'How stupid to put it so that we cannot read it,' I said.
'But wise people—people who know a great deal—read it quite easily,' said my mother.
She had landed the bucket safely on the well-side, and she stood thoughtfully, and pulled a little moss off one of the old carved letters. 'It is not that they were stupid, Willie, but that we are not wise enough to understand. Very often when we think that things are not right or wise, it is only because we cannot make them out for ourselves; but if we saw clearer and knew more, we should find out that they were only too wise for us and too good.'
She was talking to herself, I think, not to me, and I only answered the last words.
'Good; then are those old words very good?'
'Very good indeed, Willie.'
'What are they?'
She read slowly—
'For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in My Name; Verily I say unto you he shall in no wise lose his reward.'
'Why, that is in the Bible,' I said wonderingly.