When Tom woke, the morning sun was shining into his own room. His mother was busy at the window, fixing the curtain to keep the light from his face, and Tom could see that she was crying. A great fear entered his mind, and, as his mother turned and looked at him, all he could say was 'Father?'
'Quite safe, my brave laddie, for you frightened the men away. My dear, brave boy.'
Then joy filled the heart of Thomas M'Calmont, and for once the fault of playing truant went unpunished.
Jessie Harvey.
GROWING UP.
hen birthdays come, we always write
Our names upon the nursery door,
And carefully we mark the height,
Each standing shoeless on the floor.
How strange to think birthdays will be
When we shall never add one more
To all those marks which gradually
Are climbing up the nursery door!