the
midst of them. This was not diminished, by her choosing to stand during
those portions of the service, when pious females bend the knee. Miss
Wilhelmina said, "that she was too big to kneel--that her prayers were
just as good in one attitude as another. The soul had no legs or knees,
that she could discover--and if the prayers did not come from the heart,
they were of no use to her, or to any one else. She had not much faith
in prayers of any kind. She never could find out that they had done her
the least good, and if she had to go through a useless ceremony, she
would do it in the most convenient manner."

Flora had heard so much about this strange woman, that she had not
called upon her on her first arrival in the town, though it must be
confessed, that her curiosity was as much excited as her neighbours'. In
her walks to and fro from her mother's house, who resided within a short
distance of the town, Flora had often encountered the sturdy pedestrian
stumping along at full speed, and she had laughed heartily with her
husband at her odd appearance; at her short petticoats, and the resolute
manner in which she swung her cane, and planted it down upon the ground.
She had often wondered how such an elephant of a woman could move so
rapidly upon such small feet, which looked as if she had lost her own,
and borrowed a pair of some child by the way.

She was always followed in all her rambles by a diminutive nondescript
kind of dog--a tiny, long-haired, silky looking creature, the colour of
coffee freshly ground, no bigger than a large squirrel, with brilliant
black eyes, bushy tail, and a pert little face, which greatly resembled
that animal.

Often, when moving at full speed along the dusty highway, its mistress
would suddenly stop, vociferating at the top of her voice--"Muff! Muff!
where are you, my incomparable Muff?" when the queer pet would bound up
her dress like a cat, and settle itself down upon her arm, poking its
black nose into her hand, or rearing up on its hind legs, to lick her
face. They were an odd pair, so unlike, so widely disproportioned in
size and motion, that Flora delighted in watching all their movements,
and in drawing contrasts between the big woman and her small four-footed
companion.

By some strange freak of fancy, Lyndsay and his wife had attracted the
attention of Miss Carr, who never passed them in her long rambles
without bestowing upon them a gracious bow and a smile, which displa