Of God's gifts a baby is of the greatest; therefore it is
no wonder that when this one came, she was as heartily welcomed
by the little household as if she had brought plenty with her.
Of course she made a great difference in the work to be done --
far more difference than her size warranted, but Nanny was no
end of help, and Diamond was as much of a sunbeam as ever, and
began to sing to the new baby the first moment he got her in his
arms. But he did not sing the same songs to her that he had sung
to his brother, for, he said, she was a new baby and must have
new songs; and besides, she was a sister-baby and not a
brother-baby, and of course would not like the same kind of
songs. Where the difference in his songs lay, how-
ever, I do not pretend to be able to point out. One thing I am
sure of, that they not only had no small share in the education
of the little girl, but helped the whole family a great deal
more than they were aware.
How they managed to get through the long dreary expensive
winter, I can hardly say. Sometimes things were better,
sometimes worse. But at last the spring came, and the winter was
over and gone, and that was much. Still, Mr. Raymond did not
return, and although the mother would have been able to manage
without Nanny now, they could not look for a place for her so
long as they had Ruby; and they were not altogether sorry for
this.
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