“Very well, mother, you shall have it immediately.  Now bundle sis up warm, for there is a cutting wind, and I think it looks like snowing again.  And O! mother, I had nearly forgotten it, there was a poor Irish family coming off the boat last night, who seemed destitute of both clothing and food.  If we have time this morning, won’t you go and see them?”

“Perhaps I will,” said his mother; and Harry ran off, but soon returned, calling, “Come, mother, the sleigh is waiting, and the horse looks as if he was in a hurry to be off.”

“Yes, Harry, I am coming; I only went back to get a little milk for Judy; she is so weak that I think she needs it.”

“O mother!” said Alfred as they drove along, “what is more enlivening than the merry jingling of the sleigh bells on a clear frosty day?”

“It is, indeed, very pleasant, Alfred; but while we are enjoying our pleasant winter evenings, and our many sleigh rides, the thought comes to our minds that however much we may like the winter time, there are hundreds in our city who think of its approach with fear and trembling, and who suffer much from cold and hunger, until the pleasant spring time comes again.  But you were telling me, Henry, about those poor people, and I was too much occupied to attend to you.  Do you know where they live?” asked Mrs. Ford.

“Yes, just along the bank, mother; it is a wretched-looking house, and very much exposed.  Poor things!  I pitied them very much; they appeared so destitute, and even the children had a care-worn look on their thin faces.”

“What! in that old house, Harry?” exclaimed Alfred.  “Why the windows have hardly any panes in them, and there are great holes in the walls.”

“Yes, Ally, that is the place, and it is, as you say, a rickety old house; but I suppose it is the best they can get.  But here we are at school, Ally; you get out first, and I will hand sissy out to you.  Take hold of her hand, for the path is slippery.”

The children alighted, and then Harry and his mother, after a pleasant ride round the city, drove up to Aunt Judy’s cottage.

“O Miss Ford! am dat you?  Now who’d a thought on’t?  I’se sure you’s de best woman I ever see’d; now jist tell me what you cum’d out on sich a day as dis for!” asked old Judy as Mrs. Ford entered the cottage.  As for Harry, he drove the horse hack to the stable until noon, when he was to call for his mother on his way from school with Ally and Cornelia.

“Why, Judy, we came to see you; I thought that if you were sick, I could perhaps comfort you.”

“Wal, I has been sick wid de rheumatiz.  O marcy!  I’se had sich orful pains all through me, and dats de reason I didn’t cum last night.  But, bless us! honey, here I’se been standing telling you all my pains and aches, and letting you stand in your wet feet; now come to de fire, my child.”

“My feet are not wet, Auntie, only a little cold.  Harry brought me around in the sleigh, and we were well wrapped up.  Now, Judy, here are a few things for you, some tea and sugar, a loaf of bread, and a bit of bacon.”