uldn't bear it!"

A very miserable Jill lay on the floor, and for a while did not care who
came and found her; then the last words of the letter--"I hope"--seemed
to shine across the blackness of the dreadful "twenty years" and cheer
her up a bit, for despair never lives long in young hearts, and Jill was
a brave child.

"That is why Mammy sighs so when she dresses me, and every one is so
good to me. Perhaps Mrs. Minot doesn't really know, after all. She was
dreadfully scared about Jack, and he is getting well. I'd like to ask
Doctor, but he might find out about the letter. Oh, dear, why didn't I
keep still and let the horrid thing alone!"

As she thought that, Jill pushed the paper away, pulled herself up, and
with much painful effort managed to get back to her sofa, where she laid
herself down with a groan, feeling as if the twenty years had already
passed over her since she tumbled off.

"I've told a lie, for I said I wouldn't stir. I've hurt my back, I've
done a mean thing, and I've got paid for it. A nice missionary I am;
I'd better begin at home, as Mammy told me to;" and Jill groaned again,
remembering her mother's words. "Now I've got another secret to keep all
alone, for I'd be ashamed to tell the girls. I guess I'll turn round and
study my spelling; then no one will see my face."

Jill looked the picture of a good, industrious child as she lay with her
back to the large table, her book held so that nothing was to be seen
but one cheek and a pair of lips moving busily. Fortunately, it is
difficult for little sinners to act a part, and, even if the face is
hidden, something in the body seems to betray the internal remorse and
shame. Usually, Jill lay flat and still; now her back was bent in a
peculiar way as she leaned over her book, and one foot wagged nervously,
while on the visible cheek was a Spanish stamp with a woman's face
looking through the black bars, very suggestively, if she had known it.
How long the minutes seemed till some one came, and what a queer little
jump her heart gave when Mrs. Minot's voice said, cheerfully, "Jack
is all right, and, I declare, so is Jill. I really believe there is a
telegraph still working somewhere between you two, and each knows what
the other is about without words."

"I didn't have any other book handy, so I thought I'd study awhile,"
answered Jill, feeling that she deserved no praise for her seeming
industry.

She cast a sidelong glance as she spoke, and seei