ne day;
and I'm afraid sometimes I shall be left out.'

Tears were filling the earnest little eyes, and the curly head bent
over Prince to hide them.

'I mind,' said the sexton slowly, 'that my missus, before she died,
told me to pray, "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." I expect
she knew all about the washing, but I've never done much harm to any
one, and I've attended church reg'lar.'

'I wish I was as good as you.' And Betty looked up with emphatic
utterance. 'I'm always doing some one harm, and nurse will scold me
when I get in for being out so late--I know she will. Good-bye, old
man.'

She put Prince down on the ground, and trotted off, and the old sexton
looked after her with a shake of his head.

'She be a queer little lass! Ay, I would be glad to have her chance of
getting to the Kingdom. But I'll have a look at the old Book, and see
what it says about this 'ere washing.'

CHAPTER VI

Made into a Couple

The next morning being Sunday, the three elder children were taken to
church by nurse. It was a small village congregation; and Betty looked
round in vain for her friend Nesta. She saw Mr. Russell standing grim
and solitary in his large, old-fashioned pew; and she had a nod from
the sexton at the church door. The clergyman's wife and grown-up
daughter and a few grandly dressed farmers' wives were the only others
who occupied seats of their own. The organ was played by the
schoolmaster, and after Nesta's playing it did not seem the same
instrument. Betty was quieter than her brother and sister; she could
see her stained window and little Violet's figure from where she sat;
she could even catch sight of her forget-me-nots--now looking withered
and dead; and her thoughts kept her restless little body still. Molly
and Douglas did not like church; their fair heads were close together,
and occasionally a faint sniggle would cause nurse to look round with
stern reproval. But at last the long service was over, and they came
out into the fresh, sweet air of a June morning.

Nurse had several friends to talk to in the churchyard, and Molly and
Betty walked on soberly in front of her, feeling subdued and a little
uncomfortable in their stiff white frocks and best Leghorn hats and
feathers.

'Where is Douglas?' whispered Betty.

'Hush! don't let nurse know; he saw a pair of legs through a little
hole at the back of the organ, and he's gone to see if it is a robber
hiding.'

'Wil