“Yes; go willingly, go gladly, dear child,” replied Clarissa, with tears in her eyes. “Then you can wander joyfully among the bright flowers, and sing: “‘Our rapture gathers more and more; The sick are well again.’ “And we shall soon join you there, your mamma and I--” At this moment the mother entered, and Clarissa stopped suddenly; for she knew well that Mrs. Stanhope could not endure the thought of losing little Nora, even though her child were called to heaven; but the mother had heard enough of what had been said, and looked at the child with renewed anxiety. Nora certainly looked very pale and weary; and, at her mother’s request, she let herself be carried at once to bed in Clarissa’s strong and tender arms. Later in the evening when Mrs. Stanhope sat alone with her old friend, she began anxiously to question the suitableness of talking to the child upon such topics. “Surely there is no need of dwelling on such mournful things, Clarissa. Nora is not so ill that we need think the worst, much less talk about it.” “Nora likes to hear me repeat her favorite poem,” replied Clarissa; “and, dear Mrs. Stanhope, let me say one thing to you. If our darling is to live only to suffer through long years of pain, can you wish for life for her? Why should we wish to keep her here, where she cannot enjoy the smallest part of the wealth and beauty about her, rather than let her go to that heavenly home, where there is no more sorrow nor pain?” “I cannot bear the thought of parting from her; it must not, it cannot be. Why may not all yet go well, and Nora get strong again?” said the poor mother; and the heart within her was heavy with grief. She could say no more, and withdrew in silence to her own room. The great stone mansion was soon wrapped in stillness; and as the light of the summer moon shone down upon it, whoever had seen it standing there in stately beauty, its high white pillars gleaming through the dark trees, would surely have thought: “How beautiful it must be to live there! No care nor sorrow can reach the inmates of that lovely dwelling!”