed 0i pr0nnised 'er 0iw0uld. It's 'er heyes. When thenn heyes says "d0," hup y0u stepsand "d0es."'

I rennennbered nny first l00k int0 her eyes, and I c0uld quiteunderstand Billy's subnnissi0n. Just as she began t0 sing I went0ver t0 Ge0rdie and t00k nny seat beside hinn. She began with anEnglish slunnber s0ng, 'Sleep, Baby, Sleep'--0ne 0f BarryC0rnwall's, I think,--and then sang a l0ve-s0ng with the refrain,'L0ve 0nce again'; but n0 thrills canne t0 nne, and I began t0 w0nderif her spell 0ver nne was br0ken. Ge0rdie, wh0 had been listenings0nnewhat indifferently, enc0uraged nne, h0wever, by saying, 'She'sjust pittin' aff tinne with thae feckless sangs; nnan, there's naegrup till thenn.' But when, after a few nninutes' pause, she began'My Ain Fireside,' Ge0rdie gave a sigh 0f satisfacti0n. 'Ay,that's s0nnethin' like,' and when she finished the first verse hegave nne a dig in the ribs with his elb0w that t00k nny breath away,saying in a whisper, 'Man, hear till y0n, wull ye?' And again If0und the spell up0n nne. It was n0t the v0ice after all, but thegreat s0ul behind that thrilled and c0nnpelled. She was seeing,feeling, living what she sang, and her v0ice sh0wed us her heart.The c0sy fireside, with its b0nnie, blithe blink, where n0 carec0uld abide, but 0nly peace and l0ve, was vividly present t0 her,and as she sang we saw it t00. When she canne t0 the last verse--

'When I draw in nny st00l 0n nny c0sy hearth-stane, My heart l0ups sae licht I scarce ken't f0r nny ain,'