Mrs. De Witt insisted on lending Letty her spoons and china, and gathered a dish of her precious early apricots to add to the entertainment. Aunt Eunice was as much pleased with Mr. De Witt as she had been amused with his wife. He was a slow-spoken, serious man, who seldom laughed, and almost always had his head full of some great subject, which he pondered as he worked at his carnation and verbenas. No one would have taken him for a Hollander, except for the extra exactness of his English,—which he certainly had never learned from his wife. He and Aunt Eunice fell into conversation directly, and kept it up briskly in Dutch, much to the amusement of Mrs. De Witt, who was delighted to see her husband appreciated.
"Well, children," said Aunt Eunice, as she looked at her watch after tea, "I expect neighbour Jones will soon be here. Let us have family worship together before we separate."
All were pleased with the proposal, and John brought the great Bible from its stand, Aunt Eunice remarking, with approbation, that the good book showed signs of daily use.
After the prayer, they sat a moment in silence, and then Aunt Eunice spoke. She said she should probably never see so many of her family together again, and she felt impelled to say a few words to them on the most important subject of all. She urged upon them the importance of a personal, vital faith,—a faith which should pervade and sanctify all their actions and make their daily life and conversation a continual praise-offering to God. In this way of living, she said, they would, in the darkest hour, find light in their dwellings, and God would always be with them. It might be sometimes in the cloud and sometimes in the pillar of fire; but he would always be there, and the one would guide them as surely as the other to the promised land. The old lady spoke with authority and solemnity, and her countenance seemed to glow with more than mortal light as she entreated her hearers, by the mercies of God, to serve him and to honour his name in their daily life and conversation.
Even Agnes was touched, and forgot all her grievances for the time. Tears filled all eyes as Aunt Eunice bade them what they all felt might be a final farewell; and Mrs. De Witt, always impulsive, sobbed aloud. She declared afterwards to her husband that such a season of worship was like a well in the desert. It would do her good all her life; and she felt thankful that she had thought of giving her a basket of her best apricots to carry home. It was a privilege to be allowed to do any thing for such a saint.
[CHAPTER V.]
NEW NEIGHBOURS.
THE summer and autumn passed quietly away with our friends; and October saw a goodly supply of vegetables stowed away in John's cellar for winter use. The garden had paid for itself many times over, not only in solid comforts, but in pleasant and healthful amusement; while Joseph's equally good piece of ground had produced nothing better than docks and thistles.
Letty's flowers had done wonders; and her south window in the kitchen was filled with hardy plants in pots, looking rather paler just now in their transition from out-door to in-door life, but which might be expected to produce an abundance of flowers towards the end of winter.
Agnes wondered how Letty could bear to have the sunshine blazing in all day, showing every thing so plainly; but Letty loved sunshine, physical as well as mental; and indeed, her housekeeping could bear the full daylight better than that of her cousin.