Annie was relieved of the presence of this inspector; for a gentleman at the head of a class opposite, noticing a big boy among Annie's flock of little fellows, kindly invited Dave to sit with his older lads.
"I am Mr. Tolman," said the gentleman. "Make yourself at home among the boys."
"Thank you, sir," said Dave; and his sister, with a roguish smile, bowed him out of her class.
That Sunday was an eventful day to Little Mew. It was pleasant any way to be near this young lady, who seemed to him to be some beautiful being from a sphere above the human kind in which he moved. And then Bart was interested in the subject Annie presented. She talked about heaven and its people. She talked about God; but she did not make him that far-off being that Bart thought he must be, so that the louder people prayed the quicker they would bring him. She told how near he was, all about us, so that we could seem to hear his voice in the pleasant wind, and feel his touch in the soft, warm sunshine.
"But--but," said Bart, "he seems to be behind a curtain. I don't see him."
And then the teacher, her voice to Bart's ear playing a sweeter tune than ever, told how God took away the curtain; how he came in the Lord Jesus Christ; that the Saviour was the divine expression of God's love; and men could see that love going about their streets, coming into their homes, healing their sick, and then hanging on the cross that the world might be brought to God. Bart had been told all this before, but somehow it never got so near him.
"What she says somehow gets into me," thought Bart, looking up into the teacher's face. He thought he would like to ask her one question when he was alone with her. The school was dismissed, and Bart lingered that he might walk away with the teacher.
"Could I ask you about something?" he said, trotting at her side and lifting his queer, oldish face towards her.
"Certainly; ask all the questions you want. I can't say that I can answer them, but there's no harm in asking them."
"Well, what am I in this world for?"