to his golden harp.

"Nannie," called sister Mary, "Jack is waiting for you."

"In a minute," said Nannie, as she pulled on her warm mittens.

"It had better be a minute," Jack cried, "if you're going with me, for I haven't much time to spare before dinner."

Nannie, laughing, took up the little basket her mother had packed so nicely for Grannie Burt, and off they started, Jack drawing the large basket on his little hand-barrow.

"Where shall we go first, Jack?"

"Oh, to Grannie Burt's, of course, and then you can help me to draw the barrow the rest of the way."

"Let us go to the other places first," said Nannie, "and then you can draw me on the barrow the rest of the way."

"That's more than I bargained for; this basket is all that I want to carry before dinner."

Poor Jack, however, was destined to carry a much heavier load than his basket of mince-pies and roast chickens; for as Nannie skipped along, her foot slipped, and down she came, basket and all, while grannie's nice mince-pies tumbled out, and rolled down the street.

"Oh dear!" said Nannie, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "do look at grannie's pie! What shall we do?"

"Pick it up, of course," said Jack, as he ran after it.

"Nothing but clean snow," he said, as he brought it back; "nobody will know it from sugar."

"Oh, but it's all broken! What shall we do?"

"See here!" said Jack, lifting the cover of the large basket; "mother has sent Aunt Betsy two; we can take one of them for grannie."

"Why, Jack, are you in earnest?"

"Well, it's the best I can do. I can't mend it, and I can't make a new one."

"Let us go back, then, and get another."

"Go back! why, Nannie, it's all you can do to walk now; you're limping away like crazy Sam."

"Don't make me laugh," said Nannie, laughing all the time through her tears; "my foot hurts me so, I can hardly walk."

Jack's fun was all gone in a minute, as he shouldered his big basket, and lifted Nannie on his little hand-barrow.

"O Jack! you can't carry the basket and drag me too!"

"Yes, I can,—and hundreds more like you."

And Jack trudged along, stopping now and then to take breath, until they came to Grannie Burt's.

"O Jack! what shall we do about the pie?" said Nannie, her tears starting afresh at the thought.

Jack couldn't stand the sight of Nannie's tears; so he said, "Never mind it; I'll go back and get another."

"Oh, will you? Thank you, Jack."

Grannie Burt's daughter, Susan, now came to the door, and made all sorts of exclamations over Nannie, whose ankle pained her so much, she couldn't walk, and Jack had to carry her into the house. While Jack told the story of the pie, Susan had taken off Nannie's shoe and stocking, and was bathing her ankle, while grannie kept saying, "Does it feel better, dear?"

"Never mind the pie," said grannie, as Jack went on with his story; "it's just as good as ever, though it is broken."

"Oh, but it doesn't look so nice," said Nannie.

"I can't see it, you know," said grannie, laughing.

But Nannie wasn't satisfied, and called to Jack, as he started off, to be sure and bring another.

Very soon Nannie felt better, and sitting up in the big chair, she reached over for the large Bible, and said,—

"Grannie, shall I read to you, while I'm waiting?"

"I'm afraid you don't feel well enough."

"Oh yes, I should like to read; I want to read the chapter father read this morning."

She turned over the leaves and found the place, and began: "I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications."

"Oh yes," said grannie; "David isn't the only one who can say that. God has always heard me."

"Did you ever ask him, grannie, to make you see?" said Nannie.

"No; I never asked him. I asked him to make me patient to bear it. You think it's dreadful, Nannie, to be blind, and I used to think so too. But God never takes anything from us