in eyed her from a bough
above with wistful glances, till Roger must needs carry her tenderly out
of their neighborhood to his mother's gentle care.

All this guard and guidance Sunny repaid with her only treasure, love.
She left her pet kitten in its gayest antics to sit on Roger's knee; she
went to sleep at night nestled against his arm; every little dainty that
she gathered from garden or field was shared with him; and no pleasure
that did not include Roger could tempt Sunny to be pleased.

For a while the unconscious charm endured; absorbed in his darling,
Roger forgot the Shadow, or remembered it only at rare intervals; and in
that brief time every one seemed to grow better and lovelier. He did not
see in this the coloring of his own more kindly thoughts.

But when, at length, the novelty of Sunny's presence wore off, her
claims grew tiresome. In the faith of her child's heart, she came as
frankly to Roger for help or comfort as she had ever done; and he found
his own plans for study or pleasure constantly interrupted by her
requests or caresses, till the Shadow darkened again beside him, and,
looking over his shoulder, fell so close to Sunny, that his old belief
drew its veil across his eyes for a moment, and he started at the sight
of what he dreaded,--a Shadow haunting Sunny.

Then,--though this first dread passed away,--slowly, but creeping on
with unfailing certainty, the Shadow returned. It fell like a brooding
storm over the fireside of home; he fancied a like shadow following his
mother's steps, darkening his baby-sister's smile; and as if in
revenge for so long an absence, the Shadow forced itself upon him more
strenuously than ever, till poor Roger Pierce was like a bruised and
beaten child,--too sore to have peace or rest, too sensitive to bear any
remedy for his ailment, and too petulant to receive or expect sympathy
from any other and more gentle nature than his own.

It was long before the Shadow made itself felt by Sunny. She never saw
it as others did. If its chill passed over her warm rosy face, she stole
up softly to her brother, and, with a look of pure childish love, put
her hand in his, and said softly, "Poor Roger!" or, with a keener sense
of the Presence, forbore to touch him, but played off her kitten's
merriest tricks before him, or rolled her tiny hoop with shouts of
laughter across the old house-dog as he slept on the grass, looking
vainly for the smile Roger had always given to her b