nunny uenru mm mw, rwll-Rppl`ln'IIIg_` No. hm. hm!" after all his uwn na- nmrkl, and thu tnll, spare Dulmruh, (0: whum half-wined Thenphllua linngn ul- wnys referred me "A perfect taper." nu cludod themselves mnre and more in their old reddinh-hrnwn fnrmhmmo wt, lnr luck from the mud. Penple said in vnrying tone: that Delmrnh and Am:-liu were getting " unneighlmrly " and very rotirin'." uwellns "clmeandthat-a-way." 5 Just: Wmmrr Wm-rcoun IN " Younrs Connumou. 'l'IAllA@I'OAI.DI TH E BICRIQY PICKEH. What ms Grandparents think of Him. Ills Great service. v 1-rum IDTHCIUIJI "ll Ill. _ Surely the sickly seven-year-old win out of lhe quostiun Y ` But the more they thought n! it, and the more Ampliua |wcvm|u impressed with i the fact that the child was muned after I him. the mnre they were inclinud to Iltl` , their decision. He couldn't do chores enough to earn his salt." mid Amplina, wuveringly, hnltinu in his hasty dinnur. | "He wnuld frat. fur hi: in-..o}m.-. nnll ` precious u Ill. . I Ampliua, too, had had his dream, and had gum: up and duwn with the culti- [vntur with A viuinn of a sham Imy hard at. `work over in the next field, anal he: had pl;-Med himself by planning to leave tul `that smut. lmy, in the diemmt, future. his Surnlv Hm |i('l(l\' lnvnl|.\Innr_nlal lun- ulu um. want H16 Rlckly suveu-year-old. Dehurnh was disappointed. She had | fuund In use fur her iuuugumliun. um] lmd ` already pictured to herself an industrious ,`gir| secundiug her in K the work of the ` house. H|lI(l mlgnt lelcn up on the mrm." The first decision mu prompt. They did nut. want the nickly seven-your-old, I dillhlmilllml. Sim hm! WI! IIIUIT Kn OBCIHIVO I "Mary can't. go because I need her. John can't go because he in beginning tn earn wngea. and we need the money. But. little Amplinn can go if yuu want; ;him. He in seven and not uverntrumz. land might fetch the fnnn." The first dncininn In nu-..n...o 'l`|..... uy ner uiuent girl or ner oldest Imy. Hard work and diaap mintment had changed the pleasure-we ing Letitia of bygone days to something I0 calculating and sharp and unyielding that even Deborah and Ampliaa wound have shrunk frmn such an exagueratinn of themselves. The answer that reached the farmhouse was almrt and decisive ' I rexuue [U yuuu nounununy Ln ma uumr. .\nd by cuntcmplnting all thunu pleasing` differences. Alnpliua mun alulo tn hcnr up against the disapproval of his nuighhurs. Sn it hmmanml that. Alnnlinn. with his So after much pondering and change of mind, they sent a letter to Letitia. naying that they would take and do well by her oldest girl her oldest lmy. dilnulmintnmnt lmd JIl(lllL{ Ill llll nliy ulnnur. ! would from fur his brothers and . 1 III II V ulunuuu But the nephew: were gone. and a boy to do chores. or I girl to take hold in the huuse, would not be unhandy. Beside those worldly calculations, which seemed commendable on both. wees desire. un- acknowledged by either, to do something for their one child, Letitia. Their daughter Letitia had not done well in her marriage, and, though she lived in a town not A hundred miles away, Deborah and Ampliu had not seen her since Ihe left them. She had several children. Deborah and Ampline always eolto of them doubtxlly. eurmining that L ey probably had more of the character- istics of the Ihiftleel Canes than of the thrifty Hlckees. Due bl... ..n.~.|u;m- urn-us nnnn anti a [uni : Arrives at the I-___. v | )t nu-.nt.mmr I ` iiicxs-m(e~m.~niun. pthuir duvneiumr and r " Here, Delmruli," he said, cnrijying the than for mnntha past. lmy intu his wife. ll.-'5 nigh almut l luiway," lilldltlli fruze. Ginger him up or auunetlin;,v." plinn liclta actually me o Dehoruh had not rxpected anything an that hIld- and him I little its this. She held the child on her white-faced slip! I di4 wlnp by the hut atuve in the uarm, cnm- would put up one min - furtable kitchen. She took ell his thin that cuuldn tirurk.' 0 little uvercuat, and his thin little scarf, ll i!|l(8 me jump nut 01 [And the pear little cap tied duwn over them great. aulemn e_` lhia earn. She tuult utf his mum sheet the way they do nt An and cuttony clothes, and rubbed him Deborah amlAmpli1 lmrd. and turned him end halted him be- each other renulutely t lure the tire. E "lie in the bed she ha V Elna --ul....l L2... i. L... _ ., . , I - ' mu ginger wit. , She wrapped him in the n ivy ehnwl which she had been werming, and held him in her lep--end cried. , Yoe. ehe. Deboreh llickn. who hedn't cried for yeen-lor ehe boeeted ehe ween't. the cry- ing kind,-felt Inch e love and pity surge up in her heart. for thet bit of as buy- elmoet her own buy -thet she cried an if her heert would breelt. ' _ Little Ampline euned at her reectiwly. " Don't. cry. he eeid tlnelly, I like to live here with you." She geve him . big hug mil use him like e bundle on the old soft loiinge. She named her hot biecuite in the oven. poked the eiulilig elicee ol hem in the frying- . stirred the fried pntetoee, ured min; weter into the teepot. en when old Alnpliee eune eteeaping into the heck ehed fro: the derk, Inuwy world outside en wee smoking on the table. ttle Anlpliee wetehed everything with h eye_I. :1 qt. "555: bin um-nod up!" naked Am- plhgauoonuhounoin; "mint he tholiuhlt thing you our art" Dubnnll hduunpicion that An in bl: my -ulunhodid. But in his uling would hogonobyto-not-row. nnolvdnouonnu |- unplug nu nncmlynnd out-nly I noncyonhin. llglllll IIIU (lIB?IPl)l'UVl|l I "I5 HUIKIIUUYH. Sn it happened that Alnplins. with his` bushy bean] nnd low, .~u-.lf-app:-nviIng_' Nu. hn, hn"' nfle-r all his uwn m. ` IUI1 `"0 Ill'8. She washed him in hot winter to Inrin him. and filled him with hot ginger tea, which he took ubediently until the tears Itoud in his eyes. When the saw those patient learn something blurred her own eyes, And she saw more than one little boy umcumulninillgly drinking his scald- inu ginger ten. She Inmnnd him in oh. .. -Irv -L--1 i I . ,% :.\nuolms hwhud Inn lmrnc In a most un- Hicks-l|ku~fn.~hiuII. I 11...... n..| . "L... _ pruwcuug sumeunng. The boy did nut seem to grow warm on thatlumz, cold ride home. He just mu` 1 and shiver:-I uncnmplaiuingly, whil.-` { uueun in nu nnue, mire, reu imnu. So Ampliaa had to get out and fetch the bag, and this time he lifted little Ainplins into the sleigh. Something nimut. the slight, trustful weight umdu his face ` turn scarlet. He imiked duwn hi(iO:WMyHf int the hay and saw he was shivuring ` Then old Anipliai-i tucked the robe uruuml little Amplius with El curious sense of, protecting something. i huv did not 308!!! hi irrnw Irnrvn .... Hlclllllg. I got. 11 lmg," he said, holding up a check in his little, lmru, red lmnd. Sn Amnlinn hurl tn nut ..ur and fut.-Iii co ueooran. He strode off toward the `sleigh and the buy followed. Expecting in some way to nd the boy beside him, Amplins got intu the sleigh, but there was a great gulf of deep snow between it and the plutfurm where the little Amplias stood, gravely ` watching. 1 I out )1 lma ll ha null` hnltlinrv nn n 1 l ' CIUCLUT Bplea nllll. " Here's your boy ! " he shouted. Labelled for Amplias Hicks, Stone- borough." Amplias made some remark, but his Ho, ho. ho ! died in his throat gazing so gravely up into his face. You my gran'per'l asked the boy. Yep, `spam, I am," and Amplias tried to laugh. But he couldn't. He felt more awkward than ever before in his life. He had neier been accustomed to noticing children, and he did not know a tutive, so wise. The boy's great, solemn eyes threw Ampliss into ll Eerspiration. You little Amnlias 7 as he looked down at the mite of a. child child ever looked s0-sn little. so medi~ : 9 asluid. nnr- ` eyes mrew mnpnus mm ersplrnuun. Amplias7 a naked. ner- vously ; come, we must be getting home to Deborah." 1!.` .....,l.. 1`r .... ...1 .1... `,.I..:..L .... 1 .1. lllf H VG. Gradually they came to the conclusion thst little Amplias must come; but it took so long to do so that when Ampliss drove over to Bethe] to meet the boy at the station he had to go in s sleigh. He knew that his grandson was only seven, 2 yet when he saw the conductor take off , a little scra of a boy he never thought ofthe child eiug his property. The con- 1 ductor spied him." I l HnrA'n vnnr lmu l ha nhnutnzi sisters, little utbat," was the weak to- joinder. - - He would take vnur time from Imm- pawrnni root. Gmiaip said that the twu nephews who had lived with them had rnwn sunr- looking in their service, An that, being ' weary of life, they llrlll nally run away i one night. tn imlwdy knew where. Puhlic Iym thy had not been with Delmrnh an Amplina in tho matter. Ainplian tliuught. he understund tho ruuun. Hi: neighbors were jealous (if his good fortune. Ill luc that came tn nthern never ciune to him ; his hiiyriclia did not burn, his cattle did not. die inynwriuualy. his land did not` refuge in yield lmuntilully to his lulmr. .\ ml luv nunt.mnnln|.imr nll iuennly tlimm Illllllli` WUDIIBI I! [I8 IRVOPB y0ll." He mi ht get up the cows, and fetch ` water to t e eld, and gather the cob: ~ JOIIICICT. He would take your time fron your work. being sickly 7" quoationingly. He mixlht. crow Itrmm un here` I Work. uemg many I" quoauomngly. might. grow In-oug up here. I wonder if he favors you. mixzhc mat uu the cows. and fptch CHRISTMAS EDITION. ma own I nun money. _ Then calm the accident. -Little Am- pliu wn very ambitions to help his ugnndfnthcr, And hndgmwn to be very ulolul in his willing any. He who Inn- ful and always ounldont of his ability to he of ndnunoo in everything. Anpliu would laugh and shplahknool and " Ho. ho. ho!"n nightn be told Dobonh Illlt little Anpliu had all or done. But on. an lb: 3.... .. ...-a.... .. IUII. Tho bitterness of her reminiscences seemed to drop from hot. Mm many an n-on she wrote i shun notn. Cold and unlooling it would have nomad to some. pol-hnpn. but than was something in ittlnt made Debonh think fur mnngdu dny of the linlo Letty of ycsn u , made Ampliu Uriah ho had alto Q.l8I:IoIlIO mnark nugnr and I for boot: Ind ubhngu A even little tho laillnnt,` nl. Lin. Ill LDKHII I 0|! 0| I IN)`. `hut. box grow and grow until it turned into :3 barrel of potnmu. a barn! of npplon. A harrol of comfort: and other thing: made by Deborah`: induutrioun. hnrd- I worked ngers, and I barrel of nur from their own what. With the freight paid. -though thnt. II! n tug.-t.hoy wont. to Letitia, And therst. warm. loving thoughts V the had ever had of her homo since -he loll. it, came to her hon she stood bo- thooo homely. country-looking bar- 9. [H3 (H9, GI) It lllpllll. 7 and Amplina haul declnrod to that Letitin lhnuld hul nude." and that she need not ex uect. help from them after outing in her 0t with nhiftlenn Charlie Cnne. But in some way. after little Am- ` pliu came they begun to talk About Iend- 4 Ingrlalitin I bit. of box. H. I... arm. ....I ......- ....m :. ........: | Lmul mr nmmuu pun. uid one good wunmn, Am- seems 10 wt store by such A sickly, puny, didn't know Am nlian minute with Any! ing couldn't orurk .' Good land 3 it would nlnke of my skin tn have` eyes staring at me. Ampliu." I Amnliu haul dnclnl-ad tn nunageq more prunmuly unui Lneiru I | But their neighbors declared that Am- piiu was -close; that Delmrnh wow` stingy ; that they were lmrd to live with; that their one daughter, Letitia, had married that good-furuntliing Chur- iie Cane simply tn got away from tho puternnl roof. (`nmuin said that the Own nmnhnwu Iwhn 4 ` . ll - . qwaunolw tlmt they were really curdml In their more conciliatory nut. III]!!- A great many curiuus eyes turned on them in that, country church ; and after ; Inn-ting wan over Amplias and Deburnh ` uuru nu nnxinuu In n-xhihit the-ir new pam- wnu ruwnyu is umau-.'r~mu1u at uuymg. ` There was in thick cap, and II heavy! overcoat, and a warm suit, and A pair ofi stout. shoes, and a whole bundle of other things. Little Ampiins strutted around with in grave joy in his philusnphic eyes that was nlnmnt intoxicating; tn the unne- cnatmned givers. Un Snnllnv -\ mnlisu nnmmnrpnl that vhnu . I UIIILUIIICU b'l\'UI'l. On Sunday Ampliaa suggested that they should drive to Lympun to meeting to E show n'little Amplinsand his new cluthea. It was a mnnewlmt novel pmceeding, in View of their relations with their neiglr burs. A ........L ......... ....... ... n ........ L......-,l ... CHIIIU HUIHB U UTUKQ "1 WW" I There, Deborah, little Amplias must go warm ! See the great bargains! I was always is mnaterhund at buying." There thick can. and n hmn'v\ I I I \ llmluteu on uuung ume Ampmu mm mm. Deborah sewed her fastest. while they were gone, scheming in the meanwhile ubnut shoes and stockingn. Her schemes. however, were vein, for when Amplias came home he hruke in with 4 urn... n..|m....1. n..n.. A . u uuupulcauy remnrlrea 2 If I eat like this I'll soon be able to do all your work. ` I don't. want. vnn dninur nn wnrl: l TUIIUUIIUU [H3 IIYQIUHE UpInlU BU pu Dllclyl The next day Ampliu declared he must go to Bethe} to buy a strap, and he insisted on taking little Ampliaa with him. sewed her fax-mast. while thnv was we gruu reply. " xou re no play.` Deborah tried to look unconscious. Her husband was 3 very brave man to renounce his lifelong opinions so publicly! The next. dav Amnlian danlnmd ha HUI]. Nothing was said, for the Hicks house- hold wu not II talkative one, until little Ampliau looked up at his grandfather and philouophically remarked l` I eat lil(n fhil I'll lnnn lxn Dlhl hi iclwd or lasted longer than theirs? ho could show more mu rle nu ar M. sugar-tilne `I Whose hnuaoho d gum a had ; lubed no long, or looked so well pro- sorved, as those cared rm hy Delmrnll I Whose farm was kept. in better shape or : nunnged more prutitnhly than their: 7 But. their naiuhlmrl (leclnmrl that Am- 1 UU III yUUI' WUTK. I don't want you doing no work. was the gruff reply. You're to play." unconscious. oes. wo. She had never seen Ampliss seem so interested in anything human as in that huy. He could hardly eat for looking at him. As for little Ampliu, he devoured his ham and eggs and potatoes and biscuits and drunk his milk witha gusto that would have seemed an ill omen to Am lies and Deborah the day before, but w ich they looked on now with the greatest satisfac- tlon. and not to try to dress him fuhionnblo. that is, not to buy him my clothe: unless they were forced to do so. It seemed to Deborah now, that nothing could be good enough for that little boy. She hr mme annel in tin hnnn nml ULIUIIKII IUl' (HI! HIUI9 00) . She wme annel in the house and she meant. to make him ood warm under- clothes. But he woul need stockings befnre she could pouibly lmit them, and Ihoen, boo. Rhn Hnr` nnunun -nnn Amuxlinn -`nu. 4... 1 ho, ho!" died all away from Auipliisa.` y The cattle looked at him in A dazed fash- ion - they didn't know their strange nuuitur. He wuu Loo restless to stay in I y i the house, and to restless too stay out of ` _ it. He hated the doctor. What busi- g i ueu hand the doctor many, an he did, that ` lutlu Anipliaa would be a cripple ma long ] `nrlie lived, and would not live long at 3 beat 7 that he could not have lived long, 5 in any came, for he llld no constitution? 1 Why, he in: going to leave little Ampliu 1 ) I the farm 1 I It ..-_....'_ ....AL:_... I'\..L_.:L O '1 L" . Arnplias did nut think that his grand son was much hurt until he picked up the little, pale, still child. and finding he did not move or llelll tu hrenthe, carried him vuh I an genIly~tn the hnuse, won daring dully that the lmy could lie rm light and little. 'l`hcu he druve furiously fur the dnctnr, while Delmrali wurked with It lieuvy lwurt over the inmming hairy. Thu} wan nn an-fnl unmlr 'l`lu.. H II.. Ill! llflll J Mom.-y'I nothing, Debornh! jlly. That was an awful week. The Hu. IBIJD. DAR. KKK?! ooou y. Y. What Vermont farmer was more thrifty, more saving, more careful than Amplins? Whnse stock in the neighborhood was so careful- l& uhelterd from the" winter winds ! ho had so many water-tiglit little out.- buildimm fnr the nrntnclinn nf all that. : uwauw niglim ieenng it. in my bones." " What. good is it if we've'g0t, to lose a him 3 Money, nor the farm, nor nothing, | is nowhere cunipared to that little feller Iwith me!" And Amplias groaned with his head in his hands. Then came 3 clear, wise little voice from the trundle-bed : You needn't, to mind, grnn'per and gmnnnur. l think I like it. better t.hi|-n- ivny. You needn't tn mind nbuut me. llt would he awful resting to fall asleep Mid not wake up no more." lllllu UK lI"IIUI9. Some there were who remembered the story, and ooonnionally told in reminis- cent fuhinn how Deborah nnd Ampline used to be terrible hard and close, and that.-A-why. before little Ampliu cum-." Illlllll IIIIJ IIIUTU. Sn it happened that, long after a small white stone bearing the wnrda "Little Amplina, Sun of." em. aged eight `y rs and one month." had been put at `Mfr head of on tiny new mound in the grave nrd, nple in all the cuuntry mun luck Lu Debnrnh and Ampliu Illckn fur sympathy in nlnclion and in time of trouble. ' Bu... ck-.. _.._.. ..L.. _..__.....|,-_-J Al- u. wuulu no nwlul reuung Lu mu asleep ` up ` I He paused. Theuld people buy still, waiting fur the child's voice in the dark. I And I gueaa tlmt was A gnnd gate, `went on the snmll philmmnher, fur "l`honnhi|un Bmwn told Stun hmnh um rum on me unmu phll0NIHhel', "tor "l`honphi|un Bung: told Sam leech that 1 Deborah and .-hnplina Hick: Wt'l`l! ll night `Chrintiunur and wonderful nice people `niucu lntle Anaplinus was hurt, and he uuenucul it was on good thing. And I'm awful glurl if iv/n a good thing, you're so awful guud to me. And you don't. ` mind any more." S" E |.......nn...l cl.-. l...... -t...- .. -.....n I UH} It`s a judgment. on us for our hard ways," subbed Deborah. "I've laid awake nights feeling it in bones." Hood it if wn'va'unt. In lmm ....~.......D . nu. -Ivunuvllu vu uuunvnnll, His life in ruined--the wick in all to be burned out in seven year. Doctor said to-night, out to the road gate. that little Ampliae is jets getting weaker and `weaker, and that the chrmcee are he'll drupanleepamne of these days and never wake up agnin-und him gettin' ho wrong and chipper before that gate noted so like it tnrnatiun foul ! Wish. I'd never had a gate on the farm ! Deborah, we've never lmuwed whnt it was to li.a before little Ampliue came. And just as we're llnding out he's to be taken from un!" wun wnun ucner people wnero In need. They did not realize that they had changed, but other people where wide- nwake to the fact. ' *"I'l\n nl. .... 4... OL..>'.. ....._... ....,_ -L, vvno nua so many water-ugm nme out.- buildings for the protection of all that Wu theirl? Whose apples were better IIWRKQ! [-0 [He NICK. The change that's come over the Hicknen un account of little Amplins is aatuniahin . I "Fl... I ....,l lillllllllll The Lord visited them with a heavy I hand, but the loving-kindnean of it in uhuwed forth in their renewed lmnrta," said the minister, gravely. and his listen- ers nodded in inlemn assent. l1`.mmlinl.. Am..I:.... |........: ... ._1._ _: ens nuuuuu In lnlelllll auenc. Even little Amplian heard renmrks of that, kind as he lay in his trundle-bed, and he pondered over them in his phil- usuphic fashion` _ (hm niuht. when Amnlinn Hummln n... unlllllllc mauluu` (mo night when Ampliaa thought the boy was asleep he broke out in hitter hewniling of the accident to Deborah, AA Ill- LL. .'.. -...`,,,_I .I ' I II - uuurueu lll ule guou OICI (lays. Deborah, in her recently acquired nym- pnthy with sufferimz, ft-und time to make clothes fur n wuifnf n lmhy ; and Alnplins ha.-gun [U know where his packet-hook wma when other people where in need. Thav did not rnnlizn fhuf Hun: hurl (uruugu ms murceennn year. Then buys ctuna into (hut. huuse.-there had never been such a thing as n my in it |of()r',-ulId a lnuuic-box, and many things that Dehnmh and Amplias had scanned in the gum] old days. Deborah. in her mm-mtlv nmmiu-ml sum. said. deapomtely. I'm oing to have a Boston doctor if it taken t e farm Y " And he did ; hut it was 2| hitter dilap- puintnmnt to him. The verdict was the same. The child would never be any- thing hut n cripple, and there wmuft nue clmnce in a thousand that he would live through his fourteenth Luv: cnnm into thin. lunlnn _o}....-- 31:-vu KIHV, m pher. " I ntnnn .. -;..L> W------% liitle nas :.j @k Sc mm ? MPLIAS and Deborah Hicks, for some reason or other, did not occupy so high it . ponition in their neighbonf estimation as in their own opinion they were entitled to OXIIHV.