d to decline on the score of lateness, she called
Almira to bring some cool spring water for them. Seeing Freddie
approaching dangerously near one of the horses, Marty cried, "Freddie,
Freddie, come away from the horse!" and he gravely inquired, "What's the
matter with the poor old horse?"

This made every one laugh and brought Mrs. Ashford from the porch to
take his hand and keep him out of danger. So they were all assembled at
the roadside, and quite a pleasant, lively time they had.

The flowers were asked for and Evaline brought them, while Marty
explained why they were garden instead of wild flowers, and Mrs. Stokes
told how the girls earned them. The bouquets were extremely admired.
When proposing the plan in the woods, Miss Fanny had suggested
"ten-cent" bouquets, but everybody said ten cents was entirely too cheap
for such large, beautifully arranged ones, that fifteen cents was little
enough. There was one composed entirely of sweet peas, as Mrs. Ashford
said those delicate flowers looked prettier by themselves. This Miss
Fanny seized upon, insisted on paying twenty cents for, and presented to
a pale, sweet-faced lady in mourning.

She drew Marty to the side of the carriage where this lady was, and said
in a low voice,

"Mrs. Thurston, this is the little girl I told you of--the Missionary
Twig who doesn't leave her missionary zeal at home when she goes away
in vacation."

The lady smiled affectionately as she pressed Marty's hand, and said,

"I am glad to meet such an earnest little comrade."

"Oh! but you don't know," protested Marty. "I came very near forgetting
the whole thing. Indeed, it went out of my head altogether from Tuesday
till Sunday."

The ladies laughed, and Miss Fanny said,

"Mrs. Thurston was a missionary in India for many years, Marty, and
would be there yet if she was able."

"India!" exclaimed Marty, with wide-open eyes. "In Lahore!"

She had heard more about Lahore than any other place, and to her it
seemed like the principal city in India.

"Oh, no!" replied Mrs. Thurston. "Far from there, hundreds of miles.
Lahore, you know, is in Northern India, in the part known as the Punjab,
while my home was in the extreme south near a city called Madura. Are
you especially interested in Lahore?"

"Yes, ma'am. It's where our band sends its money. We have a school
there. That is, we pay the teacher. It is one of those little schools in
a room rented from a poor woman, who does her work