"And is it long since you laid her here ma'am?" said Julia.
"Only a few weeks," was the reply; "there were buds on this rose bush when I brought it here."
"And was it her's?" asked Julia, as she stooped down to inhale the rich fragrance of the beautiful flower.
"Yes, my child, it was a dear treasure to her. My Elise was a good child, she was my Idol, but my Heavenly Father has seen best to remove her from me. I only cared to live that I might be useful to her in giving her such instructions as might be a blessing to her. I almost adored her, but she is gone from me, and I am alone. I know she is happy, because she was good."
"And have you always lived here in our town?" asked Julia.
"Oh, no! I am from Italy. When my child was but two years old, I left my native shores, and with my only relative, my father, followed my young husband, who is an American, to his own land. We settled in the State of Virginia, and a short time ago he died and left me with a charge to take care of our dear Elsie. She had her father's hair and complexion, and inherited his delicate constitution, We were poor, and I labored hard, but I cared not, if I could only make my child comfortable and happy. She was not like me; her mind was full of thoughts of beauty; she would often talk of things with which I could not sympathize; the world seemed to her to be full of voices, and she would often say, 'How beautiful heaven must be.' Her nature was purer and gentler than mine, and I felt that she was a fit companion of the angels. But she is now gone to be with them, and I hope soon to meet her."
Julia bid the lady good bye, and went towards her home. As she walked slowly along, she thought to herself, "Elsie with the angels!" and she dwelt upon the theme till her mother, seeing her rather different in her conduct, asked her the cause, when she replied, "Oh, mother! I want to dwell with the angels."
FLORA AND HER PORTRAIT.
"And was there never a portrait of your beautiful child," said Anne Jones, to a lady whom she met at the grave where her child had been lain a few weeks.
"Oh, yes! but I may never have it," replied the woman as she stood weeping
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