earnest. The post of lady superintendent was by no means a
sinecure. At 5.30 every morning she might have been seen unlocking the
doors for the kitchen-women. She was often round the wards at 6.0, and
all through the busy day until 11.0 at night she was kept fully
employed, giving out stores, superintending her nurses, presiding at
meals, and visiting patients, besides all the hundred-and-one duties and
calls which fall to one in the like position. Her unselfishness was as
conspicuous as ever, and she never thought of sparing herself in any
way, her joy being to make the lives of others bright and happy.

The patients were quick to discover the benefits of the new _regime_.
Instead of the old system of roughness and neglect, they found now a
very different order of things, as nurses, perfectly trained, with soft
voice and gentle footfall, passed from bed to bed, ministering to the
sick and dying. Interesting and helpful books for those who were well
enough to read found their way into the wards. Flowers--for Agnes
Jones, who loved intensely all God's works in Nature, had great faith in
the ministry of flowers--were there to give brightness in the midst of
depressing surroundings. Visits from friends were rendered more easy.
Christmas was made happy with special festivities. Indeed, she seemed
always to be planning something to cheer the sick under her care. She
very soon began Sunday evening Bible readings in the wards where there
were only Protestant patients. Many crowded in, even Romanists, whom she
was not allowed to invite, and listened with rapt attention, the
late-comers slipping off their shoes, lest they should disturb her.
After nearly two years' work, she commenced daily evening Bible
readings, having an attendance of from twenty to thirty, while on the
Sunday evening there were often more than a hundred.

It was no wonder that such devotion met with a ready response from the
sad and friendless, and that her loving sympathy evoked love from the
seemingly unloving.

Let us follow her as she passes through the wards. A thorough lady,
quiet and self-possessed, she commands respect from even the roughest,
and all look up with eager expectancy, hoping for just one word from
her. Here is an old man, whose brightening face shows how welcome are
her visits. As she stops we hear him murmur, "I never had a friend in
all my life till I came here. You are my only friend." Another, who is
drawing very near to the gates