put forward a little,
in a quiet way, and encouraged to display their book-learning to their
visitors. But Katie was shy and uncomfortable, and did not do herself
as much credit as usual. Her grandfather put her forward as a little
girl, and the visitors treated her as a grown woman, and she did not
like it, and at last took refuge with her knitting at her grandfather's
side, and left the field to Davie.

As for Davie, he was shy too, but in some things he was bold to a degree
that filled Katie with astonishment. He held his own opinion about
various things against the minister, who, to be sure, "was only just
trying him." And he and young Mr Holt wrangled together over their
opinions and questions good-humouredly enough, but still very much in
earnest. Young Mr Holt was the better of the two as to the subjects
under discussion, but he was not so well up as he thought he was, or as
he ought to have been, considering his advantages, and Davie knew enough
to detect his errors, though not enough to correct them. The minister,
appealed to by both, would not interfere, but listened smiling. Mr
Fleming sat silent, as his manner was, sometimes smiling, but oftener
looking grave.

"Softly, Davie. Take heed to your words, my laddie," said his
grandmother now and then, and Elizabeth listened well pleased to see her
brother, about whom she was sometimes anxious and afraid, taking evident
pleasure in it all.

By and by the Book was brought, and Mr Fleming, as head and priest of
the household, solemnly asked God's blessing on the Word they were to
read, before he gave it to the minister to conduct the evening worship.
It chanced that the chapter read was the one from which Mr Maxwell's
Sunday text had been taken; and in the pause that followed the
unwilling, but unresisting departure of the little ones to bed, Clifton
said so. Then he added that he wished Mrs Fleming had been there to
hear the sermon, as he would have liked to hear her opinion as to some
of the sentiments given in it by the minister. It was said with the
hope of drawing the old lady into one of the discussions of which they
had heard, Elizabeth knew, but it did not succeed.

"I heard the sermon, and had no fault to find with it; had you?" said
Mrs Fleming.

"Fault! No. One would hardly like to find fault with it before the
minister," said Clifton, laughing. "I am not very well up in theology
myself, but it struck me that the sermon was not just in