te of its
principal incidents.

My young readers may have supposed that Katy and her mother had
gathered a great deal of money in the candy trade. It was not so, for
as the business increased, and Katy's labors as a saleswoman were
withdrawn, the expenses increased, and the profits were proportionally
less. And then, neither Mrs. Redburn nor her daughter had a faculty for
saving up much money; so that, though they made considerable, their
prosperity permitted new demands to be made upon the purse. They hired
two more rooms; they replaced the clothing and furniture which had been
sacrificed under the pressure of actual want, and they lived better
than they had lived before; and Mrs. Redburn had availed herself of the
services of a distinguished physician, whose attendance had cost a
large sum. It is true they lived very well, much better than people in
their circumstances ought to have lived. Therefore, notwithstanding
their prosperity, they had saved but a small sum from the proceeds of
the year's business. They were not rich; they were simply in
comfortable circumstances, which, considering their situation when Katy
commenced business, was quite enough to render them very thankful to
the Giver of all good for the rich blessings He had bestowed upon them.

These were not all temporal blessings; if they had been, their success
would only have been partial and temporary, their prosperity only an
outward seeming, which, in the truest and highest sense, can hardly be
called prosperity; no more than if a man should gain a thousand dollars
worth of land, and lose a thousand dollars worth of stocks or
merchandise. Both Katy and her mother, while they were gathering the
treasures of this world, were also "laying up treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt." Want had taught them its
hard lessons, and they had come out of the fiery furnace of affliction
the wiser and the better for the severe ordeal. The mother's foolish
pride had been rebuked, the daughter's true pride had been encouraged.
They had learned that faith and patience are real supports in the hour
of trial. The perilous life in the streets which Katy had led for a
time, exposed her to a thousand temptations; and she and her mother
thanked God that they had made her stronger and truer, as temptation
resisted always makes the soul. That year of experience had given Katy
a character; it expanded her views of life, and placed her in a
situation wh