anners, good principles, and pure
thoughts, than almost any other training he could have had. But he was
conscious that it was pleasant to be there, neatly dressed, in good
company, and going to church like a respectable boy. Somehow, the lonely
feeling got better as he rolled along between green fields, with the
June sunshine brightening every thing, a restful quiet in the air, and a
friend beside him who sat silently looking out at the lovely world with
what he afterward learned to call her "Sunday face,"--a soft, happy
look, as if all the work and weariness of the past week were forgotten,
and she was ready to begin afresh when this blessed day was over.

"Well, child, what is it?" she asked, catching his eye as he stole a shy
glance at her, one of many which she had not seen.

"I was only thinking, you looked as if--"

"As if what? Don't be afraid," she said, for Ben paused and fumbled at
the reins, feeling half ashamed to tell his fancy.

"You were saying prayers," he added, wishing she had not caught him.

"So I was. Don't you, when you are happy?

"No,'m. I'm glad, but I don't say any thing."

"Words are not needed; but they help, sometimes, if they are sincere and
sweet. Did you never learn any prayers, Ben?"

"Only 'Now I lay me.' Grandma taught me that when I was a little mite of
a boy."

"I will teach you another, the best that was ever made, because it says
all we need ask."

"Our folks wasn't very pious; they didn't have time, I s'pose."

"I wonder if you know just what it means to be pious?"

"Goin' to church, and readin' the Bible, and sayin' prayers and hymns,
ain't it?"

"Those things are a part of it; but being kind and cheerful, doing one's
duty, helping others, and loving God, is the best way to show that we
are pious in the true sense of the word."

"Then you are!" and Ben looked as if her acts had been a better
definition than her words.

"I try to be, but I very often fail; so every Sunday I make new
resolutions, and work hard to keep them through the week. That is a
great help, as you will find when you begin to try it."

"Do you think if I said in meetin', 'I won't ever swear any more,' that
I wouldn't do it again?" asked Ben, soberly; for that was his besetting
sin just now.

"I'm afraid we can't get rid of our faults quite so easily; I wish we
could: but I do believe that if you keep saying that, and trying to
stop, you will cure the habit sooner than you think."

"I