Tears dimmed the eyes of Sister Celestina at the question, and, before she could reply, the Knight said:
"Thou hast asked a question, Neebin, which puzzles wiser heads; but it is something which lives when the body becomes dust."
"O, yes," said the child. "I have heard the lady (for so she had been taught to call Sister Celestina) talk about it. How does it look?"
"There thou askest a question beyond the boundaries of knowledge. No one has returned from the grave to answer it," said the Knight.
"I know," said the child; "my mother told me. It is Neebin's soul which looks at her when she bends over a clear spring; it lives in the water."
"I have tried," said the lady, "to impart the idea, but it seems only to begin to dawn upon her mind. I trust, by Heaven's grace, (crossing herself,) it will grow and bear fruit to the glory of sweet Jesus's name."
"What magnificent results do flow from seemingly insignificant causes!" said Sir Christopher. "A spark shall light a conflagration of a mighty city; an acorn shall bear an oak to waft armies over oceans to conquest; and the conversion of a child to the true faith may change the destinies of nations. It may be thy blessed lot, Celestina, to plant a seed which shall grow into a tree, whose branches shall cover earth with grateful shade, and reach to heaven. There was a time when, influenced by the example of a king or queen, whose mind divine grace had illuminated, whole multitudes rushed to be laved in the saving waters of baptism. Wherefore should not those days return? Now doth the suffering Church mourn like a pelican in the wilderness, and though she gives her blood in streams from her torn bosom—alas! how flows that crimson river, as if in vain!"
"Not all in vain," said the lady. "Cheering accounts of the progress of our missionaries in the Southern portions of this vast continent reach us from time to time, and the prayers of the Church are sanctifying the land from the flood of the Mississippi to the forests of Canada. But tell me now, Sir Christopher, of thine adventures."
The Knight looked significantly at the Indian girl.
"Neebin," said the lady, "take the book and examine it by thyself. Sir Christopher and I desire to be alone. But beware that thou show it to no one, for all are not privileged like thee to see its beautiful pictures."