aith hesitated. "I have very little time, sir."

"But you take time to go out?"

"Not much."

"I will not ask much. A little will do; and so much you owe to skyey
influences. You will not refuse me that?"

"I will go, Dr. Harrison," Faith answered after an instant a little
soberly. He rose up then; proposed to attend upon Mr. Linden, and they
went up stairs together.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Faith was half ready to wish the next day might be rainy; but it rose
fair and bright. She must go to walk, probably; and visiters might
come. The only thing to be done was to despatch her ordinary duties as
quick as possible, prepare her French exercise, and go to her teacher
early. Which she did.

She came in with a face as bright as the day, although a little less
ready to look in everybody's eyes. There were enough things ready for
her. Lessons were pressed rather more steadily than usual, perhaps
because they had been neglected a little for the last two days--or
hindered; and it was not till one book and another had done its work,
till the exercise was copied and various figure puzzles disposed of,
that Mr. Linden told her he thought a talking exercise ought to come
next,--if she had one ready he should like to have the benefit of it.

"You are tired, Mr. Linden!" said Faith quickly.

"You may begin by giving me the grounds of that conclusion."

"I don't know," she said half laughing,--"I don't see it; but that
don't make me know. I was afraid you were tired with this work."

"Very unsafe, Miss Faith, to build up such a superstructure upon
grounds that you neither see nor know. I was immediately beginning to
question the style of my own explanations this morning."

"Why, sir?"

"If I seem tired, said explanations may have seemed--tiresome."

She looked silently, with a smile, as if questioning the possibility of
his thinking so; and her answer did not go to that point.

"You didn't seem tired, Mr. Linden--I had no reason for thinking so, I
suppose. I was only afraid. I was going to ask you what Dr. Harrison
meant last night by the angel riding upon a sunbeam? I saw you knew
what he meant."

Mr. Linden got up and went for a book--then came back to his couch
again.

"Precisely what Dr. Harrison meant, Miss Faith, I should not like to
say. What he referred to, was a part of Paradise Lost, where the angels
set to guard the earth have a messenger.

'Thither came Uriel, gliding through the even
On a sun