The man did as he was bid, took off his thick coat, which was quite white with snow, and went to the fire. As Kate set a chair for him, she saw that he had on a short blue jacket, such as her John wore when he came home from his first trip to sea. The sight of this, and the man’s honest face, quite won her heart; and she soon set before him some bread and cheese, and a mug of warm beer. “Come,” said James, when he was once more in his seat, “I am glad to see you here, for this is a lone place, and it does one good to see a new face now and then. Wife, have you not got any meat to give our friend?” “I do not want more, thank you,” said the man: “you have lived in this old house a long while, have you not?” “Why, yes, we have,” said James; “it is near fifty years since we first came. Pray have you been here before?” “How can you ask?” said Kate, “such an out-of-the-way place as it is.” “I used to know it quite well, when I was a boy: I lived not far from here, then,” said the seaman. “There now, wife,” said James. “Lived near here!” said Kate: “why when you were a boy, there could not have been a house within three miles of this: pray what was your name?” “I will tell you by and by,” said the man: “but can you tell me where Charles and Ned Grant are gone? I used to play with them when we were young, and I love them very much.” “Charles and Ned Grant!” said both the old folks at once, “why who should they be but our own boys! they have left us a long while now. Charles went a long way off, where he could get more work than in this land; and Ned lives at a farm of his own, and has a wife and child.” “You had a son John, who went to sea, had you not?” said the man. “Oh, yes, and a dear son he was: when you came in you put me so in mind of him,” said Kate; “but we fear he must be dead now, for he never writes to us or comes to see us.” As she said this, she looked in the man’s face, and saw that his eyes were full of tears. “My mother! my dear mother!” said he, as he got up and threw his arms round her neck. “And now your lost son has come home, and will not leave you, but will take care of you, and work for you all his life.” Poor James and his wife were so full of joy, that they could not speak for some time; but they thanked God in their hearts, for having brought their dear son home to them to cheer their old age. LITTLE FRANK AND THE RAT. One fine spring day Mrs. Dean set out for a walk. She crossed the lawn at the back of the house, and chose a long path, which had thick shrubs on each side, and led her to the gate of a field. At one end of this field there was a small pond of clear water; on its banks grew long grass and rushes, and the little birds sang their sweet songs in the lime-trees that hung over the water. [Illustration: “What a droll thing! I shall like to watch you all the more now I know something about you.”]