yment till her system was entirely prostrated. Thus all
possibility of pursuing her business was cut off, and nothing remained
but what could be accomplished by her own and her daughter's dexterity
at the needle. It is at this time we ask you to look in upon the mother
and daughter.

Mrs. Ames is sitting up, the first time for a week, and even to-day she
is scarcely fit to do so; but she remembers that the month is coming
round, and her rent will soon be due; and in her feebleness she will
stretch every nerve to meet her engagements with punctilious exactness.

Wearied at length with cutting out, and measuring, and drawing threads,
she leans back in her chair, and her eye rests on the pale face of her
daughter, who has been sitting for two hours intent on her stitching.

"Ellen, my child, your head aches; don't work so steadily."

"O, no, it don't ache _much_," said she, too conscious of looking very
much tired. Poor girl! had she remained in the situation in which she
was born, she would now have been skipping about, and enjoying life as
other young girls of fifteen do; but now there is no choice of
employments for her--no youthful companions--no visiting--no pleasant
walks in the fresh air. Evening and morning, it is all the same;
headache or sideache, it is all one. She must hold on the same unvarying
task--a wearisome thing for a girl of fifteen.

But see! the door opens, and Mrs. Ames's face brightens as her other
daughter enters. Mary has become a domestic in a neighboring family,
where her faithfulness and kindness of heart have caused her to be
regarded more as a daughter and a sister than as a servant. "Here,
mother, is your rent money," she exclaimed; "so do put up your work and
rest a while. I can get enough to pay it next time before the month
comes around again."

"Dear child, I do wish you would ever think to get any thing for
yourself," said Mrs. Ames. "I cannot consent to use up all your
earnings, as I have done lately, and all Ellen's too; you must have a
new dress this spring, and that bonnet of yours is not decent any
longer."

"O, no, mother! I have made over my blue calico, and you would be
surprised to see how well it looks; and my best frock, when it is washed
and darned, will answer some time longer. And then Mrs. Grant has given
me a ribbon, and when my bonnet is whitened and trimmed it will look
very well. And so," she added, "I brought you some wine this afternoon;
you know the doctor