r little feller that ye used to brag over, Mr.
Balfour?" inquired Jim.

"He's gone, Jim; I lost him. He died a year ago."

Jim had no words with which to meet intelligence of this character, so
he did not try to utter any; but, after a minute of silence, he said:
"That's what floors me. Them dies that's got everything, and them lives
that's got nothin'--lives through thick and thin. It seems sort o'
strange to me that the Lord runs everything so kind o' car'less like,
when there ain't nobody to bring it to his mind."

Mr. Balfour made no response, and Jim resumed his oars. But for the
moon, it would have been quite dark when Number Nine was reached, but,
once there, the fatigues of the journey were forgotten. It was Thede
Balfour's first visit to the woods, and he was wild with excitement. Mr.
Benedict and Harry gave the strangers a cordial greeting. The night was
frosty and crisp, and Jim drew his boat out of the water, and permitted
his stores to remain in it through the night. A hearty supper prepared
them all for sleep, and Jim led his city friends to Number Ten, to enjoy
their camp by themselves. A camp-fire, recently lighted, awaited them,
and, with its flames illuminating the weird scenes around them, they
went to sleep.

The next day was Sunday. To the devoutly disposed, there is no silence
that seems so deeply hallowed as that which pervades the forest on that
holy day. No steamer plows the river; no screaming, rushing train
profanes the stillness; the beasts that prowl, and the birds that fly,
seem gentler than on other days; and the wilderness, with its pillars
and arches, and aisles, becomes a sanctuary. Prayers that no ears can
hear but those of the Eternal; psalms that win no responses except from
the echoes; worship that rises from hearts unencumbered by care, and
undistracted by pageantry and dress--all these are possible in the
woods; and the great Being to whom the temples of the world are reared
cannot have failed to find, in ten thousand instances, the purest
offerings in lonely camps and cabins.

They had a delightful and bountiful breakfast, and, at its close, they
divided themselves naturally into a double group. The two boys and Turk
went off by themselves to watch the living things around them, while the
men remained together by the camp-fire.

Mr. Balfour drew out a little pocket-Testament, and was soon absorbed in
reading. Jim watched him, as a hungry dog watches a man at his meal, and