d enough; and if he did, he wouldn't
have let me get such a dreadful fall."

Little Elsie was perplexed for the moment, and knew not what to answer.

"Couldn't he have kept me from falling?" demanded Molly, almost fiercely.

"Yes, he can do everything."

"Then I hate him for letting me fall!"

Elsie was inexpressibly shocked. "Oh, Molly!" in an awed, frightened tone,
was all that she could say.

"I'm awfully wicked, I know I am; but I can't help it. Why did he let me
fall? I couldn't bear to let a dog be so dreadfully hurt, if I could help
it!"

"Molly, the Bible says 'God is love.' And in another place, 'God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' 'God commendeth his
love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' He
must have loved you, Molly, when he died that dreadful death to save you."

"Not me."

"Yes, if you will believe. 'Whosoever believeth.'"

"It was just for everybody in a lump," said Molly, sighing wearily. "Not
for you or me, or anybody in particular; at least not anybody that's
living now; because we weren't made then; so how could he?"

"But mamma says he knew he was going to make us, just the same as he does
now; and that he thought of each one, and loved and died for each one just
as much as if there was only one."

"Well, it's queer if he loved me so well as that, and yet would let me
fall and be so awfully injured. What's this? You didn't have it before you
came North," taking hold of the gold chain about Elsie's neck.

Out came the little watch and Elsie told about the aching tooth and the
trip to New York to have it extracted.

"Seems to me," was Molly's comment, "you have all the good things: such a
nice mother and everything else. Such a good father too, and mine was
killed when I was a little bit of a thing; and mother's so cross.

"But Dick's good to me; dear old Dick," she added, looking up at him with
glistening eyes as he came in and going up to her couch, asked how she
was.

"You'd better go to sleep now," he said. "You've been talking quite
awhile, haven't you?"

At that Elsie slipped quietly away and went in search of her mother.

She found her alone on the veranda looking out meditatively upon the
restless moonlit waters of the sea.

"Mamma," said the child softly, "I should like a stroll on the beach with
you. Can we go alone? I want to talk with