d he, after a little pause of grave
silence.

"At first she seemed very glad, and fell into my mood of planning how
it should all be managed; how Sally and I should take care of the
baby the hours that she was away at Mr Bradshaw's; but by-and-by she
became silent and thoughtful, and knelt down by me and hid her face
in my lap, and shook a little as if she was crying; and then I heard
her speak in a very low smothered voice, for her head was still bent
down--quite hanging down, indeed, so that I could not see her face,
so I stooped to listen, and I heard her say, 'Do you think I should
be good enough to teach little girls, Miss Benson?' She said it so
humbly and fearfully that all I thought of was how to cheer her, and
I answered and asked her if she did not hope to be good enough to
bring up her own darling to be a brave Christian man? And she lifted
up her head, and I saw her eyes looking wild and wet and earnest, and
she said, 'With God's help, that will I try to make my child.' And I
said then, 'Ruth, as you strive and as you pray for your own child,
so you must strive and pray to make Mary and Elizabeth good, if you
are trusted with them.' And she said out quite clear, though her face
was hidden from me once more, 'I will strive, and I will pray.' You
would not have had any fears, Thurstan, if you could have heard and
seen her last night."

"I have no fear," said he, decidedly. "Let the plan go on." After
a minute, he added, "But I am glad it was so far arranged before I
heard of it. My indecision about right and wrong--my perplexity as to
how far we are to calculate consequences--grows upon me, I fear."

"You look tired and weary, dear. You should blame your body rather
than your conscience at these times."

"A very dangerous doctrine."

The scroll of Fate was closed, and they could not foresee the Future;
and yet, if they could have seen it, though they might have shrunk
fearfully at first, they would have smiled and thanked God when all
was done and said.

CHAPTER XIX

After Five Years

The quiet days grew into weeks and months, and even years, without
any event to startle the little circle into the consciousness of the
lapse of time. One who had known them at the date of Ruth's becoming
a governess in Mr Bradshaw's family, and had been absent until the
time of which I am now going to tell you, would have noted some
changes which had imperceptibly come over all; but he, too, would
have though