"Dear Aunt Chloe, don't give way to these dismal fancies!" said Amabel, kissing her pale cheek. "I do not believe in the wolf, one bit, if that is what you are thinking of. It is like Aunt Philippa's death-watch, at which she was so scared, and yet you see, she is not dead."
"But she may he. The five months are not up nor the five years."
"We may all be dead and gone before five years, but I don't believe the watch knew anything about it, more than the wolf, if there is such a creature, which is more than doubtful. Aunt Philippa is going to Berwick to make a visit, and she is pleased with the prospect, and thought she would give us some keepsakes,—that was all."
Mrs. Chloe sighed and shook her head and would not be comforted. She was very superstitious, and her life was really embittered with these fancies. If she had been going to church to be married, and had seen a weasel, she would have turned back. An owl's cry, or the flutter of a bird against the window, would make her turn pale, and she was quite certain that she had brought some great misfortune on Amabel, because she had given her a hair-pin point foremost.
Amabel, who had a way of speaking her mind freely without giving offence, remonstrated with her Aunt Chloe about giving way to needless fears.
"You know, dear Aunt Chloe, that we are all in God's hands, and He can and will care for us as tenderly as a mother cares for her babe. Why should we not trust Him to do just what is best for us? And if we do, why should we let ourselves be terrified by signs and omens?"
"I don't suppose it is right, but every one does it!" sighed Mrs. Chloe. "And we know, niece, that there are evil spirits, and such creatures allowed to go about, and why may they not be near us at any time?"
"They may and they may not!" replied Amabel. "We cannot see them, and nothing has been told us about them, so we do not know; but we do know that we are all the time in God's presence. He is always near at hand, to protect and care for us."
"That is very true, Niece Leighton—very true indeed," said Mrs. Chloe, as if struck with a new idea. "He is every where, and so He must be here. But I don't know—we seem to know so very little about Him. I can't help being afraid of Him, though I don't suppose it is right."
"I used to feel just so, before I read the New Testament!" said Amabel. "But when I read such places as, 'He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father,'—'I and my Father are one!' then I felt that I knew a great deal more about Him. If the Lord Jesus is His image, we need not be afraid of Him."