"Oh! the lay-helper!" interposed Mrs. Berryman. "He was pointed out to me in the town the other day—a thin little chap who wears glasses. A friend of yours, is he, eh?" She broke into a sarcastic laugh.
"Yes, he is, Gran—really. I've known him months now—since January. He was very kind to me once—when you were ill and sent me to buy some groceries. Coming home I—I dropped a packet of tea, and he—Mr. Blackmore—gave me the money to buy more, and since that, when we've met, he has always spoken—sometimes we've had quite long talks together. I like him so much; he is a real nice little gentleman."
"And it's he who's going to hold this service on Good Friday?" questioned Mrs. Berryman.
Melina assented. "There's to be a magic-lantern," she explained; "did you ever see one, Gran?"
"Yes. What time does the service commence?"
"At six o'clock, and it'll be over by eight. Agnes Brown and her brothers are going with their mother and father, and William Jones is going, and—"
"And I've half a mind to go myself," broke in Mrs. Berryman; "I haven't seen a magic-lantern for years. I wonder, though, if there'll be a collection?"
"I haven't heard that there is to be," responded Melina, who, since her conversation with William Jones, had made full inquiries about the forthcoming service.
The little girl was not quite pleased at the prospect of her grandmother's company on Good Friday evening; she felt she would much rather be by herself, but of course she did not say so. Perhaps it would be wet on Good Friday, she reflected, and in that case her grandmother would in all probability elect to remain at home, for the town hall was some distance from Jubilee Terrace.
But Good Friday, when it came, was a perfect spring day, sunny and mild, with a foretaste of summer in the air, and a quarter to six o'clock in the evening found Mrs. Berryman and her granddaughter arriving at the town hall together. They procured seats in a very good position for both seeing and hearing; and then Melina looked about her trying to find the Browns. By and by she caught sight of them, and proceeded to call her grandmother's attention to them.