which I can give you, or even which you can get from your Bible, it is only God who can put into your heart such a strong desire to do right, that you will receive these instructions, as the little seeds receive the water and warmth, and put forth right feelings and right actions, as they put forth their green leaves. This you must ask Him to do. But here we are in sight of Mrs. Scott's, slowly as we have walked, and you will not be sorry, I suppose, to have such a very grave talk stopped."

"I am not glad to have you stop talking, Aunt Kitty, but I will be very glad to see Alice, for I have brought a book to read for her, that I know she wants to hear very much."

I was pleased to see, as I approached, that the house looked more cheerful. The parlor windows were open, and as we went up the steps and passed through the little porch, I saw that they had been nicely swept. The door was latched, and on my knocking at it Mrs. Scott herself opened it for us. She seemed very glad to see us, and said Alice felt stronger and better, and that she had been looking, or rather listening for us all the morning. We went directly to her room. There too every thing seemed in order, and looked pleasantly. The sash was raised, and the soft warm breeze brought to us the sweet smell of the clover, a field of which was in bloom quite near the house. Alice was sitting in bed, propped up with pillows, and though still very pale, looked much more like herself than she had done the day before. The handkerchief was over her eyes, as I had placed it, and I told her I was much pleased to see she had not forgotten her promise. She smiled and answered me cheerfully, "Indeed, ma'am, I have been very careful to keep it. I would not ask to take off the handkerchief till my mother shut the window last night, and told me it was quite dark, and I tied it on myself as soon as I woke this morning, though that was long before daylight. But now," she added, speaking very fast, as if she was afraid that something would call off my attention before I had heard all she wished to say, "may not I have it off just for one single minute? I do want to see the clover, for I know it is in bloom by the smell."

"And I hope, my dear little girl, you will be satisfied to know it only by the smell to-day, for it would be very imprudent to expose your eyes to the light so soon. Harriet has come to spend the morning with you, and you must see with her eyes. She will read for you, and when you grow weary of listening, she will tell you how any thing looks which you want very much to see."

"Oh! I shall like that, for then, Harriet, I can see all that you saw when you were away, your grandfather's house, and all the places that you passed on the road, for you know you can tell me how they looked, and then I shall see them through your eyes. Will not that be pleasant!"

Having thus satisfied Alice, I proposed to Mrs. Scott that we should leave the children, as I thought Harriet would read better, and Alice and she would talk more freely, if we were not there to listen to them. I had another reason too, as my little readers will presently see. I wanted to speak to Mrs. Scott about Alice, to learn whether the doctor had seen her after I went away the day before, and whether he still thought that something might be done in the city for her eyes. Mrs. Scott told me he had been there the evening before, when poor Alice thought the room quite dark, and wondered her mother did not bring in a light for the doctor, though a lamp was burning brightly on the table near her. The doctor passed this lamp before her eyes, holding it quite close to them, but she never winked. Poor Mrs. Scott told me this with her eyes full of tears, which streamed down her cheeks as she added, that the doctor did not speak a word, but that the mournful shake of his head as he set down the lamp said as plainly as any words could do, that he thought her child's a very bad case. The doctor's house was quite near to Mrs. Scott's, and while she was speaking, we saw him coming home from a visit he had been making. He was on horseback, and seeing me at the open window, he stopped his horse at the gate of the court-yard to say that he was glad to see me at home again, and to ask how his little friend Harriet was, for Harriet having been, as I told you before, a very good child in her sickness, she and her doctor were very close friends.

Leaving Mrs. Scott in the parlor, I went to the gate of the court-yard, and told the doctor I wanted to put some questions to him about Alice, which I would rather Mrs. Scott should not hear. He very kindly got off his horse and came quite near me. I then told him that I wished to know from him whether there was the least hope that any thing could be done in the city to restore Alice's sight. Looking very grave, he answered, that he was afraid not, but as physicians who knew more about the eyes than he did might think differently, if Mrs. Scott were a little richer, or if he were rich enough to help her, he would still advise her to go. I told the doctor that I had some friends who I thought would give Mrs. Scott as much money as would take her to B. and pay her board as long as it would be necessary for Alice to stay there, but that I was afraid the attendance of these oculists would cost a great deal more perhaps than they could give.

"Not if she go to B.," said the doctor quickly. "That, you know, is the place from which I came, and I know many physicians there. To some of these I would give Mrs. Scott letters, and through them, the pious and excellent Dr. W., the best oculist there, might be made acquainted with the case of our little Alice. He would, I am sure, do all he could for her without any charge."

I asked the doctor if he knew any thing of the Institution for the blind in B.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied. "It is a most noble institution, and its manager, Dr. H., the most benevolent of men. To him I can give Mrs. Scott a letter, and this poor child will, I doubt not, have all the aid which he can give her."

Perhaps my little readers never heard of these institutions for the blind, and I will therefore tell them, that there, those who are perfectly blind are taught to read, write, sew, and do many fancy works, which it would seem to us quite impossible to do without sight. Now you will see at once, if Alice should continue blind, what a great advantage it would be to her to be taught such things. To sit always in the dark, and be able to do nothing, might make even a merry little girl sad, while even blindness may be borne cheerfully, when the blind can be employed. Besides, Alice, if able to do some of the works I have named, might earn money by them, perhaps enough to support herself and her mother too; and I need not tell you what a comfort that would be to a good, affectionate child.

Before the doctor left me, I asked him how soon it would be prudent for Alice to travel; and he said, if she continued to get better, she might set out on the following Monday, as she would go almost all the way in a steamboat, which would not fatigue her so much as travelling by land. He added, if by Saturday evening I were able to get as much money for Mrs. Scott as would be necessary, he would have the letters he had promised to write ready for her, and we would then meet at her house on Sunday, and tell the poor little girl of her blindness, as kindly and gently as we could, if she should not discover it before that time.

When I went back to the house, finding Mrs. Scott still in the parlor, I told her of what the doctor and I had been speaking, and asked her whether, if she should go to B. and find that nothing could be done by the physicians there for her child's eyes, she would be willing to have her placed for a year or two at the Institution for the Blind.

"Willing, my dear ma'am!" said the good woman, "I shall be thankful indeed to the kind people who give their money to support such a good school, and still more to God, who put it in their hearts to do so. I know it will be very hard to part from my poor little girl,