ll the large circle of her acquaintance, there seemed no one
to ask. The truth was, Ruth was shiveringly afraid of casting pearls
before swine--not that she put it in that way; but she would rather have
been struck than to have been made an object of ridicule. And yet there
were times when she wished she had lived in the days of martyrdom! The
church of to-day is full of just such martyr spirits!

The result was precisely what might have been expected: she dallied with
her miserable cowardice, which she did not call by that name at all,
until there really was no person within reach to invite to the meeting.
Who would have supposed all this of Ruth Erskine! No one would have been
less likely to have done so than herself.

She went alone to the meeting at a late hour, and with a very miserable,
sore, sad heart, to which Marion's was nothing in comparison. Yet there
was something accomplished, if she had but known it. She was beginning
to understand herself; she had a much lower opinion of Ruth Erskine as
she sat there meeting the wondering gaze of Eurie, and the quick,
inquiring glance of Marion than she ever had felt in her life.

I said she was late, but Flossy was later. Somebody else must have been
at work about that meeting, and have been more successful than our
girls, for the room was fuller than usual. Marion had begun to grow
anxious for the little Flossy that had crept so near to their hearts,
and to make frequent turnings of the head to see if she were not coming.

When at last she shimmered down the aisle, a soft, bright rainbow, for
she hadn't given over wearing her favorite colors, and she could no
more help getting them on becomingly than a bird can help looking
graceful in its plumage. (Why should either of them try to help it?) But
Flossy was not alone; there was a tall portly form, and a splendidly
balanced head, resting on firm shoulders, that followed her down to the
seat where the girls were waiting for her.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XX.

HOW IT WAS DONE.

FLOSSY came quite down the broad aisle to the seat which the girls had,
by tacit understanding, chosen for their own, her face just radiant with
a sort of surprised satisfaction, and the gentleman who followed her
with an assured and measured step was none other than Judge Erskine
himself. He may have been surprised at his own appearance in that place
for prayer, but no surprise of his could compare with the amazemen