Silence fell upon the inmates of that little room, for their anxiety and care were too great for words. A sense of feeling like despair settled upon their hearts; it seemed that the burden of life was too great to be borne. WORDS OF CHEER FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. Suddenly, through the stillness and darkness, there came a faint, sweet sound of children’s voices; like a far-off echo from some unseen land it fell, swelling louder and louder, until the tones could be distinctly heard, and these words sung in chorus floated upon the quiet atmosphere of that little room, made holy by the spirit of tender love and abnegation:— “We come, we come from the Summer-land, Our earthly friends to greet; We come a happy, joyous band, With blessings pure and sweet; We bring you peace from Heaven above, Where sorrows never come: We call your spirits with our love To their eternal home.” A hush of holy quiet now fell upon the tortured hearts of the two women; peace indeed entered their souls, for in those angelic tones they recognized familiar voices,—the one, those of her two children, who had been so recently snatched away from her; the other, that of a beautiful boy who, years before, at the tender age of four years, had been called home to the angels, leaving her almost crazed with pain and grief. The instance here recorded was the first echo our friends caught from the Summer-land,—nothing more, nothing less than that one little verse sang in the familiar tones of their departed children, and which were recognized as those of the voices of loved ones gone before. Want of space compels me to be brief with my narrative. I must not dwell on the long, hard, cold winter which these two women were called upon to endure; I will only state that on the day following the blessed evening that brought such great comfort and peace to their weary hearts our good nurse succeeded in finding a little work, which continued from time to time, and yielded just enough income to purchase the plainest necessities of life. Many times did these two women feel the pangs of hunger and cold; many times during that relentless winter did they almost despair of keeping life in the body; but after events proved these bitter experiences to have been refining, spiritualizing, and unfolding to their natures.