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ravens when they cry. There is not a sparrow that falleth to the ground without His knowledge. Your Uncle Lije will move into the old homestead when you are all gone. Your father built this cottage for us when he assumed the mortgage, as you know. We won't be entirely alone, but we'll miss you all; and we'll try to remember that we are of more value than many sparrows."

"I've heard such talk as that all my life, grandpa. But I can't help thinking that it would have been better to keep the ravens from having anything to cry about in the first place, and to save the sparrows from falling."

"If none o' God's creatures ever had any hard experiences, they'd never know enough to enjoy their blessings, Jean. A child has to stumble and hurt itself many times before it learns to walk steady. We've all got to be purified and saved, as by fire, before we are fit to stand in the presence of the awful God."

"The God I love and worship isn't an awful God," cried Jean. "I couldn't love Him if He were awful. My earthly daddie whipped me once. No doubt I deserved the punishment, but I couldn't love him for a whole month afterwards. And I'd have hated him for the rest of my life if I hadn't deserved the whipping."

"Didn't it do you any good?"

Jean confronted her grandfather, her eyes flashing. "No, sir!" she cried. "I ought not to have been whipped, and I wasn't a bit repentant after the punishment. I was sorry beforehand, though, and said so."

"What was your offence, Jean?"

"I dropped a pan full of dishes and broke more than half o' the lot. They fell to the floor with a crash, and scared me half to death."

"Didn't the whipping make you more careful afterwards?"

"Not at all; it only made me mad and afraid and nervous, so I broke more dishes. But the next time