"No, I suppose not," returned Mrs. Catt, sweetly. "You women have led wonderful lives. Now, who's going to begin to tell me how they happened to come to Zion?"
There was a pause, as one looked at the other, smiling.
"You don't mind talking about it, do you?" she asked pleasantly.
Mrs. Emmit answered for them.
"Gracious, no! They just love to talk about it to those who are really interested in the gospel; don't you?"
All smiled assent.
"Suppose you begin, Brother Madson," suggested Mrs. Emmit.
"Very well," replied a stout, florid-faced, old gentleman, genially. "It's rather a long story, but very interesting."
The elder people settled more comfortably in their seats, and the children leaned forward eagerly.
"My mind wanders back to my happy boyhood days in Norway," he began. "We lived out of town on a comfortable estate, as my father was well-to-do, and we had everything we could desire. There were four of us children,—three girls, and myself. My mother was a dear tender-hearted woman, living solely for her husband and children, and always shielding us from the sterner character of my father, who was a strict Lutheran.