to her lips. "Dear Aunt Marthe! If the
majority had had your 'tribulum' they would think they had earned the
right to play!"

She looked up. John Randolph was standing before her with a package in
his hands.

"I have been commissioned by the Hawthornes to give this into your own
possession," he said with a smile.

She opened it wonderingly. Bonds and certificates of stock bearing her
name. What did it mean? John Randolph had drawn a chair opposite her and
was watching her face closely.

"You cannot think what long consultations we have held on the subject of
what you would like," he said, "you seemed to have no wishes of your
own. At last a happy thought struck Reginald, and he sent me a power of
attorney to make the transfer of these bonds and stocks to you. It is a
Trust Fund to be used to help souls. We all thought that would please
you best of all. You are a rich woman, Miss Hildreth."

A great wave of joy swept over her bewildered face. "So God has sent me
the fulfilment of my dream!" she said softly. And John Randolph
understood.

That evening she wrote to Mrs. Everidge.

"Dear Aunt Marthe,--The King's work is waiting for you in Marlborough.
The work that we used to long for--the joy of lifting the shadows from
the hearts of the heavy laden--God has given to you and me!"

* * * * *

"Why should you not come to 'The Willows'?"

John Randolph put the question one afternoon, as they were enjoying Miss
Diana's hospitality in the fragrant porch. Evadne had just finished a
merry recital of their woes.

"We have looked at houses until we are fairly distracted, Aunt Marthe
and I. One had a cellar kitchen, and I am not going to have my good Dyce
buried in a cellar kitchen; and one had no bathroom, and another was all
stairs; and they are all nothing but brick and mortar with a scrap of
sky between. I want trees and water and fields. The poor souls have
enough of masonry in their daily lives."

"I believe it is decreed that you should come here," he continued, after
the first exclamations of surprise were over. "It is just the work our
lady delights in, and she cannot be left alone. Dick goes to College
next month and I must live in town. The house is beautiful for
situation, and a threefold cord of love and faith cannot easily be
broken."

He looked round upon them, this man who found his joy in helping others,
and waited for their answer.

"It would be beautiful, beautifu