ted some
minutes, till the Mother Superior had set her initials at the foot of
the sheet with a blue pencil, and raised her face to peer into the
gloom.

'Who is it?' she asked in a businesslike tone, still dazzled by the
light.

'I am Angela, Mother. May I ask you a question?'

'Yes.'

The voice had changed even in that single word, and was kind and
encouraging.

'Two years ago, before I became a novice, you asked me why I wanted to
be a nun, Mother. You thought my intention was good. Now that there is
still time before I make my profession, I have come to ask you once
again what you think.'

'So far as I know, I think you can be a good nun,' answered the Mother
Superior without waiting to hear more, for she never wasted time if
she could possibly help it.

Angela understood her and told her story quickly and clearly, without
a quiver or an inflection of pain in her voice. It was necessary, for
the Mother did not know it all, and listened with concentrated
attention. But before it was ended she had made up her mind what to
say.

'My dear child,' said she, 'I am not your confessor! And besides, I am
prejudiced, for you are a good nurse and I need you and wish you to
stay. Do you feel that there is any reason why you should be less
conscientious than you have been so far, if you promise to go on
working with us as long as you live?'

'No,' Angela answered.

'Or that there is any reason why you should have less faith in God,
less hope of heaven, or less charity towards your fellow-creatures if
you promise to give your whole life to God, in nursing those who
suffer, with the hope of salvation hereafter?'

'No, I do not feel that there can be any reason.'

'Then do not torment yourself with any more questions, for life is too
short! To throw away time is to waste good, and save evil. Believe
always, and then work with all your might! Work, work, work! Work done
for God's sake is prayer to God, and a thousand hours on your knees
are not worth as much as one night spent in helping a man to live--or
to die--when you are so tired that you can hardly stand, and every bone
in your body aches, and you are half-starved too! Work for every one
who needs help, spare every one but yourself, think of every one
before yourself. It is easy to do less than your best, it is
impossible to do more, and yet you must try to do more, always more,
till the end! That should be a nun's life.'

The Mother Superior had led that l