over for a while. Then suddenly said
"Thank you."

"What did you want of Reuben Taylor?" said Mr. Linden. "Cannot I do as
well?"

"I should be sorry to think you wanted, Mr. Linden, what I wanted to
give him."

"That sounds terrific! But Reuben is under my jurisdiction--I don't
allow anybody to scold him but myself. So deliver it to me, Miss Faith,
and I will give it to him--duly pointed and sharpened up."

"No," said Faith smiling, "you couldn't do it so well as I. I wanted to
say two words to him to put nonsense out of his head."

"Nonsense!" said Mr. Linden, looking grave,--"I am as anxious on that
point as you can be. What nonsense has he got in his head?"

Faith hesitated, flushed and paled a little, and looked at her lilies.

"I don't know whether I ought to speak of it," she began, with much
less than her usual composure of speech. "Perhaps it is not my
business. Please forgive me if I speak wrong. But I half think you
ought to know it."--

"I'll try to bear the knowledge," he said smiling--"if you will promise
to speak the cabalistic two words that were to have such effect upon
Reuben. So you want to put nonsense into my head, Miss Faith?"

"Perhaps you know it already?" said Faith. "At any rate I think I
should feel better satisfied if you did know it. Mr. Linden," she said
speaking low--"do you know that Squire Deacon has been trying to do you
mischief?"

"Just suppose for a moment that you are one of my scholars, and give me
a definition of mischief."

To judge by the unbent lines of Faith's brow, there was nothing very
disagreeable to her in the supposition. Yet she had a look of care for
the 'definition,' too.

"When a man is meaning to do harm, isn't he doing mischief?"

"Only to himself."

"But do you mean that one _can't_ do harm to others in this world?"

"You said 'when a man is _meaning_ to do harm.'"

"Ah," said Faith laughing, "I should want a great deal of teaching
before I could give a definition that would suit you! Well then, isn't
_harm_ mischief?"

"I'm afraid I must yield that point."

"Then," said Faith simply, but very modestly,--"we come back to where
we started from?"

"What shall we do there?" said he smiling.

"Nothing, perhaps," said Faith with the same simplicity. "I only
thought it right to put you there, Mr. Linden."

"Thank you, Miss Faith. Now will you please pronounce over me the two
words intended for Reuben?"

Faith laughed a little, but then said