Hester thought with herself, "I am sometimes afraid to pray lest I should have no answer!"
The mother's face turned down toward her little one.
"And what if I shouldn't know what to say, darling?" she asked.
"I feel so awkward when Miss Merton asks me a question I can't answer," said the child.
"And you are afraid of making mamma feel awkward? You pet!" said Hester.
Cornelius burst into a great laugh, and Saffy into silent tears, for she thought she had made a fool of herself. She was not a priggish child, and did not deserve the mockery with which her barbarian brother invaded her little temple. She was such a true child that her mother was her neighbor, and present to all her being—not her eyes only or her brain, but her heart and spirit as well.
The mother led her aside to a seat, saying,
"Come, darling; we must look into this, and try to understand it. Let me see—what is it we have got to understand? I think it is this—why you should be ashamed when you cannot answer the questions of one who knows so much more than you, and I should not be ashamed when I cannot answer the questions of my own little girl who knows so much less that I do. Is that it?"
"I don't know," sobbed Saffy.
"You shouldn't laugh at her, Corney: it hurts her!" said Hester.