when mother was alive, mind
anything else. Mr. Richmond does.--

She went back now to the beginning of the chapter and read it anew. It
was easier to read than to think. The chapter was the third of
Philippians. She did not know who wrote it; she did not exactly
understand a good part of it; nevertheless one thing was clear, a heart
set on something not earthly, and minding nothing that interfered with
or did not help that. So much was clear; and also that the chapter
spoke of certain people not moved by a like spirit, as enemies of the
cross of Christ. It was the hardest reading, Matilda thought, she had
ever done in her Bible. If this is what it is to be a Christian, it was
easier to be a Christian when she was darning lace for Mrs. Candy and
roasting coffee beans in her kitchen for Maria. But she did not wish to
be back there. Some way could be found, surely, of being a Christian
and keeping her pretty room and having her wardrobe filled. And here
Matilda became so sleepy, the fatigue and excitement of this long day
settling down upon her now that the day was over, that she could
neither think nor read any more. She was obliged to go to bed.

CHAPTER VI.

The second of December rose keen and clear, like the first; but inside
Matilda's room there was a state of pleasant summer temperature; she
could hardly understand that it was cold enough outside to make the
pretty frosting on her window panes which hindered the view. She
dressed in royal comfort, and in a delightful stir of expectation and
hope. It was really New York; and she was going to Stewart's to-day.
The cold would not bite her as it used to do in Shadywalk, for they
would be in a carriage.

When she was dressed she contrived to clear a loophole in her frosted
window, and looked out. The sun shone on a long, clean, handsome
street, lined with houses that looked as if all New York were made of
money. Brick and stone fronts rose to stately heights, as far as her
eye could see; windows were filled with beautiful large panes of glass,
like her own window, and lace and drapery behind them testified to the
inside adorning and beautifying. There could not be any one living in
all that street who was not rich; nothing but plenty and ease could
possibly be behind such house-fronts. Then Matilda saw an omnibus going
down the street; but her breath dimmed her look-out place and she had
to give it up for that time. It was her hour for reading and praying.