“She was not quite as well this morning,” replied the mother, an expression of care and weariness flitting over her sweet face.  “My brother, Dr. Stanley, has been with her while we were at church, and I hope to find her better, for he always does her good.  Dorothy was greatly attracted to you yesterday, Miss Minturn,” she added, smiling, “and I hope you will find time to drop in to see her now and then.”

“Indeed I will; it will be a pleasure to me, for I love children,” Katherine replied, cordially, and much gratified to have yesterday’s invitation repeated, while there was a feeling of deep tenderness in her heart for the long-suffering woman as she passed on to her room.

After dinner she looked over the Bible lesson for the afternoon.  She was dreading this ordeal somewhat, for she well knew how widely different is the old theological exposition of the first chapter of Genesis from its spiritual interpretation, as she had been taught it according to Christian Science, But she tried to feel that, if she was called upon to express an opinion, she would be led to speak wisely and yet be obedient to Prof.  Seabrook’s command not to “flaunt her views before the school.”

She hoped that he would ignore her altogether, and thus avoid an awkward situation for them both.

When the class convened she was surprised to find Dorothy seated in her chair beside her father, and learned afterward that the girl was often present during the lessons, always giving the closest attention to what was said, even asking questions occasionally that puzzled wiser heads than hers.

As was his custom, Prof.  Seabrook opened the exercises with prayer, followed by a familiar hymn.  Then he gave a short talk upon the first chapter of Genesis, as a whole, preliminary to a more general discussion of it.

He showed himself to have been a critical student of the Bible, and his remarks were extremely interesting along the line of his own views.  His rhetoric was flawless, his figures apt and beautiful, his points well made, and he held the undivided attention of everyone to the end.

“I have given you this talk upon creation as a whole,” he remarked, in conclusion, “because the subject is too intricate and vast to be discussed in detail—­that would require much study and many sittings—­and we will spend the remainder of the hour upon two questions:  What is God?  What is man and his relation to God?  Miss Walton, will you tell us what God is, from your point of view?”

Miss Walton instantly became confused.  She had no clear ideas about God, and after nervously turning the leaves of her Bible for a moment and blushing furiously, finally said so.  The principal called upon several others, with a similar result.  Everyone loved to listen to him, for his graceful diction was like music in their ears, but when called upon to express their own opinions they were all, with a few exceptions, literally tongue-tied.  Two or three of the more thoughtful ones made an attempt to define Deity, but their definitions, for the most part, were the hackneyed ones of old theology.