his face was such a
tender, thoughtful look.

Mary sat down in the seat nearest to her. She did not want to move nearer
lest she lose the rare expression of the face of the Christ. It had only
been a few weeks since she had been standing before the altar of the
church, making herself a gift to the Christ. So as she sat and watched
the picture, she thought to herself:

"What a wonderful man he was! I should have loved to have had him look in
my face as he is looking into theirs. I wish I might have really seen
him."

After a time she moved nearer. Then she could see the faces of the other
persons in the picture. From where she had been sitting, only the face of
the Christ had seemed to stand out, though one knew the others were there.
They were sitting about the table in a home.

What a rude table it was! How roughly they were dressed! Why, they were
only poor people, yet the Christ was standing in their midst, giving them
to eat.

She studied his face. How beautiful it was! How much she loved him! How
eager she was to give him her very best! What could she do to show her
love? And as she looked she heard a voice saying to her: "The poor ye have
always with you, but me ye have not always."

Then somehow the faces of the men in the picture seemed like those of the
men who worked in her father's mill and in the face of the woman she saw a
likeness to Elizabeth Meeker. But the face of the Christ was still full of
love and tenderness.

The head of the girl drooped as she sat long before the picture. What had
she against Elizabeth Meeker? Nothing except the fact that she was poor.
She was a girl that Jesus would have loved, for she was always dependable.
Yet Mary was trying to take away the greatest pleasure that might ever
come to that poor girl.

She had no pretty home, she had little time for play; she hadn't even a
mother. Yet Mary knew she had been very, very unkind to her.

And now the face of the Christ seemed searching her very soul: "The poor
ye have always with you, but me ye have not always. Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me."

There was a sound of a bell and Mary knew she must leave the room. One
last look she gave to the Christ of the picture. Then she smiled and
nodded her head.

When she came to join the girls below, she said quietly:

"Girls, let's give the school a surprise to-morrow. Let's go and vote for
Elizabeth Meeker, since so many of the