themselves. Surely on those nights everybody must have turned out into the streets, there could not be anyone left behind in the houses. Vain notion; for if the three had passed into any of the countless theatres in that pleasure-loving city, they would have seen few empty seats; they would have found all filled with audiences sweltering in the impure atmosphere, greedy for excitement, eager in applause, very babies, indeed, in their craving for all that might be new or laughter-bringing; no one single thought bestowed on past or future, to nothing save the present, and how to make that selfsame time pass pleasantly by, thoughtless, frivolous butterflies, in very truth! Worse still. If Great-heart had dared to risk the lesson, could he not have shown his little ones sad scenes of revelry and dissipation in those dancing-halls, with which that place abounded, the wild, senseless caperings of vice, out, in more than one instance, even under the very canopy of heaven; scenes from which all honest people shrank with horror, for reason and manhood seemed dethroned so often there?

But there was one virtue about this race, which shone forth as a bright star amidst all its follies for the example of others. The man lost no opportunity of impressing this upon the children's minds it was the self-denial in the avoidance of

a great curse, which hung unceasingly over that other city across the sea the maidens had so recently left, the curse of drink; that whereas there it raged as a demon night and day, always, through all quarters of the town, to bring ruin and misery in its wake, to eat up the brains of those mortals who gave way to its insidious allurements, too often, alas! to sully the fair speech of man with vile oath or mockery, here in a great degree it existed not. Whereas in that other place it held its sway over rich and poor in almost all transactions of business or of pleasure, in this gay city, and the three thanked God most fervently that it was so, its power was almost as nothing. Exist it did truly, yet this people for the most part owned that Demon-King no allegiance. A rare thing indeed was it to see one enslaved thus, and if this exception met the gaze it was too often only some subject from another clime sojourning abroad for a while. This virtue was indeed a pearl of great price when found amidst so much dross.

One evening, as Dot nestled close to her friend (Trixie had, contrary to all precedent, owned to being very tired and gone to bed early), she whispered to him: "Did you notice, dear, as we sat in that pretty garden in front of the church what was going on?"

Great-heart answered that he had not remarked anything unusual, being busy with his own thoughts at the time.

"Well, then, I learnt a lesson without your aid, that is all!" exclaimed the child, highly delighted at her powers of penetration.

"Yes," replied the man, tenderly, "and what might that be? A good one, I trust."

First, I must tell you what it was I saw, of course then you can judge," continued this young student of men and their ways. "When we sat down, the church entrance was draped with a great curtain of black velvet, not all black, for there were odd white ornaments all over it, and a border too; but it looked very solemn and gloomy for all that. Presently there drove up such a curiously shaped carriage, at least I suppose I ought to call it so, although it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It was quite open on both sides, and much longer than it was broad. There was no regular roof, but a sort of canopy, and numbers of plumes waved about not only on the carriage but also on the horses which drew it. The coachman, who was perched up on a sort of skeleton ledge to drive from, was more like a black-and-white soldier than any other description I can find for him. He wore a cocked hat too, made of some

shiny material, and white cotton gloves: so did the people who followed on other carriages behind. Everything seemed to be black and white on purpose. Under the awning evidently lay something, but it was hidden from view, draped over by another curtain hanging nearly to the ground, and very like the one before the church portal. On this were strewn most lovely flowers, some done up into wreaths, others scattered about loosely. Oh! darling, I thought that beneath these there must be something beautiful also. I was so eager to know that I got up and ran quite close to the carriage (you did not see me, although Trixie did). Some men came up and tossed back the velvet rudely, without thinking of those sweet flowers, many of which fell into the road to be trampled upon by the people. See, I picked up this," and she drew from her bosom a crumpled blossom and kissed it tenderly. “They placed on their shoulders what had been thus driven through the streets." Here the tender-hearted maiden shuddered and hid her tear-dimmed eyes within her hands. "Then, all at once, I knew all, of course, and I crept back again and cried, not through fear at having thus stood so close to death, no, indeed no one should be afraid of that; but because it seemed so cruel to treat all that was left

here of this poor soul-it could only trouble these people for so short a while longer-thus harshly. And-and....

"Yes, love," murmured Great-heart in her ear, as Dot paused.

"Oh, darling, because I am sure it was a child inside that ugly black box I caught a glimpse of,

and which they ran so quickly up the steps with. What could a child have done to them to be so rudely jostled, when too its life had barely fled away from it!"

Great-heart waited until the little one's emotion had in some degree passed away. Soon she went on,—

"I dared not look for a long while. When I did again, I found that the service inside was over, for the light burden had been packed up once more, some of the wreaths thrown upon it hastily, and it was being driven off to its last resting-place. But I found out the reason why they had all been in such a hurry, for hardly was the procession out of sight when another one dashed round the corner. Before even the men had quite cleared away the dark curtain, and flung the church doors open, to let the sun's rays in; before the woodwork that had supported the box at the altar rails had been hidden away; ere the priest could have reached his vestry, or wherever he went to, other carriages drove up,