"Not that——" stammered Bessie.
"Nothing about Mr. Waring!" quickly put in Phebe; and then Bessie was told the whole story. She was sitting on a little stool near the fire by the side of Mrs. Colston.
"I am downright glad for your sake, Mrs. Waring," she exclaimed heartily. "It's just what you were wanting; but, oh dear," resting her chin on her hands, "there's lots of good times a-going, but I'm never in them."
"Why, my dear child, you are always in them," exclaimed Mrs. Colston, patting her head.
"Well, I should like very much to know how you reckon that sum up."
"I reckon it up out of the Bible. You are one of those who have a continual feast."
"A continual pickle, you should say, to be correct."
"No, 'feast.' I know one riddle—and only one. Can you guess it? What is the longest feast mentioned in the Bible?"
"I know," answered Bessie, laughing, "because you've done as good as tell it already: 'A merry heart is a continual feast.' But I haven't got the merry heart, you see. Now, why couldn't it have been arranged for me to be Mrs. Waring's partner?"
"That I cannot tell. That's the Sunshine Patch meant for me. Your Sunshine Patch is all round you already, only you are given to looking too much over the fence."