CHAPTER II.

When the Child opened his eyes he was very much ashamed to find the little maiden awake before him, and gliding quietly about the cave, making herself quite at home. Yet he could not help lying still, and watching what she would do while she thought he was asleep.

And first he saw her kneel down on the white sand, and clasp her hands, and look up, and speak softly to some One. He followed her eyes, but he could see no one; and he wondered to whom she could be speaking. He was sure it must be One who listened, for the little maiden's eyes filled with tears; and yet when she rose she looked so happy.

Then as she was moving silently about, she seemed to see something which gave her great joy, for she clasped her hands, and looked up again, while the tears streamed over her cheeks. And, to the Child's surprise, she took up the little carved wooden tube, and drew out the parchments, and kissed them, and pressed them to her heart. But the Child's surprise increased when he saw her seat herself on the ground, and spread the roll on her knee, and trace her finger along the twisted lines, and smile and sigh, as if the roll of dead leaves were talking to her. And as she sat, every now and then her eyes were lifted up as when she had been kneeling, and the Child felt sure there must be One listening to her. So he rose and went outside the cave, but he could see no one; and then he came back, and sat down by the little girl, and said, "I cannot find any one. Whom are you talking to?"

"Do not you speak to GOD?" said the maiden with a look of wonder and sorrow.

The Child gazed earnestly into her face for some moments, and then said in a soft whisper, "_Is that the Name?_"

"What Name?" asked the maiden.

"The Name they are always trying to speak on the shore, and on the sea, and in the wood, and among the stars!"

"Yes; it must be God!" she replied. "There is no other Name; for He is everywhere, and He made everything!"

The Child sat silent for some time, with a look of awe in his eyes, and then he said, "Was it to Him you were speaking whilst I was asleep?"

"Yes," she said.

"What were you saying?" he asked.

"I was thanking Him for bringing me here, and asking Him to take care of you and me."

"Then it was GOD who took care of you in the storm?"

"It is GOD who gives us everything good. He is so very good, and He loves us so much!"

"Did you ever hear Him speak?" asked the Child, after another silence. "You seem to know Him so well."

"No, I never heard Him," replied the maiden; "but when I look at this," she added, folding the parchment close to her, "He talks to me in my heart!"

The Child clasped his hands round his knees as he sat on the ground, and looking up into her face, he said, "It is very wonderful. I should like to know more about it. But who told you?"

The little girl could not answer him: she burst into tears, and could only sob, "My mother--oh, my mother!"

The Child was frightened to see her cry so bitterly. He kissed her and told her not to cry, and then he brought her all his prettiest shells to look at; but she would not look at them, nor be comforted, but kept sobbing, "Mother, mother!--shall I never see you any more?--are you lost in the deep, cold sea?--will you never speak to me again?" So at last he sat down and began to cry too; for he thought of the storm, and the wailing voices, and the little faithful mother-bird spreading her wings over her brood, and he felt something very sad must have happened to the little girl, and she must have lost what was dearest to her in the world. At length, as she wept on, he nestled his hands into hers, and whispered timidly, "Cannot God help you?--speak to Him!"

Then the little maiden became quieter, and the two little ones knelt down together, and she murmured, "Our Father who art in heaven."

Her tears fell fast, and she could not say any more; but when she rose, her face was beaming, and her eyes smiled gravely through her tears: and the Child felt there was One who loved them and was near them, wherever they were.

But he was afraid to ask her any more questions, so he led her into the wood. He thought she might not like to go beside the sea. And there, among the flowers, and the sunbeams, and the birds, the two children forgot their tears, and rejoiced in the joy of all the happy creatures.

In the evening, when they were sitting hand in hand at the entrance of the cave, the little maiden suddenly said,--

"How long have you been here?"

"I do not know," said the Child, looking up at her in surprise. "Always, I suppose!"

"But I think I know," said the maiden. "You are my little younger brother who was lost so long ago. I am sure you are!" she added; "for whenever I look at you, my mother's eyes seem looking at me through yours."

And the children hugged each other close, and laughed and wept together. And the happy Child was long in falling asleep that night, for he had found a sister, and he had learned the blessed Name, and he knew there was One watching over them always, and loving them dearly.