"Yes," was Sheila's faint admission.
"You never see her there, did you?"
"I do not remember of having seen her until she came here," the girl said quite truthfully.
"Ought to be some way of proving up that," muttered Cap'n Ira.
"I have written to Hoskin & Marl, at the other young woman's instigation, and have asked about her," said Elder Minnett.
"Well, I never!" gasped Prudence, and her withered, old face grew pink.
"I hope you will not take offense," said the visitor evenly. "You must understand that the young woman has come to me in trouble, and it is my duty to aid her if I can—in any proper way. That is my office. Any young woman"—he looked directly at Sheila again as he said it—"will find in me an adviser and a friend whenever she may need my help."
"We all know how good you are, Elder Minnett," Prudence hastened to say. "But that girl—"
"That girl," he interrupted, "is a human being needing help. I have advised her. Now I want to advise you."
"Out with it, Elder," said Cap'n Ira. "Good advice ain't to be sneezed at—not as I ever heard."