Worn out with fatigue and anxiety, she did not wake till a late hour; and her mother, who had kept a weary vigil all night, was glad to see her sleep so well, and did not arouse her. She was refreshed by her deep slumbers, and got up feeling like a new creature. She had scarcely made a fire and put on the tea-kettle, before a knock at the door startled her. Who could wish to see them in their poverty and want?--who but some evil person, coming to heap some new grief upon them? She scarcely had the courage to open the door, but when she did so, she saw the smiling face of Tommy Howard. "Good morning, Katy," said he, as he handed her a little basket he had brought. "Mother sent this over, and wants to know how Mrs. Redburn does to-day." "She is about the same. What is in this basket, Tommy?" "O, you know;" and he turned to run away. "Stop a minute, Tommy," called Katy. "I want to speak to you." "Well, what is it?" "You haven't told anybody about it--have you?" "About what?" "What I told you yesterday," replied Katy, hanging her head with shame. "What do you mean?" "That we had nothing to eat," and Katy blushed as though it was a crime to be hungry and have nothing to eat. "Not a soul--catch me! that is, I hain't told nobody but mother." "I am sorry you did, even her. My mother is very proud, if she is poor; but she wasn't always so poor as she is now, for she is the daughter of a rich merchant." "You don't say so." "Yes, I do, Tommy; so please don't say a word about it to anybody but your mother, and ask her not to mention it." "Not a word, Katy, mother won't say a word either." "And sometime I'll tell you all about it. Thank you for what's in the basket, Tommy." Without waiting for anything more, the noble, generous boy leaped down the stairs and passed out at the front door. "What have you got there, Katy?" asked Mrs. Redburn, as she entered the room with the basket in her hand. "Something Mrs. Howard sent us," she replied, as she opened the basket, and took out a plate of butter and half a dozen hot biscuit, which she carried to the bedside for her mother's inspection. "What have you done, my child?" exclaimed the poor woman, a flush gathering on her pale cheek. "Have you told the neighbors that we have nothing to eat?" "I couldn't help telling Tommy when I asked for the flounders yesterday; he told his mother, but no one else knows it." "I had rather starve than beg, Katy; but I cannot compel you to do so." "I will not beg." "Then let us send those cakes back." "No, mother; we must not be so proud as that. I think that God sent us this food through Mrs. Howard, and it would be wicked to reject His bounty." "Do as you please, Katy." "Some time we shall be able to pay her; and that will make it all right." Mrs. Redburn could not taste the biscuit, but Katy ate heartily. Her pride was not inflated by the remembrance of brighter days. All she had was inherited from her mother.