e Paul, the
figure of one who said to him, "Come over . . . and help us." Only the
figure was that of a brown, blushing, merry-eyed girl of nine, who held
by the hand a delicate-looking, white-haired, timid boy. Again and
again he fancied himself walking sadly and dreamily on the pure smooth
sand of the beautiful secluded bay. Again and again he was murmuring
the lines--

"Every prospect pleases,
And only man is vile"--

when he hears a voice, and turning, sees the half-amused, half-eager
look of Elsie as she had said--

"Please, Jim says he 'd like to go to school, minister; and I 'd like
too, if it wasn't so far."

CHAPTER III.

The pleading voice was not in vain. After much anxious consideration
the Rev. Cooper Smith resolved to use his efforts to get the aid of a
Scripture-reader for Tor Bay, and other outlying districts of his vast
parish. The munificence of an elderly lady enabled him to bring his
arrangements to a successful issue more rapidly than he had hoped. He
was also fortunate in obtaining a fit and proper person for the post.
Robert Hendrick was by birth and education an Ulster man; but having
been for several years employed in the south-west, he had acquired
something of that geniality, tact, and courtesy which is, perhaps,
deficient in the hard Scotch character of the Northerns. There was
nothing of professional piety or of the professional reader about
Hendrick. A bright, active, smiling little man, he was soon a
favourite in Tor Glen. His visits were made twice a-week, and the
inhabitants soon found him a useful and obliging friend. He executed
small commissions, carried letters from Ballycastle, and acted
generally as a medium of communication with the outer world. But while
thus wisely winning his way by kindly offices, he was not unmindful of
that other world which it was his duty to bring before the minds of the
people of the secluded vale. One evening of the week a homely service,
half Bible-class, half prayer-meeting, was held, to which a
considerable number of the Presbyterians, and even a few Roman
Catholics, dropped in. The other evening was devoted to teaching the
few little ones who could be gathered together. Elsie and Jim were
among the earliest pupils; Jim was actuated by an almost morbid craving
for knowledge, and for Elsie anything novel had sufficient attraction.
Mrs. McAravey, notwithstanding her self-righteous indignation when
questioned by the clergy