following week when the present
governess should leave, and Betty felt that this might prove a very
pleasant way to earn her living. The Hathaways lived in a great brick
house away back from the street in grounds that occupied what in the
city would have been a whole block. There was a high hedge about the
place so that one could not see the road, and there were flower-beds, a
great fountain, and a rustic summerhouse. Betty did not see why days
passed in such a pleasant place would not be delightful in summertime.
She was not altogether sure whether she would like to have to be a sort
of servant in the house--and of course these cold fall days she would
have to be much in the house--but the nursery had a big fireplace in it,
a long chest under the window where toys were kept, and many comfortable
chairs. That ought to be pleasant, too. Besides, she was not just out
looking for pleasant things on this trip. She was trying to get away
from unbearable ones, and she ought to be very thankful indeed to have
fallen on such comfort as she had.

There was another element in the Carson home that drew her strongly,
although she was shy about even thinking of it, and that was the frank,
outspoken Christianity. "Ma" tempered all her talk with it, adjusted all
her life to God and what He would think about her actions, spoke
constantly of what was right and wrong. Betty had never lived in an
atmosphere where right and wrong mattered. Something sweet and pure like
an instinct in her own soul had held her always from many of the ways
of those about her, perhaps the spirit of her sweet mother allowed to be
one of those who "bear them up, lest at any time they dash their feet
against a stone." Or it might have been some memory of the teachings of
her father, whom she adored, and who in his last days often talked with
her alone about how he and her own mother would want her to live. But
now, safe and quiet in this shelter of a real home, poor though it was,
the God-instinct stirred within her, caused her to wonder what He was,
why she was alive, and if He cared? One could not live with Mrs. Carson
without thinking something about her God, for He was an ever-present
help in all her times of need, and she never hesitated to give God the
glory for all she had achieved, and for all the blessings she had
received.

The very first Sabbath in the little white church stirred still deeper
her awakening interest in spiritual things. The minister's