It was with the simple abiding faith of a child that old Annie, shy, crippled and a recluse, had prayed for many years that she might be healed. Every day, rain or shine, she went to a little roadside shrine where her prayers to her patron saint were sent up, but though Annie was getting old she could see no change in her condition. So badly was she crippled and bent, so shy was she, and so sensitive about telling anything about herself, that the people of the village did not understand her. Instead of the loving big-hearted woman whose one big love in life was for children, they believed her a crabbed old recluse who might hurt the children if they were allowed near her, and the children themselves were taught to run and hide from “the old witch” as many called her. That was what hurt the tender-hearted old Annie more than anything else, for she would have been perfectly happy just to have been “granny” to the youngsters of the village. It was therefore more wonderful when she finally won the love of one little girl, who, in return for the presents Annie laid at her feet, brought her berries and wildflowers. On one of her regular daily visits to her shrine, the old woman was more discouraged than ever, for all the little ones had quit their games at her approach and fled. She stood up from her prayers, her old eyes filled with tears, as she peered out over the landscape. What she saw, though, brought her bent old body erect and she tried to run on her crutches. It was the body of the one little creature in all the world who loved her that old Annie had seen, and that little one lay still and helpless across a railroad track with her foot helplessly caught in a frog of a track. Far off, Annie could see the smoke from the train that was approaching fast. Once more she tried to go forward to the aid of the little one she loved, and once more she was helpless. Then she turned to her shrine in her despair. She flung out her arms, praying for a miracle. Old Annie turned once more to gaze out to where her loved one lay. She tried to take one step again. The miracle had happened; the little old lady’s feet flew over the ground toward the railroad. Just as the last tug had loosened the child’s foot and both rescuer and rescued went tumbling down the embankment, the train that might have destroyed the little one flashed by. And it was this that the child’s mother saw when she, too, reached the place believing her daughter crushed. Of course old Annie went home with mother and daughter. Both would have nothing else, for it was at that home, they said, that the little old lady would henceforth live. Still, for all the miracle of healing which made crutches a thing of the past, and a home with two loving souls, old Annie’s cup of happiness was not quite full until one night when all the children of the village flocked around her and told her they wanted her to be their grandma.