114 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



and, in an agony of despair lest she should lose 

 for ever this precious gift, she struggled to 

 utter the wish which now was uppermost, but 

 in her effort to speak, she awoke. 



" Now tell me, my friends, what was the wish 

 that trembled on her lips, and you will have my 

 word." 



I guessed it, and told some dull story which 

 is not worth repeating; the rest of the com- 

 pany told theirs ; but as I have not time for all, 

 I will go on at once to Caroline, who, with a 

 pretty little blush, thus began : 



"Three young children were coming down 

 the Mississippi with their father in a sort of a 

 boat which they call there a pirogue. They 

 landed on a desert island in that wide river, in a 

 bitter snowy evening in the month of Decem- 

 ber ; their father left them on the island, pro- 

 mising to return after he had procured some 

 brandy at a house on the opposite bank. He 

 pushed off in his little boat to cross the river, 

 but the wind was high, and the water rough. 

 The children watched him with tears in their 

 eyes, struggling in his pirogue against the 

 stream, till about half way across, when they 

 saw the boat sink and never more saw their 

 father. Poor children ! they were left alone, 

 exposed to the storm, without fire, shelter, or 

 even food, except a little corn. 



" As the night came on, the snow fell faster, 



