g the child's slight body in
her arms and saying:--

"Then I'm glad, glad that you are to have Pepita. She is the dearest,
nicest burro--except when she's bad--and will carry you wherever you
want to go,--that is, if she is willing. You dear little girl, she shall
be yours, without that money either. I never knew about you before, or
you should have had her before, too."

[Illustration: "'THEN I'M GLAD, GLAD THAT YOU ARE TO HAVE PEPITA.'"]

Mr. Metcalf smiled, well pleased. His blind daughter was the idol of his
flock, and anybody who was attracted by her became interesting to him.
Amy had been so, even before this incident, but he liked her heartily
now.

"So, Miss Amy, though you hated to part with your burro for money, you
would do so willingly for love and sympathy?"

"Why, of course. If I'd only known--"

"You will not make a good business woman, at this rate. But this wind is
sharp. I mustn't keep Nanette out here long, else her mother will worry,
and that wouldn't do. Suppose, since you know more about donkeys than I
do, that you give my girl her first riding lesson. Reach Miss Amy your
hand, dear heart."

Amy caught the little white-mittened fingers in her own and kissed them
impulsively. Then she rose and placed the child on Pepita's saddle.

"Take hold of the bridle, so, in both hands, now, till you learn how.
I'll keep my arm about you. No, dear, you cannot fall. I wouldn't let
you, even if Pepita would, and she's in a gentle mood to-day. Aren't
you, Pepit'?"

"Br-a-ay! Ah-ump!" responded the burro. She did not always have her
replies so ready, and, for an instant, it seemed as if she would
frighten her new mistress. But there was always something absurdly
amusing in Pepita's tones, and after the first shock of hearing them had
passed, Nanette burst into a merry laugh that made the others laugh too.

"Oh, doesn't she talk nicely! Does she always answer so quick?"

"No, indeed. Sometimes the naughty little beast will not say a single
bray. She has many moods, has Pepit'. You'll find them all out, though,
after a while. Now, how do you like it? Isn't the motion soft and
gentle?"

"Oh, if mamma could see!" cried the happy little girl, turning her sunny
face toward Amy. Then she suddenly pulled off her mittens and drew her
new friend's head down so that she could feel the unfamiliar features.
Swiftly, lightly, the tiny finger-tips passed over every one, then
travelled upward and lost themselves in