NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS

New Zealand Tablet, 17 September 1908, Page 37

NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS

Oh, no,' Amy said, with a little tilt of her chin, we don t call them neighbors, though they live next door • suppose they're good enough in iheir way, but they re very ordinary. I speak to Laura when I meet her on the street, but I'd never think of going to see her ' . s &

It w»s less than a week later when she woke to find her room filled with smoke. It was almost by a miracle that all the members of the family escaped And it was to the home of the next-door neighbors that they hurried, shivering as they ran 'barefooted a f°?if S vOWu OW - , Such a welcom e as they received I If they had been dearly-loved friends, coming i n after a long absence, they could not have met with a more generous hospitality. The girl who had made the disagreeable speech about her next-door neighbors ate her breakfast next morning dressed from top to toe in" Laura's clothing hli-M"^ WC ?E S ° n6arly the Same size ! ' Lavr * said delightedly. 'Mamma's things are so much too large for your mother, and really I had to laugh when I saw your father in papa's coat !' S Amy's mother was half sick from the excitement and exposure, and the host and hostess refused to let her leave til she was well again. < What's the use of having neighbors/ the head of the house demanded if they can't help you a little in a tight place?' And t£ 7L77 L 7 T£ g : h u un £ her head, remembering that nefghbors ShC dld nOt C ° Unt theSe P e °s le a *

It was a hard lesson surely— the dear home a blackened heap of ruins, her clothing gone SF the treasures she had been accumulating fr?m her baby bv y th, J?*"?? a / ay Pa^ S6d but heart was wrung by the thought of some irretrievable loss. But, afte? all, it was worth the cost to Amy. The fire JESS, had burned up her false ideals and given her a new standard for judging those about hfr, had brourtt something worth far more than it took away DrOUght