arly again. Yes,
the pain was very hard to bear, and she felt very lonely and sad as she
paced slowly up and down the long walks of the garden.

It was a very quiet place, however, quite out of reach of all disturbing
sounds, and Christie could not help wondering that she did not enjoy it
more, till she remembered what good reason she had for being very weary,
and she was content to wait for a full enjoyment of the pretty garden.

"I dare say I shall like to stay here after a little," she said to
herself. "There is one thing sure, it was no plan of mine to come. I
have had enough of my own plans. I'll just try and be as useful and
happy as I can, and wait till I see how things will turn. I am afraid
Effie may not like my staying, but I can only just wait, and it will all
come right."

And she put her good resolutions into practice then and there. She was
very patient with her little charge. She amused him, till he quite
forgot his shyness with her. She brought him flowers, and translated
the talk of the two little birds who were feeding their young in the old
pear-tree, till he laughed almost merrily again. The time soon passed,
and it was a very weary but very happy little face that he held up to
kiss his mother that night, and he was soon slumbering quietly in his
little cot by her side.

Then Christie betook herself to her place in Master Clement's nursery.
She found that noisy young gentleman quiet for the night, and gladly
laid herself down. In spite of her weariness, her long walk and her
afternoon in the open air had done her good. She was asleep before any
lonely or home-sick thoughts had time to visit her, and she slept as she
had not slept for weeks, without waking till the twittering of the birds
in the pear-tree roused her to begin her new life.

Christie had never to measure her strength with that of the "masterful"
Clement. It happened quite otherwise--fortunately for her, though sadly
enough for Mrs Seaton. The doctor, at his next visit, very decidedly
assured her that her proposed visit to the sea-side must no longer be
delayed, unless she intended to remain an invalid during the rest of the
summer. Her health, her life even, depended on a change of air and
freedom from anxiety. The good she could do her sick boy by staying at
home would be very little in comparison to the harm she would do
herself. She ought to have gone weeks since. Her infant and nurse
might go with her, but none