“O Aunt Elsie,” cried the little girl, lifting a tear-stained face, “you will tell me the truth!  Is my dear papa—­No, no, I can’t say it! but oh, do you think we may hope he will soon be well again?”

“Dear child,” Elsie said, in quivering tones, as she seated herself and, putting an arm about the little girl’s waist, drew her close with a tender caress, “he is very ill, but ‘while there is life there is hope,’ for with God all things are possible.”

“Oh I know—­I understand what that means!” cried Evelyn in anguished accents, “he is dying!—­my dear, dear father!”

“My poor child, my poor, dear child!” Elsie said, her tears falling fast, “I can feel for you, for it is not very long since I stood by the deathbed of a dear father.  Flesh and heart fail in such a trial; but look to Jesus for help and strength to endure, and he will sustain and comfort you, as he did me.”

“I can never, never bear it!” sobbed Evelyn, hiding her face on Elsie’s shoulder.  “And papa—­oh, how dreadful for him to have to go away all alone!  I wish I could go with him.”

“That can not be, dear; but he will not go alone.  ’Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:  for thou art with me.’  Jesus will be with him and he will need no one else.”

“Yes; I know, and I am glad for him; but oh, who will be with me when he is gone?  Mamma is seldom at home, and cares nothing for having me with her.”

“God will raise up friends and companions for you, dear, and if you seek the Lord Jesus, he will be to you a Friend indeed; One who sticketh closer than a brother or father, or any earthly creature; a Friend who will never die, never leave or forsake you.”

For some moments there was silence in the room, broken only by Evelyn’s low sobs; but at length she spoke in trembling, tearful tones, “Will the angels come and carry him to heaven, Aunt Elsie, as they did the poor beggar, Lazarus, the Bible tells about?”

“Yes, dear, I believe they will,” Elsie answered, tenderly smoothing the child’s hair.  “And I think they will be full of joy for him, because he will be done with all the pains, the troubles and trials of earth, and going to be forever with the Lord.  I believe they will carry him home, with songs of gladness; and oh what a welcome he will receive when he enters the gates of the Celestial City! for the Bible tells us ’Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints;’ and that ’He shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.’  It tells us that His love for his people exceeds in depth and tenderness that of a mother for her child.  Then how must he rejoice over each one of his ransomed ones as he takes them in his arms and bids them welcome to the blissful mansions he has prepared for them.”

“Yes; I shall be glad for papa; but O Aunt Elsie, what can I do without him?”

“God will help and comfort you, dear child; he will be your father,” Elsie said with emotion. “’A Father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.’”