"Why, of course! I suppose he will have to go every morning?" she

added ruefully.

"My," Maggie said smiling, "you're wan that ought to have six!"

Mrs. Richie smiled, too. Then she said to herself that she wouldn't

let him go to school every day; she was sure he was not strong enough.

She ventured something like this to Dr. Lavendar when, about four

o'clock, Goliath and the buggy finally appeared.

"Strong enough?" said Dr. Lavendar. "He's strong enough to study a

great deal harder than he does, the little rascal! I'm afraid Rose

Knight will spoil him; she's almost as bad as Ellen Bailey. You didn't

know our Ellen, did ye? No; she'd married Spangler and gone out West

before you came to us. Ah, a dear woman, but wickedly unselfish. Rose

Knight took the school when Spangler took Ellen." Then he added one or

two straight directions: Every school-day David was to come to the

Rectory for his dinner, and to Collect Class on Saturdays. "You will

have to keep him at his catechism," said Dr. Lavendar; "he is weak on

the long answers."

"Oh!" Helena said, rather startled; "you don't want me to teach him--

things like that, do you?"

"Things like what?"

"The catechism, and--to pray, and--"

Dr. Lavendar smiled. "You can teach folks to say their prayers, my

dear, but nobody can teach them to pray. Only life does that. But

David's been taught his prayers; you just let him say 'em at your

knee, that's all"

David, dismissed to the garden while his elders talked, had discovered

the rabbit-hutch, and could hardly tear himself away from it to say

good-by. But when Dr. Lavendar called out that he was going, the

little boy's heart misgave him. He came and stood by the step of the

buggy, and picked with nervous fingers at the dry mud on the wheel--

for Dr. Lavendar's buggy was not as clean as it should have been.

"Well, David?" Dr. Lavendar said cheerfully. The child with his chin

sunk on his breast said something. "What?" said Dr. Lavendar.

David mumbled a word or two in a voice that seemed to come from his

stomach; it sounded like, "Like you best." But Dr. Lavendar did not

hear it, and David ran swiftly back to the rabbits. There Helena found

him, gazing through two large tears at the opal-eyed pair behind the

wooden bars. Their white shell-like ears wavered at her step, and they

paused in their nibbling; then went on again with timid, jewel-like

glances in her direction.




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