"Her husband pressed her hand. 'He will know you soon, dear. Soon there will be no one like "mother" to him!' "She shook her head slightly. 'I deserve it,' she whispered; 'but with God's strength, I will never deserve it again.' Then turning to me she added, 'If it were on my own strength I was building, it would be a poor affair, Miss Arbuthnot; but when it is God's strength, that must be everlasting. Those words of yours have never left me— '"Able to save to the uttermost." "'He has saved me—saved me from the punishment of my sin hereafter, and saved me from the power of it here. He is, as you said, stronger than Satan.' "How changed and altered she was in these three or four months! Her husband gazed upon her as if he could not unfasten his eyes. Then he bent over and kissed her. "'You do not smell any spirits now?' she asked with a little laugh, which ended in a burst of tears. "Mr. Wood asked me if I could spare Charlie to go back with them. 'His mother feels as if she could not part with him again, and yet I hardly like to take him so suddenly—' "'You shall have him,' I answered generously, hardly knowing then what it would cost me, to see my little darling carried out of the house in his father's arms in the afternoon. "I cannot tell you, dears, all they said and did, nor repeat their gratitude. How little had I done, and what an abundant blessing had my gracious Father given me! "'They that sow in tears shall reap in joy,' He says— "And I found it true." * * * * * * * If Christina could have chosen, she would have preferred to meet Walter at Sunnyside, at her own home, with only her aunt's kindly presence to embarrass her. But ever unselfish, she had considered what a sad time this must be to them in the Square, and had yielded to their wish to join them. She could not feel happy to take Walter from them just as he arrived, and knew that his heart must be rather divided if she were at a distance. As the evening advanced, she sat by little Tom very silent. He seemed to understand her feeling, and held her hand without speaking; but once he whispered, "Mamma would have been so glad of this day, Christina; we can rejoice in thinking of that." She pressed his hand, and then said very low, so that only he heard it, "It is a strange day, Tom, and I do not know how to rejoice; but I shall feel better perhaps when once he is here." "Yes, you will," said the little comforter, reassuringly; "and all the more that it would please mamma for you to be really glad." Dr. Arundel leaned back in his armchair, but was as cheerful as the rest now, and was talking with Arthur and Ada, and telling them stories of arrivals which he had known, and reminding them that nothing was sure in this world. Netta and Isabel sat near Nellie with their work, but they did not do much; for every cab made them look up, and sometimes go to the window to peep out.