"Well, I don't think you have. You're always good. Look at the marks you get; and the Owl has never had to scold you once. I don't believe you could think of any sin that besets you."
"Yes, indeed I can," answered Esther—"ever so many. I've got one in my head this very minute."
"What's that? Do tell."
Esther's face grew red, but she answered bravely,—
"Yes, I'll tell you if you like, because, perhaps, if I tell, I shall be able to fight it better. I'm often so frightened about things nobody else is."
The children eyed her wonderingly.
"But I don't call that a sin," cried Pickle. "You can't help being frightened—you're a girl."
"Yes, but I don't think girls ought to be cowards," answered Esther, her face still flushed. "I want to learn to be brave. I think being afraid when there isn't any reason is a sort of sin." She paused and hesitated, and then added in a lower voice, "I think we ought to remember that God can always take care of us, and then we need not be afraid any more."
The children were silent for a few minutes. Something in Esther's manner impressed them, they hardly knew why. They felt that she was speaking to them out of the depths of her heart, and that she meant every word she said.
"Do you ever think about God?" asked Pickle at last.