The children were evidently accustomed to implicit obedience. They went without a word.
"But I will kiss Harold first," said Charlotte Harman, and she stooped down and pressed her lips to the soft round cheek.
"Thank you," said the clergyman. Again he looked into her face and smiled.
The smile on his careworn face reminded Charlotte of the smile on St. Stephen's face, when he was dying. It was unearthly, angelic; but it was also very fleeting. Presently he added in a grave tone,——
"You have evidently the great gift of attracting the heart of a little child. Pardon me if I add a hope that you may never lose it."
"Is that possible?" asked Charlotte.
"Yes; when you lose the child spirit, the power will go."
"Oh! then I hope it never will," she replied.
"It never will if you keep the Christ bright within you," he answered. Then he raised his hat to her, smiled again, and walked away.
He was a strange man, and Charlotte felt attracted as well as repelled. She was proud, and at another time and from other lips such words would have been received with disdain. But this queer, shadowy-looking clergyman looked like an unearthly visitant. She watched his rather weak footsteps, as he walked quietly away in the northern direction through the park. Then she got up and prepared to return home. But this little incident had sobered her. She was not unhappy; but she now felt very grave. The child spirit! She must keep it alive, and the Christ must dwell bright within her.