school, and then she and I will be a
couple; and Mrs. Giles said if Prince hadn't died he would have gone
raving mad and bitten all of us, and made us raving mad too, and we
would have all been shot, and we must be thankful; and Reuben, the old
grave man, asked me if I didn't thank God that the mad dog didn't bite
me; and old Jenny said perhaps I was making an idol of Prince, and so
he was taken away. How could I make an idol of him? I wouldn't say my
prayers to him instead of God! You wouldn't be comforted to have those
things said to you, would you?'

'No, I don't think I should,' said Mr. Russell, smiling.

'Mrs. Fairfax wanted to give me another dog, a little puppy; but I
couldn't, I couldn't have another dog when Prince is dead! You
couldn't have another Violet, could you? I think you and I understand,
because we've now both had some one dead belonging to us.'

Betty's week lengthened into three. Mr. Russell seemed loth to part
with her, and her subdued spirits and pathetic grief touched him
greatly. But the visit came to an end at last, and about four o'clock
one bright afternoon the dog-cart was driven round to take her home,
'You shall come and see me again, Betty,' said Mr. Russell brightly,
'and I shall come and see you when I am in London. I used to be at
Eton with your father, and shall like to renew his acquaintance. And
next spring you ask your mother to take you to the Royal Academy, where
all the pictures are. I think you will see a white statue of a little
girl asleep on a log of wood, and a----' He stopped.

'And Prince,' put in Betty sadly. 'I shan't bear to look at him; and
yet I should like to. I don't mind going back to London; I thought I
could never be so happy anywhere as in the country, but I've been
miserabler than I ever was in London. I shall be miserable now for
ever and ever!'

'Betty,' said Mr. Russell suddenly, as they were driving through the
sweet-scented lanes towards the farm-house, 'do you remember the text
you said to me when I first saw you in the church, and you were putting
forget-me-nots on my darling's tomb?'

'I expect it was my tribulation text,' said Betty musingly.

'Yes, it was. You told me you were unhappy because you had not been
through tribulation, and a short time ago you told me that you were
asking God to send you tribulation, and that you were hoping to get it
soon.'

'And you told me the same as everybody else--that I didn't know what I
w