d in every direction. The fire separated the two
extremes of the boat, and no help or succor was near. And now came the
pang of parting. For a brief, agonizing moment, the mother held her
child in her arms, then drew her to one of the windows.

All at once, a wonderful change came over the little tender child. For
one moment, a radiant flush lighted up the sweet face, and then died
away, leaving a deathly paleness as before, but with it a rapt, angelic
expression, as if, in that moment, a loving, merciful Father had given
the pure spirit a glimpse of heaven.

Drawing her garments closely about her, she said, "Kiss me, dear mother,
I am going;" and, climbing through the window, she leapt into the
water--in her eyes the same uplifted, celestial expression, as she sank
beneath the wave. God, in His mercy, had taken away the sting of death.
Little Maggie was going HOME.

The poor mother turned away in agony; then, with a prayer that their
sufferings might be short, she followed her child, and the waves closed
over her.

But now the ways of God, which are not our ways, became manifest.
Maggie's buoyant form rose out of the water directly under one of the
stanchions, which supported that part of the deck projecting beyond the
hull. Gasping, panting, and almost senseless, she instinctively
clutched at this, and passing her arm around it, hung there, half in,
half out of the water. As she regained her consciousness, she looked
vainly around for her mother, and the poor little child became convulsed
with terror, at finding herself alone in this painful and fearful
position.

At this moment, Maggie felt something coming to the surface directly
beneath her, and to her joy, recognized her mother's bonnet. Grasping it
with all her little strength, what was her horror to feel it give way,
and remain in her hand, while her mother sank slowly down again out of
sight! Coming up the second time, the child, with desperate energy,
clutched at her hair, and this time raised her mother's head above the
water.

"Mother, mother!" she cried, "here I am--your own little Maggie. Speak
to me, oh! speak to me, mother, or I shall die!"

The large hazel eyes of the mother unclosed, and, struggling with the
water that was choking her, she murmured,--"Thank God! thank God! we may
yet be saved."

"Oh, yes, mother," answered the little one, "God did not mean that we
should die. I will hold you up, until my arm burns off. Don't be
afraid--I wil