Darknefs and Light. 103

it was with the greateft difficulty he could be made
to believe any thing elfe, and he cried, and cried,
and was very fad till his Mamma was well enough
for him to be taken to her, and then do you know,
poor fellow, he was fo much pleafed to hear her
fpeak, and be kiffed by her, that he ftill had no
time to think about himfelf. Only he begged to
fit clofe to her, and have hold either of her hand
or gown, and make her fay fomething to him every
now and then. And fo it was that the fright and
fhock he had had about thinking fhe was dead,
had made fo ftrong an impreffion on him that for
feveral days the making himfelf fure fhe was alive
was a conftant occupation and intereft; and fo
much did he think about it that it was confidered
beft for his little bed to be brought into the room
where his Mamma flept, and put near hers, fo
that he could talk to her when he awoke and got
frightened about her again. And thus paffed many
days in which every body thought a great deal
more about his eyes than he did himfelf. Be-
fides from the cheerful things they faid to him he
quite expected to be better fome day; and fo
weeks and months paffed, and by the time the
hope of recovering his fight began to fade away,
and nobody any longer dared to fay they expected
it, he was beginning to get ufed to his condition,
and to find out amufements in new ways. ‘Thus
mercifully does a kind Providence temper people’s
minds to the affli@tions He fends. They are often
more dreadful to think of than to bear; for God