“You are so kind to me, Mr. Winthrop, I will tell you everything after this.”

“No rash promises, please.  Before the winter is over you will be plunged into tears and distress again over some fresh exploit.”

“I won’t mind a few tears if I get your forgiveness in the end.”

He went directly to his study, leaving Mrs. Flaxman and myself to the cheerful quiet of our fireside.  She turned to me saying,

“Tell me all about your blind friend, Medoline.  How you first got to know him, and what he is like.”

I very gladly gave her as full a picture as I was able of the Larkums and Mr. Bowen, their poverty and his goodness included.

“You have made all these discoveries in a few months, and been doing so much for them, and here have I been living beside them for years and did not even know of their existence.  What makes the difference in us, Medoline?” she exclaimed sorrowfully.

“I think God must have planned my meeting in the train with Mrs. Blake.  I would not have known but for her.”

“I expect He plans many an opportunity for us to serve our generation, but we are too selfishly indolent to do the work he puts in our way.”

“When I came to Oaklands at first it seemed as if my life was completed, and I wondered how I was to occupy the days, and years stretching out so long before me.  Now I believe I could find work to occupy me for a thousand years; that is, if Mr. Winthrop lived too, and continued to help me with my reading and studies,” I added, thinking how much the latter employment added to my enjoyment.

“If Mr. Bowen gets his eyesight, that will be a greatly added source of satisfaction to you,” she said, wistfully.

“Yes, I shall seem to be looking at the green fields, and flowers, and starry skies through his eyes.”

“You are as glad to have him so richly benefited through your means, as if he were rich and famous.”

“Why, much more so.  Think what a change there will be in his circumstances now.”

“Medoline, I think your mother’s prayers will be answered.”

I turned around eagerly, “Was she a real Christian, Mrs. Flaxman?”

“Yes, a real one, especially after her children were born.  Her great desire for them was that they might all be pure and unspotted from the world.  All of them, save you, are with her in Heaven.  You may have a life of peculiar temptation, but I believe you will be brought out of it among the pure in heart at last.”

“Why should my life have peculiar temptations, Mrs. Flaxman?” I asked anxiously.

“I cannot explain to you now my reasons for thinking so.  Some day I may tell you.”

“I suppose it is because I am not like other girls of my age,” I said with a sigh.

“No dear, that is not the reason.  I should not have spoken so unguardedly.”

“I might try to overcome the temptations if I were warned of their nature.”