TRACT MAGAZINE.

Bocco's Basket; or, the New Year's Suppliant.

ARY, there is a weight of snow in

the sky, and it will be down on us before long; set open the porch."

Mary glanced at her master to see if he were in earnest, and then, with a muttered, "What next, I wonder!" she went out into the cold, piercing air, and first unlatched and then pushed the gate wide back. She might have shivered in reality as she

returned to the large old-fashioned kitchen, but that she did so more vigorously than there was any occasion for, her master evidently thought; for, fixing his kindly though keen grey eyes on her, he said quietly:

"Thou art all of a tremble, poor lassie, with but a breath of the ice that's abroad on this bleak day. What wouldst thou do if there was not an open door for thee at such a time? Eh, lassie ?"

Mary glanced at her master with a softened expression, for she knew what he would say; and then returning to the gate, she again pushed it back, this time to its utmost width -an action that spoke more than words; and her master smiled approval as he said soothingly on her return:

"Nor would I leave thee alone in such a predicament, Mary. I would ask myself, too, 'Where would you be, Seth Martin, if the doors were closed on thee as the storm comes down ?'”

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Say no more about it, sir, I pray you," answered the penitent servant. May the Lord pardon the hard thoughts that come over me once in a while. I expect I get set up by my many mercies, and don't think about others as I ought; but I promise you, sir, if a dog do but seek shelter here to-night he shall be welcome-let alone any fellow-creature that may drop in."

And nothing more was said by Mary's kind master. But I must add a few words by way of explanation; for certainly old farmer Martin's request appears an eccentric one; for who in his right senses would not wish to shut out the storm, rather than open a door to its cold advances? Who would not have given exactly opposite orders to his servant : "There is rough weather coming; make fast the porch, and shut it out, if possible"? The simple fact was this-Seth Martin was constrained by the love of Christ in all he thought, said, or did. He was not one to say to a starving brother or sister, "Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled," and yet withhold the wherewithal to be so filled and warmed.1 "No, no," he would say; "that is but a poor service that begins and ends with the lips. Let the hungry feed from the table the Lord has, in His bounty, spread for me; and let the cold limbs of the needy be chafed at my fire, if I am true to my Lord."

And in accordance with this belief in practical piety (or what the Bible calls a working faith), one of Seth's notions was to have the door of a large covered porch set open 1 James ii. 16. * James ii. 14-26.

whenever the heavens were overcast and threatened one of those fearful and furious storms which were of frequent occurrence in the exposed country where his homestead lay. The travellers who passed that way were, indeed, few, especially during the winter months.

Still, if the porch afforded refuge to but one benighted fellow-creature, he felt more than repaid for this little labour of love.

The truth was, that once in early manhood Seth had been horrified to find a woman frozen to death just outside this very porch; one hand was stiffened in its attempts to reach the knocker, and the fingers of the other were clenched, as though they had been numbed in the act of trying to beat against the door. "Never again shall. that porch be closed on such a night as this!" had Seth then exclaimed; and so persistently had his "never again" been observed, that all who lived under the same roɔf knew what to expect when a certain ominous overshadowing appeared in the sky. Of all his servants, Mary, his factotum, alone dared make any show of resistance.

On this particular afternoon, which happened to be the first day in the new year, Seth Martin's benevolent forethought seemed unnecessary, for daylight darkened into night without any passenger having availed himself of the friendly shelter. At last, just as Mary had prepared supper, and Seth was about to ask God's blessing on the meal, a scraping and scratching was heard, not at the porch, but at the house door.

"Halloo! who's there?" cried Seth.

No answer; but scrape-scratch-scrape.

"Who's there, I say? Speak out, can't you?" again cried Seth.

Still no reply, but renewed scrapes.

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Maybe it is some one as can't speak," whispered Mary; and this was enough for the farmer, who immediately went to the door and opened it cautiously, when in sprang a large dog, which made the aperture wider than Seth intended, by thrusting in a basket that it carried in its mouth.

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Halloo, my fine fellow, what dost want here at this time of night? Hast got a new year's gift for old Seth ?" said the farmer, patting the animal's snow-sprinkled head; but the dog withdrew itself with a jerk, and promptly laid down the basket at Mary's feet, and then stood midway between her and her master, wagging its tail, and looking from one to the other with its great brown eyes.

"What is it, old fellow?" Mary said. "You can't speak, but you can look. Can't you; that's all. Poor doggie !"

Thus encouraged, the dog made a half spring at the basket, and then fixing a wistful gaze at the eatables on the table, uttered several short yapping barks, which in canine language means, "Give me some, please." Mr. Martin offered it a cake, when, to his surprise, the intelligent creature, instead of snapping at it, took it almost daintily between its teeth-hardly grazing it with the touch, and at once dropped it into the basket, and then renewed its appeal for a second supply, which was given, with a similar result; and so with a third and fourth cake.

"He means something, you may depend, sir,” said Mary, all her womanly sympathies awaking. "Shall I open the door and see if he will make off with his prize? Come, good dog, go."

But no; with a very decided movement of its head and feet the dog signified its intention of remaining until the basket was full. The yapping bark was repeated each time another morsel was deposited; and only when, by the addition of a lump of cheese and piece of bacon, the last corner was filled, did the knowing creature raise the basket with its teeth and make a move towards the door.

"Stop a moment; I'll go with you," said the farmer, as though he were addressing a reasonable being. But the dog, impatient to be off, commenced a low, restless whine.

"Stop then, and take a word with you, or mayhap, if your folks at home are honest, you will get a thrashing for a thief." This was spoken in the same serious tone; and

Seth hastily scribbled the following message on a sheet of paper, and stowed it carefully under the victuals :

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Honestly come by; take it and welcome. Send the dog again."

"Now then, off, doggie, off, and take care of yourself." A second bidding was unneeded; the faithful creature bounded away, and was instantly lost in the darkness.

"I believe in Elijah and the ravens," was Mary's only comment; but Seth Martin began to put on his greatcoat, saying, as he did so, "I cannot let that poor brute be more merciful than I am. I must try to find out what it means."

“But nay, sir—dear master; do not venture out; there isn't porches everywhere, you know. May the Lord forgive me! we shouldn't have heard the dog if the gate had not been opened."

And Mary, with the freedom of an old servant, arose and turned the key in the door, and then placed the Bible on the table, knowing that if anything would detain her master it would be that silent call to evening prayers.

"You are right, Polly" (Seth always called her Polly when he was very pleased); “if, as I suppose, that dog has been guided here by an overruling Providence, it will be guided back in safety; if not, why then we can well afford the loss. If my conjecture is correct, we shall have another visit. You see if we do not."

And yet, so uneasy did Seth feel, in spite of his cheerful words and voice, that, when Mary had retired for the night, he threw a log on the already blazing fire, then hastily equipping himself in garments befitting a storm, he sallied forth in the direction the dog had taken, in the hope of solving the mystery. "I could not rest on my pillow," thought he, "if there was a case of benighted distress lying within neighbour's distance of my door. "Tisn't gipsies, for they don't camp out in winter time; and it can't be overpoor folk that are in trouble, or what business would they have with such a dog as that to feed? No; it is some one