As she said this, she looked in the man’s face, and saw that his eyes were full of tears.
“My mother! my dear mother!” said he, as he got up and threw his arms round her neck. “And now your lost son has come home, and will not leave you, but will take care of you, and work for you all his life.”
Poor James and his wife were so full of joy, that they could not speak for some time; but they thanked God in their hearts, for having brought their dear son home to them to cheer their old age.
LITTLE FRANK and the RAT.
One fine spring day Mrs. Dean set out for a walk. She crossed the lawn at the back of the house, and chose a long path, which had thick shrubs on each side, and led her to the gate of a field.
At one end of this field there was a small pond of clear water; on its banks grew long grass and rushes, and the little birds sang their sweet songs in the lime-trees that hung over the water.
“What a droll thing! I shall like to watch you all the more now I know something about you.”
As Mrs. Dean came near to the spot, she saw her little boy there. He sat quite still on the edge of the pond.
“Frank, my dear,” said she, “why do you sit there? it is too damp a place.”