e whole
truth, Miss--Miss----"

"I'm called Polly, sir."

"The whole truth, Polly? Only God knows that. Your father was in a weak
state of health; he had a shock and a chill. We feared mischief to the
brain. Oh, no, he is by no means out of the wood yet. Still I have hope
of him; I have great hope. What do you say, Strong? Symptoms have
undoubtedly taken a more favorable turn during the last hour or two."

"I quite agree with you, Sir Andrew," said the local practitioner, with
a profound bow.

"Then, my dear young lady, my answer to you, to all of you, is that,
although only God knows the whole truth, there is, in my opinion,
considerable hope--yes, considerable. I'll have a word with you in the
other room, Strong. Good-by, children; keep up your spirits. I have
every reason to think well of the change which has set in within the
last hour."

The moment the doctors left the room Polly looked eagerly round at the
others.

"Only God knows the truth," she said. "Let us pray to Him this very
minute. Let's get on our knees at once."

They all did so, and all were silent.

"What are we to say, Polly?" asked Firefly at last. "I never did 'aloud
prayers' since mother died."

"Hush! There's the Lord's Prayer," said Polly. "Won't somebody say it?
My voice is choking."

"I will," said Flower.

Nobody had noticed her before; now she came forward, knelt down by
Polly's side, and repeated the prayer of prayers in a steady voice. When
it was over, she put up her hands to her face, and remained silent.

"What are you saying now?" asked Firefly, pulling at her skirt.

"Something about myself."

"What is that?" they all asked.

"I've been the wickedest girl in the whole of England. I have been
asking God to forgive me."

"Oh, poor Flower!" echoed the children, touched by her dreary, forsaken
aspect.

Polly put her arms round her and kissed her.

"We have quite forgiven you, so, of course, God will," she said.

"How noble you are! Will you be my friend?"

"Yes, if you want to have me. Oh, children!" continued Polly, "do you
think we can any of us ever do anything naughty again if father gets
better?"

"He will get better now," said Firefly.

CHAPTER XIV.

A NOVEL HIDING-PLACE.

Whether it was the children's faith or the children's prayer, certain it
is that from that moment the alarming symptoms in connection with Dr.
Maybright's illness abated. It was some days before he was pronounced
out of da