she would be knitting or sewing and making garments for the needy.
One day when she was alone, Mr. Brisk came in and found her at her old work, making things for the poor.
"What! always at it?" he asked.
"Yes," she answered, "either for myself or for others."
"And how much can you earn in a day?" he asked.
"I make these things for the love of others, and not for pay," she answered.
"What do you do with them?" said he.
"I give them to those who are most in need," she said, simply. "It is better to clothe the naked and feed the hungry than to lay up treasures."
With that, the young man's countenance fell, and he soon took his leave.
Some days afterward, Prudence said to him, "We do not see you at the house any more. Has Mercy no more charms for you?"
"Well, indeed," he answered, "I think Mercy is a pretty girl, but her habits are not such as a busy man can admire."
And that was the last of his visits to the House Beautiful.
About this time Matthew, the eldest of the four
