Stephensons' motto, "Persevere." It may not be the will of God to make you great in this world, but I know a way by which you may all be great in the next. It is by trusting with all your hearts in the blessed Saviour, and striving in his strength to keep his commandments.

WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR?

CHAPTER V.

ELLEN was not at all pleased with the notice taken of Ruth. She did not dislike her, for Ruth was too humble and too quiet to give offence to any one; but then she was poor, and lame, and lived in a very shabby house; and Ellen felt ashamed of knowing her. If Ruth had been rich, and pretty, and finely dressed, Ellen would eagerly have sought to be her friend, without caring much whether she were gentle and good. But as her mother, as well as Bessy, chose to be kind to Ruth, and to have her sometimes at their house, Ellen could not very well make any objection to it. But she did not talk to her any more than she could help, and she left Bessy to attend to her and amuse her.

These visits to Bessy were very useful to Ruth. The cheerful little kitchen, which looked out upon a small garden filled with common shrubs and flowers, was a nice change from her dull home. And a quiet but merry game with Bessy; or weeding and watering the little plot of ground; or looking over some picture books; or making some

pincushions out of scraps of silk; these, and other such employments, with a companion of her own age, helped to brighten Ruth's grave little face, and gave her more strength of mind to bear the troubles and discomforts of her daily life. When she was tired or vexed at home, the thought of Bessy, and of going again to see her, would be a gleam of sunshine, and would send away the discontent which was creeping over her.

There was another way in which her visits to Bessy did Ruth good. The contrast which she observed between her own home and Bessy's, made her strive to do all she could in keeping their poor rooms more tidy. Since Bessy had first called there, Ruth had followed her advice about the cleaning. She had set to work day after day while her mother was out; and although she did not manage very well at first, she persevered until she succeeded better. And she was herself surprised at the change. It is true their low, dark, ill-furnished rooms would never look like Mrs. Taylor's light, pretty-papered little parlour; but they could be clean and orderly, and that is an improvement worth gaining.

Bessy had not been at Ruth's home for some time. But one day she had a little present for her, and she went to take it. Perhaps you will think it was a curious present when I tell you what it was. It was a curtain for Ruth's window. Bessy's mother had a long while ago given her a piece of figured muslin to make a frock and cloak for her doll, but, as it was not cut out, it had never been

in his chair with his head leaning on a pillow. But he roused himself when he saw her, and spoke very civilly to her. He seemed pleased when she cried, as her eyes rested on the wall, "Oh, Ruth, how nice your room looks with those pictures!" Ruth whispered in a grateful tone, "It was father did all that; is he not clever?" And Bessy readily answered, "Yes."

Then the curtain was unfolded and admired; and Bessy and Ruth wanted it put up at once. They were impatient to see how it would look. Ruth's father smiled, and said he supposed he must knock in four nails, in order that they might fasten the strings. He reached his hammer and nails, and in a few minutes the curtain was drawn across the window, and everybody in the room stood back at a little distance to observe the effect.

All, even down to little Lucy, were quite satisfied. The window had been cleaned that morning, and let in as much light as could find its way into the court; and now the white curtain shaded, but did not darken the room, and gave a tasteful finish to the whole.

As Bessy sat down for a few minutes to talk to Ruth, she was sorry to hear Ruth's father cough so sadly. His breath, too, was very short. The slight exertion of knocking those nails in, was almost too much for his strength. This showed how weak and poorly he must be; and Bessy, who was a stout, active little girl, and who seldom felt tired, pitied him very much.

Two or three weeks passed away, and Ruth's

father became much worse. When Bessy and Ellen reached the school one morning, they found that, through having made a mistake about the time, they were too early, so Bessy said she would walk a little way and meet Ruth. Ellen, of course, did not choose to go with her, especially as Sophia Thomson came up that moment, and began talking to her.

"I hope Mrs. Perkins, your neighbour, is quite well," shouted Sophia, as Bessy went quickly down the lane.

Bessy did not reply; for this remark of Sophy's was only made in ridicule of Bessy's old mistake about "her neighbour." She was often teased about it in this way; but Bessy was a good-tempered child, and would not let it vex her.

Ruth looked very sad and tearful as Bessy ran towards her. "Is anything the matter, Ruth?” “Father is so ill,” replied Ruth; "and the doctor told mother yesterday, that he was afraid he would not last much longer."

Bessy's face grew almost as sorrowful as her friend's. "Is he obliged to be in bed all day, Ruth ?"

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No, he gets up before dinner, and sits in his arm-chair; but he grows thinner and thinner, and scarcely eats anything; and his cough is dreadful!"

"But people do sometimes get better after all," said Bessy, “and perhaps he will.”

Ruth shook her head; and Bessy tried to comfort her in another way. "It will be very bad for you if you lose him, Ruth; but if he should not