Interrupted

other. Surely, in the great city, full of would-be musicians, she might have found a corner! Doubtless she would have done so in time, but it amazed her as the days went by, and one by one the pu

t follow that a fine musician was a fine teacher. She had not been educated for a teacher; that had been the farthest removed from her intention until necessity forced it upon her. It stood to reason that a girl who had been brought up in luxury, and had

nature. She could see that there was truth in these conclusions; and while she knew that she could give their children such teaching as the

bitterness by on

whom she had interested herself to secure better paid labor than she had found her doing. This woman, with a certain confused air, as

em some time, when they should have sewing again to do. The sentence ended with a sigh. But the caller's embarrassment increased. She even forgot to thank the lady for her gracious intention, and looked down at her somewhat faded shawl, and tw

manly dignity. She was doing better, she said; a great deal better than when Miss Benedict first sought her out. Thanks to her, she had plenty of sewing, as much as she could do, and of a good, paying kind; and she had thought-and here the shawl fringe was twisted again-t

chin as she listened to this, but her vo

a decided talent for music, which ought to be cultiva

d she never said much about music; what she wanted was to learn to draw, but she, Mrs. Jones, had thought, as she said-and maybe it was presumption in her to think so-that what most things needed was to get started. No sooner did she get started

over and stood before Mrs. Jones,

now, your telling me that she was always marking up her books with little bits of pictures. She probably has a good deal of talent in this direction, and not for music; I would cultivate her talents in the line in which they lie. Miss Parkhurst has a drawing-class just commencing. She is not very far from

and Mrs. Jones the grateful recipient. She went away thanked and comforted, and convinced

with two bright spots glowing on her cheeks

the world outside, and I'll tell you one thing it has settled; I mean to accept the first opening, from wh

d entertainment for which the young people had been so nearly ready, missionary though it was, was indefinitely postponed when he died-forgot them or grew cold. Whatever the world may do, or whatever solitary individuals in the church may do u

are always waiting for strong shoulders. They could and would have supported them. For a time, at least, this would have been done joyfully; they longed to do it. They offered hel

from the old church and the old home and the old circle of friends. It consumed hours of the day to make the journey back and forth. Of course, it could not be made often,

in a little unpretentious academy, in a little unpretentious town, away back

s the open door. Why not enter it at once, instead of waiting in idleness and suspense through the winter for something better? Thus argued Claire: "It will not be very easy to leave you, mamma, as you may well imagine," and here the sensitive chin would quiver, "but I should feel safe in doing so, for these ugly rooms are really very conveniently arranged, and Dora would learn to look after everything that Molly could

ument, and, together with the a

her last bright plans, she was installed as music teacher i

with which she moved down the shabby narrow aisle, and seated herself in th

, even for so slight a form as Claire's, and was finished with a moulding that projected enough to form a decided ridge. Of course, f

ghosts of their former selves. The whole effect seemed to Claire by far more dreary than the bare floor of the aisles. A plain, square, four-legged table, that had not even been dusted lately, did duty as a pulpit desk, and a plain, wooden-backed, wooden-seated chair stood behind it. These were the sole attempts at furnishing. The walls of this desolate sanctuary seemed begrimed with the smoke of ages; they were festooned with c

the aisles, whose rich carpets gave back no sound of footfall. How soft and clear the colors of that carpet were! A suggestion of the delicately carpeted woods, and the shimmer of sunlight on a summer day toward the sun setting. She had helped to select that carpet herself, and she knew that she had an artist's eye for colors and for harmony. It was not an extravagantly elegant church-as city churches rank-

to follow her father and mother on Sabbath mornings, keeping step to the melody which seemed to