who it was when she was three years old,"
said Caleb proudly.

"And so she ought; I'd have slapped her if she hadn't, and richly she'd
have deserved it."

"It's a comfort as Mr. Tremaine's mother is in her grave," remarked Mrs.
Hankey, not a whit behind the others as regards shocked sensibilities;
"this would have been a sad day for her if she had been alive."

"And it would!" agreed Mrs. Bateson warmly. "I know if one of my
children hadn't known John the Baptist by sight, I should have been that
ashamed I should never have held up my head again in this world--never!"

Mr. Bateson endeavoured to take a charitable view of the situation. "I
expect as the poor lad's schooling was neglected through having lost his
parents; and there's some things as you never seem to master at all
except you master 'em when you're young--the Books of the Bible being
one of them."

"My lads could say the Books of the Bible through, without stopping to
take breath, when they were six, and Lucy Ellen when she was five and a
half."

"Well, then, Kezia, you should be all the more ready to take pity on
them poor orphans as haven't had the advantages as our children have
had."

"So I am, Caleb; and if it had been one of the minor prophets I
shouldn't have said a word--I can't always tell Jonah myself unless
there's a whale somewhere at the back; but John the Baptist----!"

When the inspection of the pictures had been accomplished, the company
sat down to dinner in the large saloon; and Alan was slightly
disconcerted when they opened the proceedings by singing, at the top of
their voices, "Be present at our table, Lord." Elisabeth, on seeing the
expression of his face, sorely wanted to laugh; but she stifled this
desire, as she had learned by experience that humour was not one of
Alan's strong points. Now Christopher could generally see when a thing
was funny, even when the joke was at his own expense; but Alan took life
more seriously, which--as Elisabeth assured herself--showed what a much
more earnest man than Christopher he was, in spite of his less orthodox
opinions. So she made up her mind that she would not catch Christopher's
eye on the present occasion, as she usually did when anything amused
her, because it was cruel to laugh at the frustration of poor Alan's
high-flown plans; and then naturally she looked straight at the spot
where Chris was presiding over a table, and returned his smile of
perfect comprehension. It was one of