e light
in the dark places of earth, or would even pinch herself to support
others who did? And so on for thirty minutes.

Dorcas, listening and, reflecting on her stepmother, thought how
marvellously true it all was. Had he known her personally, which so far
as she was aware was not the case, the preacher could not have described
her better. Also it was certain that Mrs. Humphreys and her friends had
not the slightest intention of spreading any kind of light, unless it
were that of their own eyes and jewels, or of going anywhere to do so,
except perhaps to Monte Carlo in the spring.

How noble too was the picture he painted of the life of self-sacrifice
and high endeavour that lay open to her sex. She would like to lead
that higher life, being in truth a good-hearted little thing full of
righteous impulses; only unfortunately she did not know how, for her
present mild and tentative efforts had been somewhat disappointing in
their fruits.

Then an inspiration seized her; she would consult Mr. Bull.

She did so, with results that might have been anticipated. Within three
months she and her mentor were engaged and within six married.

It was during those fervid weeks of engagement that the pair agreed, not
without a little hesitation upon the part of Dorcas, that in due course
he would become a missionary and set forth to convert the heathen in
what he called "Blackest Africa." First, however, there was much to be
done; he must go through a long course of training; he must acquaint
himself with various savage languages, such as Swahili and Zulu, and so
must she.

Oh! how poor Dorcas, who was not very clever and had no gift of tongues
came to loathe those barbaric dialects. Still she worked away at them
like a heroine, confining herself ultimately, with a wise and practical
prescience, to learning words and sentences that dealt with domestic
affairs, as as "Light the fire." "Put the kettle on to boil." "Sister,
have you chopped the wood?" "Cease making so much noise in the
kitchen-hut." "Wake me if you hear the lion eating our cow." And so
forth.

For more than a year after their marriage these preliminaries continued
while Thomas worked like a horse, though it is true that Dorcas
slackened her attention to Swahili and Zulu grammar in the pressure of
more immediate affairs. Especially was this so after the baby was born,
a girl, flaxen-haired like her mother, whom Thomas christened by the
name of Tabitha, and who