me?"

"She wants to see thee an' talk to thee, that's what,"--answered
Liz,--"just th' same as if tha was a lady, I tell thee. That's her way
o' doin' things. She is na a bit loike the rest o' gentlefolk. Why,
she'll sit theer on that three-legged stool wi' the choild on her knee
an' laff an' talk to me an' it, as if she wur nowt but a common lass an'
noan a lady at aw. She's ta'en a great fancy to thee, Joan. She's allus
axin me about thee. If I wur thee I'd go. Happen she'd gi' thee some o'
her owd cloas as she's ta'en to thee so."

"I dunnot want no owd cloas," said Joan brusquely, "an' she's noan so
daft as to offer 'em to me."

"Well, I nivver did!" exclaimed Liz. "Would na tha tak' 'em? Tha nivver
means to say, tha would na tak' 'em, Joan? Eh! tha art a queer wench!
Why, I'd be set up for th' rest o' my days, if she'd offer 'em to me."

"Thy ways an' mine is na loike," said Joan. "I want no gentlefolks'
finery. An' I tell you she would na offer 'em to me."

"I nivver con mak' thee out," Liz said, in a fret. "Tha'rt as grand as
if tha wur a lady thy-sen. Tha'lt tak' nowt fro' nobody."

"Wheer's th' choild?" asked Joan.

"She's laid on th' bed," said Liz. "She wur so heavy she tired me an' I
gave her a rose-bud to play wi' an' left her. She has na cried sin'. Eh!
but these is a noice color," bending her pretty, large-eyed face over
the flowers, and inhaling their perfume; "I wish I had a bit o' ribbon
loike 'em."

CHAPTER XIII - Joan and the Picture

Notwithstanding Anice's interference in his behalf, Paul did not find
his labors become very much lighter. And then after all his labor, the
prospect before him was not promising. Instead of appearing easier to
cope with as he learned more of it and its inhabitants, Riggan seemed
still more baffling. His "district" lay in the lower end of the town
among ugly back streets, and alleys; among dirt and ignorance and
obstinacy. He spent his days in laboring among people upon whom he
sometimes fancied he had obtained no hold. It really seemed that they
did not want him--these people; and occasionally a more distressing
view of the case presented itself to his troubled mind,--namely, that to
those who might chance to want him he had little to offer.

He had his temporal thorn too. He found it difficult to read, hard to
fix his mind on his modest sermons; occasionally he even accused himself
of forgetting his duty. This had come since the night when he stood at