reaking the rank this was done; one set
slowly edging along from left to right, while from right to left, one
by one, the others came to take their turn. It was a pretty sight. So
some thought; but there were varieties of opinion.

One variety Matilda had to encounter that night before she slept. Going
back to Mrs. Laval's pew to get her hat and flowers, naturally she
walked home with her and Norton, and had no annoyance until she got
there. As she went through the hall the parlour door opened and she was
called in.

"I want to speak to you, Matilda," said Mrs. Candy; "and I think it is
proper to do it at once. I want to know about this. How long have you
been preparing for this step you have taken to-night?"

"Ma'am?" said Matilda.

"How long have you been thinking of doing this?"

"Oh, a long while, Aunt Candy."

"Why did you not consult me?"

Her mother would have been the one to speak to about it, and her mother
had been too ill. Remembering this, Matilda stood silent and her eyes
filled.

"You have been intending it for these two months past?"

"Yes, Aunt Candy; and before."

"Well, then, why did you not speak to me?"

"I spoke to Mr. Richmond."

"Mr. Richmond might have had the courtesy, himself." (Which Mr.
Richmond had meant to do, but various pressing matters had prevented.)
"But _you_ ought to have spoken to me, Matilda. You are too young a
child to take such responsibility."

Matilda did not think of anything to say to this.

"I do not think you understand what you have been doing."

"I think I do, Aunt Candy."

"What did you want to be baptized for?"

"Because Jesus says we must."

"Yes, properly; but not improperly, without knowing what you do. What
do you think it means, Matilda?"

"To be baptized, Aunt Erminia?"

"Yes."

"It means," said the child steadily, and with the clear utterance of
pleasure, "that I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ."

"There!" said Clarissa, appealing to her mother.

"I thought so," said Mrs. Candy. "That is not what it means, Matilda."

"It is what I mean, Aunt Candy."

"It means a great deal more, my dear, which you cannot understand. And
you ought to have had a white dress on."

"I don't think God cares," said Matilda.

"Did you ever hear such dreadful teaching as these people have?" said
the mother, appealing to the daughter. "My dear, there is a propriety
in things. And not one of the candidates this evening was dressed in
white."

"But th