But one morning such a change was apparent in her manner toward him that we all looked up in surprise.  No more gracious and gentle greeting could she have given him if he had been a prince of royal line.  Our astonishment almost passed bounds when we heard her continue with a kindly inquiry after his health, and, undeterred by his evident readiness to launch into detailed symptoms, listen to him with the most respectful attention.  Under the influence of this new and sweet recognition his plain and common face kindled into something almost manly and individual.  He had never before been so spoken to by a well-bred and beautiful woman.

We were sobered, in spite of ourselves, by an indefinable something in her manner; and it was with subdued whispers that we crowded around her on the piazza, and begged to know what it all meant.  It was a rare thing to see Mrs. ——­ hesitate for a reply.  The color rose in her face, and, with a half-nervous attempt at a smile, she finally said, “Well, girls, I suppose you will all laugh at me; but the truth is, I heard that man say his prayers this morning.  You know his room is next to mine, and there is a great crack in the door.  I heard him praying, this morning, for ten minutes, just before breakfast; and I never heard such tones in my life.  I don’t pretend to be religious; but I must own it was a wonderful thing to hear a man talking with God as he did.  And when I saw him at table, I felt as if I were looking in the face of some one who had just come out of the presence of the King of kings, and had the very air of heaven about him.  I can’t help what the rest of you do or say; I shall always have the same feeling whenever I see him.”

There was a magnetic earnestness in her tone and look, which we all felt, and which some of us will never forget.

During the few remaining days of his stay with us, that untutored, uninteresting, stupid man knew no lack of friendly courtesy at our hands.  We were the better for his homely presence; unawares, he ministered unto us.  When we knew that he came directly from speaking to the Master to speak to us, we felt that he was greater than we, and we remembered that it is written, “If any man serve me, him will my Father honor.”

Learning to Speak.

With what breathless interest we listen for the baby’s first word!  What a new bond is at once and for ever established between its soul and ours by this mysterious, inexplicable, almost incredible fact!  That is the use of the word.  That is its only use, so far as mere gratification of the ear goes.  Many other sounds are more pleasurable,—­the baby’s laugh, for instance, or its inarticulate murmurs of content or sleepiness.

But the word is a revelation, a sacred sign.  Now we shall know what our beloved one wants; now we shall know when and why the dear heart sorrows or is glad.  How reassured we feel, how confident!  Now we cannot make mistakes; we shall do all for the best; we can give happiness; we can communicate wisdom; relation is established; the perplexing gulf of silence is bridged.  The baby speaks!