"Dear friends, we're about to part,
And I hope from my heart,
That you think we've been smart.
We've done our best,
With a great deal of zest.
It must be confessed,
Since our riddle you guessed,
That you are smart, too,
And therefore, adieu."
And so the rain did no harm, after all, to anything but the patch bed quilt; and Aunt Mary said that was of no consequence but it would have been right to ask her before driving the nails through it. And though George at first felt rather ashamed of himself on account of the bed quilt, the exhibition closed with a very pleasant feeling all around.
THE sun had gone down behind the steeples and chimneys of the city, and left a bright sky in the west to conclude a day which was a happy New Year's day to many hearts.
But there were others in that city who saw nothing in the bright red sky to assure them that the new year was likely to prove to them any better than the old, and who would have been glad enough, amid many years of want and sorrow, to have one happy new year.
Mr. Ellison had been calling on a friend, and had just stepped from door when he was accosted by a young girl, who asked, "Please, sir, do you know of any one wanting a nurse-girl?"
He looked earnestly at the face before him, and replied, "I have a little boy at home who lost his nurse lately, but you look rather young for that position. What is your name?"
"My name is Norah, sir; my mother is dead, and I live with Judy Finegan; but the times are too hard for her to keep and feed me any longer. I would try to suit you, sir, if you would take me."
"It is too cold to stand here; tell me where you live, and I will call and see you in the morning." And receiving her answer, he passed on.