TOMMY'S RABBITS.



A GOOD old German writer once said, "A sorrowful man I can endure to see, but not a sorrowful child;" and Dr. Wilson used to think of the saying every time he looked at little Tommy Welles, whom he had adopted for his own son. He had taken Tommy, after the death of his father and mother, to his own beautiful home, and he wanted to see him as lively and happy as other boys of his age. Tommy was very grateful and obedient, and admired all the new and fine things, which he had never heard of in his own simple home, but he was very lonesome. He did not tell this to any one, and did not know that he looked like a "sorrowful child.”

One day Dr. Wilson said, "Tommy, go out to the barn, and the coachman will show you some little friends I brought there for you; be very good to them."

Tommy, wondering what he meant, went out and found three beautiful white rabbits. A little while after, Dr. Wilson went out and found him feeding them, with his face beaming with delight. The cunning little animals had made him happier than the splendid house and elegant new toys. He did not afterward get tired of them, but rushed off every morning with the same lively interest to see them.

"Tommy," asked Dr. Wilson one day, "why have the rabbits made you so much happier? Do you love them more than you do me?"

"Oh, no," said Tommy, blushing; but thinking a minute, he answered, "They are something to love and take care of, because they need me. I can help them, but I could not do anything like that for you, you are so much richer and stronger than I. I can be a father to the rabbits, as you are to me."

Dr. Wilson laughed heartily, saying, 

"You are quite right, Tommy. It always makes one happier to be needed; but remember I need a little boy's love, if I am rich and strong."

"I do love you, I do love you," said Tommy, earnestly.

The rabbits had taught both the man and the boy a lesson. 




S. S. Visitor.