Then the lady threw back her head and laughed more heartily than she had done before.
"Oh, you delicious child!" she said. "I'm sure from your face and curls you must be a cherub just flown down from heaven. Now, aren't you? Confess you are."
"I don't know what a cherub is," said Noel, looking at her stolidly, "but I haven't been in heaven since I was a baby."
"Please excuse him," interrupted Diana. "He's always talking like that. We can't get him to be quiet about God."
She said the last word in a whisper.
"But," said the lady, "I shouldn't wonder if he were right. Could you ask God to help us, as you seem to know Him better than the rest of us?"
She turned to Noel as she spoke, and in a moment he was on his knees in the dusty lane.
"Please, God, send somebody very quickly to help this poor lady. For Jesus' sake. Amen."
Then he got up.
"That's all right," he said calmly. "God always hears when anyone wants help. Mums has told us so."