THE NEW HOUSE.
THE factory was closed, but only for a few weeks. Just as Mr. Miles was
making preparation to leave, orders came in, which obliged him to employ
all their old hands.
Johnny did not leave school, but worked two hours in the morning, as
before. He did not work at night, because his new father insisted that
every boy must have some time to play; and then, when Mr. Hardy began to
have more work than he could do, Johnny must get kindlings for his
mother, or run of errands for her.
In the spring the new house was finished; a plain, neat building, with a
pretty portico over the front door. Johnny and his mother often talked
about their old trials, and always remembered with pleasure that in the
hour of their sorest need, they did not forget to trust in the great
and good God.
Would you like to know what kind of a house it was to be? I will try to
describe it as Mr. Hardy did to Johnny and his mother one evening, with
Ella sitting on his knee.
"There," he said, drawing a plan on Johnny's slate, "is the front door,
which leads into the entry. Out of this on one side is a room, which we
will call the Sunday-room; because I shall, by and by, have an organ in
there, and we will sing psalm tunes on Sunday."
Johnny gave a scream of delight, and Ella asked, "May I sing, too?"
"Certainly, my dear. Now here on the other side is the room where we
shall live and take our meals. Behind the front entry is a large closet,
into which I mean to put lockers and drawers, so that your mother can
keep her dishes nicely arranged, as they used to be in her old home. I
remember," he added, with a smiling glance at his wife, "how cosily the
room used to look when Dexter and I came home from our work, and how I
thought I should be the happiest man living if I had somebody to care
for me as you did for Dexter.
"Besides, there will be a kitchen and a shed beyond, where you will have
a chance to cut and pile wood. Ella must have some work, too, and so
here goes the chicken-house, where she will have to feed the biddies,
and find the nice white eggs. Upstairs, Johnny, there will be four
chambers, beside a tiny room over the front entry."
"Mother is crying!" exclaimed Ella, springing to the floor.
"It seems like a dream, a happy dream," said Mrs. Hardy, softly. "Only a
few weeks ago, and we were so destitute, and knew not where to turn for
help!"
"But we prayed to God, mother, and he heard us. I guess that's why he
sent Mr. Hardy here, don't you?"
* * * * *
Transcriber's Note: Obvious punctuation errors repaired.