surrounded her from her birth, or if she had indeed become a disciple,
though but a feeble one, of the meek and lowly Jesus.

In the quiet calm of a summer day, when the wind scarcely ruffles the
waters of the bay, it is difficult to say whether the fair ship riding
at anchor will prove herself seaworthy. It is when the storm rises in
its fury and the billows dash over her that the testing time comes, and
she proves the strength of her bows and the soundness of her timbers, or
she sinks a hopeless wreck.

And it remained for Ruth's visit to Busyborough, to test her and prove
how strong was her desire to follow Christ. If it were but a weak
earth-born feeling, it would soon be upset by the winds of temptation;
but if it were indeed of God, although it might be roughly handled and
somewhat shaken for a time, it would come forth triumphant at last.

"Well, Ruth, what do you intend to do?" asked her father, as they sat at
breakfast the next morning. "Do you intend to go to Busyborough, and
find out how ignorant you are, and then set to work to study with all
your might, or do you mean to be the pattern eldest scholar at Miss
Green's? Do you mean to rub shoulders with others, or are you going to
stay at home and fancy yourself a prodigy of wisdom and learning?"

"I think, that if you and mother can spare me, I will go to Busyborough,
and rub shoulders with the others," said Ruth, steadily.

"That's right; I am glad to hear it; for although we shall miss you very
much, I am sure the change will benefit you. Go and learn all the good
you can, and tell us all about it when you come back. Ah! your mother
looks grave: I know she rather fears your picking up some fantastical
notions and growing to look down on your own people. But I don't fear
it. I look forward to seeing my little Ruth again next summer, grown
somewhat taller, perhaps, and wiser too, but still always my own Ruth."

"Yes, father," she answered, with something like a sob.

But Will, the eldest brother, who found that his father's speech and
Ruth's face were getting too much for his feelings, jumped up and seized
his hat, saying in his queer way that he must be off to the hay-field if
there was a prospect of showers, and he hoped Ruth would not run away
before he came back.

The other members of the family soon dispersed; and although Ruth's
departure was for days the all-absorbing topic of conversation, it was
generally referred to in a cheery way, and not i