“I almost question, Dawn, if I should go to Miss Evans while this cloud is over me,” remarked Miss Vernon, feeling as though she was seeking counsel from one her superior in wisdom, rather than addressing a mere child.

“Why, Miss Evans is just what you need to-day.  She is as calm as the lovely lake on which we sailed last week.”

“Well, I need her to-day; but should I carry my state to her?”

“Why, she is like a great stream that carries all lesser streams to the ocean of truth,” said Dawn, in a voice not her own, and so deep and thrilling that it made her teacher start and gaze with new wonder upon the child.

“Then we will go this very minute, Dawn; and through the pleasant fields, that we may avoid the dusty road.”

CHAPTER VI.

Miss Evans sat quietly reading, when a gentle ring at the door, which seemed to reach her heart rather than her ears, aroused her from an intensely interesting chapter; but she laid the book aside, and promptly answered the call.

Her face looked the welcome her heart gave them, as she asked Dawn and her teacher into her cool, airy room.  It was one of those snug, homelike spots, made bright by touches of beauty.  Here a vase of flowers, there a basket of work; books, pictures, every chair and footstool betokened the taste of the occupant, and the air of home sacredness that pervaded all, soon made Miss Vernon at ease.

“We could n’t help coming,” said Dawn, as Miss Evans removed her hat and mantle, and her glowing features confirmed the assertion.

“Just the kind of visitors I like, fresh and spontaneous.  We shall have a nice time, I know, this lovely afternoon.”

“Can I walk in your garden, Miss Evans?”

“Certainly.  But are you not too tired, now?”

“O, no,” and Dawn was out of sight the next instant.

“I have brought you a book, Miss Evans, which Mr. Wyman requested me to bring, myself.”

“O, yes,” she said, glancing at the title, “the one he promised to loan me so long ago.  Is he away from home?”

“He left this morning.”

“You must miss him very much.”

“We do.”

Miss Evans saw, with a woman’s intuition, that something was weighing on the mind of her visitor, and kindly sought to divert her thoughts.  The conversation brightened a little, yet it was apparent that Miss Vernon’s interest flagged, and that her mind grew abstracted.

“I shall not relieve her, unless I probe the wound,” said Miss Evans to herself, and she boldly ventured on grounds which her subtle penetration discovered to be the cause of her gloom.

“You find my friend, Mr. Wyman, an agreeable companion, I hope, Miss Vernon?”

“He has ever been so, and very kind and thoughtful.”

“He is a true gentleman, and a man of honor, as well of refinement and noble character.”