"The man sat down in his chair, and laid his head in his hands.
"'O Lizzie,' he said, 'it's more than I deserve; I was just ready to give up trusting. I have sought all day, and I couldn't bear to come home.'
"'God did hear us; didn't he, father? I'm so glad we didn't stop trusting. Hadn't you better go now, father, and see about it?'
"'Yes,' he said, 'I'll go now,' stooping down to read the card by the light of the fire.
"He went out, and the shadows settled down over the room; but the little girl sat still, and you could just hear her humming to herself,—
"'Breast the wave, Christian, when it is strongest.'
"Presently she heard her father's step. It was quicker and lighter than it had been for many a day."
"'I've got it, Lizzie. It's a place as a porter in a warehouse; and good wages too. And see here,' he said, as he lighted a candle he had brought with him, 'we'll have a light to-night, and a nice supper too.'
"'O father!' said Lizzie, as she looked on with bright eyes as her father took out the parcels; 'how did you get all those things?'
"'The gentleman paid me something in advance. He said he knew people that had been out of work so long needed something.'