site as mine. I had to give
Pete his Testament; he would not think it the same thing if he did not
have it from my own hand, Maria said; and Darry's pens and ink
likewise. The poor woman for whom I had got the bed was, I fear,
beyond enjoying anything; but it was a comfort to me to know that she
was lying on it. The people kept my secret perfectly; my aunt and
governess never, I believe, heard anything of all these doings; I had
my enjoyment to myself.

And the Sunday evening prayer-meeting grew, little by little. Old
Sarah and her new shoes were there, of course, at once. Those who
first came never failed. And week by week, as I went into the kitchen
with my Bible, I saw a larger circle; found the room better lined with
dark forms and sable faces. They come up before me now as I write, one
and another. I loved them all. I love them still, for I look to meet
many of them in glory; "where there is neither bond or free." Nay,
that is _here_ and at present, to all who are in Christ; we do not
wait for heaven, to be all one.

And they loved me, those poor people. I think Pete had something the
same sort of notion about me that those Ephesians had of their image
of Diana, which they insisted had fallen from heaven. I used to feel
it then, and be amused by it.

But I am too long about my story. No wonder I linger, when the
remembrance is so sweet. With this new interest that had come into my
life, my whole life brightened. I was no longer spiritless. My
strength little by little returned. And with the relief of my heart
about my father, my happiness sprung back almost to its former and
usual state when I was at Melbourne. For I had by this time submitted
to my father's and mother's absence as a thing of necessity, and
submitted entirely. Yet my happiness was a subdued sort of thing; and
my Aunt Gary still thought it necessary to be as careful of me, she
said, "as if I were an egg-shell." As I grew stronger, Miss Pinshon
made more and more demands upon my time with her arithmetic lessons
and other things; but my rides with Darry were never interfered with,
nor my Sunday evening readings; and, indeed, all the winter I
continued too delicate and feeble for much school work. My dreaded
governess did not have near so much to do with me as I thought she
would.

The spring was not far advanced before it was necessary for us to quit
Magnolia. The climate, after a certain day, or rather the air, was not
thought safe for white pe