called it!"

"It's the best thing I ever saw," said Mrs. Mathieson. "There--put the
pail away. Your father's coming."

He was in a terrible humour, as they expected; and Nettie and her mother
had a sad evening of it. And the same sort of thing lasted for several
days. Mrs. Mathieson hoped that perhaps Mr. Lumber would take into his
head to seek lodgings somewhere else; or at least that Mathieson would
have been shamed into paying Jackson's bill; but neither thing happened.
Mr. Lumber found his quarters too comfortable; and Mr. Mathieson spent
too much of his earnings on drink to find the amount necessary to clear
off the scores at the grocer's shop.

From that time, as they could run up no new account, the family were
obliged to live on what they could immediately pay for. That was seldom
a sufficient supply; and so, in dread of the storms that came whenever
their wants touched Mr. Mathieson's own comfort, Nettie and her mother
denied themselves constantly what they very much needed. The old can
sometimes bear this better than the young. Nettie grew more delicate,
more thin, and more feeble, every day. It troubled her mother sadly. Mr.
Mathieson could not be made to see it. Indeed he was little at home
except when he was eating.

CHAPTER V.

THE NEW BLANKET.

Nettie had been in Barry's room one evening, putting it to rights;
through the busy day it had somehow been neglected. Mrs. Mathieson's
heart was so heavy that her work dragged; and when Nettie came out and
sat down to her Sunday-school lesson, her mother kept watching her for a
long time with a dull, listless face, quite still and idle. The child's
face was busy over her Bible, and Mrs. Mathieson did not disturb her,
till Nettie lifted her head to glance at the clock. Then the bitterness
of her mother's heart broke out.

"He's a ruined man!" she exclaimed, in her despair. "He's a ruined man!
he's taking to drinking more and more. It's all over with him--and with
us."

"No, mother," said Nettie, gently,--"I hope not. There's better times
coming, mother. God _never_ forsakes those that trust in him. He has
promised to hear prayer; and I have prayed to him, and I feel sure he
will save us."

Mrs. Mathieson was weeping bitterly.

"So don't you cry, mother. Trust! 'Only believe'--don't you remember
Jesus said that? Just believe him, mother. I do."

And proving how true she spoke--how steadfast and firm was the faith she
professed, with that, as N