Jesus, and would go to heaven when he
died, and seemed much grieved at hearing of his praying to the Virgin,
the mother of Jesus.

"What a pity!" she would say, "for she can't hear him, nor save him,
can she? And so his prayers will be of no use!"

She lay still for a short time, considering the matter, and then said,
as if a ray of comfort had come to her, "But Jesus can hear him, and
perhaps He will give him what he needs, though he didn't ask Him."

Lucy would hope so too, and agree with her that when he got to heaven
he would know better; for she had reason to believe, notwithstanding
Antonio's prayers to the Virgin,--the remnant of the superstitious
faith he had held from childhood,--that he was nevertheless gradually
coming to the knowledge of the Saviour as the only mediator and
sacrifice for sin. Nelly's treasured card was fastened up
conspicuously in their little room, and the rich colours in which the
text "Looking unto Jesus" was printed, pleased the Italian's southern
love of colour, and led his eye often to rest upon it, as he spent the
long hours sitting wearily in his chair. And gradually he came to
attach some real meaning to the words, which at first he had regarded
merely as a pleasant thing to look at. Nelly would sometimes tell him
some of the things Miss Preston said to her about it, which clung
tenaciously to her memory; and how the thought that Jesus was her
Friend and Saviour, to whom she must always look in her need, had been
her one comfort when left friendless and alone. She often read to him
a chapter out of the little Bible which was Lucy's parting gift when
she left Ashleigh, and had ever since been Nelly's dearest treasure.
And he would always listen with deep interest to the history of the
wonderful life which has come home to the hearts of thousands in all
the centuries which have elapsed since it was lived among the hills
and valleys of Palestine. He loved to hear Nelly sing, in her rich,
sweet voice, her favourite hymn, "I lay my sins on Jesus," and would
sometimes try to join in the strains himself as well as his feebleness
would let him. He showed his appreciation of the motto, in his own
way, by placing his crucifix above the card, and he would sit for
hours gazing silently at both.

Lucy, in her frequent visits, often read to him the passages which
bear most directly on the love of Christ, and the full and free
forgiveness of sin through Him; and she sometimes added simple
com