"I wish I could keep you here!" Mrs. Dawson exclaimed, as she put one arm around her little niece affectionately; "but Cousin Robert can do much more for you than we can."
"Oh, Aunt Eliza, please don't think of that!"
"But that is what I do think of, my dear. You see, Mousey, we are not well off, and it would make us miserable if we stood in your way. We think you ought to accept Cousin Robert's offer—it is really a most generous and kind one. You will not be far away from us, and you can always depend upon our love. Besides, you know, even if you had no Aunt Eliza and Uncle Dick, you would have one Friend on whom to rely."
Mousey looked at her aunt questioningly, her lips quivering, her brown eyes full of tears.
"I mean that Friend who said, 'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,'" Mrs. Dawson proceeded; "the Friend in whom your dear mother trusted above all others, and Who, we are certain, was with her through the valley of the shadow of death."
There was a brief silence, during which Mousey struggled to overcome her emotion, and succeeded so far as to presently ask in a resigned tone—
"When is Uncle Dick going to write to Cousin Robert? Soon?"
"He thinks of doing so to-morrow," Mrs. Dawson responded. "Cousin Robert is an old man, and I should think he must be very lonely. He never married, and he has no near relations. His must be a quiet home; perhaps you will make it brighter. Oh, my dear!" she exclaimed, as Mousey shook her head, "you must try to be happy there; it seems to me that there your duty lies. Don't you think that God may have a good purpose in sending you to Cousin Robert? I do. You don't wish to go? No, I can understand that, because you cannot see your path marked plainly for you; yet, there is a Hand stretched out to lead you, a Hand that will guide you in the right way, in the path of duty, which, though it may be dark and rugged at first, grows brighter and smoother the further you tread it."
"Do you really think I ought to go to live with Cousin Robert?" Mousey inquired wistfully.
"Yes, my dear, I do."