“He wouldn’t do it.  He’s too kind.”

“Oh, yes, he would.  Don’t you make a mistake about that.”

“He wouldn’t.”  Norah’s eyes flashed; she stamped her foot, and turned on Mavis quite fiercely.  “He’s so good that he wouldn’t hurt a fly, much less beat a girl.  You’ve no right to say it—­behind his back—­what you know isn’t true.”

“Be off to your work this instant,” said Mavis, stamping also, “or I’ll whip you myself.”  And she pursued Norah to the kitchen.  “You dare to sauce me like that again as long as you live!”

Before the evening was over, Norah, completely contrite, begged to be forgiven for her rudeness; and Mavis was only too ready both to forgive and to forget.  She had felt quite shocked and upset by the girl’s tantrums.

It was almost immediately after this that Norah said she wished to be a Baptist, and to go to chapel with Mr. Dale.

“Do you think,” asked Dale, when informed of Norah’s petition, “that it is genuine?  Or is it just curiosity?”

“I think it’s genuine,” said Mavis.  “But no doubt she is influenced by the fact that you go there.  I do believe she’d wish to go anywhere—­or do anything that you did.”

Dale questioned Norah seriously.

“Why do you wish it?  Speak to me with freedom, my dear.”

“I do want to be good, sir.”  And Norah burst into tears.  “Oh, I do want to be good.”

“Then come with me,” said Dale.

Henceforth they two went to worship together every Sunday, and Mavis once or twice felt a twinge of regret that she herself had not been able to abandon the established church and join the Baptists with her husband.  But that she could not do.  The chapel was too ugly, its eastward wall too bare, its faith too painfully simple and matter-of-fact.

She took great pains with Norah’s Sunday costume, dressing her better than before, anxious that the girl should do them credit when seen with Dale in a public place; and Norah, all in her best, following after her master as he made his long strides down the road, trotted like a faithful little dog.  She sat beside him in one of the front benches, breathing hard, and following the text with her finger, while Mr. Osborn read the Bible; and she blended her birdlike trills with Dale’s strong bass when they both stood up to sing the hymns.  Dale liked the note of her voice, took pleasure in observing her piety, and thoroughly enjoyed expounding any difficulties in the sermon while they walked home to dinner or to supper.

If Dale stood outside the chapel talking to elders of the flock, Norah modestly withdrew to a little distance; or if he met people on the road and stopped to chat, she went on ahead, waiting respectfully, and only returning to his side when he walked on again alone.  He always kept his eye on her, and saw that she was not being accosted unpleasantly by any undesirable acquaintance.