UC.SB LIBRARY
 
 TOM TRACY 
 
 BRIER HILL; 
 
 OR, 
 
 WHOSE IS THE VICTORY? 
 
 WRITTEN FOR THE AMERICAN SUNDAT-<CH(WL UMIOX 
 
 PHILADELPHIA; 
 
 AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNIOS. 
 
 No. 1122 CHMTJIUT STRIST.
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1862, by the 
 
 AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for tb 
 Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. ttm 
 
 A WINTRY WALK & 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A DISCOVERY 18 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 EVENING CONVERSATION 49 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE BEAUTIFUL MORNING 62 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 SODDEN CALAMITY 74 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HE 8AE EVENING 86 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE INTERVIEW 106 
 
 f
 
 4 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. MM 
 
 IDl PARTING 136 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 GIFTS AND LETTERS 147 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE SCHOOL-FRIEND 171 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE OLD ENEMY 186 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE RIDE 206 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE INVALID 225 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A NEW GUEST 237 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CONCLUSION , 248
 
 TOM TRACY OF BRIER HILL 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A WINTRY WALK. 
 
 IT was a bitter cold winter morning. 
 The snow lay piled in huge masses round 
 a little brown house which stood quite by 
 itself near the top of a hill. All around 
 it, and below in the valley, far as the eye 
 could reach, lay the pure, white snow, glit- 
 tering in the morning sun. It was very 
 fair to look upon, this wide-spreading 
 picture, so stainless, so dazzlingly white; 
 but little Toir Tracy thought more of the 
 
 i*
 
 6 TOM TEA(Y 
 
 stinging cold than of tin beautiful land- 
 scape. His cap was tied ai.der his chin, his 
 jacket buttoned tightly round him, and 
 his mittens drawn as far as possible over 
 the hands which had outgrown them. 
 
 Thus arrayed, Tom trudged cheerily 
 down the hill, drawing his little sled after 
 him, and whistling a merry tune. 
 
 Tom's mother was a widow, who main- 
 tained herself and two children by her 
 own industry; and you may be sure she 
 had to turn ner hands to all kinds of work. 
 Sometimes she spun stocking-yarn for the 
 farmers' wives, sometimes knit their stock- 
 ings and mittens, sometimes did plain sew- 
 ing; and, as often as she could procure it, 
 uhe took in washing from the people of the 
 village. In summer this afforded her quite 
 an income ; for Rockfield was such a pretty 
 little town, lying sc high up among the 
 hills, with s? ch pure, fresh air always sweep
 
 OF BRIEB, HILL. 7 
 
 ing over it that people from the city .iked 
 to come there for a few weeks, bringing 
 their children and nurses. And when they 
 asked, (as they were sure to do,) "Is there 
 anybody here who can do fine washing 
 and ironing nicely?" the answer always 
 was, 
 
 "Yes: there's the widow Tracy does it 
 beautifully : nobody ever found fault with 
 Iter washing. She lives about a mile off, 
 up on Brier Hill ; but her boy will come 
 and get the clothes, and bring them home 
 for you." 
 
 So the widow Tracy often had as much 
 as she could do from the 1st of July to 
 the middle of September, when the city 
 families went back to their own homes. 
 The money thus earned was carefully laid 
 by to meet the expenses of the winter; 
 for winter was a) ways a hard time in th< 
 little cottag< on Brier Hill.
 
 8 TOM TfiACY 
 
 This year, one family belonging to the 
 village had employed Mrs. Tracy to wash 
 for them through the winter, which she 
 considered a great favour ; and when Tom 
 went down the hill that cold morning, he 
 had the basket of clothes tied on his sled. 
 He was going to school, but must first 
 carry the basket to Dr. Wilson's, though 
 it was considerably more than a mile out 
 of his way. 
 
 How the cold nipped Tom's nose as he 
 went on ! How it froze the breath in his 
 nostrils, and pinched his ears and fingers 
 and toes, till he could hardly tell whethei 
 he had any or not ! But Tom had a bra\ e 
 neart buttoned in under that coarse jacket, 
 and a warm current of young blood flowed 
 through his veins. If anybody could keep 
 from freezing, he could; but he stopped 
 whistling, for though the tune was a 
 lively ono it seemed to freeze on his lips,
 
 OF ERIER HILL. 9 
 
 instead of caching out farther and farther, 
 stirring up gay echoes in the woods. 
 
 We can fancy Tom saying to himself, 
 "Well, this is a pretty tough morning, I 
 declare ! I wouldn't care if I was going 
 straight over to the school-house ; but then 
 mother wants the money bad enough. A 
 whole month's pay is coming now: it's a 
 dollar and twelve cents exactly : that will 
 help on wonderfully. I guess we can get 
 a load of wood now ; for there's two dollars 
 laid up already. How I should like a 
 pair of boots like John Jones's ! these old 
 shoes are patched so. I don't much wonder 
 the boys laugh at them ; though it always 
 makes me angry. I don't care if I am 
 poor: I won't be insulted by anybody, 
 that's what 1 won't!" And he clenched 
 his chilled fist as well as he could, and a 
 gush of warm bleed came to his cheeks, 
 as he said it.
 
 10 TOM TRACT 
 
 There was no house upon tne road for 
 more than half a mile. Thi snow had 
 blown in badly on the side-hill, and there 
 was very little of a path : so Tom had to 
 exert himself to draw hie sled and basket 
 safely through the drifts. The first house 
 he came to was a large, square one, where 
 the richest man in town lived, Colonel 
 Moses Blake. Tom had never been inside 
 of this house, but he had peeped in at the 
 open door as he passed by in summer, and 
 had thought, "How very elegant it looks 
 in there ! How I should like to live in such 
 a house!" This morning, he never turned 
 to look, till he heard some one calling out, 
 "Hallo, boy! I want to see you." 
 
 Tom looked up, and saw Colonel Blake 
 himself, standing at the side-door. Leav- 
 ing his sled in the road, Tom went up the 
 walk in the back yard, and stopped v<- 
 spectfully.
 
 CF BKIEB HILL. 11 
 
 "Can you do an errand for me this 
 morning?" 
 
 "Yes, sir, if there is time before school 
 begins." 
 
 "I want to send a bundle over to Long 
 Plain, to Parker's store. You can go over 
 and back in a little more than an hour. I 
 will give you a shilling if you will take it 
 over." 
 
 Tom's eyes glistened. A shilling, a 
 whole shilling ! What a mint of money it 
 seemed to him ! He never had had more 
 than five cents for doing an errand in hia 
 whole life, seldom more than two or three. 
 
 "I guess I can do it, sir," he answered. 
 
 "This bundle is to go by Express," said 
 the colonel, coming out with a large pack- 
 age in his hand. "Mr. Parker is going 
 over to Centieville to-day, and will take 
 it to the Express-office there. But stop: 
 I must send some money to pay fie Ex-
 
 12 TOM TRACY 
 
 press-man: fifty or seventy five cents it 
 will be, I suppose. You are an honest 
 lad?" he asked, peering keenly into Tom's 
 face over his gold-bowed spectacles. 
 
 There was something in Colonel Blake's 
 tone which roused Tom's indignation; but 
 Colonel Blake was the great man of the 
 village, and Tom stood in such awe of him 
 that he only said, "Yes, sir," with a tone 
 of proud defiance in his voice. 
 
 Giving another sharp glance at the boy, 
 Colonel Blake took a dollar-bill from his 
 pocket-book and gave it to him, saying, 
 "Mind you bring back the change all 
 right." * 
 
 Tom could not reply. He felt himself 
 insulted by the bare supposition of his 
 not doing it, and, after repeated injunc- 
 tions from the colonel to give it to Mr. 
 Parker himself, he took the bundle and 
 went very quickly out of the yard. For-
 
 OF BSIER HILL. J3 
 
 tunately, the way to Long Plain ' 
 directly by Doctor Wilson's: so he had 
 only to go on as fast as he could. 
 
 "Now, if I were a great rich man like 
 Colonel Blake," he might have said to 
 himself as he went down the hill, "I 
 wouldn't treat a poor boy like that. I 
 wouldn't take it for granted he was going 
 to cheat me. I guess I am as honest as 
 he is, any day, or anybody else!" And 
 Tom's heart glowed with honest pride as 
 he thought how good his dear mother 
 was, though she was poor. 
 
 Then his thoughts turned towards the 
 shilling which was to be his. "Anyhow, 
 the old gentleman isn't mean," he thought. 
 "lie pays a good price for doing a job." 
 
 To be sure, it was two miles to Long 
 Plain, over a very drifted road, and Tom's 
 going would save harnessing the horse 
 
 into the sleigh, as well as a cold ride that 
 2
 
 14 TOM TRACY 
 
 bitter morning, and James (the colonel's 
 man-of-all-work) was just then too ill to 
 leave the house : so that he would probably 
 have been glad to pay five times that sum 
 instead of going over himself. But all 
 this made it not less a prize to Tom, who 
 now struggled bravely up a long hill, 
 often plunging above his knees into the 
 deep drifts. 
 
 It was a comfort to reach Dr. Wilson's 
 door and carry the basket into the clean, 
 warm kitchen. 
 
 'Why, here comes Tom, I declare!" 
 said Mrs. Wilson. "I didn't think you 
 would venture over this cold, blustering 
 morning. I ain sure you must be half 
 frozen, poor child!" 
 
 Tom's fingers and toes ached some as 
 the fire began to warm them; but he 
 forgot all this, and his eyes glistened 
 with deHght, as gox! Mrs. Wilson brought
 
 OF BEIER HILL. 15 
 
 a large bun and two great, rosy- 
 cheeked apples. He ate the bun, foi 
 his walk had made him hungry: (when, 
 indeed, was a boy ten years old not 
 hungry?) but he put the apples in his 
 pocket. 
 
 Being well warmed, Mrs. Wilson paid 
 him the money that was due for the 
 washing, two silver half-dollars, one ten- 
 cent piece, and two cents. His mothei 
 had given him her little bead purse to 
 carry it in, and into it he had put Colonel 
 Blake's dollar-bill. He now took this out 
 to lay the silver pieces at the bottom, 
 and, shutting the clasp, he put the purse . 
 into his pocket and buttoned his coat 
 very carefully over it. It made Tom feel 
 quite old to have so much money in his 
 purse. 
 
 The warm room was very pleasant, bn< 
 Tom must he on his way: so he tied his
 
 16 TOM TRACY 
 
 cap over his ears, and again sallied out, 
 bravely facing the piercing north wind, 
 which had been increasing since the early 
 morning. 
 
 Many a young boy would have con- 
 sidered a shilling a poor compensation 
 for such a cold, hard walk as lay before 
 Tom Tracy; for, now that he had turned 
 the corner, the wind blew directly into 
 his face, and, the whole atmosphere being 
 filled with particles of snow, it drove them 
 with blinding force into his face and eyes. 
 But did Tom, as he struggled on, now 
 and then turning his back to the wind to 
 get his breath, repent of his bargain? 
 No, indeed, not he. He was no coward, 
 to shrink from a little hardship. All his 
 life he had been accustomed to tax his 
 strength to the utmcst; and these efforts 
 had knit his limbs firmly together and 
 aiade his muscles stout and strong, so
 
 :F BRIER HILL. 17 
 
 that he could endure far more than a 
 lad more delicately nurtured. All the 
 way amid the driving blast and cutting 
 sleet, the thought of his mother's joy at 
 the sight of the shilling he should carry 
 home lay warm at his hears and kept his 
 courage up. 
 
 On and on he forced his way, the snow 
 being deeper and the wind more bluster^ 
 ing; but he never had a thought of com- 
 plaining of his lot as a hard one; for the 
 boys of the New England hills are made 
 of the metal which rings back sharp and 
 true when the test of endurance is applied.
 
 18 TOM TRACT 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A DISCOVERY. 
 
 AT length, just as Tom's strength Lad 
 begun to flag, his stopping-place came in 
 eight. He might have been mistaken for 
 a small white bear, so covered was he with 
 snow. It had gathered in every crease of 
 his coat, and lay piled up in funny little 
 drifts on his shoulders, back and knees, 
 while a regular pyramid of snow stood 
 on his cap, and snow was frozen even on his 
 hair and eyelashes: so that, as he rushed 
 into Parker's store, he was a little hillock 
 of moving snow. 
 
 "Hallo I who comes here? Why, Tom 
 Tracy, as I'm alive! What on earth 
 brought you here this blustering day?"
 
 OF BRIBE HILL. 9 
 
 Tom laughed merrily as he bhook the 
 enow off and produced his bundle. 
 
 "I came to bring this bundle to you 
 from Colonel Blake. He wants it taken 
 lo the Express-office when you go over 
 to Centreville: he said you were going 
 to-day. " 
 
 "Why, yes, I did calculate to; but it's 
 such a terrible cold day I had about 
 given it up. However, one would think 
 I might ride over there if you could get 
 here afoot. Why, Tom, you are quite a 
 little hero!" 
 
 "Now, I'll bet a sixpence the shaver 
 don't know what that means," exclaimed 
 a young man who was lolling on the 
 counter, his heels dangling in front of it. 
 
 Tom coloured up at once. He was sure 
 he did know, only he couldn't put it into 
 words. 
 
 "I read once," he at length stammered
 
 20 
 
 out, "Low General Putnam was a hero 
 because he wasn't afraid to go into the 
 den where the wolf was; but I couldn'1 
 io thatl" 
 
 "Bravo, my little fellow!" shouted the 
 coarse-looking youth. "Who knows but 
 you will, when you are big enough? I 
 guess you've got some grit, anyhow!" 
 
 "Did you ever hear of any other hero?" 
 inquired a young man sitting by the stove, 
 who seemed much amused by Tom's reply. 
 
 "Yes, sir," said Tom, still blushing, 
 "My mother said the boy who wouldn't 
 tell a lie, when they threatened to kill 
 him if he didn't, was a true hero." 
 
 "So he was. And do you think you 
 could do that?" 
 
 Tom's eyes fell to the floor; for he re- 
 membered how he had told a lie once 
 only to savo himself from a very little 
 punishment.
 
 OF BRIER HILI. 21 
 
 "No, sir," he said, in a low voice. 
 
 "It often requires more courage to tell 
 She truth than to face a wolf," said the 
 young man. "Now-a-days we are not 
 very likely to meet with wolves, or 
 any other wild animals; but we all can 
 conquer our own evil passions, and so 
 become heroes, if we choose." 
 
 Tom's eyes lighted up, as if he felt the 
 truth conveyed in these words; and the 
 young man smiled, as he laid down the 
 paper he was reading, and said, in a low 
 voice, heard by no one else, 
 
 "We shall probably never meet again; 
 but, Tom, I hope you will be a hero." 
 
 Tom made no reply, unless the quick 
 flashing of his eye was one; and the 
 young man took up his paper. 
 
 Just then Tom remembered the dollar- 
 bill, and, going to the counter, said to Mr. 
 Parker,
 
 22 TOM TRACf 
 
 "ColcaeJ Blake gave me a dollar to 
 pay the Express-man, and said I might 
 take the change back to him." 
 
 "It will be fifty cents for a bundle of 
 that size," answered Mr. Parker; and, 
 while Tom was getting out his purse, he 
 added, "I think I will go over to Centre- 
 ville. It don't blow so hard as it did, 
 and the river-road won't be much drifted : 
 then, Tom, you can jump in and ride as 
 tar as the school-house with me." 
 
 This was joyful news ; and Tom thought, 
 "What a lucky boy I am to-day!" 
 
 But all of a sudden his face changed, 
 and he gave an exclamation which turned 
 all eyes on him. The dollar-bill was not 
 in his purse! No: he turned it inside 
 out, and shook it, and there was only the 
 two half-dollars, the ten-cent piece, and 
 the two cents. What could have become 
 of it 9 How could it have got out?
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 23 
 
 He examined his pocket, took every 
 thing out of it, turned that inside out, 
 and shook every part of his clothing, but 
 could find nothing. 
 
 Tom was not so much of a hero but 
 that his courage now gave way, and great 
 round tears rolled down his face. All the 
 people in the store gathered around him. 
 They all questioned him as to how he 
 came by the bill, where he had put it, 
 and where he had last seen it; and all 
 seemed full of sympathy for him in his 
 trouble. 
 
 "Oh, what will Colonel Blake think?" 
 sobbed Tom. " He told me to be sure and 
 bring the change back. Oh, what shall I 
 do? what shall I do?" 
 
 "But if you stopped at Dr. Wilson's 
 perhaps you left it there." 
 
 "Oh, no, I didn't. I remember putting 
 kt intc iny purse there."
 
 24 TOM TRJ.CY 
 
 " Have you taken out your p irse since?** 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 "Then it must be you left it there," 
 said the good-natured Mr. Parker. " Cheer 
 up, my little fellow. Worrying never 
 makes matters better." 
 
 "Yes, cheer up, and show yourself a 
 hero by bearing trouble bravely," said 
 the young man who had before spoken to 
 him. 
 
 "But I don't know what to do," cried 
 Tom, not feeling in the least heroic. "He 
 will think, perhaps, that I have taken it. 
 Oh, what shall I do?" 
 
 "I will tell you, my boy," said Mr. 
 Parker. "My horse is in the sleigh now, 
 and we will get in and ride over to the 
 doctor's and uee if you didn't lea~ T e it 
 there." 
 
 "Oh, thank you, sir," said the poor boy, 
 a gleam of hope brightening his face.
 
 OF BEIEK HILL. 25 
 
 They were soon in the sleigh, and, 
 though the wind still blew pretty sharply, 
 they reached Dr. Wilson's in comparative 
 comfort. Tom rushed into the house with- 
 out waiting for any thing, and cried out, 
 
 "Did I leave my dollar-bill here?" 
 
 "What dollar-bill?" asked the sur- 
 prised Mrs. Wilson; and when Tom had 
 told his story, she said she had seen 
 nothing of it, and thought it could not 
 be there. 
 
 This was sad news for Tom. "Oh," 
 he cried, the tears beginning to fall again, 
 "are you sure it isn't here? I know I 
 ,had it when I was here. I took it out 
 of the purse to put in the money you 
 gave me at the bottom; and then 1 
 thought I put it ba^k again. I neve r 
 took my purse out again till I reached 
 Mr. Parker's, and then it was gone." 
 
 It was a strange story: yet, as Mrs,
 
 2 TOM TEACY 
 
 Wi.son looked on the open, honest faco 
 of the boy, she could not doubt the truth 
 of it. Mr. Parker had by this time come 
 in, and search was made in every part of 
 the room for the missing bill, but in vain. 
 All were puzzled. How could it have got 
 lost on the way, if he had not taken the 
 purse out? and he was positive he had not. 
 
 Another search was made, every article 
 of furniture examined, every table moved 
 out, every cushion shaken and turned ; but 
 it all proved equally unavailing; and 
 again came the question, "What is to be 
 done?" 
 
 "I am afraid Colonel Blake will be a 
 little hard on the boy," said Mr. Parker. 
 "I had rather it had been any other man 
 in town: he's such a curious genius." 
 
 "Yes, he's peculiar, very, but not, on 
 the whole, a bad man, I think he given 
 away a good iesl."
 
 OP BRIER HILL. 27 
 
 ''I know it; but he never does it in a 
 pleasant way : he is always suspicious of 
 others, never feels any confidence in any- 
 body, and holds himself aloof, as if he 
 was better than the rest of the world." 
 
 "Well, everybody has his faults," said 
 good, charitable Mrs. Wilson, who nevei 
 could bear to speak evil of anybody. 
 
 "I'll tell you what I'll do," said Mr. 
 Parker, after a little pause. "I'll take 
 Tom over there in my sleigh, and settle 
 the matter the best way we can. It's a 
 singular affair, I must confess." 
 
 Mr. Parker was a good-natured man, 
 who had done many a kind act in the 
 course of his long life; but we doubt if 
 he ever did cne that made the receiver 
 more grateful than Tom Tracy was at 
 this moment. To have faced Colonel 
 Blake's stern eye alone without the bill, 
 would have been terrible; and, though
 
 28 TOM TRACT 
 
 his heart fluttered to think o^ doing it 
 even under the shelter of Mr. Parker's 
 presence, he felt greatly relieved, and 
 tried to find words to tell his friend how 
 glad he was. But he could not utter a 
 syllable, and only the srnile which shone 
 over his face through the tears, like a sun- 
 beam amid showers, revealed his feelings. 
 It was an uncomfortable ride over to 
 Colonel Blake's. For some time not a 
 word was spoken. Tom was busy think- 
 ing what he should say, and what Colonel 
 Blake would think, and how distressed 
 his mother would be, and had little dis- 
 position to talk. He remembered how 
 indignant he felt an hour ago at the bare 
 suspicion of his honesty, and now perhaps 
 he would really be regarded as a thief! 
 It was very dreadful, and he began to cry 
 again, but very quietly, with his head 
 under the buffalces.
 
 OF EBIER HILL. 29 
 
 But a comforting thought came, Lnd, 
 lifting up his head, he suddenly ex- 
 claimed, 
 
 "We shouldn't be troubled by whai 
 folks think, if we are not guilty, should 
 we, Mr. Parker? Mother always says, 
 if God knows we haven't done wrong, we 
 needn't feel bad, if other people do think 
 we have." 
 
 "That's it, my boy; that's it: if we 
 have a clear conscience, we can look 
 everybody straight in the face. Don't 
 be worried, Tom, if the colonel frets 
 some. I can't account for the bill's 
 getting away ; but I as much believe you 
 are an honest boy as I do that you sit 
 here; and I shall tell him so." 
 
 "Oh, thank you, sir." 
 
 "Now, mind, Tom, this comes of your 
 having a good name. I've known you 
 ever since vo" could walk alone, and I
 
 80 TOM TRACT 
 
 have always found you honest and truth- 
 ful: if I hadn't, I should perhaps think 
 there was something wrong about this, 
 seeing as how we can't very well explain 
 it. But I remember once you gave me 
 back five cents when I had made a 
 mistake; and when you sell any thing 
 berries, or chestnuts, or whatever it is 
 you always give good, honest measure, 
 no shirking, or trying to cheat: I've 
 noticed that; and a good name is worth 
 something to man or boy; remember 
 that." 
 
 Tom's face glowed with honest pleasure 
 at these words, and he remembered how 
 >ften his mother had told him that if he 
 was always upright and truthful it would 
 be of service to him in any doubtful case. 
 
 "My mother has taught me to be 
 honest, sir," said Tom, modestly. 
 
 "1 know that; I know that, Tom-
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 31 
 
 Inere isn't a better woman in a.) Rock- 
 field than widow Tracy. You've had a 
 good bringing up, and you ought to be 
 thankful for it." 
 
 "Yes, sir," said Tom, very proud to 
 hear his mother praised; for Tom was a 
 warm-hearted little fellow, and loved his 
 mother dearly. 
 
 They had now reached Colonel Blake's. 
 The horse was fastened, and Mr. Parker 
 and Tom walked up the yard. When 
 the former rang the bell, Tom's heart 
 came into his mouth with such a great 
 leap it almost stopped his breath, and the 
 time seemed very long before a servant- 
 girl opened the door. 
 
 "Is Colonel Blake at home?" 
 
 "Yes, sir. Will you walk into the 
 parlour? I will call him." And, aftei 
 shaking off the snow as well as thoy 
 could, they followed her.
 
 32 TOM TRACY 
 
 Never in all his life had Tom been in 
 a room half so elegant as this; and if his 
 mind had been more at ease, ' J it would 
 have greatly delighted him to see such 
 beautiful carpet, chairs and sofas, and, 
 above all, the books and the beautiful 
 pictures hanging on the walls in splendid 
 frames. Even as it was, he couldn't help 
 thinking, as he sat down before the fire, 
 how nice that marble hearth looked, with 
 its shining brass fender and tall andirons 
 as bright as gold. 
 
 At first he supposed no one was in 
 the room; but he soon saw a young lady 
 sitting in the recess by the window, 
 partly concealed by its crimson curtains. 
 She had looked up as they entered the 
 room, and slightly bowed to Mr. Parker, 
 and tl en returned to her reading. Tom 
 could not help looking at her again and 
 again, thinking, each time, he had nevei
 
 OF BRIER HILL. ^ 
 
 seen anybody half so beautiful before. 
 She made him think of the ladies he had 
 read about in fairy -books, as she sat 
 there leaning her head on her delicate 
 hand, with a shawl of bright, rich colours 
 thrown about her. But he forgot her. 
 and his heart throbbed violently, when he 
 heard footsteps in the hall. Indeed, had 
 he been the criminal he was afraid of 
 being considered, he could hardly have 
 /ooked more frightened. 
 
 Few persons felt at ease with Colonel 
 Blake, and, indeed, there were very few in 
 the village with whom he associated on 
 terms of equality. His manners were for- 
 mal, and, though courteous, he was always 
 dignified and distant. After exchanging 
 the usual salutations, and a remark or 
 two upon the weather Mr. Parker said, 
 
 " You sent over a bundle to me by thi 
 lad this morning."
 
 TOM TBACY 
 
 The colonel bowed his head. 
 
 "He brought it to me, but on looking 
 in his purse found he had lost the bill 
 you sent by him: so I thought I would 
 stop here with him and tell you about it." 
 
 Tom saw those cold, stern eyes look' 
 ing over the spectacles at him, and felt 
 that the soft brown eyes of the young 
 lady were also raised to his face. 
 
 " I considered it very imprudent at the 
 time to give the bill to him. Few lads 
 are honest enough to be trusted with 
 money, Mr. Parker." 
 
 "But, Colonel Blake, I haven't a doubt 
 of Tom's honesty. He lost the bill." 
 
 Again the soft eyes of the young lady 
 were raised. 
 
 "Pardon me; but will you relate the 
 circumstances of the case?" 
 
 And Mr. Parker, conscious that they 
 were not such as to ir.sure his hearel's
 
 OF BBIEK HILL. 3d 
 
 faith in lam, told the story rather 
 bunglingly. 
 
 "Very remarkable, certainly. I under- 
 stand you to say the lad never took out 
 the purse after he put the bill in it at 
 Dr. Wilson's, till he reached your store, 
 and then it was gone. Very remarkable, 
 indeed! You can scarcely expect me to 
 believe this story," he said, with a signi- 
 ficant smile. 
 
 His eye and voice, far more than his 
 words, conveyed a conviction of the lad's 
 dishonesty. 
 
 "But I have always known Tom Tracy 
 from his birth, Colonel Blake, and his 
 mother too. I don't believe there's an 
 honester boy in town; and all the neigh- 
 bours will tell you so." 
 
 "Probably he had never been so se- 
 verely tempted before. There must be a 
 first ime, you know, sir," said the colonel,
 
 36 TOM TRACY 
 
 m that same stern tone. "I am sorry, 
 young lad, to find you beginning to walk 
 the downward path so early. Com- 
 mencing a career of crime now, what can 
 you expect to become at middle age? 
 You will doubtless end your days in a 
 State's prison, or on the gallows!" 
 
 To be th'.is summarily convicted and 
 sentenced without any chance for self- 
 defence, so frightened poor Tom that he 
 turned deadly pale; and, though he tried 
 to speak, his lips only quivered without 
 giving any sound. 
 
 "It is rather hard on an honest boy, I 
 think, Colonel Blake," said Mr. Parker, 
 in a somewhat excited tone, "to take it foi 
 granted he is guilty. Even the law hold* 
 a man innocent till he is proved guilty, 
 and in this case there is not a shadow of 
 proof; and the child's good character, 
 aurely, she uld have some weight.' '
 
 OF BRIEJi HILL, 37 
 
 "There is, it appears to me, Mr. 
 Parker, -excuse me for differing from 
 you, but I say there appears to me to be 
 very strong circumstantial evidence that 
 ne is guilty. He received the bill. He 
 confesses that he had it at Dr. Wilson's; 
 and, then, on reaching your store it is gone 
 by whose agency, or by what means, 
 he does not pretend to explain. You 
 must be credulous indeed, Mr. Parker, to 
 believe him innocent in the face of facts 
 like these." 
 
 "I do believe it," said Mr. Parker, 
 emphatically, (who was a very quick- 
 tempered man.) "I no more i/hink he 
 stole it than I think I did. Here's 
 another dollar to make your loss good, 
 and here's your bundle. I sha'n't go 
 over to Centreville to-day, and, if I did, 
 I might lose your bindle, and then you'd 
 
 think I stole it." 
 
 i
 
 38 TOM TEACY 
 
 A heightened colour on Colonel Blake's 
 pale, thin cheek showed that his temper waa 
 also moved; but his voice retained all its 
 suavity, as he said, refusing the bill with 
 a graceful gesture, 
 
 "No, sir: I prefer not to take it. I, of 
 course, have no feeling with regard to my 
 own loss; nor am I accustomed to bring 
 unfounded accusations against my neigh- 
 bours. In this case, I think the lad 
 should be so punished that he will be pre- 
 vented from continuing his evil practices 
 in future. His mother ought certainly to 
 know of it; and, if she is the honest woman 
 you represent her to be, she will probably 
 compel him to earn the money and replace 
 it himself." 
 
 Tom's heart swelled at the mention of 
 his mother, and great tears brimmed hia 
 eyes, but none fell. It was a look of 
 sweet pity and tenderness which the
 
 OF BKIER HILL. 39 
 
 young lady in the window cast upon the 
 poor boy, and her voice was very low and 
 gentle, as she said, 
 
 "Come to me a moment, my little 
 fellow." 
 
 Tom sprang to her side. "Oh, I didn't 
 take it I" he cried, his courage coming 
 back at that kind look: "I don't know 
 where it is, any more than you do. I 
 wouldn't steal it for all the world!" And 
 he sobbed violently, as the young lady 
 put her arm round him and drew him to 
 her side. 
 
 "God sees every thing," she said, very 
 gently: "he knows whether you speak 
 the truth or not." 
 
 "Oh, yes, ma'am: he knows I didn't 
 take it," he said, looking up eagerly into 
 her face, still choking with sobs. 
 
 "I believe you, Tom," she said, wiping 
 away the tears with her handko/jhief: "I
 
 40 TOM TEACT 
 
 believe you speak the truth and God 
 will keep you from all harm." And tears 
 stood in her own eyes. 
 
 Few dared to contradict Colonel Blake; 
 but Alice Ray was a favourite niece of his, 
 and report said that, stern as he was, he 
 never could resist her gentle pleadings. 
 She had now been with him some weeks 
 on a visit; and those who knew how full 
 of love and tenderness her nature was, 
 could understand the secret of her power 
 over a man usually so cold and proud, and 
 why he never could find it in his heart 
 to be angry with her. 
 
 Alice Kay was no beautiful princess, like 
 those described in fairy-tales ; but she was 
 something far better, a warm-hearted, 
 loving, Christian girl, whose soul went out 
 in pitying love to the most helpless and 
 guilty, because Jesus loves and pities 
 them. Like her Master, she loved little
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 41 
 
 yhildren, and would fain have blessed 
 them always, as he did when on earth. 
 So, when she saw Tom's great sorrow, she 
 loved him, and longed to comfort him by 
 a kind word, if nothing more 
 
 The colonel apparently took no notice 
 of what was going on at the window ; yet 
 he said to Mr. Parker, "There are some 
 who know too little of the world to think 
 evil of anybody." 
 
 "Confound your knowledge of the 
 world 1" thought Mr. Parker; but, rising, 
 he said, aloud, "I am sorry we can't think 
 alike on this point, Colonel Blake; but, 
 as we do not, we will go home. I trust 
 you will some day be convinced of your 
 mistake." 
 
 "I should be most happy to find myself 
 mistaken," replied the colonel, with a 
 look which said he was quite suie he 
 never should. 
 
 4*
 
 4 TOM TEACY 
 
 Miss Ray whispered some kind words 
 to Tom, ani they came away. 
 
 " Get into the sleigh, Tom, aad I'll take 
 you home," said Mr. Parker, when they 
 were fairly out of the house. "It's blow- 
 ing very hard, and you a'n't fit to walk 
 through these drifts." And he tucked the 
 buffaloes around the child, muttering to 
 himself, "I'm glad I haven't got that 
 man's heart! I wouldn't be such a piece 
 of cold, smooth iron as he is, for all he's 
 worth, the old, hard-hearted tyrant that 
 he is!" 
 
 Great was Mrs. Tracy's surprise at 
 seeing Tom brought home at this unusual 
 hour. Her first thought was, "Some acci- 
 dent has befallen him !" but her fears were 
 relieved when she saw him spring out of 
 the sleigh and run into the house. 
 
 Little Mary crowed with delight, and 
 trotted to the dror to meet him.
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 43 
 
 The explanation which followed made 
 the mother's heart anxious. A sharp 
 pang shot through it, as she asked herself, 
 " Can he have taken it?" She had never 
 known him take any thing which did not 
 belong to him ; but she knew he was very 
 far from perfect, and might fall under 
 strong temptation. 
 
 " Thomas, my boy, come here," she said, 
 "and tell me all about it, just how it 
 was." And she stroked the curls back 
 from his forehead, and looked down into 
 his clear eyes with the deep insight of a 
 mother's vision. Tom met that steady 
 gaze promptly, fearlessly; and as he 
 went on telling her, minutely, all that had 
 taken place, she felt sure he was speaking 
 the truth. A silent, joyful thanksgiving 
 went upwards from her heart; for, let 
 what would ccme, poverty, suspicion , loss 
 of fiiends, she could bear it all and giv
 
 44 TOM TRACY 
 
 thanks, so that her precious boy was but 
 honest and truthful. 
 
 She was very grateful for Mr. Parker's 
 kindness, but declined receiving the dollaj 
 he wished to leave to replace the one 
 which had been lost. 
 
 "I will wait a day or two," she said, 
 "and, if nothing is heard from it, I will go 
 over myself and see Colonel Blake and 
 pay him. It is very hard to be accused of 
 theft; but I think those who know Tom 
 will at least be slow to suspect him of it. 
 I feel sure we shall find some trace of the 
 bill, and, in the mean time, I will keep 
 quiet and hope for the best. If I thought," 
 she added, her voice trembling with emo- 
 tion, "if I thought he had done it, it 
 would break my heart! yes, it would 
 break my heart 1" And she burst into 
 tears. 
 
 Oh, how solemnly Tom vowed to him-
 
 OF BRIBE HILL. 45 
 
 self that lie never, never would break her 
 heart 1 
 
 Mr. Parker wiped his eyes. "Yes," 
 said he, "there's no trouble like having 
 our children o wrong. But Tom, here, 
 I am sure, won't bring that trouble on 
 his mother." 
 
 " I hope not. He is, on the whole, a 
 pretty good boy, and a great comfort to 
 me." 
 
 "Yes, yes: we all think a great deal of 
 Tom; and I don't believe any man who 
 has a spark of human feeling in him will 
 believe he was to blame in this business. 
 I don't, for one!" And the kind-hearted 
 man rose to go. 
 
 "You have done me a service money 
 could never purchase ; and I know not how 
 to thank you," said the poor widow, whose 
 heart was full. "Yon have defended my 
 poor boy's character and stood by him in
 
 6 TOM TBACY 
 
 the hour of need. The blessing of th. 
 widow and the fatherless will le with 
 you." 
 
 Mr. Parker felt a choking in his throat, 
 and, though he gave several loud hems, he 
 couldn't find his voice: so, giving the 
 mother's hand a hearty shake, and nodding 
 his head at Tom, he entered his sleigh 
 and rode off. 
 
 "I declare," the good man said to his 
 wife that night, (after they had been dis- 
 cussing the matter and he had given vent 
 to his indignation against "that confounded 
 old iron-hearted colonel," by calling him 
 all the hard names he could think of,) "I 
 mean to see more of that widow Tracy. 
 They must be very poor there : every thing 
 looks like it about the house. I don't be- 
 lieve there's wood enough drawn up to last 
 a month. I gaess I'll just let the men 
 draw her over a good load when the road?
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 4? 
 
 are broken a little. It won't hurt us to 
 give a poor widow a little lift now and 
 then: eh, wife?" 
 
 "No, indeed: we don't think half 
 enough about the poor," said the old lady, 
 wiping her spectacles. "How they must 
 suffer, such weather as this! If we can 
 scarcely keep comfortable with our wood- 
 house full of good, dry wood, what must 
 they do, with scarcely a stick to burn?" 
 And she put on her spectacles, knitting 
 away faster than ever; for those large, 
 warm stockings were for a rheumatic old 
 woman at the poor-house. 
 
 "I mean to keep an eye on that boy: 
 he's a smart little chap, any way. There 
 isn't many boys would have thought they 
 could get over here in this terrible blow 
 to earn a shilling, -which, by the way, he 
 never got, confound that old fellow's 
 meanness' I can't bear to see a child
 
 48 
 
 TOM TRACY 
 
 abused; I never could. But Tom sha'n't 
 suffer by this : nobody will believe he took 
 that money : -it don't look rational. Aa 
 if nobody ever lost a bill before!" And 
 lie gave the logs a great punch, which sent 
 thousands of sparks flashing and crackling 
 np the chimney.
 
 OF BBIER HILL. 49 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 EVENING CONVERSATION. 
 
 THE mother and son were sitting alone 
 in the cottage on Brier Hill that night, for 
 little Mary had long been sound asleep. 
 
 The fierce wintry blast howled around 
 the dwelling, and then went roaring down 
 the hill, while the forest-trees creaked and 
 moaned as if a legion of evil spirits had 
 taken possession of them. But there was 
 peace in the widow's heart. She trusted 
 in God, and therefore feared no evil. She 
 had experienced tco much of his fatherly 
 kindness, even in the midst of trials, to 
 doubt his love ; and, though she was some- 
 what saddened by the event of the day,
 
 50 TOM fEAOT 
 
 she believed her boy's innocence would 
 eventually be proved, and so she possessed 
 her soul in patience. 
 
 Not so with Tom. He was a boy with 
 all a boy's impetuosity ; and he could not 
 brook injustice. He was honest and truth- 
 ful and warm-hearted. His besetting sin 
 was anger; and not all his mother's teach' 
 ings had given him self-control: so, though 
 he loved her dearly, he often pained her by 
 his outbursts of passion. It was so to- 
 night. He could not think of Colonel 
 Blake without a torrent of angry feeling 
 rushing through his heart; and he could 
 think and talk of nothing else. 
 
 "If I ever live to be a man, I'll make 
 him sorry for this ! I will 1" he exclaimed, 
 his eyes flashing and his cheeks crimson- 
 ing 1 "He has no business to tell me I 
 lie and steal, when everybody knows I 
 don't!"
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 51 
 
 "Be quiet, my child. He certainly did 
 very wrong; but there is no use in your 
 keeping yourself excited about it. You 
 must learn to forgive those who persecute 
 you and despitefully use you, or you can 
 never hope to be forgiven. You are a great 
 comfort to me, Tom, you are so willing to 
 help me, and so kind to me and to your 
 little sister. I don't know how I could 
 get along a single day without you. But 
 your violent temper keeps me in constant 
 anxiety. I am really afraid you will do 
 something dreadful one of these days, un- 
 less you gain some self-control. How 
 often you have promised you would try tc 
 keep your temper in subjection! and yel 
 you fly into a paasion at every provoca- 
 tion." 
 
 "I know it, mother; but I can't help it 
 I can't help getting angry." 
 
 " Do you try to help it, my child?"
 
 52 TOM TEACT 
 
 "Yes, I do, mother; I reaDy do, some- 
 times. Some mornings I think, 'Now, to- 
 day I won't get angry, let what will come: 
 I will be just as good and pleasant as a 
 lamb all day long;' but then something is 
 sure to come along and upset it all, and, 
 before I have time to think, 1 am just 
 as angry as I can be. I can't help it, be- 
 cause, you see, it comes before I know it." 
 
 "Weli, Tom, if you have learned one 
 truth, that you can't control your temper 
 yourself, you ought also to learn another, 
 and one of the most blessed truths con- 
 tained in the Bible, that there is a 
 Helper, one who can always enable U8 
 to do right and to feel right." 
 
 "I know what you mean. You think 
 that Christ could. But I don't believe 
 be can, mother; that is, I don't believe 
 he is thinking about a boy like me. If I 
 were a man, it might be different, "
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 53 
 
 Mrs. Tracy sighed. She kne^v that just 
 this kind of infidelity was lying at the 
 root of most of the crimes and miseries 
 of the world, this want of belief in 
 Christ's presence with us individually, in 
 his interest in us, his love for us, his 
 willingness and ability to help us at all 
 times and in all places. 
 
 "Yes, he is thinking about you," she 
 answered. "Jesus was once a little boy 
 himself. There was a time when he was 
 just as old as you are now, just ten years 
 old.' It is because he became a man a 
 child that he has so deep a sympathy with 
 children. He is brought near to them. 
 ' He was in all points tempted like as we 
 are,' as you are, 'but without sin." 1 
 
 "But I don't think " Torn began, 
 
 and then, stopped abruptly. 
 
 "Don't think what, my child?" 
 
 "I am afraid you will th'nk it is wic'ceti 
 
 6*
 
 54 TOM TLACY 
 
 to say it; but I was thinking I didn't 
 believe he was ever charged with stealing 
 when he was a boy." 
 
 "If he was not wrongfully accused 
 then, it was the only portion of his life in 
 which he escaped. He was aJ the time 
 charged with bad deeds he never com- 
 mitted and which his whole soul abhorred. 
 Yet he never became angry. He endured 
 the contradiction of sinners against himself. 
 How meekly he bore all these accusations ! 
 How ready he always was to do them good 
 instead of evil! Oh, Tom, my dsar boy, 
 if you could only have something of 
 Christ's spirit in your heart! and he can 
 help you to have such feelings such holy, 
 forgiving, blessed feelings as he himself 
 had. Nobody else can do that. I can do 
 a great deal for you, but I can't reach your 
 heart and put right feelings there; but 
 Jjsus can, and he will, if you wish him
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 55 
 
 to. He loves cnildren, and wants them 
 to be happy; but he knows they never 
 can be happy while sinning. Why do 
 you think he forbids you to be angry?" 
 
 "Because it is wrong, I suppose." 
 
 "Yes, because it is wrong, and also 
 because such evil passions will make you 
 very miserable. He wants you to be 
 good that you may be happy; for he 
 knows you never can be happy in any 
 other way. You know yourself you are 
 not happy when your heart is full of anger 
 and hatred and revenge." 
 
 " No, not very, though sometimes there 
 seems to be a kind of pleasure in it, too." 
 
 "Not much ; not by any means so much 
 as in feeling pleasantly and kindly to 
 every one. When your anger has die<l 
 away, and you love me and. love little 
 Mary ani love everybody, you are aa 
 happy as a bir-d, and can sing almost aa
 
 56 TOM TB1CY 
 
 merrily as a robin or a bob-o-link. You 
 never sing when you are angry." 
 
 " Why, I never thought of that before, 
 -but I don't." 
 
 "No, nor are you ever very happy 
 you are so made that you cant be happy 
 when your heart is full of evil passions, 
 But a very blessed, sweet feeling comes 
 into our souls when we heartily forgive 
 those who have wronged us, and try to do 
 them good instead of evil. I want you 
 to know how sweet this feeling is, by your 
 own experience." 
 
 Tom looked at the stove very earnestly, 
 as if in deep thought; but he said nothing. 
 
 "I want you to remember, Tom, when 
 you are tempted to be angry, that Jesus 
 Christ loves you, and will heir you to do 
 right if you ask him. Perhaps at the time 
 you can't go away by yourself and pray; 
 out you can lift up a silent petition for
 
 0? BEIER HI1L. 57 
 
 help ; and tie will hear the faint-jst breath- 
 ing of the soul, wherever you are or 
 however many may be about you. I want 
 you to think of Christ as a helper; for 
 such he really is, -just such a helper as 
 we all need through our whole lives." 
 
 Eight o'clock was Tom's bedtime; and 
 every night Mrs. Tracy kneeled down with 
 him beside her, to ask God's blessing 
 before they slept, and afterwards they 
 sang a hymn. Mrs. Tracy had a remark- 
 ably sweet voice, and Tom sang quite well 
 for one so young. It was one of his great 
 pleasures to sing this evening hymn, 
 especially when the tune was one in which 
 he could make a good deal ol noise; but 
 to-night his heart was tender, and, when 
 his mother thanked God for his kind care 
 that day, and then besought him to forgive 
 all their sins and .help them to forgive
 
 68 TOM TRACY 
 
 those who had injured them, and to make 
 their hearts gentle and patient and loving, 
 even as Christ's was, he tried to follow 
 the words, and to feel them, so as to make 
 the prayer his own. He was glad to sing 
 one of his hymns that night, that is, one 
 he had learned at the Sabbath-school, to 
 the sweet tune of Greenville. It was 
 this: 
 
 " Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, 
 
 Once became a child like me: 
 Oh that in my whole behaviour 
 He my pattern still might be 1 
 
 "All my nature is unholy; 
 
 Pride and passion dwell within ; 
 But the Lord was meek and lowly, 
 And was never known to sin. 
 
 " While I'm often vainly trying 
 
 Some new treasure to possess, 
 He was always self-denying, 
 Patient in his worst distress. 
 
 "Often I shall be forgetful 
 
 Of the lessons he has taught, 
 Idle, passionate and fretful, 
 Or indulging foolish thought.
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 59 
 
 " Then permit me not to harden 
 
 In my sin and be content, 
 
 But bestow a gracious pardom 
 
 And assist me to repent." 
 
 Toin kissed his mother good-night very 
 affectionately ; for the evil passions 13 ad 
 now all gone from his heart; and then he 
 went up to his room. 
 
 It was a very small one, under the roof. 
 It was not nicely plastered ; but the walls 
 were of rough boards, and these not 
 tightly put together, so that the snow 
 sifted in at the cracks, and to-night a 
 little pile lay right on Tom's pillow; but 
 he was used to such things, and only 
 laughed as he brushed it away. It was 
 pretty cold in his bed at first; but then 
 how warm it grew, and how snug and 
 cosy he felt lying there under the warm 
 blankets, while the doors creaked, the 
 windows rattled and the fDundation 
 shook!
 
 60 TOM TEACY 
 
 It was a wild night even for B/ier 
 Hill; but, amid the fury of the elements. 
 a fair vision rose before the fatherless 
 child: the soft, pitying eyes of Alice Ray 
 gaztl upon him, and the gentle tones 01 
 her voice floated like music on the air, 
 mingling with the wild roaring of the 
 blast, till he was wrapt in sleep and 
 pleasant dreams. 
 
 And when the delicately-nurtured 
 maiden went to her room that night, a 
 room filled with light and warmth and 
 every comfort which wealth and taste 
 could furnish, she too thought of the 
 poor child whose eyes had been lifted to 
 her's so pleadingly, and her heart yea?ned 
 over him with love and tenderness. "li 
 I could only do something for thai pool 
 boy," she thought, "and for thai good 
 mother of his 1 I wonder if I can be oi 
 service to them in any way?"
 
 OP BRIES HILL. 61 
 
 And when she kneeled to ask God's 
 blessing on her own soul, she prayed that 
 his love might bless that fatherless one 
 and keep him from all evil and make 
 him his own obedient, trusting child. 
 
 And, while the wild night- wind swept 
 in its mighty strength far over hill and 
 valley, God's eye kept watch alike over 
 the luxurious couch of the fair maiden 
 and the hard, rude pallet of the boy.
 
 TOM TRACY 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE BEAUTIFUL MORNING. 
 
 A GLORIOUS morning succeeded that 
 tempestuous night. Tom opened the out- 
 side door just as the sun was rising; and 
 around and below him, far as the eye 
 could reach, lay the hills and valleys, all 
 calm and silent, as if no breath of the 
 storm-king had ever reached them. How 
 beautiful the snow was, lying everywhere, 
 on hill, meadow and forest, piled up 
 in all kinds of fantastic shapes, each fair 
 and lovely as if formed by the hand of 
 ait! As if formed by art! When did art 
 ever mould images half so pure and ei- 
 quisite as lay grouped tog( ther on yonder
 
 OF BRIBE HIH k 63 
 
 hill-side, or carve any thing so light and 
 graceful as the wreaths on those old hem- 
 locks, or the feathery sprays that drooped 
 from every little flower-stalk at their 
 feet? The light fingers of Titania herself, 
 with all her fairy troop, could have fash- 
 ioned nothing so instinct with true poetic 
 grace and beauty. The wind had not 
 been at work all that long winter night 
 for nothing; no, indeed! He had 
 whirled the snow aloft, and borne it 
 along, and laid it down just where it 
 would show to the best advantage; and 
 now the whole world looked fair and 
 lovely as a bride in her marriage-robes. 
 Its pure garment of unsullied snow flashed 
 and sparkled as if countless diamonds 
 were scattered over it; and above all this 
 fair, silent expanse of stainless white bent 
 the char, gray sky, now brightening iu 
 the east into soft, purple tints.
 
 64 TOM TRACY 
 
 Tom was not exactly poetical; yei 
 something in his boyish nature was 
 touched by this scene, and his heart was 
 lighter and braver all day for this morning 
 glance at the Creator's wonderful works. 
 Nay, more: such pictures drawn on the 
 heart of the child remain there oftentimes 
 through all coming years; and, let him 
 wander where he will, he will be a differ- 
 ent man from what he would have been 
 without them. 
 
 Whether he was poetical or not, Tom 
 was certainly practical ; and he had a great 
 deal to do this cold morning. He had 
 already built the fire, and had come out 
 for a pail of water. The handle of the 
 chain-pump made his hands tingle as he 
 briskly turned it rourd and round, the 
 door-latch froze to his fingers; and even 
 the bail of the tea-kettle gave them a grip 
 as he took it up from its resting-place
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 65 
 
 under the sink. But Tom didn't mind 
 these things. He had made a glowing fire 
 in the stove, which snapped and roared as 
 if it meant to thaw out the whole town. 
 
 Tom's mother heard it in the bedroom, 
 and sighed to think how rapidly her little 
 stock of wood would melt away in such 
 weather; but she couldn't blame the boy. 
 No : she was thankful that he could not 
 feel as she did the pressure of poverty; 
 and she determined not to throw a shadow 
 over his buoyant spirit. 
 
 "Mother, the room is pretty warm now," 
 Tom called out, cheerily, as he took the 
 milk-pail on his arm, " an I the tea-kettle 
 is on, and the potatoes are in the oven." 
 And, happy as a lark, he waded out to 
 the barn, to see how good old Brindle had 
 passed the night. 
 
 There the faithful creature stood, meekly 
 chewing her cud; and, i she had had a
 
 66 TOM TEACY 
 
 pooi nigat of it, or had lain cold, she 
 made no complaint, but turned her pa- 
 tient eyes towards Tom, as if very glad to 
 see him He threw down some hay be- 
 fore her, and soon finished milking. This 
 same old Brindle was one of the main sup- 
 ports of the family, tenderly cherished 
 and beloved. She not only gave milk and 
 butter enough for their own use, but a good 
 deal more, which they exchanged for other 
 necessaries. Tom always took the best, 
 care of her, and really loved the patient 
 animal, which he had driven to the pas- 
 ture and milked and fed almost ever since 
 he could go alone. 
 
 The speckled rooster flapped his wings 
 and crowed as Tom went through the yard, 
 and every hen cackled a " good-moi rang" 
 to him; and, though there was only a, little 
 corn left, Tom couldn't help shelling 
 ears an<7 throwing it out to them.
 
 OF BKIE3, HILL. 67 
 
 Some boys a great many, in fact 
 would have considered it quite a hardship 
 to go out by sunrise such a cold morning ; 
 but we don't believe those who dressed 
 themselves in warm rooms and came 
 directly down to breakfast were any hap- 
 pier than Tom; for that frosty air was as 
 clear as crystal, and it made the blood 
 flow quickly through his veins, till his 
 heart danced as light as a feather under 
 the blue frock which he always wore when 
 about his work. How warm the kitchen 
 felt when he went in, and how cheerful 
 and pleasant it looked, with the bright 
 morning sun streaming m at the windows ! 
 His mother was up and dressed, and so 
 was little Mary, and, indeed, breakfast 
 was nearly ready, when Tom went whis- 
 tling in. Little Mary was the delight of 
 Tom's heart; and a rosier- cheeked, bluer- 
 eyed little darling could not have been
 
 68 TOM TRACY 
 
 founc. the country over, in palace or in 
 cottage. It vras such good fun to play 
 with her that Tom had forgotten there 
 was such a tiling as cold in the world, 
 when his mother called them to the -table. 
 
 How white and hot and mealy the 
 baked potatoes were ' and what a pile of 
 toast there was ! To be sure, it was of rye 
 and Indian bread ; but Tom pronounced it 
 "real good," for all that, and little Mary 
 clapped her hands when he cut some of it 
 into little morsels and put them into her 
 rosy mouth. 
 
 "Somehow, I feel as if this would be a 
 good day, mother," said Tom, in the joy 
 of his heart. "I don't care very much 
 now for what Colonel Blake thinks or 
 says: I know Miss Alice don't think I 
 took it; and ] don't believe anybody else 
 WL : do you?" 
 
 "I hope not. Still, it is very strange
 
 OF BRIER E ILL, 69 
 
 where the bill has gone; and I should be 
 very glad if it could \.<e found. I ex- 
 amined every article of your clothing last 
 night, to see if it had not slipped into 
 some seam or corner; but I couldn't find 
 it." 
 
 "Well, mother, one thing I know: I 
 sha'n't do another errand for Colonel Blake 
 very soon." 
 
 "He probably won't wish you to," said 
 his mother, smiling. 
 
 "I'm glad I a'n't rich, if I'd have to be 
 as mean and hateful as he is." 
 
 "Now, Tom, don't work up another fit 
 of anger." 
 
 "No: I don't mean to. I am not going 
 to be angry to-day, even once." 
 
 "Don't be too confident. You are very 
 apt to break such strong resolutions, you 
 know." 
 
 "But if I think of Miss Alice Ray I
 
 70 TOM TRACY 
 
 guess it will help me to be good. Ok, 
 mother, you can't think how kind and 
 beautiful she is!" 
 
 " I havo heard she is very lovely and 
 very good; but she is sick a great deal of 
 the time, and people are afraid she will 
 never be well again." 
 
 "Oh, mother, I don't believe that. I 
 don't think anybody so good and beauti- 
 ful as she is will be always sick or 
 or " 
 
 "Die? Alas! my dear, many a one 
 just as lovely and as much beloved as she 
 has sickened." 
 
 "But I don't think it would be right to 
 have her die: do you?" 
 
 "Yes; if God wants her in the other 
 world. He loves her very tenderly; and 
 if he tikes her away it will be to make 
 her still more good and beautiful in 
 heaven, where Christ is, and VI the holy
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 71 
 
 angels. You would think it was ri^ht for 
 him to make her as happy as possible: 
 wouldn't you?" 
 
 But death seemed so sad and dreadful 
 to the warm heart of the child that he 
 did not like to think of it; and, though 
 after breakfast his mother read that beau- 
 tiful chapter in Revelation about the 
 streets of pure gold and the gates of 
 pearl, Tom could not think of Miss Alice 
 Ray's dying, without a heavy weight at 
 his heart. 
 
 Then came the prayer; and again, 
 when his mother besought God to bless 
 them and be with them that day, to for- 
 give their sins and to give them right 
 desires and help them to prepare for a 
 happy life with him in heaven, Tom tried 
 to make the words his cwn as well as he 
 could, and remembered that there was 
 One to help him to feel right. Would
 
 72 TOM TRACY 
 
 Jesus really come to him and help him to 
 do right? How very wonderful it was! 
 
 There were many chores (as Tom called 
 them) to do before school-time : the wood- 
 box to be filled, more water to be brought, 
 the cow to be fed again, the milk to be 
 thawed and carried to the pig, and a path 
 to be made through the drift to the gate. 
 Tom had to be very busy; and he had 
 scarcely time to think of any thing till half- 
 past eight, when he took off his frock, 
 washed his face and hands, brushed his 
 hair nicely, tied on a clean collar, and, 
 after giving Mary a good hug, set off foi 
 school with his dinner-pail in his hand. 
 
 Nothing happened that day on the road. 
 When Tom went by Colonel Blake's and 
 began to feel angry at the thought of him, 
 he saw Miss Alice's face at the window, ana 
 knew by her smile that she saw him too. 
 This drove 9 11 evil thoughts away; and as
 
 OF BRIER HII L. 
 
 73 
 
 he walked on he thought of her, a^d of 
 how she might be sick, and some day go 
 away to be with the angels, 1. 11 he forgot 
 himself and the ill treatment he had re- 
 ceived.
 
 74 TOM TRACT 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 SUDDEN CALAMITY. 
 
 "HURRAH! hurrah 1" shouted the boy a 
 about the school-house. ' ' Here comes Tom 
 Tracy! Now for the snow-balls!" And at 
 it they went, laughing and shouting, and 
 pelting each other, and dodging as well as 
 they could the well-aimed shots that came 
 from every direction. 'Twas rare sport; 
 and, though the atmosphere was some de- 
 grees below zero, not a boy among them 
 but was thoroughly warmed with the 
 healthful exeicise by the time " the mas- 
 ter" came in sight. 
 
 Tom was ouite a favourite among his 
 school -fellows, as such widr -awake boys
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 75 
 
 are apt to be; but his hot, hasty temper 
 sometimes involved him in tiouble. He 
 would get angry, and scold, and even 
 fight, and yet be as friendly as ever in 
 half an hour. But some of the other 
 boys could not so easily forget and "make 
 up." One, especially, John Jackson, 
 was always teasing Tom and making him 
 angry; and their numerous little quarrels 
 had finally produced settled dislike on 
 both sides. 
 
 John's father kept a store, and hence he 
 considered himself entitled to look down 
 on a "washerwoman's son," and, indeed, 
 on all the farmer-boys; and the airs he 
 gave himself made him very ridiculous. 
 John was to be pitied; for he had no 
 mother to teach him better. She had died 
 before John was old enough to remember 
 her; and the housekeeper found it easier 
 to flattrc him than to correct his faults;
 
 76 TOM TRACT 
 
 and, being a low, vulgar woman, she could 
 hardly be expected to teach him proper 
 behaviour; and his father was too much 
 engrossed in business to give him much 
 attention. 
 
 Tom's fist was always ready for action; 
 and when John began to ask him, "Where 
 did you get such fancy slippers?" or, 
 "What do you have for carrying clothes to 
 the wash-tub?" and such like low, coarse 
 questions, he would get angry in a minute, 
 and fly upon him. If Tom had paid no 
 attention to these foolish questions and 
 showed that he cared nothing about them, 
 all would have been well enough, and John 
 would soon have ceased to tease him; but 
 Tom had yet to acquire that truest and 
 noblest courage which can patiently bear 
 wrong and quietly live down an insult. 
 John was a stout, heavy-moulded boy, 
 two years older than Tom ; but Tom was
 
 OF BEiEE HILL. 77 
 
 so rnuch nimbler and more active that he 
 often got the better of him in a hand-to- 
 hand encounter; and, as the other boys alJ 
 stood ready to urge Tom on, and loudly 
 applauded his successes, Tom had come to 
 feel quite proud of his courage, and rathei 
 sought than avoided these foolish contests. 
 
 For some reason, John Jackson was not 
 at school this morning; but before the 
 afternoon session commenced he appeared, 
 walking round with his hands in his 
 pockets, in his usual self-conceited way. 
 Tom had really tried to be good all day, 
 and had several times thought of his reso- 
 lution in season to prevent himself from 
 going into a passion; and, when he saw 
 John coming, he eaid to himself, "Now, I 
 won't get angry, let John be ever so pro- 
 voking." But he fcrgot to ask foi help, 
 and his own heart was weak. 
 
 As soon as John spied him, he called out, 
 
 7
 
 78 TOM TRACY 
 
 " Ha, Tom Tracy ! so you vt coine to 
 school to-day? / know why you didn't 
 corne yesterday! pretty business you've 
 been in!" 
 
 " What was it?" "And why didn't you 
 come?" cried the other boys, who had 
 supposed the storm had kept him at home. 
 
 "I guess he won't tell you ; but I will. 
 He stole a dollar-bill from Colonel Blake; 
 and that's why he didn't come." 
 
 "Stole!" "From whom?" "How?" "I 
 don't believe it!" "What do you mean?" 
 were words, echoed from all sides. 
 
 "Colonel Blake &ent a bundle arid a 
 dollar-bill by him to Parker's store yester- 
 day morning, and ho pretended he lost the 
 bill; but Colonel Blake says he has no 
 doubt he kept it himself. So your good 
 Tom Tracy is a thief, you seel" 
 
 "You lie! ' shouted Tom, losing all 
 self-control. "You lie! you lie!" And,
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 79 
 
 springing upon John fiercely and suddenly, 
 he knocked him over backwards. A pile 
 of logs lay D3ar, and, as John fell, hi 
 head struck one of them so violently 
 thai,, after one scream, he lay perfectly 
 senseless. The log was sharpened at the 
 end, and it cut a deep gash, from which 
 the blood began to flow. Tom's anger 
 was cooled in a minute, and he exclaimed, 
 " Oh, what have I done?" Everybody was 
 frightened, and none knew what to do. 
 
 "Lift him up. Rub his face with snow. 
 Run for the doctor!" they exclaimed; and 
 all were greatly relieved when the master 
 came up. 
 
 Mr. Carter could only gather from their 
 excited, incoherent explanations that Johr. 
 was hurt, almost killed ; and he hastened 
 to him. He saw at once that he had 
 fainted, and was probably badly injured. 
 
 Telling the boys to sprinkle cold watei
 
 80 TOM TRACY 
 
 on his face and not move him, Mr. Carter 
 stepped across to the store, and, finding 
 Mr. Jackson there, told him John had 
 been knocked down in some quarrel with 
 the boys, and had struck his head upon a 
 log. 
 
 "Some one had better go for the doctor 
 at once," he said, "and in the mean time 
 we will bring him home." 
 
 A man who had a sleigh at the door 
 jumped into it and rode off as fast as 
 he could, while Mr. Jackson and several 
 others went to the school-house. John 
 still lay insensible, his face as pale as 
 death. His father and Mr. Garter lifted 
 him up carefully and carried him home, 
 the boys following to the door, every 
 face being blanched by fear, Scarce a 
 word was spoken by any one, till the doc- 
 tor, who, as it chanced, was riding in that 
 direction, arrived; and in a few minu f es
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 81 
 
 Mr. Carter came out of the house. "We 
 had better go back," he said. "All will 
 be done for John that can be. Dr. Wil- 
 son, says he can't tell yet how serious 
 the injury is, but that he fears it is a 
 pretty bad one. He is washing the blood 
 from the wound now. John seems partly 
 conscious, and moans a good deal, as if in 
 great pain." 
 
 Never did a group of sadder or more 
 anxious faces gather in a school-room than 
 now came round their teacher; and Mr. 
 Carter himself was pale and agitated. It 
 is not easy to describe poor Tom's state of 
 mind, the kind, tender-hearted Tom, who, 
 when he was not angry, would never hurt 
 a chicken or a fly! But of what avail 
 was his kind heart if he could not control 
 his temper? 
 
 When Mr. Carter inquired how this had 
 happened, so many begar to talk to-
 
 82 TOM TEACY 
 
 gether, and so incoherently, that he could 
 make out little beyond the fact that Tom 
 knocked him down, and something about 
 stealing. Tom himself sat apart, with qui- 
 vering lip and colourless cheek, never 
 speaking, indeed, scarcely breathing. 
 
 "Sit down, all of you," said the teacher, 
 " and I will try to find out the truth. Tom, 
 tell me. about it. How did you come to 
 strike him?" 
 
 "Oh! do you think he will die?" cried 
 Tom, with agonizing earnestness, looking 
 into his teacher's face as if life and death 
 hung on his answer. He had overheard 
 one of the men say, "I do believe he's 
 killed 1" and that dreadful idea had taken 
 such possession of the poor boy's mind 
 that he could think of nothing else. 
 
 "Oh, I hope not: certairly, we can't 
 tell t present much about it. I am sure,
 
 OJ BB.I4B, HILL # 
 
 Tom, you never intended to injure him so 
 severely ?" 
 
 ' Oh, no, sir, I didn't: I didn't mean to 
 hurt him 1" 
 
 "You were angry, I suppose, and never 
 thought of consequences?" 
 
 "Yes, he was: John said he was a 
 thief, and then Tom up and knocked him 
 right down," said Joe Trask. 
 
 " Only one at a time. Tom, tell me the 
 story yourself." 
 
 And Tom told him about Colonel Blake's 
 giving him the bundle and the bill, and 
 how the bill was lost, and what was said 
 at Dr. Wilson's and at the colonel's after- 
 wards; and then how John accused him 
 of stealing. "I couldn't stand that, and I 
 struck him; but I didn't mean to hurt 
 him much. I never stopped to think." 
 
 "Never stopped to ih'^ink" said Mr. 
 Carter. "That is the cause of half the
 
 84 TOM TRACY 
 
 crimes that are committed. The mur- 
 derer often commits his dreadful crime be- 
 cause he is too angry to stop and think." 
 
 Tom shuddered. 
 
 "You had great provocation to anger, I 
 admit; but had you been in the habit of 
 controlling your temper you could not 
 have given way to it in this dreadful 
 manner. For a human being who has 
 reason given him, to say, 'I didn't think/ 
 is very absurd: he ought to think: there 
 is just where the blame lies. 
 
 "This is a very sad affair to all of us; 
 and I hope every one in school will learn 
 by it that in one moment of passion a 
 deed maybe committed for which no after 
 penitence nor good conduct can atone. It 
 is fearful to think what the consequences 
 of one rash, unthinking act may be. That 
 hasty blow, given in hot passion, might 
 have sei*" your school-mate into eternity
 
 OF BKIEB, HILL. 85 
 
 in an insist! That it did not, and that 
 there is a possibility of his recovery, is 
 owing to God's great goodness rather than 
 to any merit of your's ; and if this lesson, 
 severe as it is, should be the means of 
 making you thoughtful and guarded in 
 future, it may be the greatest blessing of 
 your life." 
 
 The silence which followed was broken 
 by a soft, pleading voice from . the girls' 
 Bide: " You won't punish Tom?" 
 
 "I think his own reflections will be a 
 sufficient punishment," replied the master. 
 "I am sure none of us would like to be 
 in his place." 
 
 Through all this Tom sat without a 
 single tear, apparently incapable of weep- 
 ing. His Dne only thought was, "What 
 if John should die? Oh, what if John 
 should die?" and the blood which neither
 
 86 10M TRACT 
 
 frost nor wiiid nor snow could chill ran 
 cold through his veins. 
 
 There was little study in the school- 
 room that afternoon. Scarcely the forms 
 of recitation were observed. Several 
 times a scholar was sent to ascertain how 
 John was; and all observed the eagerness 
 with which Tom lifted his face to catch 
 the answer, that white, still face, so 
 unlike his own bright, happy one. 
 
 Little could be learned. Dr. Wilson 
 had proposed sending for another phy- 
 sician from Centre ville, thinking possibly 
 a surgical operation might be necessary; 
 and nothing more could be done till he 
 came. John was under the influence of an 
 opiate, lying perfectly easy and quiet. 
 
 At recess Tom remained in-doors ; and 
 Mr. Carter, seeing his great distress, tried 
 to. comfort him with hopes of John's 
 restoration, TLe other boys, instead of
 
 OF BRIBE .dILL. 87 
 
 entering into any r.oisy play, stood to- 
 gether, telling in a low voice all kinds of 
 stories about horrid accidents and dreadful 
 deaths; and one of them suggested that, 
 if John shouldn't live, Tom Tracy mighl 
 perhaps be hung! This set them off on 
 a new track of horrors, till every eye was 
 expanded and every pulse quickened. 
 At this juncture, the doctor was seen 
 coming out of Mr. Jackson's and towards 
 the school-house. Upon this, all rushed 
 in, exclaiming, "The doctor's coming! the 
 doctor's coming!" 
 
 Tom's heart fairly stood still; for he 
 thought John was certainly dead. Mr. 
 Carter put his arm around him, and 
 whispered a kind word, as Dr. Wilson 
 entered. His face at once dispelled Torn'r 
 worst fears ; for it was quite cheerful.
 
 88 TOM TKACY 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE SAD EVENING. 
 
 "You will be glad to know, children, 
 that John is sleeping very quietly," said 
 Dr. Wilson. ' ' His pulse is quite good now, 
 and I can't but hope the injury is less 
 severe than I feared at first. If he has a 
 good night, and wakes up rational in the 
 morning, I shall think he will get along 
 in a few days; but time will show." 
 
 Tom felt as if a great load were taken 
 from his heart; and, for the first time, his 
 eyes grew moist with tears, tears of joy 
 and gratitude. 
 
 "I was on my way to the post-office," 
 continued Dr. Wilson 'when I was sent
 
 OF BEI5R HILL. 89 
 
 for to see Jonn, and I intended to stop at 
 the school-house. I was coming on a very 
 pleasant errand, one which, I am sure, 
 would have made you all very happy. 
 
 " I suppose you have heard about Tom 
 Tracy's losing a dollar-bill; and I was 
 coming to tell you it had been found." 
 
 "Found!" exclaimed Tom, fairly start- 
 ing from his seat. 
 
 "Yes, found at my house this forenoon. 
 You know, Tom, you took it out of your 
 purse there. Well, my wife looked every- 
 where in the room for it, over and over, 
 and couldn't find it; but to-day she 
 opened the door of a closet which we 
 seldom use, and there, in one corner of 
 it, on the floor, lay the bill, all safe and 
 sound ! She remembered then that when 
 Tom was there the wind blew that door 
 open, and that Nancy, our girl, passing 
 by, shut it ProVably, when Tom waa 
 
 8
 
 90 TOM TRACT 
 
 putting tho change into his purse, he 
 dropped the bill, and a gust of wind took 
 it into the closet, which was pretty near 
 where he stood. It was a very windy 
 day ; and when our outside door is opened 
 the wind comes in there like a hurricane; 
 and it is not at all strange that it should 
 have blown the bill away. None of us 
 thought to look in the closet, for, as I 
 have said, we seldom open that door ; but 
 this forenoon, about ten o'clock, my wife 
 had occasion to go there for something, 
 and I heard her cry out, 'I've found it!' 
 I've found it ! Here it is ! here is Tom's 
 dollar-bill!' And, sure enough, there it 
 was! I was greatly rejoiced; for I knew 
 Tom's mother would feel troubled about 
 it, and some one had told me that Colonel 
 Blake was a little suspicious Tom had 
 kept it himself. I did not think so for a 
 moment, for I knev Tom, and knew he
 
 OF BKIEE HILL. 91 
 
 iiad always been a truthful, straight- 
 forward b<yy ; but he was a stranger to 
 the colonel The first thing I did was to 
 ride over tc Colonel Blake's and tell him 
 about it. He seemed pleased, and so did 
 the young lady who is staying there. 
 She said, with a very sweet smile, 'she 
 was sure from the first that boy was 
 honest.' 
 
 "I was going over to Brier Hill to see a 
 patient, and, as I went right by the door, 
 I thought I might as well step in and tell 
 Mrs. Tracy it was found. She was over- 
 joyed to hear it, and said she had hoped 
 all along it would come out right at last. 
 So here is the bill, Tom: I would have 
 given it to the colonel, but I thought 
 may -be you would like to carry it your- 
 self." 
 
 What a variety of emotions swelled 
 Tom's breast as he listened to this state-
 
 92 TOM TRACY 
 
 ment! Oh, how very, very happy he 
 would now have been, but for the sad 
 events of the afternoon! How happy 
 his mother was at home, all ignorant of 
 the dreadful story he had to tell ! Could 
 he but have undone that one hasty act, 
 have blotted out of existence that five 
 minutes of time! 
 
 "I think no one who knew Tom 
 doubted his honesty," said Mr. Carter; 
 "but it gives us all great pleasure to 
 hear this explanation, and we thank you, 
 doctor, for coming to tell us. The circum- 
 stances were a little remarkable ; but a 
 good reputation is always of great service 
 in such a case." 
 
 "Yes, indeed it is," replied the doctor. 
 
 'Always speak the truth, boys, and be 
 
 honest, and you will have the credit of 
 
 it. We all know boys who in like cir 
 
 cumstances would have been considered
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 93 
 
 guilty even if they were innocent. Yes, 
 honesty is not only the best policy, but, 
 what is far better, it is always right." 
 
 Dr. Wilson paused. He was about 
 to add something concerning anger and 
 want of self-control; but as he looked at 
 Tom's face, and then at the faces of the 
 other children, he said to himself, "They 
 feel all this enough, without my talking 
 about it. It won't do any good for me to 
 preach to them." So he only said he was 
 very sorry for the accident that had 
 happened, and hoped their school-mate 
 would be decidedly better in the morning. 
 
 Dr. Wilson was right. The moral 
 power of an event may be greatly lessened 
 by talking too much about it. The con- 
 sciences of children are quick to under- 
 stand and apply a lesson like that which 
 had been taught them that afternoon ; and 
 not one of them would sver forget the
 
 94 TOM TRACY 
 
 raise. y produced by one hasty act oi 
 passion. 
 
 When Dr. Wilson was about to leave, 
 Tom asked, in a low, tremulous voice, if he 
 might be dismissed. "I want to go over 
 and see John, if they will let me." 
 
 "Why, yes; I don't think it can do 
 him any hurt to have you go in very 
 quietly," said the doctor, in reply to Mr. 
 Carter's questioning look. "I shouldn't 
 like to have the other boys see him 
 just at present. He must be kept very 
 quiet for some time to come, even at the 
 best." 
 
 It was with a strange mixture of fear 
 and grief that Torn crossed the threshold 
 into that sick-room, where all was dark 
 and silent. There lay the poor sufferer, 
 his head swathed in wet bandages, his 
 eyes closed, and his face of a ghastly pale- 
 ness. No sound broke the perfect still-
 
 OF BRIER H3LL. f 
 
 iKs, save an occasional low moan, aa lie 
 moved a little in the bed. 
 
 It-was terrible for Tom to stand there, 
 looking on the playmate who a few hours 
 ago had been full of life and health, now 
 so prostrated, and to think, "I did it! I 
 brought him here!" As he listened to the 
 low, quick breathing, which, to his excited 
 imagination, seemed now and then to cease 
 entirely, the old fear that he might die 
 came back, and his heart grew sick with 
 terror. Once or twice, a woman who was 
 sitting in the room came to the bedside, 
 looked at the patient, and went away 
 again with a noiseless tread. Tom kept 
 a firm hold of the doctor's hand, scarcely 
 breathing, lest he should disturb the sleeper. 
 Not a word was spoken till the doctor led 
 him out into the parlour. It was a relief 
 to come again into the light; but Tom
 
 96 TOM TRACY 
 
 shrank back when Le saw Mr. Jackson was 
 in the room. 
 
 Whatever disposition to blame him the 
 father might have had, when he looked 
 on the pale, distressed face of the child, he 
 could only feel compassion. 
 
 "Poor boy!" he said, laying his hand 
 kindly on his head ; "I am sure you feel 
 as sorry as any of us." 
 
 Tom burst into tears ; for he had expected 
 a harsh reprimand. "I hope you will for- 
 give me, sir," he said, and then added, very 
 softly, "I wish I could tell John how sorry 
 I am, and ask his forgiveness." 
 
 "Yes, yes; he would forgive you, I 
 know," said the father, touched by the 
 sorrow of the child. 
 
 "And I hope he will be able to tell you 
 BO himself, one of these days," said the 
 doctor. 
 
 " You think, then, there is a chance of
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 97 
 
 bia being better soon?" asked Mr. Jack- 
 son. 
 
 "I don't like to speak too confidently 
 about it. The brain maybe affected; but. 
 if not, I think he will get over it, perhaps 
 in a very few days. We can tell better 
 to-morrow. Dr. Sears has had so much 
 more experience than I in such cases that 
 when he comes he can judge more accu- 
 rately what the symptoms indicate. Any 
 way, Tom," he added, looking kindly down 
 at the anxious face, "keep up a good 
 heart. You are no more to blame than 
 boys have been a thousand times, when 
 nothing serious happened. It's always a 
 bad thing for boys to quarrel." 
 
 All the boys stood by the gate to hear 
 Tom's report, and, when it was given, they 
 dispersed in different directions, only two 
 going Tom's way. These soon turned into 
 another road, and lie went on towards
 
 98 TOM TKAC7 
 
 home alone. It was with a heavy heart 
 he trudged up the hill. Let others say 
 what they might, he knew he had been 
 guilty of a great sin. And how sure he 
 had felt that morning that he should 
 not get angry all day I He saw now that 
 he could not trust himself,- -that at any 
 moment he was liable to lose his temper, 
 and, in the heat of passion, commit some 
 dreadful crime. 
 
 "No," he said to Limself, sorrowfully, 
 "I shall never again dare to say, 'I will 
 not get angry;' for something may make 
 me forget every thing, just as I did to-day. 
 Oh, what a miserable boy I am! What 
 shall I do?" 
 
 And all the time John's haggard face 
 seemed to lie perpetually before him ; and 
 he kept thinking, "Oh, what if he should 
 die?" 
 
 Tom had never before known trouble
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 99 
 
 and sorrow like this. Last night, though 
 falsely accused, his heart was light, for he 
 was innocent; but now the burden of 
 guilt was lying upon it, and " a wounded 
 spirit who can bear?" He passed Colonel 
 Blake's without even thinking of the dollar- 
 bill, or of Miss Alice Ray, so completely 
 had that sight of John's condition effaced 
 every thing else from his mind. 
 
 When he reached home, his mother's 
 face lighted up with joy at seeing him; 
 but a second look showed her that some- 
 thing was wrong. 
 
 "What has happened?" she exclaimed. 
 ''Are you sick?" 
 
 "No, mother, only sick at heart. I 
 have a sorrowful story to tell you : you 
 can't think what I have done." 
 
 "Oh, what is it, Tom? Tell me, quick!" 
 
 " Why, I got angry this noon with John 
 Jackson. He said I stole that money,
 
 100 TOM TRACY 
 
 and called me a tnief ; and it made me so 
 angry I forgot every thing, and knocked 
 him down, and his head struck a great log, 
 and perhaps he will die!" 
 
 It was indeed a sad story; and, after 
 hearing all the particulars, the mother's 
 heart was almost as sorrowful as her 
 child's. Even little Mary saw that some- 
 thing had happened, and looked up with 
 a pitiful expression on her fair young face, 
 saying, "Poor Tom I poor Toml" as if to 
 comfort him. 
 
 "Oh, Tom I ' ' said his mother. ' ' And I 
 had been so happy all the afternoon, think- 
 ing how glad you would be to know the 
 bill was found!" 
 
 "Yes: I am glad of that, glad Colo- 
 nel Blake and Miss Alice know I am 
 honest. And, if I had waited only just a 
 few mil utes, John and all of them would
 
 OF BEIER HILL. 101 
 
 have known I didr. 't take it. Oh, if I could 
 only have been patient a little while!" 
 
 "Yes: it is always best to be patient, 
 and to trust God to take care of our repu 
 tation, when we are unjustly accused." 
 
 Mrs. Tracy might have reminded Tone 
 that she had often told him something 
 dreadful would happen if he did not learn 
 to control his temper; but she did not: 
 she only said, 
 
 "I am very sorry this has happened. 
 I do hope John will be better in the morn- 
 ing." But she sighed, and Tom knew she 
 was greatly distressed. Oh, how much 
 trouble one thoughtless act had caused ! 
 
 Tom mechanically put on his frock, 
 brought in the wood and water, and went 
 to milk the cow. Poor old Brindle looked 
 so peaceful and friendly, he couldn't help 
 leaning his head against her and crying 
 
 heartily. Somehow, he felt as if the faith- 
 s'
 
 102 TOM TRACY 
 
 ful creature* understood about it, and ielt 
 sorry for him; and it was really a relief 
 to stroke her and look into her honest 
 face. He felt as if ten years had gone 
 since morning, as if he was an entirely 
 different boy from the Tom who milked 
 and fed her then, whistling so merrily all 
 the time. Should he ever feel light- 
 hearted again? ever have that terrible 
 weight removed from his heart ? 
 
 The evening meal was taken almost in 
 silence, and Tom went to bed very early. 
 He could not talk, even to his mother. 
 How different were his feelings from those 
 of the night before, when he lay there so 
 warm and happy! then no burden of 
 guilt hung heavy on his soul. 
 
 He did not go to sleep, but lay there 
 thinking, and sad, sorrowful thoughts 
 they were. Again came the feeling of 
 helplessness and self-distrust. How was
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 103 
 
 he ever to become any better? He had 
 tried that day to do right, as well as he 
 ki.ew how ; and what a miserable failure it 
 had been! and why could he expect it 
 would be any better another day? 
 
 Tom was naturally sanguine and self- 
 relying, and perhaps nothing less start- 
 ling than the events .of that day would 
 have effectually taught him his own weak 
 ness, It was knowledge of himself dearly 
 bought ; but as in the valley of humilia- 
 tion, though the descent into it was very 
 painful, Christian found sweet flowers 
 growing, so now, when Tom's heart was 
 really humbled by a consciousness of its 
 weakness, there came to him a very sweet 
 and comforting thought, the thought of 
 a HELPER. He needed help, and Jesus 
 Christ could help him: He could do for 
 him just what he could not do for himself 
 Tom knew that he needed noi only for-
 
 104 
 
 give ness for the sins lie had aln/ady com- 
 mitted, but to be kept from sinning in 
 future, He wanted a new disposition, in 
 other words, a new heart, not, like the old 
 one, full of anger and revenge and evil 
 passions, but a heart filled with love and 
 gentleness, a heart in which Christ's 
 spirit might dwell; and he wished that 
 Christ would give him such a one. He 
 did not put his wishes into connected 
 words of prayer, exactly, but they went 
 upward in sincerity from his inmost heart. 
 And when did Jesus ever turn a deaf 
 ear to such a supplication? When did he 
 ever fail to draw neai and to bless the soul 
 that called to him in its sore need ? He 
 who came to save his people from theii 
 sins the Lamb of God that taketh away 
 the sin of the world will always draw 
 uear to the soul that seeks him, will 
 pardon its sins and whisper peace. It is
 
 OF BKI33 HILL. 10O 
 
 not to men and women only that he says, 
 "Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye 
 shall find;" but the youngest child who 
 knows what it is to mourn for having done 
 wrong can also seek pardon and find it, 
 ask hi help and receive it. 
 
 It is a blessed thing when the child 
 whose tender spirit is just beginning to 
 feel remorse and a need of forgiveness is 
 pointed to the loving Saviour, and taught 
 to tell him all his sorrows and sins, all 
 his wants and weaknesses, thus learning, 
 before his heart is hardened into unbelief, 
 the joy of loving and trusting in Jesus ; 
 and He who on earth so loved little chil- 
 dren will surely now also lay his hands 
 upon them and bless them. The tender 
 Shepherd of souls will lovingly fold these 
 lambs to his bosom, and be their guide 
 and protector both in this life and in that 
 which is to come.
 
 106 TOM TRACY 
 
 As he thought of the love of Jesua 
 Christ, and sought his forgiveness and 
 aid, Tom's troubled spirit found rest, 
 the rest and peace which forgiveness alone 
 can give. He knew he had done wrong, 
 and must bear the punishment of seeing 
 John suffer, and possibly die, in conse- 
 quence; "but the fearful looking-for" of 
 judgment to come no longer weighed upon 
 him, and he fell asleep, resolved to bear 
 meekly whatever punishment might follow, 
 and hoping he might be kept from ever 
 sinning so again. 
 
 Mrs. Tracy sat in sorrow and sadness 
 by her lonely fire that night. This was 
 real trouble, to know that her son had 
 been the means, the guilty means, of 
 causing so much suffering. It grieved her, 
 too, that he should go away before prayers ; 
 and, as she knelt down alone, she poured 
 out her wli Die soul in supplication for him
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 
 
 107 
 
 and for the child lying so dangerously ill. 
 Earnest prayer has gone up from many a 
 lonely widow's heart; but seldom did one 
 ever call more earnestly on God than she 
 who now pleaded for the life of the one 
 child and the forgiveness and true con 
 version of the other.
 
 TOM TEACY 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 THE INTEBVIEW. 
 
 TOM awoke with a confused idea that 
 something dreadful had happened; and, 
 when he remembered what it was, a sharp 
 pain pierced his heart. He had done a 
 deed which could never be recalled, whose 
 consequences were entirely out of his con- 
 trol. A deep groan escaped him: "Oh, 
 if I could only undo what I did yester- 
 day!" that vain wish so often uttered I 
 But with these sorrowful thoughts came 
 the thought, too, of Jesus as a Friend who 
 loved him, a Saviour who could forgive 
 him, a Helper who could enable him to 
 overcome his evil habits.
 
 OF BEIER HILL. 109 
 
 Tom had always repeated a form of 
 prayer ; but he often hurried it over with- 
 out thinking much of what the words 
 meant; but this morning real prayer went 
 up from his heart. It was a child's prayer, 
 short, simple and reconnected, but still 
 real prayer ; for he felt that the Being he 
 addressed was listening to him and could 
 answer him, and he asked for what he 
 earnestly desired. He prayed very fer- 
 vently that John might recover, that his 
 own sins might be forgiven and his heart 
 made kind and gentle. 
 
 It was with a subdued spirit Tom went 
 about his morning's work : all the spark- 
 ling life and joy which had bubbled up 
 in his heart yesterday was gone, and a 
 great weight had come instead. 
 
 At breakfast he talked with his mother 
 about his quarrel with John, and she was 
 very glal to find that he was not inclined 
 
 10
 
 110 ?OM TRACY 
 
 to throw blame on others, or to justiiy 
 himself. Sometimes a boy who has done 
 wrong will persist in defending it, and in 
 denying that he has been in the least to 
 blame. This is always a dark sign; for 
 there can be no genuine penitence where 
 there is not first a conviction of sin ; but 
 quick as Tom often was to do a wrong 
 action, when he came to think of it in a 
 cool moment he seldom justified himself, 
 and therefore his mother had always felt 
 hopeful about him and trusted he would 
 correct his faults ; and she knew if he was 
 truly penitent now (as he seemed to be) 
 the fruit would appear in his future con- 
 duct. 
 
 It was Saturday, and there was no school. 
 Tom was very anxious to hear from John, 
 and concluded to go over and inquire as 
 SOOP as he had finished his work; and hia 
 mother told him he had better stop at
 
 OF BRIER HILL, 111 
 
 Colonel Blake's and give him his money. 
 Tom disliked to meet Colonel Blake again ; 
 and most fervencly did he hope Miss Alice 
 might be in the room when he should go 
 there. 
 
 He went first to Mr. Jackson's. Dr. 
 Wilson was tying his horse just as he 
 reached the gate; so they went into the 
 house together. Mr. Jackson said John 
 was sleeping this morning; he had had a 
 very quiet night, and seemed very much 
 as he did th& day before. Dr. Sears ex- 
 pressed the opinion that he would finally 
 recover, but that he might be confined 
 several weeks. Tom just looked in at 
 the door, and saw his face on the pillow, 
 looking, if possible, more pale and death- 
 like than before ; but Dr. Wilson told him 
 that pallid lock was partly the effect of 
 the opiatBS he had taken. 
 
 An aunt had come to nurse him, and
 
 112 TOM TEACY 
 
 the physicians had enjoined perfect quiet, 
 and said that even life itself might depend 
 upon it. 
 
 Mr. Jackson spoke very kindly to Tom ; 
 BO did the doctor; and the aunt, hearing 
 that he was the boy who had struck him, 
 came and spoke to him very kindly also ; 
 and, could he only have seen John well 
 again, he would have been very happy. 
 He thought, as he stood looking at him, 
 that he would gladly bear the sickness for 
 John if he could; for Tom had a generous, 
 warm heart as well as a violent temper. 
 When he came away, he felt almost sure 
 that he never should be so angry again; 
 and this time he sent up a silont prayer 
 for help to keep his resolution. 
 
 It was with a very uncomfortable feel- 
 ing Tom pulled the bell at Colonel Blake's 
 door. Once he might have been proud to 
 have marched in, carrying the bill, and
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 113 
 
 saying, " You see, sir, I was not a thief;" 
 but the eight of John on that sick-bed 
 had made Tom's heart more humble and 
 sad than it us 3d to be. 
 
 He was again taken into the parlour, 
 where Colonel Blake was sitting reading 
 the newspaper. Tom's eye glanced wish- 
 fully around the room, but no Miss Alice 
 was there. 
 
 Taking out the bill, Tom went up to 
 Colonel Blake. " I have brought back 
 your bill, sir," he said. "Dr. Wilson 
 found it at his house yesterday." 
 
 "Yes; Dr. Wilson told me of the cir- 
 cumstances. I was rejoiced to find that you 
 were in no wise improperly implicated, and 
 am sorry I accused you wrongfully." 
 
 Colonel Blake was far from being in 
 all respects a bad man. Cold, haughty 
 and suspicious he certainly was, but no 
 man felt a more genuine respect for integ r 
 
 10*
 
 114 TOM TPAOY 
 
 rity when it was found than he, slow as 
 he was to recognise its existence. His ex- 
 perience of human nature had been unfor 
 tunate, and, having heen repeatedly de- 
 ceived and defrauded by his associates, ha 
 had come to the conclusion that most men 
 were hypocrites and cheats, and that he 
 would have as little to do with them ae 
 possible, never trusting a stranger. Yet 
 he felt glad in his secret soul that the 
 bright-eyed young fellow before him had 
 not already commenced a course of decep- 
 tion. "I dare say he will," was his in- 
 ward reflection; "but as yet I do really 
 believe he is honest and tells the truth." 
 
 "Your name is Tom, I think?" he said, 
 "looking over his spectacles at him. 
 
 "Yes, sir; Thomas Tracy." 
 
 "And your mother is a widow?" 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " Have you brothers and sisters?"
 
 CF BRIER HILL. 115 
 
 "One sister, whose name is Mary." 
 
 " I promised you a shilling; but, as there 
 was some little trouble about it, I will give 
 you two. I hope you won't spend them 
 foolishly." 
 
 Tom's face grew very red: he couldn't 
 have told why: but he did not want to 
 take money from a man who had accused 
 him of stealing, and he said, hesitatingly, 
 
 " I I- -would rather take only the shil- 
 ling, if you please, sir: I earned that. 1 ' 
 
 Colonel Blake looked at him with sur- 
 prise. "Just as you please," he replied, 
 stiffly; "but I think you are very foolish." 
 
 Tom took the shilling, bade him good- 
 morning, and went out. He didn't ex- 
 actly know whether he had done right 01 
 wrong in refusing the money, when ais 
 mother needed money so much; but he 
 had done what was agreeable to his feel- 
 ings. He did not like Colonel Blake;
 
 116 TOM TRACY 
 
 he did not want to take any favours from 
 him, or have any thing to do with him; 
 and, in the pride of his boyish heart, he 
 shut the outside door with a very deter- 
 mined spirit. Before he had reached the 
 gate, the servant-girl called to him. 
 
 "Miss Ray wants you to come back: 
 she would like to speak with you." 
 
 On entering the hall again, Tom was 
 surprised at being taken up-stairs, instead 
 of into the parlour. He followed the ser- 
 vant through a large upper hall, where she 
 tapped lightly at one of the doors. Miss 
 Alice said, "Come in." And, going ia, 
 Tom saw her lying on the lounge, sup- 
 ported by cushions , with shawls wrapped 
 aiound her. Her eye brightened when 
 she saw him 
 
 "I am very glad to see you, Tom," she 
 said, holding Dut her thin, white hand. 
 
 Somehow, jus 1 ' then, what his mother
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 117 
 
 had said & oout her dying came into Tom's 
 mind, and he burst into tears. 
 
 "Why, what is the matter, my poor 
 child?" she said, drawing him to her, ic 
 her sweet, winning way, just as she had 
 done once before. " Can't you tell me 
 what troubles you?" 
 
 "Oh, a great many things trouble me," 
 said Tom, trying to suppress the tears. 
 
 " I thought you would be very happy 
 now the bill you lost is found." 
 
 "Yes; I was, or should have been, if 
 it hadn't been for John." 
 
 "Why, what has happened to John?" 
 said Miss Alice, kindly, supposing he was 
 a brother. 
 
 "Why, don't you know how I pushed 
 John Jackson down when I was angry, and 
 almost killed him?" To Tomtit seemed 
 incredible that anybody should be igno- 
 rant of that.
 
 118 TOM TRACY 
 
 Miss Alice told him she had not been 
 out of her room since the day she saw 
 him, and knew nothing of what had been 
 done abroad. " But you must tell me 
 about it," she said. 
 
 So Tom began and told her, as well as 
 he could, all the circumstances; and he 
 told her more about his own feelings than 
 he had ever told even his mother; for, 
 somehow, he couldn't help telling Miss 
 Alice every thing, and feeling sure she 
 would perfectly understand him. 
 
 Miss Alice had a peculiar faculty of 
 winning the hearts of children: they all 
 oved her, and, somehow, couldn't help tell- 
 ing her every thing, any more than Tom 
 could. She was very much interested in 
 this little history, and read Tom's character 
 in it very -clearly. 
 
 "Yes, Tom, you were very much to 
 blame for allc wing yourself to be so angry;
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 119 
 
 and John was very much to blame also. 
 You had great provocation to anger. ' ' And 
 she sighed to think how her uncle's unjust 
 suspicions had perhaps been the cause of 
 this quarrel. " But because he was insult- 
 ing it does not justify your retaliating. 
 You know we are commanded to forgive 
 those who injure us, and do them good 
 and not evil. How happy we should all 
 be if we obeyed this command 1" 
 
 "But I can't forgive the boys who pro- 
 voke me, and be gentle and kind to them. 
 I can't help getting angry before I think. 
 Oh, if I could only think ! and I do mean 
 to try now, and never get so angry again." 
 
 "That is right, my dear child," said 
 Miss Alice, tenderly: "we all have agrea.t 
 deal of evil to contend with and overcome, 
 and we are all very apt not to think till it 
 is too late. But if we are really sorry 
 when we have done wrong, and really wish
 
 120 TOM TEACY 
 
 to do right in future, God will forgive us 
 and help us to overcome our evil habits," 
 
 " So mother told me," said Tom. 
 
 "And you knew, too, how it is that 
 God can forgive us; for he so loved the 
 world that he sent his only begotten Son 
 to die for sinners ; and there is now no con- 
 demnation to them that are in Christ 
 Jesus. 
 
 " Now, if he wished to save us from 
 doing wrong, enough to suffer death for 
 us, he certainly is pleased when he sees us 
 trying to do right, and is very willing to 
 help us. The Bible says a great deal 
 about this, Tom. It calls Christ ' the Friend 
 of sinners,' ' the Lamb of God who taketh 
 away the sin of the world,' and says, 
 ' He is more willing to give the Holy Spirit 
 to them who ask him, than earthly parents 
 ire to give good gifts to their children;' 
 and we should believe it. He is our
 
 OF BEIER HILL. 121 
 
 Friend; He does wish to save us from 
 our sins, and to help us to do right. We 
 all of us do wrong, just as you have iD 
 this case ; but we must not then turn away 
 from him. No, indeed : we must then go tc 
 him, as to our very kindest and best friend, 
 and tell him just how bad we are and how 
 much we need his help and his forgiveness. 
 He "will listen to us; for he is always near 
 us and always loves us." 
 
 There was silence for a few minutes, 
 which Tom broke by saying, in a low 
 voice, 
 
 "It seems strange to think he always 
 sees me. It makes me afraid to think God 
 is always close to me!" 
 
 "Afraid of Him who has given you 
 every blessing you have, and who loved 
 you so well as to die for you? You need 
 not be afraid of him: he is your best 
 friend. What you should be afraid of is
 
 122 TOM 
 
 disobeying him, doing what he has for- 
 bidden, in other words, sinning : thia is 
 what displeases and grieves him." 
 
 After another little silence, Tom said, 
 earnestly, 
 
 "Do you suppose he could help me to 
 think f This is what I want most of all, 
 somebody to help me to think quick, be- 
 fore I fly into a passion." 
 
 "Yes; I am sure that is just what he 
 can do for you. When you are tempted 
 to do wrong, he can cause a voice to 
 whisper in your heart, perhaps very 
 softly, but so that you will hear it distinctly, 
 'Don't do thit: it is wrong: don't do 
 it!" and, if you will heed that voice, it 
 will always warn you of evil, and draw 
 you towards what is right. That voice is 
 God's voice : it speaks in every human 
 soul ; and it is because we neglect to follow 
 its counsels and warnings that we are left,
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 123 
 
 tc make our way dcwn to ruin My dear 
 child, listen to this voice; do not resist 
 its pleadings; for if you are forsaken by 
 God's holy and guiding Spirit you will be 
 indeed lost!" 
 
 Miss Alice spoke with great earnestness, 
 and her eyes filled with tears. 
 
 "Do not fear," she continued, " that your 
 heavenly Friend cannot do for you all you 
 need. Thousands have been helped by 
 him to subdue their evil habits, and to 
 form a character very different from what 
 they once had. It is his great work in 
 the world to help us to become holy and 
 Christ-like. 
 
 "I have a brother, Tom, one whom 1 
 love very dearly, who has been thus 
 changed. When he was a boy, he had, like 
 you, a very ungovernable, fiery temper; 
 and, though he- was very generous and 
 warm-hearted, h 3 was always doing wrong
 
 124 TOM TR4.CY 
 
 things and making his friends unhappy; 
 for in his fits of anger he would forget 
 every thing else. He once killed a beau- 
 tiful little dog we had, which he loved 
 dearly, because he got angry with it." 
 
 "Why, how did he do it?" 
 
 "Trip that was the dog's name, and 
 a beautiful little black-and-white dog he 
 was used to go everywhere with Waiter. 
 One day several of the boys went chest- 
 nutting. Of course, Trip went with them, 
 in great spirits, scampering along before 
 them, barking and frolicking. On their 
 way, Walter began to boast of Trip's skill 
 in treeing squirrels, and (as boys are apt 
 to do) made some very extravagant asser- 
 tions, which the other boys laughed at: so 
 that when a squirrel was seen running 
 along the fence, he naturally wanted to 
 show him off. 
 
 "Trip started eagerly at his bi.lding;
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 125 
 
 but, for fiome reason, instead of continuing 
 the pursuit with his usual zeal, he stopped 
 and turned back, at which the boys set 
 up a shout of derision. This vexed Wal- 
 ter. He tried again to set Trip on; but 
 he only planted himself quietly on his 
 hind-legs, as if nothing was expected of 
 him. 'Ho! that's your famous squirrel- 
 hunter, is it? How keen he is! A great 
 dog that!' cried the boys, laughing. Walter 
 could not bear these taunts; and, after 
 calling once more on Trip, who never 
 stirred, he caught up a stone and threw ifc 
 at the poor little creature so furiously that 
 it nearly killed him." 
 
 "Oh, that was too bad!" exclaimed 
 Tom. " But why didn't Trip chase him?" 
 
 "I don't know: no one could tell. I 
 can remember it as if it were but yester- 
 day, though I was very young then ; for 
 
 Waiter was some years oMer than I, how 
 i*
 
 126 TOM TRACY 
 
 he brought the poor little dog home in hia 
 arms, moaning sadly, and how my father, 
 on examining his head, which was shock- 
 ingly mangled, ordered him to be killed 
 to put him out of misery. We mourned 
 bitterly for poor little Trip, who was a, 
 great favourite with us all. He was laid 
 in a box and buried under an apple-tree in 
 the orchard; and many a time have I seen 
 Walter sitting by that spot, crying as if 
 his heart would break. But tears could 
 not biing Trip back to life; nor did they 
 make Walter's heart any better; for, not 
 many months after, in another fit of anger, 
 he pushed his little sister down the front- 
 dooi steps. The fall broke her arm, and 
 every one said it might have killed her, and 
 would if her head had struck the stones. 
 How Walter grieved over that, when he 
 saw her suffering 1 foi he loved little Emma 
 with a 1 ! his heart, and nothing would
 
 OF BRIBE HILL. 127 
 
 have induced him to injure her if he had 
 not been crazed with passion. Father used 
 sometimes to punish him, and sometimes to 
 reason with him; and I have many a time 
 seen him walk the floor in agony, saying, 
 'What will become of that boy? what 
 can I do with him?' Walter was always 
 sorry after these outbursts, and would re- 
 solve to do better; but when temptation 
 v',ame he yielded to it, and, indeed, seemed 
 wholly unable to govern himself. Such 
 was my brother Walter at fourteen. Now 
 he is one of the most gentle and con- 
 siderate of men. No one now would sup- 
 pose he ever could have been such a 
 violent-tempered boy. And he would tell 
 you the change is all owing to his having 
 become a true disciple of the meek and 
 lowly Jesus. He had many severe con- 
 flicts with his besetting sin, and I believe 
 nothing but divine assistance could have
 
 128 TOM TRACY 
 
 enabled him to overcome it. I have c ft en 
 heard him thank God for saving him froir. 
 the miserable end he should have reached 
 if left to himself. Yes ; you need not fear 
 Christ's willingness and ability to do for 
 you all you need; but, at the sams time, 
 you must yourself make every possible 
 effort to overcome your faults. It is only 
 to those who try to help themselves that 
 help from on high is promised. No one 
 who folds his hands in indolence can expect 
 the work to be done for him. You, Tom, 
 are not wanting in courage, and you are 
 not afraid of hard work. Be courageous, 
 then, in resisting temptation. Work hard 
 to subdue your evil passions. Bring all 
 your strength to bear in these things, and, 
 with the help which will be given you if 
 you seek it, you will certainly come off 
 conqueror. Did you ever read Pilgrim's 
 Progress ?"
 
 OF BBIEE HILL. 129 
 
 Tom's eyes sparkled at this question. 
 " Oil, yes," he said, " a great many times. 
 I like it so much ! I like to read about his 
 fighting Apollyon, and about Mr. Great- 
 heart. Oh, wasn't he a noble fellow?" 
 
 "Yes, indeed; and every follower ot 
 Christ, old or young, goes on a pilgrimage, 
 and has to fight Apollyon, and pass by 
 lions, and climb the Hill Difficulty, only 
 his Apollyons and lions are in his own 
 breast: they are his evil passions. Your 
 Apollyon is probably that hot temper of 
 your's; and you will be obliged to have 
 many and many a battle with it. I hope 
 you will be like Great-heart, and fight 
 valiantly." 
 
 Tom's face lighted up. He thought he 
 ehould like to run a sword right through 
 Apollyon that minute. 
 
 Miss Alice soiled as she saw the ex- 
 pi^ssior on his face and said, kindly,
 
 130 TOM 1 fcACY 
 
 " I wanted to see you to-day, Tom, De- 
 cause I am going away very soon. My 
 home is in New York ; and, as soon as the 
 weather is a little milder and I am a little 
 stronger, I shall go there. It is too cold 
 for me here in winter." 
 
 "But won't you come back?" asked 
 Tom, anxiously. 
 
 "I shall, if I am able to, in the spring. 
 The air of the hills does me a great deal 
 of good in summer, and my Uncle and aunt 
 like to have me with them whenever 1 
 can be. Indeed, I consider this one of my 
 homes." 
 
 "Is Colonel Blake your uncle?" 
 
 " Yes ; that is, he married my aunt, my 
 own mother's sister; and, as ray mothei 
 died when I was a little girl, ste seema 
 very near to me. I have ne^ei stayed into 
 the winter before, and I find it rather too 
 cold for me,"
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 131 
 
 "Are you s^ck, Miss Alice?" asked Tom, 
 bluntly. 
 
 "I am not strong, and have a bal cough 
 at times; but I am usually well enough 
 to go down-stairs and to ride out in plea- 
 sant weather." 
 
 "Oh, I am so sorry you are going away 1" 
 It was all Tom could say ; but it did not 
 at all express the feeling of his heart, a 
 feeling made up of gratitude, admiration 
 and sorrow. 
 
 "I am sorry I have never known you 
 before, Tom. I am sure we should have 
 been friends a great while ago, if we had 
 met. If I were well enough, I would ride 
 over and see your mother. I should like 
 very much to know hei." 
 
 "Oh, you would ^ke my mother. Every- 
 body does. She isr.'t a bit like me. She 
 is always good. And little Mary, oh. I 
 do wish you could see little M.xry!"
 
 132 TOM TEACY 
 
 " Some time I must see them both. If 
 I come to Rockfield next summer, I shall 
 certainly go to Brier Hill. I have been 
 there when I was out riding, and have 
 noticed the house in which you live. Last 
 summer you had some flowers by the door." 
 
 " Oh, yes, lots of 'em, pinks, and 
 sweet-williams, and balsams, and four- 
 o'clocks, and ever so many more. I helped 
 weed 'em." 
 
 "You like flowers, then?" 
 
 "Pretty well; but then I weed 'em io 
 help mother. She didn't get much time 
 to work ir, the flower-bed." 
 
 " I hope you will always try to help 
 your mother as much as you can. Mr. 
 Barker told me you were a good boy to 
 toar mother ; and I was very glad to hear 
 that, Tom. To be honest and good to hia 
 moth-si are two tilings very much to a 
 boy's ci^dit."
 
 OF BEIEB HILL. 
 
 Tom blushed to hear himself thus com- 
 mended. 
 
 " But you mubt look out for Apollyon/' 
 continued Miss Alice, with a smile. " I 
 shall often think of you, and won del 
 whether you are getting the victory over 
 him. You will find that he is not to be 
 subdued by one blow, much less by one 
 resolve. He will be putting his ugly head 
 in sight again and again ; and, if he some- 
 times gets the better of you, you must not 
 be discouraged and think it is of no use to 
 fight him any longer. You have a Friend 
 to help you, a thousand times stronger 
 than he is. Go to him when you are 
 weak and faint-hearted, and then, with 
 his strength assisting ycu, strive more man- 
 fully than ever. He will give you the 
 victory. Don't you remember how Chris- 
 tian was ovsrthrown, and almost over- 
 come, in his battle with Apollyon? but 
 12
 
 134 TOM TRACY 
 
 he did not ceaas fighting him. ' II he had v 
 he would never have conquered at last. 
 
 " I feel a great deal of interest in you, 
 Tom," Miss Alice said, taking his hand in 
 her's, " and a stronger desire that you 
 should become all you ought to be than I 
 can well express. It is a great thing to 
 be a brave, true-hearted man. One such 
 man can do a vast amount of good in the 
 world; and every boy can become such a 
 one, through God's grace. If you some- 
 times think of mo after I have gone, re- 
 member, this was the wish of my heart: 
 that you should be a good man, a noble, 
 brave-hearted, Christian man." 
 
 Tom thought he saw tears in those beau- 
 tiful eyes, and his heart was softened by 
 the tender tones of that sweet voice. He 
 was sure he should never forget her, or 
 the things she had said, never, in a hun- 
 dred years, i^; he wen to live so long.
 
 OF BEIER HILL 135 
 
 SLe read the feeling in his face. ' 4 No, 
 Tom, I am sure vou won't forget me, 
 and if I come back next summer we will 
 see a great deal of each other. Are you 
 in a hurry to go home? Does your mother 
 need you this morning?" 
 
 " There isn't any school, and I don't 
 think she wants me. Is there any thing I 
 can do for you?" 
 
 " No, thank you. I was only afraid I 
 was keeping you too long." 
 
 So saying, she pulled a crimson tassel 
 that hung on the wall near her lounge, 
 and in a moment a servant came in. 
 
 "Ann, will you bring up some of those 
 tea-cakes, and a dish of apples? those 
 royals you knew," A id Ann went out 
 again
 
 136 TOM TRACY 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 THE PARTING. 
 
 IT seemed almost like a bright, beau- 
 tiful dream to Tom to be sitting there 
 with Miss Alice and talking to her so 
 familiarly ; and when Ann returned, bring- 
 ing a waiter, with a small silver basket on 
 it filled with little round cakes, and a dish 
 of golden apples, he eagerly watched all 
 her movements. She drew up a little 
 table near Miss Alice, and placed her 
 dishes of cake and fruit on it. Then she 
 went to a closet, and brought some deli- 
 cate china plates, such as Tom had never 
 seen before, some bright-coloured napkins, 
 two tumblers, and a beaitiful little silver
 
 OF BRIER H.LL. 137 
 
 pitcher, and set them beside them; also a 
 plate of little crackers. 
 
 "Any thing more, Miss Alice? The 
 fruit-knives?" 
 
 "Yes, two, if you please." 
 
 And Ann brought two little silver knives, 
 prettier than any thing Tom had ever 
 dreamed of. 
 
 " Now we will have a little luncheon, M 
 said Miss Alice. " I am sure you must be 
 hungry; and so am I; for I only took a 
 cup of coffee for my breakfast." And she 
 handed him one of those beautiful plates 
 with some cakes on it. 
 
 Tom felt half afraid to take them, his 
 hands looked so rough and clumsy by the 
 side of Miss Alice's, and he felt all ovei 
 BO awkward he was sure he shouldn't eat 
 them properly. BUD he saw, to his great 
 relief, that Miss Alice was not looking at 
 
 him, bu f was very busj pcuring some milk 
 12*
 
 138 TOM TRACY 
 
 from the pitcher into a tumbler, and break- 
 ing some cracker in it. So lie grew more 
 comfortable, and began to eat his cakes, 
 taking very small mouthfuls. The cakes 
 were so very nice that he ate them all; 
 and when he was offered more, though he 
 declined, he thought he could have eaten 
 several with a good relish. Miss Alice 
 then gave him a plate with two apples, a 
 napkin, and one of those beautiful little 
 knives. 
 
 Tom did not like to experiment with 
 the knife: so he bluntly said, "I never eat 
 my apples with a knife," and began biting 
 one, though he coloured as he did it. 
 
 " I think myself they taste better so," 
 said Miss Alice, smiling, "when one has 
 such sound teeth as your's." 
 
 Tom ate his apples with all a boy's 
 hearty enjoyment, drank some water, and 
 .set his plate b\ck en the table, feeling
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 139 
 
 that he had passed through the ordeal 
 more coinfoi fcably than he feared. Miss 
 Alice had all the tine been talking very 
 pleasantly, asking him what he studied at 
 school; which of his studies he liked 
 best; if he liked to read, and what kind 
 of books. And then she told him about 
 the books she liked best when she was 
 of his age, and to what kind of school she 
 went. 
 
 Many times, since Tom had been in the 
 room, he had looked earnestly at a pic- 
 ture hanging on the wall opposite. Mise 
 Alice noticed it, and asked him if he 
 liked it. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I do. I think it is the hand- 
 somest picture I ever saw." 
 
 Poor Tom! IT 3 had never in all his 
 life seen a dozen pictures, and those were 
 cheap coloured prints. No wonder he 
 though !, this exquisite engraving of one of
 
 130 TOM TRACY 
 
 Raphael's Madonnas finer than any thing 
 he had seen. 
 
 "Oh, what a beautiful lady! Who ia 
 it, Miss Alice?" he asked, as he stood 
 looking up at it. 
 
 " It is intended to represent Mary, the 
 mother of Jesus. It is a very sweet, holy 
 face: I am never tired of looking at it." 
 
 " What has she got that over her head 
 for? that round thing, I mean?" 
 
 " That is in all the old pictures of the 
 Virgin Mary, and is designed to represent 
 her as crowned with glory." 
 
 Tom now thought he must go. 
 
 " I suppose I shall not see you again," 
 said Miss Alice; "for I shall go the first 
 warm day." 
 
 Tom looked very sorrowful. His warm 
 heart was full of grief ; for he had never 
 seen any one he thought was ha,lf so kind 
 and beautiful and good as Miss Alice. He
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 141 
 
 could not put his feelings into words, but 
 tears filled in his eyes. 
 
 U I will give you something to remem- 
 ber me by," she said, going to her bureau, 
 " something which, if I should not come 
 back," her voice broke a little, but in an 
 instant it regained its steadiness, "per- 
 haps you would like to look at some- 
 times." And she took from a drawer a little 
 picture of herself, neatly framed. " And 
 here is a Bible, a pmall one, which I have 
 used; but I think it will bring me all the 
 more to your mind. I want you to keep 
 it and read it for my sake, Tom; always 
 remembering it is God'? word to teach you 
 how to live, and wheie to find strength 
 and consolation." 
 
 It was a beautiful gilt-edged Bible, with 
 a morocco cover and gilt clasps. 
 
 Tom could only say, "Thank you." Nc 
 other words would come.
 
 M2 TOM TRACY 
 
 "If you wf-rt to please me, Tom," said 
 Miss Alice, with one of her bright smiles, 
 " remember, it will alwaysmake me happy, 
 wherever I am, to know that you are get- 
 ting the better of your old enemy, the 
 quick temper. I do want you to be a 
 good boy, Tom," she added, tenderly, "to 
 love God and be his obedient child. Then 
 we shall meet again in a better world, if 
 not here; but I hope I shall come back 
 here when the birds and flowers do. You 
 will be glad to see me, won't you?" 
 
 So they parted, the poor boy, full of 
 health and fresh young life in everv vein ; 
 the beautiful and beloved heiress, of great 
 wealth, with disease wasting her strength 
 and fixing its fatal grasp upon her. 
 
 "Next sp-ing," she murmured, as she 
 lay exhausted on the lounge. " Yes : the 
 birds and flowers will come, but I ' 
 
 She wept quietly; but they were very
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 143 
 
 sad and bitter tears. She had hoped tc 
 accomplish so much in life, to enjoy so 
 much, so many ties bound her to earth on 
 every side, that it was hard to die! She 
 knew she could never be well again, and 
 that probably only a few months more re- 
 mained to her on earth, and those, months 
 of weariness and weakness. 
 
 But in a little while the bitternesa 
 passed away, and a sweet spirit of resig- 
 nation came in its place. If there were 
 many enjoyments and many friends on 
 earth, were there not many more in hea- 
 ven ? If she left unfulfilled her plans of 
 usefulness here, would not Jesus give hei 
 work to do for him there? 
 
 "No," she murmured, softly, "I would 
 not have it otherwise. Thou, Lord, art 
 loving and wise; thou knowest how tc 
 plan for me, and I am not afreid to trust 
 myself in thy hands I have given my
 
 144 TOM TRACY 
 
 self lo the /, and I know thou wilt keep 
 what I have committed to thee. No : I 
 would not be left to choose for myself. 
 Though I walk through the valley of the 
 Bhadow of death, I will fear no evil, for 
 thou, Lord, art with ine; thy rod and 
 thy staff they comfort me." And a sweet 
 brightness overspread her face as, with 
 closed eyes, she repeated, very softly, hei 
 favourite hymn : 
 
 " Thy way, not mine, Lord! 
 
 However dark it be ; 
 Lead me by thine own hand, 
 Choose out the path for me. 
 
 " Smooth let it be, or rough, 
 
 It will be still the best ; 
 Winding or straight, it matters not, 
 It leads me to thy rest. 
 
 " I dare not choose my lot; 
 
 I would not, if I might : 
 Choose thou for me, God ! 
 So shall I walk aright. 
 
 " Take thou my cup, and it 
 With joy or sorrow fill ;
 
 OF BEIEE HILL. 145 
 
 As best to thee may seem, 
 Choose thou my good or ill. 
 
 *' Choose thou for me my friends, 
 
 My sickness, or my health ; 
 Choose thou my cares for me, 
 My poverty or wealth. 
 
 " Not mine, not mine the choice, 
 
 In great things, or in small ; 
 Be thou my guide, my strength, 
 My wisdom, and my all." 
 
 Her thoughts then turned towards Tom. 
 11 It is singular," thought she, "how much 
 interest I take in that child : something 
 ?eems to bring him very near my heart. 
 It would be pleasant to come back here for 
 his sake, to try to help him in some way, 
 if I could; but Jesus can help him oh, 
 so much better ! I will not fear for him, 
 either." And she prayed earnestly that 
 the dear boy might be evermore in God's 
 holy keeping. 
 
 Alice was never satisfied with merely 
 praying for those she loved and she tried 
 
 13
 
 J46 TOM TiiACY 
 
 to tie vise some plan for helping both Tom 
 and his mother. After some minutes of 
 silent thought, she reached out her hand 
 for her memorandum-book and made a 
 note in it; then, lying back quietly, she 
 soon fell into a quiet sleep. 
 
 In the mean time, Tom had climbed the 
 hill, with a heart quite subdued by tender 
 emotions, half joyful, half sad. 
 
 "One thing I am glad of," he said, when 
 he had told his mother about his long 
 visit: "I am so glad Miss Alice can ride 
 out every pleasant day. She looks as well 
 and bright as can be. Oh, mother, don t 
 you think this is beautiful?" (showing her 
 the picture;) "but it is not half so pretty 
 as she is!" And he gazed at it with new 
 delight. It was indeed a very sweet, lovel} 
 face, and very much like Miss Alice's ; only 
 it lacked the soft light in the eyes, and the 
 kind beautiful, beaming smile.
 
 BEIEE, HILL. 147 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 GIFTS AND LETTEES. 
 
 A. FEW weeks have passed, aid once 
 more we will look into the little brown 
 house on Brier Hill. It is a cold, still 
 night in February. The mother has drawn 
 quite close to the stove, and is knitting 
 busily ; while Tom sits by the little stand, 
 on which one tallow candle burns, poring 
 over his slate and bending all his energies 
 upon his arithmetic-lesson. He has gone 
 over a sum three times, and still two of 
 his figures obstinately differ from those re- 
 quired, and he is about coming to the con- 
 clusion always reached in such dilemmas 
 that the book is wrong, when, bending
 
 148 TOM TRACY 
 
 his knitted brows over it again, he pre- 
 sently exclaims, aloud, 
 
 "Oh, I've got it! I've got it! I see. 
 now!" And, sure enough, it was all as 
 clear as daylight where he had made a 
 mistake, and the book, after all, was 
 right. 
 
 "I'm glad you persevered," said his 
 mother, looking up into her boy's bright, 
 happy face. " Perseverance generally over- 
 comes all obstacles. No boy will ever 
 make a genuine man till he has learned 
 to buckle down to hard work, and, instead 
 of giving up at the first or second defeat, 
 keep on working f ill he has conquered. 
 Yes, perseverance is the secret of success, 
 and I think. Tom, you have improved n 
 thiw respect this winter, and in others too. 
 I think you have acquired more control 
 over your temper." 
 
 Mrs. Tracy was not given to praising
 
 OF IKIEK ilLL. 149 
 
 Lightly, and never commended Tom un- 
 less he really deserved it. So these 
 words were very precious to him; and 
 he looked up from the slate, on which he 
 was beginning a new sum, very mucL 
 pleased. 
 
 "Yes, mother," he said: "since I injured 
 John I think I have tried to be more care- 
 ful; and always when I look at Miss 
 Alice's picture I think of what she said, 
 and how she wanted me to conquer my 
 enemy." 
 
 "And is that all?" asked the mother, 
 gently. 
 
 " No, mother," added Tom, softly. " I 
 hope I have been helped to do right. I 
 think I have. When I ara provoked, I 
 seem to hear something saying, ' Don't be 
 angry, Tom ! Don't forget your resolution ; 
 don't let your temper get the upper hand,' 
 and so I have time to think, and to stop 
 
 13*
 
 150 TOM TRACY 
 
 the angry word or blow; and then I am 
 so glad!" 
 
 Gratefal tears dimmed the fond mother's 
 eyes. Not all the wealth of the Indies 
 could have sent through her heart such a 
 thrill of pure joy. But no more was said; 
 and in a few minutes Tom turned to the 
 table, and began ciphering again. 
 
 His mother was absorbed }>y her plea- 
 sant thoughts, and no sound was heard 
 save the steady ticking of the clock and 
 the scratching of Tom's pencil. The quiet 
 was suddenly disturbed by the sound of 
 sleigh-bells very near the house. Yes, 
 they were turning into the yard, and were 
 even then at the door! Rarely indeed did 
 such sounds disturb their evening quiet on 
 that lonely hill ; and Mrs. Tracy trembled 
 as she opened the door, dreading she knew 
 not what, but thinkirg, "Surely c ome bad 
 news has ;ome.'
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 151 
 
 ' Hallo there 1" cried out a bluff, hearty 
 voice which she knew to be Mr. Parker's, 
 when all idea of bad news vanished at 
 once. "How are you all? Where's Tom? 
 Oh, here you are. Well, my boy, what 
 do you think I've got for you? Open 
 your eyes wide, now. Here's a box for 
 you, an express-box, all the way from 
 New York. Think of that, boy !" 
 
 "For me! Why, what is it? Who 
 sent it?" 
 
 " I found it over at Centre ville to-day. 
 Here it is, you see : ' Master Thomas 
 Tracy, care of Mrs. Mary Tracy, Rock- 
 field.' That means you, I take it; and I 
 can guess who sent it: can't you, Tom?" 
 
 It was quite a large bcx, directed as 
 Mr. Parker had said; and Tom's heart was 
 all in a flutter when he carried it in. 
 
 Mr. Parker was in a very great hurry. 
 " Hadn't ber~ home since morning," IIP
 
 152 TOM TRACY 
 
 said. So he bade them good-night and the 
 bells jingled away down the lull. 
 
 The box was soon opened; and surel) 
 no box even those packed by fairy hands 
 in olden times ever disclosed treasures 
 more delightfully surprising than those 
 which this contained. It took Tom and 
 his mother some time to examine and 
 comprehend the whole; but we will give 
 an inventory of its contents, omitting the 
 exclamations made as they were, one by 
 one, brought to sight. 
 
 First came a bag, labelled, "For Mrs. 
 Tracy," which was found to contain a 
 muff and tippet of black fur, not very 
 costly, but such as would be very warm 
 and comfortable for her to wear to church. 
 Next was a large parcel, containing cloth 
 enough for a suit of clothes, stout, heavy 
 gray cloth, suitable for boy's wear, 
 marked, "For Tom." Then an outside
 
 OF BHIER HILL 153 
 
 garment, which looked almost ne#, and 
 of nice material, such as Tom had never 
 seen before: this was also "For Torn." 
 Then came a smaller bundle, ;< For Little 
 Mary," which had in it two nice dress- 
 patterns, one of bright crimson merino, 
 the other a blue French calico, and two 
 beautiful little white aprons, tastefully 
 made, two picture-books, a china doll, and 
 a little box filled with sugar toyj. Then 
 came several books, most of them having 
 Tom's name written on the fly-leaf, "from 
 his friend A. R." 
 
 "Oh, yes; I knew a great while ago it 
 was from Miss Alice : didn't you, mother?" 
 lie exclaimed. 
 
 Two or three of the largest and most 
 handsomely-bound volumes had Mrs. 
 Tracy's name inscribed in them; and in 
 one of them were found two letters, one 
 addressed to Mrs. Tracy, and one to Tom.
 
 154 TOM TRACY 
 
 Beneatk the books, at the bottom of the 
 box, lay something carefully wrapped in 
 stiff paper and closely sealed. What 
 could it be? It was directed to Tom, 
 and he lifted it up, balanced it on his 
 hands, turned it over, and peeped in at 
 the corners ; but all in vain. He could form 
 no possible conjecture of what it might be. 
 It was hard and flat, but a great deal too 
 large for a book. Perhaps it was an 
 atlas; but then it was larger than aa 
 atlas. 
 
 "Why, mother, what can this be?" he 
 exclaimed. He saw she was reading her 
 letter. He wanted to read his ; but he 
 must first explore that parcel. It took 
 him some time to untie the strings and 
 remove the different wrappers; but, on 
 getting at the inside, he exclaimed with 
 delight. It was a picture. a beautiful 
 picture, in r- rich frame.
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 155 
 
 "Oh, mother, do look! Do see this I" 
 Bat he found his mother had laid down 
 iier letter, and the tears were fast flowing 
 down her cheeks. 
 
 "Oh, what is it? Is any thing the 
 matter, mother?" 
 
 "Oh, no, no: only God is so good to 
 me!" And she wept again. 
 
 It was such an unusual thing for his 
 mother to lose the control of herself, that 
 Tom was quite puzzled. As soon as she 
 became quiet, Mrs. Tracy read the letter 
 aloud : 
 
 "My DEAR MRS. TRACY: 
 
 " I hope you will excuse me for addressing 
 you, for I do not feel that we are quite 
 strangers. From your son and others I 
 have learned enough of your history to 
 entertain great respect for your character 
 and a eincere interest in your welfare. I
 
 J56 TOM TRACY 
 
 became quite attached to yoir son, uad 
 often wish I could see him again. 1 
 have taken the liberty of sending him ft 
 few things which I hope may remind him 
 pleasantly of me, and prove useful. Th^ 
 overcoat is one which my nephew has 
 outgrown, but it is so little defaced it 
 seems a pity to throw it aside. J think 
 it may fit Tom very nicely, and help to 
 keep him wana in his walks over your 
 cold hills. 
 
 "I have also enclosed a trifling gift 
 for yourself. I trust it may prove timely, 
 and that you may have as much heartfeh 
 delight in receiving as I in sending it: 
 more I am sure you Cannot have. 
 
 " T know, my dear Mrs. Tracy, that your 
 sorrows are such as a young person like me 
 whose whole life has been shielded from 
 care, cannot appreciate; and yet I have 
 longed in some way to express my sym-
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 157 
 
 path 7 and regard. I am sure, as Torn 
 says, 'I should love his mother,' and that 
 if I could sit down beside you we should 
 find our hearts bound together by a very 
 tender tie. Those who love and serve the 
 same Master must have many precious 
 memories and hopes in common ; and, if it 
 be his will, I hope I may see you in the 
 spring, and talk of those things which are 
 nearest to our hearts ; but, if not, I believe 
 we shall meet and know each other in a 
 uappifr home. 
 
 "Your sincere friend, 
 
 "ALICE RAY." 
 
 The "trifling gift enclosed" was a check 
 for fifty dollars. So wholly unexpected 
 was it, and so much had the poor mother 
 lately felt perplexed and troubled about 
 the future, that it is no wonder she was 
 overcome by this unexpected relief. She 
 
 14
 
 158 TOM TRACY 
 
 accepted tlie gift in the same spirit with 
 which it was offered, believing it leally 
 wae a pleasure to Miss Alice's kind heart 
 to do good, and therefore she allowed no 
 feeling of foolish pride or independence tc 
 lessen her joy. Her heart overflowed with 
 gratitude, both to the giver herself and 
 to the great Giver who had put it into her 
 heart tc be so generous and thoughtful. 
 She had prayed for relief, but it had been 
 with a faltering faith; and she now felt 
 that her fears and distrust had been un- 
 worthy of a child and dishonouring to 
 her heavenly Parent. She could not help 
 weeping; but they were very refreshing 
 tears. 
 
 As for Tom, he was so excited that he 
 talked and laughed, and even shouted, in 
 the exuberance of his joy. 
 
 "Now, mother, you can have every thing 
 you want! Oh, how rich we shall bel
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 159 
 
 Didn't I tell you Miss Alice wasn't a bit 
 like ar.ybody else? and she isn't: is she?' ; 
 Then, lifting up his picture as high as he 
 could possibly reach, he exclaimed, in a 
 new burst of rapture, "Did you ever see 
 any thing like that?" 
 
 "I am afraid you will let it fall, my 
 child. Here ; let me put it on the table, 
 where I can see ' it. Yes, it ia beautiful 
 indeed!" 
 
 And beautiful it was, an exquisite en- 
 graving, representing Christian and Hope- 
 ful going up from the river and being met 
 by the shining ones, who were pointing 
 them upwards to the celestial city. 
 
 "But you have not read your letter yet. 
 How can you neglect that so long?" 
 
 "Sure enough; but I have got so much 
 to think of, I can't keep my head quite 
 straight. This nice overcoat, all lined and 
 quilted 1 Do seel And the sleeves lined
 
 160 TOM TEACY 
 
 with silk, too 1 did you ever see any thing 
 BO nice?" 
 
 "It is very nice, indeed, almost too 
 nice for such a boy as you." 
 
 "Oh, no, I guess not." And Tom 
 jumped up and down in his great joy. 
 
 At length he became calm enough to 
 open the letter; but, not having learned 
 how to write very well, he could not read 
 it easily, though written in a large, plain 
 hand, and at length he reluctantly con- 
 sented to listen while his mother read it: 
 
 "My DEAR TOM: 
 
 " I am sure you will be glad to know 
 that I arrived safely at my brother's, with 
 less f&tigue than I expected, and am 
 feeling stronger than when I saw you last. 
 I suppose your hills are still covered with 
 the beautiful white snow; but here there 
 is none at all, and people ride in carriages
 
 CF BKIEE HILL. 161 
 
 as in summer I often fancy, when I am 
 lying on my lounge with my eyes shut 
 just how your hills look, shining in the 
 clear morning light. I love Roekfield 
 very much, and I like to think of you 
 and my other friends there. If you were 
 standing by my side, I should ask you a 
 great many questions. I should like to 
 know how John Jackson is getting along. 
 Dr. Wilson told me, the morning I left, he 
 thought he would get well. I hope you 
 and he will be good friends in future, 
 and both be better for what you have 
 suffered. 
 
 " And the old enemy how comes on the 
 warfare with him in these days? Know- 
 ing your love of Pilgrim's Progress, I have 
 sent you a copy which has some beautiful 
 plates in it. The one I like best is thai 
 in which the Palace Beautiful is rising in 
 the background, surrounded by lofty trees 
 
 14*
 
 162 
 
 its towers glittering in the s inlight, and 
 where Christian, walking in the narrow 
 path that leads to it, sees two fierce lions 
 which he must pass, and starts back 
 affrighted. We know they are chained, 
 but he did not. I have very often looked 
 at that picture when I have been fearful, 
 and remembered that all the lions in 
 my path are also chained, and cannot 
 injure me without the permission of my 
 kind, heavenly Father. I want you to 
 learn this, Tom, that nothing can harm 
 you, however terrible it may look, while 
 you are walking in the right path and 
 under God's protection. Be not afraid of 
 poverty, or suffering, or death. Be afraid 
 of nothing but wandering from the narrow 
 road of duty. 
 
 ;< I hope tne books I have selected will 
 suit you. One or two of them were great 
 favourites of mine at your age ; but a boy's
 
 OF BRIBE JILL. 163 
 
 tastea may be different. I am sure you 
 will like the large picture. 
 
 "The picture will be one you 3an keep, 
 and enjoy looking at, years hence, perhaps 
 even more than now. I like to think of 
 you, Tom, growing up in your quiet home, 
 with your mother and little Mary, away 
 from all the din and wickedness of the great 
 city. May you always be kept from evil, 
 and be made a blessing to your friends and 
 the world. 
 
 "I am with my brother, of whom I told 
 you, the kindest and best brother that 
 ever was. I think he will go to Eockfield 
 next summer; and you will probably see 
 him. And now, dear Tom, good-by. God 
 bless you, now and forever! 
 
 "From your affectionate friend, 
 
 "ALICE RAY/' 
 
 "I don't think anybody was ever so
 
 164 TOM TRACY 
 
 good as Miss Alice," said Tom, thought- 
 fully. "If she were to die, I know angels 
 would come to get her" 
 
 "Perhaps it is because she is so near 
 heaven that her spirit is so heavenly," 
 said his mother. "She certainly is a very 
 remarkable person. Very few who are 
 rich and surrounded by friends, as she is, 
 would think of the sorrows of a poor 
 widow whom they had never seen." 
 
 But Tom could not sit still long. Each 
 book was opened and carefully inspected 
 anew. The overcoat was tried on and 
 found to fit admirably, except that it was 
 a little too large, "a very good fault," hia 
 mother said. The picture, and the cloth, 
 and the furs, and Mary's dresses and play- 
 things, were again looked at and again ad- 
 mired. And then Tom sat down to plan 
 with his mother how to use the money 
 that had so unexpectedly come to them.
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 165 
 
 "Kv.'w you can get a rocking-chair, 
 mother,'' said he, exultingly. "You want 
 one so much when you are tired ; and you 
 know how bad you felt when the old one 
 was broken." 
 
 "You can have a pair of boots," said 
 his mother; "and you need them very 
 much." 
 
 "Oh! like John Jones's?" 
 
 "I don't know about John Jones's, but I 
 will get Mr. Foote to make a pair of good, 
 stout ones. When it begins to thaw, your 
 old shoes won't do at all : yet I had no 
 money to get any others. I think I felt 
 worse about that than any other thing; 
 for I did not like to get into debt even 
 for a pair of shoes." 
 
 "My dear mother' you always think 
 of me, and nevei of yourself." 
 
 "We can buy some coin now," said the
 
 166 TOM TTUCY 
 
 mother, "and old Brindle and the pigs will 
 fare a little better." 
 
 "And you won't have to work so hard; 
 I don't think you ought to do so muct 
 washing. And mayn't I get a little wagon 
 in the spring, and draw Mary out in it?" 
 
 "I must wait and see. We can't afford 
 to get any thing we can do without, Tom," 
 she continued, very seriously. " There is 
 one thing I have never spoken to you 
 about, which I am very anxious to do. 
 When your father died, there were some 
 debts left. I have never yet been able tc 
 pay them; but they were honestly due, 
 and it would not be honest in us not tc 
 pay them if we possibly can." 
 
 Tom had seldom heard a word about hit 
 father, who h id besn dead about two years. 
 He remembered Lim well, as an invalid, 
 almost always in the house, sick and 
 feeb'w.
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 167 
 
 It hac. been a great coinfor'. to the poor 
 widow to believe that her children would 
 never know of their father's faults. 
 
 "How much are these debts?" 
 
 " Over a hundred dollars, interest and 
 all." 
 
 Tom's countenance fell. "Oh, mother, 
 you can never get so much as that to- 
 gether! Can't they do without it?" 
 
 "I don't suppose the creditors will ever 
 trouble me; probably they never expect 
 to receive their pay ; but it is not the less 
 right for us to do it if we can. We will 
 try to be honest, Tom, if nothing more, 
 thoroughly, strictly honest, which we 
 should not be if we did not make every 
 effort to pay our debts. I will leave no 
 means untried to redeem your father's 
 name from disgrace, as far as lies in my 
 power." And she sighed heavily. 
 
 Tom looked up; but he saw his mother
 
 168 TOM TKACY 
 
 was lost in painful thought, ar.d he would 
 not interrupt her. 
 
 "I think we may save twenty-five dol- 
 lars of this money," she said, at length, 
 rousing herself, "and that will be a nice 
 beginning; and then we can lay aside a 
 little from time to time. I am sure, Tom, 
 you would rather live a little poorer and 
 wear coarser clothes than to have your 
 father's debts unpaid?" 
 
 "Yes, mother, I should. I don't care 
 a fig for myself." And his face lighted up 
 with the brave smile which his mother 
 loved so well to see there. "I shall be 
 old enough to do a great deal next sum- 
 mer, and I will save every cent of the 
 money: I won't spend a cent of it. Mo- 
 ther," he said, after a pause, " I haven't 
 spent that shilling Colonel Blake paid 
 r ne yet. I did think of getting me a 
 jack-knife with it; but I can d> well
 
 OF BIvIER HILL. 169 
 
 enough without one. May I pv.t that in 
 towards the debt?" 
 
 The mother paused a moment. Con- 
 flicting emotions checked her utterance. 
 It almost seemed like sacrificing the child 
 to atone for his father's misdeeds. Yet 
 was it not well that the child should early 
 learn to practise self-denial, learn to be 
 honest and honourable, whatever it might 
 cost? 
 
 "Yes," she said, quietly, "you may: it 
 will be quite a large sum for you to give 
 towards it." 
 
 Lonely and widowed mother, sitting by 
 that humble hearth amid the solitary 
 hills, rejoice. Do not sigh to think you 
 cannot educate that boy as you could 
 wish. Such lessons of self-sacrifice and 
 honourable feeling as you are daily teach- 
 ing him are of far more value than thou- 
 sands of gold and silver. With God's 
 
 15
 
 170 TOM TRACY 
 
 ing, they shall make him what wealth 
 alone never could, a brave, upright, con- 
 scientious man. 
 
 A prayer with hearty, humble thanks- 
 giving went up trom the cottage-hearth 
 that night; and never were blessings more 
 fervently invoked on any human head 
 than were there breathed forth for their 
 dear, kind benefactress, petitions heard 
 and answered; for, if there were joy and 
 peace in the quiet home on Brier Hill, so 
 were there still purer peace and joy in 
 the stately city mansion where Alice Kay 
 laid herself down to sleep, sweetly happy 
 in the consciousness of having made others 
 happy. Ah, full well did He know the 
 human heart, who said, " It is better to 
 ivt than to recsive."
 
 OF BRIBE HILL. 171 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE SCHOOL-FRIEND. 
 
 IT was early in December when John 
 Jackson was hurt, and it was a mild 
 spring-like morning in March when he 
 again took his place in the school-room. 
 He was still thin and pale, and looked 
 very different from the John Jackson who 
 nad been known as one of the stoutest 
 boys in school. Everybody was glad to 
 see John ; for the hearts of those who had 
 most disliked him had been softened by 
 his long illness, and all that was unplea- 
 sant had been forgotten. 
 
 Tom and John had long before heartily 
 forgiven each other. John had been much
 
 172 TOM TKACY 
 
 improved by his winter's experience, Sick- 
 ness had taught him some valuable lessons, 
 humbling his pride and showing him his 
 dependence on others. And his aunt 
 a sensible, excellent woman had taken 
 advantage of the docility occasioned by 
 weakness to instil correct ideas into his 
 mind. When he was first able to have 
 an interview with Tom, and saw the peni- 
 tent expression on his face, and heard his 
 tearful entreaty, "Oh, John, forgive me: I 
 am so sorry I hurt you!" he felt more 
 kindly towards him than ever before. 
 
 "Yes, I do," he answered, in a very 
 weak voice: "I was in fault too; I pro- 
 voked you to do it." And from that time 
 they both had the most friendly feelings. 
 When John grew strong enough to talk, 
 Tom went in nearly every day to see him, 
 and, if he had a nice apple or any nice 
 thing given him it was sure to be trans- 
 
 O O '
 
 OF FRIER HILL. 173 
 
 ferred to John. His generous heart longed 
 to make reparation for the injury he had 
 done, and he fclt as if no sacrifice on his 
 part would be too great to make for John's 
 comfort. John had a less noble nature, 
 but he became quite attached to Tom in 
 his way, and missed him if he did not 
 come in to tell him about the boys and 
 school-affairs. 
 
 Tom was the happiest of the happy 
 the morning John came to school. It was 
 with his arm around his neck that John 
 first entered the school-room; and the 
 better feelings of all the boys were touched 
 by seeing the two thus together. 
 
 Mr. Carter gave him a cordial welcome. 
 "It was a dark day for us all, John," said 
 he, " when you were hurt, and it is a happy 
 one which brings you among us again. 
 We all felt that you were both in fault. 
 You both have suffered, and we hope both
 
 J74 TOM TRAOY 
 
 have been made better by the suffering 
 It was a kind Providence that kept one 
 D you from going suddenly, with all hi a 
 evil passions in full exercise, into the 
 presence of the Almighty Judge, and 
 saved the other from the terrible remorse 
 of having killed a playmate in a fit of 
 anger. Yes, God has been good to you, 
 and preserved your life, in order, I trust, 
 that it may be spent in his service. Let 
 us thank him for his great goodness." 
 
 And many who often trifled away the 
 moments of prayer, that morning, as they 
 bowed their heads over their desks, listened 
 to eveiy word that was spoken, and truly 
 thanked God for restoring their companion. 
 
 The boys all gathered around John at 
 recess with words of welcome. Tom's 
 face was fairly radiant with delight. He 
 thought it was the happit st day of his 
 whole life; and at noon he privately con-
 
 OF BKIER HILL. 175 
 
 fided that sentiment to Lizzy Reed, his 
 great crony among the girls, and enlarged 
 upon the miserable feelings he had when 
 he thought John would die. 
 
 "And if he had, Tom, should you ever 
 have taken any more comfort all your life 
 long?" 
 
 "I don't believe I should. I believe it 
 would have killed me." 
 
 "I guess it would," said Lizzy, in a very 
 sympathizing tone. 
 
 "Do you have any sap at your house?" 
 continued Lizzy, after a pause. 
 
 "No, not a drop." 
 
 "We do, ever so much. I am going to 
 have company Saturday afternoon, ever 
 so many boys and girls, and we are going 
 to sugar-off.* I guess I shall ask you, if 
 
 * The process cf manufacturing maple-sugar is, 
 doubtless, familiar to many of our readers, but not 
 to ell. Whon the sap has been collected, it is boiled
 
 176 TOM TRACY 
 
 mother will let me. Cousin Helen is 
 coming over from Centreville, to stay <\ 
 whole week." 
 
 "Do you like her?" 
 
 "Yes, pretty well. I think she's proud, 
 though. She has got three rings, one 
 with a red stone in it that sparkles like 
 every thing; and she's got a real gold 
 chain, and a beautiful little locket. Oh, 
 I wish I had one just like it!" 
 
 down till it becomes thickened by evaporation ; 
 and, just at the point when it begins to crystallize 
 into sugar, being in a "waxy" state, it is exceed- 
 ingly delicious, if dipped out and cooled in small 
 quantities on the snow. It has always been the 
 custom, and still is, in the hill-towns where the 
 article is produced, to invite friends (often from a 
 distance of several miles) to join in a little frolic on 
 this occasion, each being expected to go to the 
 huge boiler and dip out with a spoon some of this 
 "wax," as it is called, into a pan filled with clean 
 enow, on which it cools suddenly and has a flavour 
 which it loses in the later stages of the process. 
 It is called " sugaring-off," because it is just at this 
 point that the liquid is drawn off into moulds.
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 177 
 
 "I wish I was ricli, and then I would 
 give you a great deal prettier one. But, 
 oh, dear ! I am as poor as a mouse, and I 
 suppose I always shall he. But, Lizzy, I 
 don't care: I am going to be honest; I am 
 honest," he added, in a proud tone. And 
 then he told her, as a great secret, how the 
 shilling he received from Colonel Blake 
 would be put in a little box to help pay a 
 debt his father owed. " Because it wouldn't 
 be right and just not to pay it, you know," 
 he said; "but we shall pay it, some time.' 1 
 
 And Lizzy's eyes opened up at Tom 
 with great admiration, because he was so 
 honest, and her warm little heart sought 
 to comfort him. 
 
 "It isn't any thing wrong to be poor. 
 My father says so, and that poor people 
 are just as good as others. But I guess 
 mother doesn't think so. Aunt Jane 
 don't, T know."
 
 173 TOM TRACT 
 
 "Who caros for Aunt Jane? ' said Tom, 
 scornfully. "I don't!" 
 
 "I do," said the meek little Lizzy. "I 
 don't love her as well as I do Aunt Kate; 
 but I care some for her, because she's my 
 aunt; and I don't think you ought to talk 
 so about her." 
 
 "Well, I won't," said Tom, who was 
 particularly anxious to please Lizzy. 
 
 "Mother," said Tom that night, when 
 he had told her about John's coming to 
 school, and how happy he felt, and what 
 Mr. Carter said, "I guess I shall be in- 
 vited to Lizzy Reed's Saturday afternoon, 
 to sugar-off. Won't that be splendid?" 
 
 Mrs. Tracy looked surprised; for, next to 
 Colonel Blake's, Mr. Reed's was one of tho 
 most wealthy families in town, and she 
 thought it would be very strange if he 
 were asked; for even in that little village 
 lines of distinction were pretty accurately
 
 OF BRIER HTLL. 179 
 
 drawn between the Afferent classes; but, 
 concluding it was only children's talk, she 
 said, 
 
 "I hardly think you will be asked. Aj 
 any rate, it will be time enough to think 
 about it when you are." 
 
 " But I guess I shall be. Lizzy told me 
 so." 
 
 Lizzy Reed was two years younger than 
 Tom, a timid, sweet-tempered little crea- 
 ture, who loved everybody, and who had 
 taken a particular fancy to Tom, for he 
 always defended her in all her little school- 
 troubles. When she came home that 
 night, she found that her aunt Jane and 
 cousin Helen had arrived. After tea, seme- 
 thing was said about Saturday afternoon's 
 party, and Lizzy, with some hesitation, 
 suggested that Tom Tracy should be in- 
 vited. 
 
 "What! <,hat boy of Widow Tracy's?'
 
 180 TOM TR1CY 
 
 said her mother. "No, indeed. I shaVt 
 have him asked. !> 
 
 " Who is Widow Tracy?" inquired Aunt 
 Jane. 
 
 "A woman who lives on Brier Hill, a 
 poor, low family," replied Mrs. Reed. 
 
 "That woman who did brother John's 
 washing last summer?" 
 
 "Yes; the same." 
 
 "Well, I must say, you've come to a 
 fine pass over here in Rook field !" said 
 Aunt Jane. "I think it's high time Miss 
 Lizzy was taught to be a little more select 
 in her society." 
 
 "Yes, it is indeed. Lizzy, I can't 
 imagine what makes you want to ask such 
 a boy as that," said her mother. 
 
 "He isn't a bo,d boy; he's a good boy," 
 said Lizzy, phid ing up all her courage to 
 defend her friend. " H<3 goes to our school, 
 and everybody likes him. He's poor, but
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 181 
 
 he's honest !'' she added, triumphant iy, aa 
 if that settlsd the question. 
 
 "This comes of sending children to a 
 public school," said Aunt Jane, scornfully. 
 "I'm thankful my Helen has never been 
 mixed up with washerwomen's children. 
 She wouldn't have any thing to do with 
 such a boy, I know." 
 
 "No, indeed!" And Miss Helen played 
 with her gold chain as she said it, and 
 looked down quite disdainfully at poor 
 Lizzy, who had such low tastes. 
 
 "No: Helen is a little lady already," 
 said Mrs. Reed. "I wish I could manage 
 the children differently : I should, if I had 
 my way; but Mr. Reed Las very peculiar 
 notions. Common schools are his hobby, 
 and I suppose Lizzy will be kept at one 
 all her life. But I shall take jare to pre- 
 vent her associating with that set out of 
 school. Lizzy, let me never hear you talk 
 
 10
 
 182 TOM TEACY 
 
 of asking Tom Tracy here again," she 
 added, in a very decided tone. 
 
 Lizzy shed many tears after she lay 
 down in her little bed that night. A 
 child's heart always warms towards the 
 injured, and very bitterly injured did she 
 consider Tom to be by this conversation ; 
 and, in the kindness of her heart, she 
 sought to make amends by loving him her- 
 self twice as much as she did before. 
 
 "And I told him I was going to ask 
 him!" she said, with a fresh sob. "What 
 will he think of me?" But this and all 
 other troubles were soon forgotten in the 
 sound, dreamless sleep of childhood. 
 
 Mrs. Reed was perhaps perfectly right 
 in not wishing Tom Tracy invited to 
 her house; but she should have given her 
 reasons in a different spirit. Children are 
 quick discerners of motives, and many a 
 warm, pure child-heai t is grieved by the
 
 OF BE1EE HILL. 183 
 
 vorldliness of those it loves, and thus loses 
 its perfect faith in those it would fain reve- 
 rence and admire. 
 
 The next morning Lizzy and her father 
 were alone in the breakfast-room, as the 
 latter was putting on her bonnet for 
 Bchool. 
 
 "Father," she said, "may I have a nice, 
 large cake of maple-sugar to carry to 
 school?" 
 
 "To eat at recess, and spoil your din- 
 ner?" 
 
 "No, father: I don't want to eat it 
 myself. I want to give it to somebody 
 who hasn't any." 
 
 "Why, certainly you may have one. 
 But, pray, who is this mysterious indivi- 
 dual?" 
 
 "Oh, I'd rather not tell who he. is, 
 father." 
 
 "He? Ah, that is it. No wonder you
 
 TOM TRACT 
 
 are so secretive. I think I must inquire 
 who lie is," said her father, playfully; but, 
 seeing she looked really troubled, he added, 
 lifting her upon his knee, "Why, Lizzy, 
 to be sure you may give your sugar to 
 whom you like. I don't want to know. I 
 am glad you think of those who haven't 
 any. That is what you should always 
 do." 
 
 "But, father, I think I will tell you: 
 only you mustn't ever tell." 
 
 "No; never," he answered, solemnly. 
 
 "It's for Tom Tracy. He's a real nice 
 boy, and I can't have him here at the 
 sugar-party, because he's poor; but he's 
 honest; and that, I have heard you say, 
 is better than to be rich." 
 
 "So ft is, Lizzy ; so it is ! I have heard 
 his mother spoken of as a very worthy 
 woman. You must take some nice sugar 
 to him," he said, putting Lizzy down, and
 
 OF BRIER HILL, 185 
 
 going to the closet, ' and a large cake to 
 his mother, too. Has he any sister?" 
 
 "Oh, yes; little Mary." 
 
 "And there's a little cake fcr her, a 
 little beauty, isn't it?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, father. I am so glad!" And 
 her eyes sparkled with generous delight. 
 
 This was the plan her brain had devised, 
 after considerable study, to repair Tom's 
 wrongs. If he could not be invited, he 
 should have some sugar ; and, full of smiles 
 and dimples, she set off for school, as light- 
 hearted as a bird.
 
 186 TOM TRACY 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE OLD ENEMY. 
 
 THAT Friday mcrning Tom arrived on 
 the school-ground earlier than usual, for it 
 was his turn to build the fire ; and a roar- 
 ing blaze went crackling up the chimney 
 before nine o'clock. One after another 
 the boys dropped in, and then some of the 
 girk, and all began to talk of the sugar- 
 party, which was quite an important event 
 in their little world. And the question 
 who would and who would not be invited 
 was discussed with great anxiety and 
 many comments. 
 
 In most schools there is some one boy 
 or girl who seems born to be the tor-
 
 OF BRIBE HILL. 187 
 
 mentor of the rest, who takes de.ight in 
 teasing and in being the bearer of un- 
 comfortable intelligence. This office was 
 filled in the present instance by Hattie 
 Cook; and now, drawing up within the 
 circle, she exclaimed, with a very signifi- 
 cant toss of her head, 
 
 " I know who wont be invited, any 
 way, somebody Lizzy pretends to be 
 great friends with, too; but they a'n't 
 going to invite washerwomen's boys." 
 
 Tom's eyes flashed. The old enemy 
 was there, ready to take possession of his 
 heart. Was there no helper also near, to 
 make him think before it was too late? 
 Yes; "a still small voice" was at that 
 moment whispering, "Don't get angry, 
 Tom. Remember, you have resolved to 
 govern your temper. Do it now!" But, 
 alas! though Tom heard it distirctly, he 
 gave little heed to it. Instead of facing
 
 TOM TRACY 
 
 round and running a sword right through 
 
 O O O 
 
 Apollyon, he turned coward, ,i/d never 
 fought at all. 
 
 "Who told you that, Hattie Cook?" he 
 fcaid, fiercely. 
 
 "You needn't be so cross. I didn't say 
 'twas you. I'll tell you how I know ; for 
 I do know. Miss Bassett was sewing at 
 Miss Reed's yesterday, and she heard 'em 
 say it. And 'twas you; and they said you 
 shouldn't be invited, and they wouldn't 
 have Lizzy associating any more with 
 such a boy as you." 
 
 Tom's angejc was now at the boiling- 
 point. This only pleased Hattie Cook all 
 the more, and she continued, 
 
 "/ don't think washerwomen's boys 
 ought to expect to be invited to go with 
 genteel people. Do you, George?" (ad- 
 dressing one of the boy^.) 
 
 "If yon say a word against my mother.
 
 OF 3RIEK HILL. 189 
 
 I'll flog you, George. I'd flog you, if 
 you weren't a girl!" he shouted, clenching 
 his fist and shaking it in Hattie's face. 
 
 " I s'pose you want to kill somebody 
 else, don't you?" retorted the provoking 
 child. 
 
 It was just at this unfortunate moment 
 that Lizzy Reed came tripping in, her 
 face bright as a sunbeam, and her heart 
 full of love. Going up to Tom, and draw- 
 ing him a little aside, she whispered, 
 
 " Oh, Tom, here is some sugar for you: 
 one cake is for you, one for your mother, 
 and one for little Mary." 
 
 "Are you going to ask me to your 
 party?" said Tom, at the top of his voice. 
 
 " No," said lazzy, frightened by his vio- 
 lence; "we can't, because " 
 
 " Because I am poor, and my mother is 
 a washerwoman ! ' ' And he seized the sugar, 
 aod dashed it aga ; nst the wall with such
 
 190 TOM TEACY 
 
 force that it fell, shattered Lito frag- 
 ments. 
 
 "Oh, Tom!" 
 
 That was all Lizzy could say ; but the 
 tone was inexpressibly sad. 
 
 "What's the row here?" cried one of 
 the large boys, coming in just ahead of 
 Mr. Carter. 
 
 " Nothing, only Tom Tracy's got one 
 of his mad fits; that's all,'' said Hattie 
 Cook. 
 
 Mr. Carter, who entered in time to 
 hear this, turned a sorrowful look on Tom, 
 but said nothing to him. 
 
 " Let some one gather up the sugar 
 that is scattered about," said he, "and the 
 rest take your seats." 
 
 "What shall we do with it?" asked cue 
 of the boys. "It's all smashed up and 
 trod into the floor!" 
 
 Sure enough, it was all spoiled, so
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 191 
 
 broken and mixed with the dirt of the 
 floor that none of it was fit for eating, 
 not even Mary's little cake, which had 
 been such a beauty. 
 
 Lizzy could not keep from crying. This 
 was the end of all her planning to please 
 Tom, and of all her kind intentions. 
 
 "And Tom" (she thought to herself) "is 
 so cross and hateful, I never will care any 
 thing for him, or try to be friends with 
 him any more." 
 
 By the time Tom had reached his seat, 
 he was thoroughly ashamed of himself, 
 and felt as uncomfortable as he well 
 could. 
 
 Mr. Carter always read a passage from 
 the Bible befors prayers, and this morn- 
 r ng he came to the chapter which records 
 the sin of Peter, who cursed and sworo, 
 and denied his Master: "And when 
 Jesus leaked upon him, he went out, and
 
 192 TOM TKACY 
 
 wept bitterly." It seemed tc Tom as if 
 Jesus looked at him; and, as he bowed 
 his head, the hot tears ran down his 
 cheeks. He felt too wicked to pray ; yet 
 from his inmost heart went forth a piercing 
 cry for pardon and help. In his prayer 
 Mr. Carter repeated the words, "God be 
 merciful to me a sinner;" and it seemed 
 to Tom as if they expressed exactly what 
 he felt. He wanted God to be merciful 
 to him; and he was a sinner, oh, such a 
 sinner! And, if the cry of the publican 
 was accepted, let us hope that of the poor 
 erring boy was also heard. 
 
 Tom could not study that morning. 
 His mind was confused. He despised 
 himself, and felt as if everybody despised 
 him, and he could scarcely bear to raise 
 his eyes from his book. 
 
 When Mr. Carter asked him if he was 
 getting along well with his sums, he
 
 OF BEIEK HILL. 193 
 
 looked up with a quick, grateful glance, 
 but said nothing. When at length he 
 found courage to cast his ej es around the 
 school-room, he found all were busy at 
 their lessons and not thinking of him at 
 all. He tried, once, to catch Lizzy's eye; 
 but she persisted in turning her face the 
 other way and looking intently on her 
 book. 
 
 At recess, some of the boys inquired 
 about the sugar, and what it all meant; 
 and George Moore told the story, throw- 
 ing the blame as far as possible from Tom. 
 
 "I like you, Tom, ' he said, "if you 
 wouldn't fire up so. I don't think one 
 bit the less of you for being poor. My 
 father was poor once. I have heard him 
 tell about it a great many times, and how 
 he was glad to do almost any thing to 
 earn a few cents. I am sorry you were 
 so angry; but then it was because she 
 
 17
 
 194 TOM T;\\CT 
 
 twitted you about your mother, and that, 
 I say, is real mean in anybody." 
 
 Tears started to Tom's eyes. Poor 
 Tom! he was always so sorry when he 
 had done wrong, and yet so constantly 
 doing it! 
 
 "I think she was insulting," he said; 
 " but then I was most to blame. I never 
 meant to get so angry again. I do be- 
 lieve I shall kill somebody yet!" And he 
 looked at John, as if very grateful to him 
 for not having been killed. 
 
 "Oh, no, you won't," said George Moore. 
 "Let's play ball a while." 
 
 At noon, Tom tried to speak to Lizzy ; 
 but she turned her face the other way, 
 and went out with other girls as soon as 
 she had hurried en her hood and cloak. 
 This grieved Tom more than all the rest; 
 for he and Lizzy had never quarrelled, and 
 in their school-troubles she had always
 
 Of BRIjrfR HILL 195 
 
 taken his part and given him htr sym- 
 pathy. 
 
 He kept a look-out for her in the after- 
 noon, and, though she attempted to pass 
 by into the school-room without looking at 
 him, he prevented her. 
 
 " Oh, Lizzy, stop a minute. Don't he 
 so angry with me." 
 
 " I don't like you, Tom Tracy," she 
 said; "I don't like you now. It isn't 
 because you are poor, but because you are 
 so bad-tempered." 
 
 " I know I am," said Tom. " I wish I 
 wasn't. But I wasn't mad with you: it 
 was Hattie Cook that made me mad; and 
 she did say hateful things, and about my 
 mother, too. But I ought not to have 
 given way to it, I know." 
 
 " Oh, Tom ! when I had taken so much 
 pains to bring that nice sugar for you! 
 And I thought 'twould please you so
 
 196 TOM TEACY 
 
 muoL 1 And when I was so sorry I 
 couldn't ask yor to come to-morrow, and 
 cried all night a bout it ! It was too bad 1 
 I guess I sha'n'l bring you any more sugar 
 very soon." 
 
 " I know I don't deserve to have any 
 friends," said Tom. " I hate myself, and 
 I suppose everybody hates me. Miss 
 Alice said she loved me; but I guess she 
 wouldn't now." And he gave a deep sigh. 
 
 His sorrow touched little Lizzy's tender 
 heart, and she looked at him with her 
 eyes full of pity. 
 
 '* I do like you, Tom," she said; " only 
 I wonder you can be so cross and hateful 
 sometimes. What does make you so?" 
 
 "It's Apollyon," said Tom; "and I 
 must fight and kill him. The very next 
 time he comes, with his dragon wings and 
 fiery darts, I mean to drive him off, and 
 not let him get the victory."
 
 OF ERIER ZILL. 19'i 
 
 Never having read Pilgrim's Progress, 
 Lizzy was sorely puzzled. What Tom 
 was talking about she could not conceive; 
 and she answered, very meekly, 
 
 " I hope you will kill him, if he makes 
 you act so; but I never heard of him 
 before." 
 
 From the time Tom could remember 
 any thing, it had been one of his Sunday- 
 treats to have a copy of Pilgrim's Pro- 
 gress brought from the best room and 
 opened on a table before him, where he 
 could study the pictures, handling it very 
 carefully, while his mother explained what 
 they meant; so that, before he was six 
 years old, the Palace Beautiful, and the 
 house of the Interpreter, and Mr. Evan- 
 gelist, and Mr. Great-heart, and Doubting- 
 Castle, all existed in hi mind as some- 
 thing intensely real and interesting. As 
 he grew oldor, when his mother was
 
 198 TOM TEACY 
 
 about to read to tim, he would always 
 say, 
 
 " Oh, read about Mr. Great-heart, and 
 about how Giant Despair had his head cut 
 off." 
 
 The martial element lurking in the 
 boy's nature was gratified by these life- 
 like pictures of contests and victories, and 
 he would often become so excited as to 
 clap his hands in triumph when some foe 
 was slain. He never seemed tired of 
 hearing these stories repeated, over and 
 over; so that when by chance Miss Alice 
 alluded to the book, it touched a key most 
 ready to respond. 
 
 Tom had now begun to discover the 
 real import of the story, though some- 
 what vaguely ; and there was probably in 
 his mind a curious mixture of material 
 giants and swords and castles with more 
 spiritual conceptk is. But Lizzy's total
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 199 
 
 ignorance o. all these points seemed to 
 him deplorable; and, as they sat together 
 on a log in the wood-shed, he undertook 
 to enlighten it, ly detailing as well as he 
 could some of Apollyon's most remark- 
 able acts, as well as the manner of his 
 death. 
 
 By the time the teacher arrived, a very 
 good understanding existed between Tom 
 and Lizzy; and, though the latter's ideas 
 of Apollyon were by no means clear, she 
 encouraged Tom to hope he would eventu- 
 ally put an end to him. 
 
 When Lizzy was sitting with her father, 
 after tea, he inquired how Tom Tracy 
 liked his sugar, and heard, in reply, a 
 long story, in which Hattie Cook and Tom 
 Tracy, and Apollyon and dragon's winga 
 and fiery darts, were so inextricably mixed 
 up that he could make nothing of it, save 
 that, ^y some means, t'.--e sugar was broken
 
 200 TOM TRACY 
 
 on the floor, and spoiled. Lizzy vvas very 
 careful to keep Tom's failings in the tack- 
 ground as much as possible; and, when 
 she had ended, her father said, 
 
 " Well, Lizzy, I think we must send 
 another cake or two over to-morrow morn- 
 ing: mustn't we? This Tom seems a great 
 favourite of your's." 
 
 "Was there ever 'such a good father as 
 mine?" said Lizzie to herself that night. 
 And, when she said her prayers, she added 
 a special petition that Tom might be a 
 good boy and not let Apollyon get the 
 victory over him. 
 
 Tom usually told his mother all his 
 troubles ; and that night he did not hide 
 from her how very badly he had be- 
 haved. 
 
 "I do believe," he said, in a dis- 
 couraged tone, " that I am worse than 
 anybody else. I am afraid I never shall
 
 OF BElEiv MILL. 201 
 
 be any better. I wish I could he dif- 
 ferent I" 
 
 He had much reason for self-reproach; 
 but so long as he was truly sorry for his 
 faults and anxious to reform, his mother 
 felt hopeful concerning him. 
 
 " No bad habit can be cured at once," 
 she said: "it is only through many con- 
 flicts that we overcome at last. Don't 
 you remember the weeds in my flower- 
 bed last summer, how you had to pull 
 them up, over and over again, before the 
 bed was freed from them? So with your 
 heart. The root of a bad temper is there, 
 and you will have to pluck at it many 
 times over before it will oe thoroughly ex- 
 terminated. Don't be discouraged. If 
 you have failed to-day, let it make you 
 more humble and watchful in future." 
 
 Tom remembered, also, how Miss Alice 
 had told him that, whenever he had dono
 
 202 TOM TRACY 
 
 wrong, tie must go and tell Jesus how 
 weak and sinful lie was, and seek his for- 
 giveness and help. So, when he went to 
 his own room that night, he did try to tell 
 Jesus all about his sins and to geek pardon 
 and aid. It was very painful to think of 
 his broken resolutions, and to see how 
 little strength of purpose he had; but it 
 was better to mourn over his folly than to 
 keep on doing wrong without any sorrow. 
 It seemed very wonderful to Tom that 
 Jesus Christ should be willing to forgive 
 him so many times, and to keep helping 
 him. But he believed he was, because 
 the Bible said so, as well as his mother and 
 Miss Alice. And this belief filled his heart 
 with unspeakable joy and gratitude. He 
 rejoiced that he still had an opportunity to 
 improve; and he resolved, by the blessing 
 of Gcd, to try anew. He thought ten- 
 derly of Miss Alice, and, murmuring to
 
 OF BRIBE HILL. 203 
 
 himself, "I will yet prove worthy of her 
 confidence," he fell asleep, to wake in the 
 morning with new hopes and in new en- 
 deavours to overcome his faults. 
 
 Does some reader say to himself, " Is 
 it really true that Jesus Christ comes 
 into a child's heart? Does he ever come 
 into my heart?" Yes, it is true. I have 
 never seen you : I do not know whether 
 you are rich, or poor; whether you have 
 many kind friends, or are a poor orphan, 
 with no one to love and care for you; 
 whether you have been taught about God 
 and heaven, or have never given a thought 
 to them ; whether you are gentle and 
 lovely, or rough and ill tempered; whether 
 you are a happy child, or a sorrowful one, 
 shedding many bitter tears. Of all this I 
 know nothing; but I do know that the 
 Holy Spirit of God has spoken to you, 
 entreating you to forsake evil and to do
 
 204 TOM TKAC 7 
 
 what is right and good. When you 
 were tempted to tell a lie, or to abuse 
 some poor animal, or to disobey your 
 father, or to go into the streets among bad 
 boys at night, or to slop at the grocery or 
 tavern and taste intoxicating drink, or to 
 utter a wicked oath, did you not hear 
 something say, " Don't do it ! it is wrong; 
 don't do it"? And when you have done 
 wrong, have you never, in some soft, still 
 hour of twilight, or when you were look- 
 ing up at the stars, or lying in your bed, 
 heard something whispering to you of God 
 and his love and telling you you ought to 
 repent and reform? This was God's voice 
 in your soul. God made you, and loves 
 you. He would save you from guilt and 
 misery ; he would win you to himself 
 and heaven ; and therefore he thus speaks 
 to you. Oh, listen to those gentle plead- 
 ings. If you will, they will, by divine
 
 OF BRIBE HILL. 205 
 
 grace, guide you to nolmess and happiness 
 and make you a true and loving child of 
 God. But if you shut your ears, and will 
 not heed them, these gentle whispers will 
 grow fainter and fainter, till at length 
 you will be left without a guide, a lonely, 
 wretched traveller in the road to ruin and 
 death. God forbid that either you or I 
 should be thus forsaken !
 
 206 TOM 
 
 'CHAPTER XEI. 
 
 THE RIDE. 
 
 SPRING had come, with its life -giving 
 breath, and waked all the hills end valleys 
 of Rockfield into verdure and song and 
 fragrance. And now Tom Tracy looked 
 out from the door of the brown cottage on 
 a very different landscape from that which 
 greeted his eye on the bright, cold morn- 
 ing in December. 
 
 Oh, if you oould have stood by him 
 when he came out, just at sunrise, stopping 
 a moment on the threshold to look on the 
 scenery just about and telow him, it 
 would have done your heart good, unlesa 
 you are a great deal more stupid than I
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 207 
 
 think yoa are. What a deliciously sweet 
 breeze you would have inhaled, full of the 
 breath of apple-blossoms from the orchards 
 and of budding pines and hemlocks from 
 the woods ! And every little blade of 
 grass, and dandelion-blossom and butter- 
 cup and daisy, at your feet, would have 
 looked up into your face with such a happy 
 smile you couldn't have helped laughing 
 out, in reply, as merrily as Torn did. 
 
 You would have seen, at the foot of the 
 hill, the houses of the village, each with 
 its trim little garden enclosed by currant- 
 bushes, its newly-made walks bordered 
 with tulips and sweet-williams, and bunches 
 of good old-fashioned peonies standing at 
 the coi ners, with their great buds swelling 
 into redness; and back of them, on the 
 steep side-hill, orchards of apple-trees in 
 full bloori, from which burst forth such a 
 jubilai.t chorus from robim and phebea
 
 208 TOM TRACY 
 
 and bobolinks and bluebirds as could be 
 heard nowhere but in Rockfield or some 
 out-of-the-way hill-town just like it. And 
 still farther back rose the high hills, with 
 gray, old rocks, and huge pines and hem- 
 locks, from among which gleamed out the 
 white birches and sturdy oaks. 
 
 All this was as fresh and joyful in that 
 morning light as if it had just come from 
 the hand of God. And does not the great 
 Creator, as each morning the night and 
 darkness are rolled back, look on every 
 thing he has made and behold that it is 
 very good? 
 
 Tom was very happy, happy at the 
 sight of the beautiful w^rld he lived in, 
 and happy in feeling that he could do 
 something good and useful in that world. 
 He was busier than ever, now spring had 
 come. He had old Brindle to milk, and 
 then to go to Mi. Jackson's and milk hia
 
 OF BKIEE, HILL. 209 
 
 ;3<>w, and drive them both to pasture, foi 
 doing which Mr. Jackson paid him twenty 
 cents a week ; and, if breakfast wasn't ready 
 when he got back, he weeded the beds in 
 the garden till it was ; and after breakfast 
 he went to Widow Beman's and worked 
 in her garden till school-time. Tom had 
 sharp eyes and nimble fingers; and "they 
 must be smart weeds," Widow Beman said, 
 "that could get ahead of him." Then, 
 twice a week he carried a basketful of 
 dandelions to Mrs. Blake, which he had 
 picked over-night or before sunrise that 
 morning; and he always asked the kind- 
 looking Mrs. Blake, when she gave him 
 his six cents, how Miss Alice Ray was. 
 Besides these "steady jobs," as he called 
 them, he had to run of errands, sometimes 
 for Mr. Jackson, sometimes for Dr. Wilson, 
 sometimes for the lame shoemaker at the 
 corner, who had nc children ; so that, among 
 
 18*
 
 210 TOM TRACY 
 
 them all, the odds and ends of his uma 
 were pretty well filled up, though he often 
 managed to find time for a game of ball 
 before dark. For each of these little 
 matters he was paid a trifle, which in the 
 aggregate amounted to considerable. Why, 
 driving the cows alone would amount to 
 five dollars and forty cents in the five 
 months ; and how many, many things that 
 would buy! It made Tom feel rich and 
 manly every time he thought of it and of 
 how a part of it could be set aside to pay 
 the debt. There's nothing lik^ earning 
 money to make one enjoy it fully. 
 
 The habits of industry and punctuality 
 Tom was thus acquiring were of a great 
 deal more value than the money; but he 
 didn't, probably, take that into considera- 
 tion. Still, it pleased him to hear it said, 
 ''That's a smart, active little fellow;" or, 
 ''That boy of Widow Tracy's is wide
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 211 
 
 awake: there, a'n't a bit of shirk in 
 kirn." 
 
 There wasn't any shirk in Tom, nor a 
 particle of sullenness, either. He was hot 
 and hasty; but there never lingered a re- 
 vengeful feeling, or any desire to make 
 anybody wretched; and even his quick 
 temper was getting a little under control, 
 or at least his mother hoped so when she 
 saw him one day clenching his fist at a 
 boy, and shouting, "I'll knock you down, 
 I will!" and then turn away, as if remem- 
 bering John Jackson, and shout, just as 
 earnestly, "No, I won't, eitherl" 
 
 Tom and his mother disagreed on one 
 point. Mr. Parker had proposed taking 
 him to help him on his farm through the 
 summer, and Tom was very eager to go; 
 but his mother, though sensible it would 
 be of advantage in .some respects, declined, 
 because, like a true New England mother,
 
 212 TOM TRACY 
 
 she felt that his education was the first 
 thing to be thought of, and that the sum- 
 mer-schooling would be worth more to 
 him in after-life than any thing else. Tom 
 himself wasn't so much in love with study 
 as he might have been. He was of too 
 active a temperament, -and would have 
 much preferred to be out in the open air 
 all day, to poring over spelling-lessons and 
 geography and arithmetic in "that hot 
 old school -house." But he had learned 
 obedience : so he acquiesced, though not 
 without many impatient feelings. 
 
 The particular day which was intro- 
 duced by the bright, beautiful morning we 
 have described was to be a red-letter day 
 in Tom's history; for Mr. Parker had in- 
 vited him to ride over to Centreville with 
 him, and, it being Saturday, and her boy 
 so seld?m having a holiday, his mother 
 gladly consented to his gcing. Nowondei
 
 OF BLIER HILL. 213 
 
 Tom was up earlier than usual, that hi a 
 cows were milked and driven to the pas- 
 ture before sunrise, and his parsnip-bed 
 weeded before breakfast. No wonder that 
 long before the hour set he was all ready, 
 dressed in his "Sunday best. 1 ' It would 
 have done Miss Alice's heart good to see 
 how nice and tidy he looked in the gray 
 suit his mother had made from the cloth 
 she sent, standing there, his hair nicely 
 brushed from his forehead, his cheeks rosy 
 with health, and his brown eyes sparkling 
 with enjoyment and anticipation. And 
 surely any mother might be pardoned for 
 thinking, as she did, as she looked after 
 them riding down the hill, "There are not 
 many such boys as my Tom. Everybody 
 likes him ; and I don't wonder, he's so 
 active and obliging." And her eyes grew 
 moist as she added, "and such a good boy 
 alwavs to n^e. I do believe God's Hess-.
 
 TOM TRACY 
 
 in- will rest upon him." And the good 
 m< 'fcher went to her daily toil with a prayer 
 foj him in her heart, if not on her lips. 
 
 From beginning to end, the day was full 
 of delight to Tom. There was the charm- 
 ing ride through the still woods, all fra- 
 grant with dewy incense, where the pretty 
 squirrels ran along the branches, and the 
 wild, sweet note of the wood-robin came 
 up from some far-away depth of shade 
 with its liquid melody. Then followed the 
 entrance into Centreville, a large manufac- 
 turing town, full of the bustling stir so at- 
 tractive to a boy. Tom's eyes and ears were 
 wide open, and he asked questions enough 
 to tire out any man less good-natured 
 than Mr. Parker. And when their horse 
 was left at the hotel, and Tom was per- 
 mitted to go to the bank and stores and 
 all the different places to which Mr. 
 Parker'p business t ^ok him, though he
 
 OF BRIER "SILL. 215 
 
 kept very quiet, he found more than ever 
 to see and enjoy. There were so many 
 people in the streets, some so beautifully 
 dressed, and others looking so ragged and 
 dirty, so many houses crowded together, 
 so many things in the shop-windows, 
 so many carriages driving by, with such 
 splendid horses and shining harness : oh, 
 it was all a delightful novelty to the poor 
 little fellow who had never been in a large 
 town before.* 
 
 " We must go over to the depot when 
 the cars come in, Tom. You'll like to see 
 them and the engine, I know." 
 
 "Oh, yes, sir; indeed I shall!" And 
 Tom's eyes shone with new lustre; for 
 
 * Why will not those who own horses be oftener 
 thoughtful enough to afford little boys and girls who 
 have no means of leaving home, such a treat as this, 
 /iot only giving a child a happy day at the time, bul 
 something to be renumbered with delight and gra 
 titude thr< ugh life?
 
 216 TOM TRACY 
 
 wasn't it one &f the great boc.sts of John 
 Jackson that he'd rode in the cars, and 
 wouldn't seeing them be the next best 
 thing to tell of? 
 
 So over they went, and stood on the plat- 
 form waiting. Presently the cars came, an Ji 
 the snorting, roaring, panting engine shot 
 close by Tom, sending off such a puff of 
 smoke and steam that he was frightened, 
 and started back so suddenly that Mr. Parker 
 and some others standing by couldn't keep 
 from laughing which made Tom feel rather 
 ashamed of himself. But how wonderful 
 it was ! that huge, black, shining monster 
 breathing fire and smoke; so many pass- 
 engers crowding in and out, or sitting by 
 the windows; the hackmen calling, "Car- 
 riage, sir?" ''Carriage, ma'am?" "Have 
 a carriage?" and, in the midst of it, the 
 conductor's cry, "All aboard ! All aboard !" 
 and then the startirg off of the cars with
 
 DF BEIER HILL. 217 
 
 a wild scream, almost shrill enough to 
 awaken the dead. 
 
 No less of novelty was the sitting down 
 to a hotel-dinner, at a long table, filled 
 with strange faces, several of whom knew 
 Mr. Parker and greeted him cordially, 
 talking over the news of the day. After 
 dinner, Mr. Parker gave Tom a quarter of 
 a dollar to spend as he pleased ; and he set 
 off alone to invest it. What a delightful 
 perplexity it was to look at the toy-shop 
 windows, and wonder what each of those 
 beautiful things cost, and which Mary 
 would like best. It was with a feeling of 
 awe he ventured to ask a clerk to show 
 him a doll which particularly struck his 
 fancy. It was a dollar; and Tom blushed 
 all over to think he hadn't money enough 
 to pay for it. Probably the clerk under- 
 stood the state of the case, for he good-na- 
 turedly showed him quantities of dolls, and
 
 218 TOM TRACY 
 
 lambs and cats and dogs that would bleat 
 and bark and mew, and birds that would 
 sing, and cocks that would crow, saying, 
 as he put them down, "That's a quarter; 
 that's a shilling ; that's a sixpence." It 
 was a hard task to choose; but, last of 
 all, a red tin-wagon with a white horse car- 
 ried the day. It shone like silver, and then 
 the wheels would turn ever so fast ; and it 
 Was only twenty cents ! Tom's self-respect 
 was quite restored by the polite "thank 
 you" of the clerk as he gave him the 
 change for his quarter ; and he walked out 
 of the store, feeling that an important ne- 
 gotiation had been satisfactorily effected. 
 To be sure, only five cents remained, and 
 Tom had proposed to get something for 
 his mother and a few peanuts for himsel 
 What cculd he g?t for five cents? Peanuts 
 were out of the question His mother 
 wouldn't care for iolls, or wagons, or mew
 
 CF BEIER HILL. 219 
 
 mg cats, or singing birds. A happy thought 
 struck him : women always wanted thim- 
 bles, and he guessed they didn't cost much, 
 they were so small. So he walked along 
 looking for thimbles in the windows, but 
 all in vain. In despair he rushed into the 
 same shop which had been so accommo- 
 dating before, and to be sure they had 
 thimbles, " all kinds, gold and silver, ladies' 
 and misses': which would he like to see?" 
 In much confusion as to the meaning of 
 the terms, he stammered out, "Misses'." 
 So he was shown a box quite full of various 
 small sizes. His old friend had disap- 
 peared, and a stern-looking elderly man 
 taken his place. Of course, wild horses 
 wouldn't have dragged fiorn Tom that he 
 had made a mistake: so, though most of 
 the thimbles did appear better fitted to 
 Mary's fingers than his mother's, he con- 
 sidered himself in honour bound to tako
 
 220 
 
 one, and it was so lucky that the largest 
 one was only four cents ! A gocd genius 
 seemed to have accompanied Tom, and he 
 felt grateful for it; for, though he would 
 have been puzzled to tell what possible 
 use could be made of that small brass 
 thimble, at the moment it seemed a capi- 
 tal investment, and a cent left for pea- 
 nuts, too ! How lucky ! 
 
 "Why, here you are, my bo}. I've 
 been looking for you all through Centre 
 Street. Spent all your money, eh?" 
 
 "Yes, sir; all but one cent. Wouldn't 
 you get some peanuts with that?' 
 
 "No, no: carry that home, to show you 
 can leave off with something in your 
 pocket, which is more than some folks 
 ever le^rn to do. It's a good thing to 
 begin right. Now, Tom, always remem- 
 ber old Parker told you, ' Never spend 
 the last cent. 1 It will be a good rule \t
 
 OF BSIER HILL. 22\ 
 
 go by as long as you l : ve. It's spending 
 the last cent and a littls over, and getting 
 credited, that ruins half the world. I dare 
 say," he added, " that cent will burn in 
 the boy's pocket." 
 
 Tom felt of it in his pocket, and, as it 
 was remarkably cool, he couldn't imagine 
 what Mr. Parker meant. 
 
 On returning to the hotel, they found 
 the hcrse at the door, and were soon oi> 
 their way home. As Mr. Parker wished 
 to see a man living on another road, they 
 returned to Rockfield by a different route, 
 and one which lengthened the ride con- 
 siderably. This was an added pleasure. 
 They passed through some large villages, 
 where the houses had beautiful yards and 
 gardens, and then over a sandy plain, 
 where Mr. Parker dozed and Tom him- 
 self almost went to sleep. However, when 
 a jog had roused him, Mr. Paiker allowed
 
 222 TOM TRACY 
 
 Tom to take the reins. He was fully 
 awake then; for he had all a bey's passion 
 for driving, and, though the sun was hot 
 and the roads dusty, our hero felt no 
 latigue, and was only conscious of a wish 
 that such a charming; day might last for- 
 
 O i/ O 
 
 ever. At the house where they stopped, 
 the walk to the front entrance was bor- 
 dered with beautiful flowers, and the lady 
 was so kind as to gather a lovely little 
 bouquet for Tom, who looked on them with 
 admiring eyes, they were so much pret- 
 tier than those at home. Now he would 
 have a gift for his mother, and one she 
 would especially value; for she dearly 
 loved flowers. 
 
 Truly, the day had been one of un- 
 mixed pleasure; and when, just as the 
 sun was setting, they drove up to Mrs. 
 Tracy's door, Tom might well thank gooa
 
 OF BKIEE HILL. 223 
 
 Mr. Parker and tell him it Lad leen the 
 happiest day he ever knew. 
 
 The good man's face beamed with plea- 
 sure; for he loved to make others happy. 
 And when, after he was gone, and his 
 supper eaten, and his cows brought home 
 and milked, Tom sat down to tell his 
 mother about all the wonderful sights 
 he had seen, it would have been difficult 
 to say which enjoyed it most, the 
 eager, enthusiastic boy, or the sympa- 
 thizing mother, who so wished to see her 
 children good and happy, and whose life 
 must henceforth be lived principally in 
 their joys and sorrows.
 
 TOM TRAC? 
 
 CHAPTER XIH. 
 
 THE INVALID. 
 
 ON that beautiful May-day which 
 brought so much enjoyment to Tom, let 
 us enter a room where a very different 
 scene is to be witnessed. It is a room in 
 a large stone house which stands a little 
 back from the Hudson River, overlooking 
 it and the beautiful scenery which adorns 
 its banks. A more charming situation 
 could scarcely be conceived; and wealth 
 and taste had combined to make it almost 
 like another garden of Eden in summer, 
 when alone its inhabitants dwelt in it, re- 
 siding in the city of New York through the 
 winter months.
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 225 
 
 1 fc is morning. On a bed, supported by 
 pillows to a nearly upright position, lies a 
 pale but still lovely invalid, her eye rest- 
 ing with delight on that exquisite land- 
 scape, so varied and so beautifu 1 at every 
 point. It was one familiar to her eye, 
 which had dwelt on it with unspeakable 
 rapture thousands of times. 
 
 But now she knew that her foot would 
 never again press that velvety turf, or her 
 hand gather fragrant flowers from the beds 
 she had so carefully watched and tended. 
 Her brother was sitting beside her, with 
 her hand in his, gazing tenderly into her 
 face, which was overspread with an inex- 
 pressibly calm, soft radiance. 
 
 " Yes, Walter, it is very lovely : I never 
 felt how lovely so much as now. Some- 
 times I have felt that it would be hard to 
 leave it; and it would be, if there were not 
 a lovelier home, and friends there even
 
 226 TOM TKACY 
 
 dearer than those I love so dearly here, 
 yes, so very dearly. I wish you would 
 read to me once more my favourite chap- 
 ter, Walter." 
 
 "I think you must know it by heart. 
 Alice," he said, smiling, as he took the 
 Testament. 
 
 " I dare say I do; but I always enjoy 
 hearing it again." 
 
 And he read the last chapter in Reve- 
 lation, in a voice full of emotion. 
 
 "Yes, that river, that pure river of 
 the water of life, clear as crystal, how 
 beautiful it must be! Our's, which we 
 love so well, can be only a faint type of 
 ?t. And those trees of life, on either 
 side, trees that shall never fade. ' And 
 the throne of God and the Lamb shall 
 be in it, and his servants shall serve 
 him.' Yes, that is best of all; we shall 
 serve him there, not fitfully and half-
 
 OF 3KIEE HILL. 22? 
 
 way, as we do here, but so lovingly and 
 heartily." 
 
 " I wonder," she said, after a pause, 
 ''what the service will be. Perhaps some- 
 thing done for this world, perhaps not : 
 we can't tell. But it's enough that we 
 shall sei ve him. When I was first sick, 
 it distressed me greatly that I couldn't 
 carry, out the plans I had laid for doing 
 good here, that I must die, and leave all 
 my work undone. 'Twas a foolish feel- 
 ing; as if we must stop working when we 
 die. Now I know we shall serve him 
 there; I don't know in what way, but in 
 his way, which -will be the best one. He 
 loves us too well to keep us idle." 
 
 " Don't you feel stronger than usual 
 this morning, Alice? You seem to be." 
 
 " I hardly know. I feel differently, 
 less hot and restless, and my cough is all 
 gone. Perhaps I shall rally again, and
 
 228 TOM TKACY 
 
 get strong enough to go to Kockfield. 
 You can't tliink how I have sometimes 
 longed for a breath of that mountain-air: 
 it used to invigorate me so. I love Aunt 
 Blake so dearly, too: I should like to see 
 her once more. But I don't long for any 
 thing very earnestly now. I feel so peace- 
 ful and happy just where I am." 
 
 "It is the Saviour's own gift, His 
 peace. I am so rejoiced that you suffer 
 less; for there nave been times when I 
 felt that I would gladly give you up, to 
 save you from such agony." 
 
 " That is often God's way of making us 
 willing to lose friends." 
 
 "Yes; for we see how selfish it is to 
 want them to stay and suffer for our 
 eakes." 
 
 There was a long pause, and the invalid 
 dropped into a quiet slumber. Her bro- 
 ther looked at her as she lay there,
 
 OF BrilER HILL. 229 
 
 iiand under her head, breathing w^th that 
 quick, short breath which showed what 
 fearful progress her disease had made. 
 Unutterable thoughts passed through his 
 mind as he gazed. She had been the one 
 being he had loved above all others, and 
 now she was going to leave him! How 
 strange it was he could think of it with 
 such composure, almost with joy! The 
 time, he knew, would come when he would 
 be crushed by a sense of desolation ; but 
 now all was peace in his heart, as in her's. 
 There was something real in Christian 
 faith; he knew it now. Christ did keep 
 his promise. He was with his own, and 
 would be for evermore 
 
 There had been no secrets between the 
 two, no keeping back any of the fears or 
 hopes of ehher; and that was such a 
 blessing now. 
 
 " How fearful it must be,' he thought, 
 20
 
 230 TOM TKACY 
 
 " when no one dares to speak of the leal 
 condition rf the sick, and so a barrier 
 rises up b< tween loving hearts just when 
 they most need the fullest sympathy!" 
 
 Never in their whole lives had Walter 
 and Alice Ray had so much sweet com- 
 munion of spirit, or been so truly one, as 
 since she had lain on that sick-bed; and 
 it gave him a delightful assurance that 
 they should still be one in soul when she 
 had passed beyond sight or hearing. 
 
 To some it may seem almost incredible 
 that the last hours passed with a dear 
 friend should be not only free from dis- 
 tressing grief, but actually hours of holy 
 exaltation and pure joy. But others have 
 Known that it is jven thus, that faith in 
 Christ can give such an assurance of par- 
 don and of eternal life that death shall 
 seem but the beginning of a fuller life 
 not -nly to the departing one, but tc thoHe
 
 OF BEIER HILL. 231 
 
 whtf love him most truly, and who 
 wil] /emain gazing up after him when he 
 is " received into glory," 
 
 T'te short slumber over, Alice asked 
 that little Allie, a favourite niece, might 
 be brought to her. She was the daughter 
 of her oldest brother, (John,) a round, 
 rosy-faced little creature, full of life and 
 health, whom she had with her a little 
 while every day, when her strength would 
 allow. 
 
 So Allie was brought, and set on the 
 bed, and allowed to play with her fingers 
 and pick to pieces some flowers which lay 
 there, shouting with delight as the bright- 
 coloured leaves fell on the snowy counter- 
 pane. 
 
 " I am so glad Allie isn't afraid of me," 
 said Alice: "it would really pain me if 
 she were. I love little children so well. 
 I never can bear to have one shrink
 
 232 TOM TRACY 
 
 me. I am sure there will be little children 
 in heaven." 
 
 " ' Of such is the kingdom of heaven,' ' 
 Baid her brother. 
 
 "Yes; all will have tae purity and sim- 
 plicity of little children there. How sweet 
 it will be!" 
 
 " Walter," she said, after the baby had 
 been carried away, " I have been think- 
 ing this morning, among others, of Tom 
 Tracy; and I wish, if you ever go to 
 Rockfield again, you would find him. 
 Tell him I thought of him now, and that 
 I am sure I shall never forget him, but 
 shall rejoice whenever he gets a victory 
 over his faults. Why do you smile so, 
 Walter? The angels rejoice over sinners 
 that repent, and I am sure we shall if we 
 ever get to heaven." 
 
 " I don't doubt that. I was only
 
 C? BEIEB HILL. 233 
 
 smiling at seeing how strong a hold tnat 
 boy has upon your affections." 
 
 " It is strange; but he is so bright, and 
 has such an honest face and such a warn: 
 heart, I am sure you will like him too. J 
 think he will do a great deal of good in 
 the world, if he takes the right course. 
 He is just as old as Charlie was when he 
 died; and sometimes his eyes made me 
 think of Charlie's : they are just such large 
 brown ones." 
 
 " Charlie would have been twelve, 
 now. I am sure he will be glad to see 
 you," said Walter, his eyes filling with 
 tears, for he had loved Charlie very 
 dearly. 
 
 " I think so I hope so." A moment 
 after, she added, " Poor Tom Tracy 1 there 
 are few to care for him, or to help -him. 
 Do try to do him good, if you see him. 
 I think he will feel sorry when be 
 
 20*
 
 234 
 
 bears Uncle Blake, too; he was al- 
 ways gentle to me: perhaps " 
 
 Whatever she meant was left unsaid, 
 and, soon after, she sunk away into an- 
 other quiet sleep. 
 
 That evening, when the moon rose soft 
 and dear, silvering each ripple on the 
 river and every leaf and flower-bud in the 
 garden, and flooding the piazzas which 
 surrounded the house with a subdued and 
 tender radiance, had you entered the room 
 of the invalid you would have found there 
 only the garment of that sweet, loving 
 soul. It had been laid aside, as no longer 
 needed; and the soul had gone forth to 
 dwell in that celestial city "which hath 
 ac need of the sun, neither of the moon, 
 for the glory of God doth lighten it, and 
 the Lamb is the light thereof."
 
 OF BKIER HILL. 235 
 
 Very fair and beautiful was the gar- 
 ment which had shrouded the still fairei 
 and lovelier spirit; and those who stood 
 beside all that was left on oarth of Alice 
 Ray could not but weep that so fair a 
 flower had been gathered, even though 
 they knew it was to bloom forever in the 
 paradise of God. 
 
 Those words to Walter were Alice's 
 last. She woke, after sleeping nearly two 
 hours ; but the waking was almost imme- 
 diately followed by a violent hemorrhage, 
 which left her conscious, but too weak tc 
 speak or move; and, though she lived till 
 near sunset, it was only the faintest breath - 
 ing which told that life still lingered. Once 
 or twice she opened her eyes and looked 
 at the dear faces round her; and once, 
 about an hour before her departure, her 
 iipfe murmured, but too softly for the 
 sound to reach mortal ear; and, as if
 
 236 TOM TRACY 
 
 wishing thus to give them her farewell, 
 her eyes rested for a moment, with a 
 sweet, loving smile, on the faces of both 
 brothers and the children. Then the lids 
 drooped, and were never lifted again. 
 
 " I changed the cruel prayer I made, 
 And bow'd my tear-stain'd face, and pray'd 
 That God would do his will, and thus 
 He answer'd me : he parted us. 
 And now his light makes glorious 
 The dead, calm face, and I am calm, 
 And heaven is hearkening a new psalm."
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 237 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A NEW GUEST. 
 
 IT was a sorrowful day on Brier Hill 
 when the news of Alice Ray's death 
 reached thsre. Tom's grief was violent, 
 and, for the time, uncontrollable. At first 
 he could not believe it; for, though Mrs. 
 Blake had repeatedly told him Miss Alice 
 was worse, and though his mother had 
 often expressed her fears that she would 
 never be able to come to Rockfield again, 
 Tom would not believe it. He knew in 
 his heart she would get well, would come 
 to Rockfield and Brier Hill, and see his 
 flower-bed, and let him pick for her his 
 sweetest pinks and roses; and all the
 
 238 TOM TEA.CY 
 
 more carefully foi this hope had he weeded 
 and watered them, thinking of the bright 
 eyes which would soon smile upon them 
 and him. To think he should never see 
 her again, never hear her sweet voice, 
 nay, more, that all this beauty and sweet- 
 ness had gone from the earth, and that she 
 was lying in the grave, never to smile 01 
 speak again on earth, it was more that 
 he could bear His heart seemed break- 
 ing with the agony of the thought. 
 
 Mrs. Tracy sympathized deeply with 
 her son; but she mourned with a more 
 chastened grief. To her, the beautiful 
 young girl was not dead, but living, 
 living in her Father's house of many man- 
 sions, where no blight or pain or sorrow 
 could ever reach her, and, amia I er tears, 
 she could rejoice. She tried to raise 
 Tom's thoughts tc this higher and happier 
 life, but to little immediate purpose. He
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 239 
 
 tould only think of his loss, and the tor- 
 rent of grief and disappointment must 
 have its way. 
 
 But the impetuous flood of sorrow in 
 young hearts is soon spent; and in time 
 Tom's violent grief gave place to sweet 
 and beautiful memories of the fair and 
 gentle maiden who had crossed his path 
 for a brief season. Every gift of her's 
 became a cherished, sacred relic, and espe- 
 cially the picture which hung in their 
 little parlour. 
 
 There were other hearts in Kockfield 
 saddened when they heard that Alice Ray 
 was dead. Scarcely a dweller in that 
 little village but had liked to look upon 
 her face as they saw her at church or in 
 her daily walks and rides. Many (espe- 
 cially children) remembered how she had 
 stopped to give a pleasant word and 
 bright smile by the wayside. More than
 
 '240 TOM TEAOT 
 
 one poor widow had been helped by her, 
 and few rooms of sickness but had been 
 cheered by her presence and some timely 
 gift which showed she had thought of the 
 peculiar wants of each invalid. If it were 
 only an orange or a flower, there was 
 something so winning in her graceful 
 manner of presenting it that the whole 
 room seemed brighter for hours after- 
 wards. 
 
 And at the mansion which had been 
 her home whenever she had come among 
 the breezy hills she loved so well, there 
 was bitter grief, and mourning like that 
 for a well-beloved child. Mrs. Blake had 
 loved her for her mother's sake as well aa 
 her own, and her spacious, childless house 
 aow seemed more dreary and desolate 
 than ever. And theie were tears in eyes 
 less used to weep : let us hope they were 
 Boftening, penitent tears, and that earthly
 
 OF BKIER HILL. 241 
 
 Borrow became, as it so often has, the har* 
 bmger of that godly sorrow not to be re- 
 pented of. 
 
 One beautiful sunny day in October, 
 when all the hills were glowing with the 
 richest autumnal tints, Walter Ray came 
 to the cottage on Brier Hill. He had 
 but a single day to spend in Rockfield ; 
 but he could not forget Alice's request 
 that he would see Tom Tracy. 
 
 It was a touching interview. As he 
 drew Tom to his side, and put his arm 
 around him, and looked into his honest, 
 earnest face, so animated yet so full of 
 feeling, he burst into tears. He was not 
 ashamed to weep, nor to lay back the 
 bright curls to kiss the open forehead 
 of the boy with a womanly tenderness. 
 There wa no bitterness in those tears. 
 If a word could have recalled his beloved 
 
 sister and brought her from her home 
 21
 
 242 TOM TRACT 
 
 among the angels, he would not have 
 spoken it; but it was inexpressibly sweet 
 to talk of her with those who loved hex 
 so tenderly and truly. He told them all 
 the particulars of her last hours, and how 
 tenderly she had then remembered Tom 
 and wished that he might become a noble 
 and useful man. In return, they showed 
 him the little miniature, the books, so 
 sacredly kept in the little parlour, where 
 no speck of dust was ever allowed to rest 
 upon them, and the beautiful engraving 
 hanging on the wall, with its angels bear- 
 ing up Christian from the river of Death 
 towards the celestial city. 
 
 " I remember them well," said Walter 
 Kay, with a bright smile, so like Alice's. 
 M It was one cold day when Alice desired 
 ine to go down town and make some pur- 
 chases for her. I had nften heard her 
 speak of Tom and his mother; bur ehe
 
 OF BRIBE HILL. 243 
 
 then told me more about you both, and 
 said she wanted to send you eome Christ- 
 mas-gifts. She asked me to select a copy 
 of Pilgrim's Progress like her's; 'and I 
 wish,' she said, ' to send Tom a fine 
 engraving. He likes pictures ; and that 
 will be something he can always keep to 
 remember me by. I want it to be some- 
 thing he will value when he is older, and 
 something which will perhaps help him to 
 become better; for I think there is great 
 moral power in a picture.' 
 
 " I went down that very afternoon ; and, 
 after looking over the pictures in the 
 print-shops, I selected several to be sent 
 up for her to choose from. She was sit- 
 ting up in bed when they came. I laid 
 one after another before her; but as soon 
 as she saw this sh exclaimed, 'Oh, this is 
 exactly what I want! He likes Pilgrim's 
 Pi Dgress so much ; and this is ft beautiful
 
 244 TOM TEACT 
 
 picture, a very exquisite engraving, too. 
 She looked at it a k>ng time, and then 
 said, ' I am glad to send him this, for 
 another reason. I don't want him to re- 
 gard death as gloomy. I want him to 
 have pleasant and cheerful associations 
 with my death.' 
 
 "I could not then bear to hear her speak 
 so of dying, and left the room abruptly. 
 The next day I had it framed ; and at even- 
 ing she sat up and superintended the 
 packing of the box. It gave her a great 
 deal of pleasure; and more than once 
 she said, ' I hope Mrs. Tracy will like 
 this,' 'I hope Tom will be pleased with 
 this. I think he will.' If ever a human 
 being delighted to make others happy, she 
 did, especially children. She was very 
 fond of them, and could never pass one 
 without a kind look <r wcrd. She loved
 
 OF ERIER HILL. 245 
 
 to do good, and was herself one of the hap- 
 piest beings I ever knew." 
 
 The time which could be grveu to such 
 reminiscences was all too brief, and the 
 hour soon came when Mr. Ray must bid 
 them good-by. His parting words to Tom 
 were, "I am sure you will not disappoint 
 the hopes Alice had for you : you will be- 
 come, if God spares your life, an honest, 
 useful, Christian man." 
 
 He placed a paper in Mrs. Tracy's hand, 
 as he affectionately pressed it, at parting, 
 and whispered a fervent "God bless you!" 
 
 They watched him, as he walked rapidly 
 down the hill, with tearful eyes, and then 
 both said, 
 
 "How much he is like Miss Alice!" 
 
 " Only he hasn't her beautiful eyes," said 
 Tom; "but his voice is exactly like her's, 
 just so soft and sweet. How good it was 
 
 in him to come and see us and tell us 
 21*
 
 246 TOM TRACY 
 
 about Miss Alice ! Oh, mother, did there 
 ever live anybody so good before as she 
 was?" 
 
 "I don't know," replied she: "I dare 
 say there have been a great many such ; 
 but I think you and I have never seen 
 one who was her equal." 
 
 "If she could only have lived!" sighed 
 Tom. 
 
 "She does live, my child, she does 
 live, and a far more beautiful and loving 
 and holy life. Let us try to love Jesus aa 
 she did, that some day we too may go to 
 live with him in glory." 
 
 The paper which Mr. Ray had given 
 Mrs. Tracy was found to contain a copy 
 of a portion of Miss Alice's will, in which 
 shs had directed that an annuity of one 
 hundred dollars should be paid to Mrs. 
 Tracy till her son Thomas shouii become 
 of age, "when it is believed his own
 
 OP BRIER HILL, 24V 
 
 efforts will secure to h*r a comfortable 
 maintenance." In case of his death, it 
 was to be continued during her natural 
 life; and in case of Mrs. Tracy's decease 
 before her son had become twenty -one, it 
 was to be paid to him until that time had 
 arrived. 
 
 A note from Walter Ray, who was ex- 
 ecutor of the will, accompanied this copy. 
 He stated how and at what time the an- 
 nuity would be paid, and added : 
 
 " My sister had a large fortune at her 
 own disposal, and she has remembered 
 many besides yourself. May these be- 
 quests bring to the recipients as mucn 
 snjoyment as she found in devising them, 
 is the wisli of 
 
 " Your's, respectfully, 
 
 "WALTER H. RAY."
 
 248 TOM TRACY 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 WE here leave Toin Tracy and hia 
 mother, where we found them, in the little 
 cottage on Brier Hill. The annuity will 
 enable them to discharge their debts, and 
 to add many a comfort to their simple 
 home. 
 
 It will bring no t~ue enjoyment and peace 
 there, however, unless Tom succeeds in 
 destroying the Apollyon who, lurking in 
 his heart, would make even an Eden a 
 place of confusion and discord. How thia 
 enemy can be overcome we have en- 
 deavoured to show, and to point every 
 reader to that Helper whose strong arm
 
 OF BRIER HILL. 249 
 
 alone can give Tom, or any one of us, the 
 victory over our besetting sin. I know 
 not what Apollyon may be your foe, what 
 form of sin, in other words, may peculiarly 
 assail you; but that an enemy dwells in 
 your heart, and will make you wretched 
 until expelled, I can safely affirm. You 
 too need the almighty Helper to subdue 
 the foe; for your own strength, in such a 
 combat, will prove but weakness. Many 
 a friend can lend assistance, and, like Miss 
 Alice, diffuse, perhaps, over your whole life, 
 a sweet and purifying influence; but even 
 they can never subdue the evil inclina- 
 tions of your heart. It is only by coming 
 to Christ, by leaning on his strength and 
 receiving from him continual aid and 
 guidance, that your soul can come off c<_n- 
 queror in the warfare it must wage. 
 Blessed promises of this aid are given to 
 all who seok it; ani none need despair.
 
 250 TOM TRACY OF BRIER HILL. 
 
 May your soul and mine find them richly 
 fulfilled in our own experience, and be 
 able at length to join in that exulting 
 ascription, " Thanks be to God, who giveth 
 us the victory, through our Lord Jesut 
 Christ."
 
 LIBRARY