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the poor, and had it pleased God to send sickness among them, hard had been their lot. But now they lived in a better house———with a larger garden———and a few fields, with two cows of their own———Allan had workmen under him, a basket-maker now on a considerable scale and his wife had her apprentices too, the best dress-maker in all the country round. They were rich. Their children were at school,———and all things, belonging both to outer and inner life, had prospered to their hearts' desire. Allan could walk about many familiar places unattended; but that seldom happened, for while his children were at school he was engaged in his business; and when they came home, there was always a loving contest among them who should be allowed to take hold of their father's hand when he went out on his evening walk. Well did he know the the tread of each loving creature's footstep———their very breath when their voices were silent. One touch of a head as it danced past him, or remained motionless by his side———one pressure of an arm upon his knee———one laugh from a corner was enough to tell him which of his children was there; and in the most confused noise and merriment, his ear would have known if one romping imp had been away. So perfectly accustomed had he long been to his situation, that it might almost be said that he was unconscious of being blind, or that he had forgotten that his eyes once saw. Long had Allan Bruce indeed been the happiest of the blind.
