The sunlight shone lovingly on Araminta’s brown hair, tightly combed back, braided, and pinned up, but rippling riotously, none the less.  Her deep, thoughtful eyes were grey and her nose turned up coquettishly.  To a guardian of greater penetration, Araminta’s mouth would have given deep concern.  It was a demure, rosy mouth, warning and tantalising by turns.  Mischievous little dimples lurked in the corners of it, and even Aunt Hitty was not proof against the magic of Araminta’s smile.  The girl’s face had the creamy softness of a white rose petal, but her cheeks bloomed with the flush of health and she had a most disconcerting trick of blushing.  With Spartan thoroughness, Miss Mehitable constantly strove to cure Araminta of this distressing fault, but as yet she had not succeeded.

The pretty child had grown into an exquisitely lovely woman, to her stern guardian’s secret uneasiness.  “It’s goin’ to be harder to keep Minty right than ’t would be if she was plain,” mused Miss Hitty, “but t guess I’ll be given strength to do it.  I’ve done well by her so far.”

“In the Sweet Bye and Bye,” sang Araminta, in a piping, girlish soprano, “we shall meet on that beautiful shore.”

“Maybe we shall and maybe we sha’n’t,” said Miss Hitty, grimly.  “Some folks ’ll never see the beautiful shore.  They’ll go to the bad place.”

Araminta lifted her great, grey, questioning eyes.  “Why?” she asked, simply.

“Because they’ve been bad,” answered Miss Hitty, defiantly.

“But if they didn’t know any better?” queried Araminta, threading her needle.  “Would they go to the bad place just because they didn’t know?”

Miss Mehitable squirmed in her chair, for never before had Araminta spoken thus.  “There’s no excuse for their not knowin’,” she said, sharply.

“Perhaps not,” sighed Araminta, “but it seems dreadful to think of people being burned up just for ignorance.  Do you think I’ll be burned up, Aunt Hitty?” she continued, anxiously.  “There’s so many things I don’t know!”

Miss Mehitable set herself firmly to her task.  “Araminta Lee,” she said, harshly, “don’t get to bothering about what you don’t know.  That’s the sure way to perdition.  I’ve told you time and time again what’s right for you to believe and what’s right for you to do.  You walk in that path and turn neither to the right nor the left, and you won’t have no trouble—­here or anywheres else.”

“Yes, Aunt Hitty,” said the girl, dutifully.  “It must be awful to be burned.”

Miss Mehitable looked about her furtively, then drew her chair closer to Araminta’s.  “That brings to my mind something I wanted to speak to you about, and I don’t know but what this is as good a chance as any.  You know where I told you to go the other day with the tray, and to set it down at the back door, and rap, and run?”

“Yes.”  Araminta’s eyes were wide open now.  She had wondered much at her mysterious errand, but had not dared to ask questions.