scream of that
red-winged drummer, as he darted off, playing and screaming, with his
fellows.

Beyond the garden all the noble autumn forests waved away in magic
splendor--red, and blue, and golden. The oaks were beautiful with
their waving leaves--the little alder tree exquisite in its faint
saffron--the tall, tapering pines rose from the surrounding foliage
like straight spears, which had caught on their summits royal robes
of emerald velvet, green at first, but, when the red light fell upon
them, turning to imperial purple, as of old, Emperors of Rome!

All these sights and sounds were pleasant things to Redbud, and she
gazed and listened to them with a species of tranquil pleasure, which
made her tender face very beautiful. At last her eyes returned to her
old Bible, and she began to read again from the sacred book.

She turned the leaf, and came to a passage around which faint lines
were traced in faded ink;--the words thus marked were those of St.
Paul, so sublime in their simplicity, so grand in their quiet majesty:

"Having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ."

These words had been marked by Redbud's mother, and as the child gazed
upon the faded ink, and thought of the dear hand which had rested upon
the page, a tender regret betrayed itself in her veiled eyes, and her
lips murmured, wistfully, "Mamma." Her down-cast eyes were veiled by
the long lashes; and the child's thoughts went back to the old happy
days, when her mother had taught her to pray, joining her infant
hands, and telling her about God and all his goodness.

It was not grief which the child felt, as her mental glance thus went
backward to the time when her mother was alive;--rather a tender joy,
full of pure love, and so far separated from the world, or the things
of the world, that her face grew holy, as if a light from heaven
streamed upon it. Oh, yes! she needed no one to tell her that her dear
mother's desire had been fulfilled--that she was with Christ; and her
heart rose in prayer to the Giver of all good, to bless and purify
her, and give her power to conquer all her evil thoughts--and passing
through the toils and temptations of the world, come finally to that
happy land where her dear mother lived and loved--from which she
looked upon her child. She prayed to be kept thus pure; for strength
to resist her sinful inclinations, ill-temper, discontent and
uncharitable thoughts; for power to divorce her thoughts from the
world, s