zled him to discover why Miss Celia looked so sweet and elegant in such
a simple suit. He did not know then that the charm was in the woman, not
the clothes, or that merely living near such a person would do more to
give him gentle manners, good principles and pure thoughts, than almost
any other training he could have had. But he _was_ conscious that it was
pleasant to be there, neatly dressed, in good company, and going to church
like a respectable boy. Somehow, the lonely feeling got better as he
rolled along between green fields, with the June sunshine brightening
everything, a restful quiet in the air, and a friend beside him who sat
silently looking out at the lovely world with what he afterward learned to
call her "Sunday face." A soft, happy look, as if all the work and
weariness of the past week were forgotten, and she was ready to begin
afresh when this blessed day was over.

"Well, child, what is it?" she asked, catching his eye as he stole a shy
glance at her, one of many which she had not seen.

"I was only thinking you looked as if----"

"As if what? Don't be afraid," she said, for Ben paused and fumbled at the
reins, feeling half ashamed to tell his fancy.

"You was saying prayers," he added, wishing she had not caught him.

"So I was. Don't you, when you are happy?"

"No'm. I'm glad, but I don't say anything."

"Words are not needed, but they help, sometimes, if they are sincere and
sweet. Did you never learn any prayers, Ben?"

"Only 'Now I lay me.' Grandma taught me that when I was a little mite of a
boy."

"I will teach you another, the best that was ever made, because it says
all we need ask."

"Our folks wasn't very pious; they didn't have time, I s'pose."

"I wonder if you know just what it means to be pious?"

"Goin' to church, and readin' the Bible, and sayin' prayers and hymns,
aint it?"

"Those things are a part of it, but, being kind and cheerful, doing one's
duty, helping others and loving God, is the best way to show that we are
pious in the true sense of the word."

"Then you are!" and Ben looked as if her acts had been a better definition
than her words.

"I try to be, but I very often fail; so every Sunday I make new
resolutions, and work hard to keep them through the week. That is a great
help, as you will find when you begin to try it."

"Do you think, if I said in meetin', 'I wont ever swear any more,' that I
wouldn't do it again?" asked Ben, soberly, for that was hi