"That is a long list," said Marion, much interested and forgetting her own trouble for the moment. "How did you come to find out about all these people, Uncle Duncan?"
"Partly to console a lady as I have been consoling you. I met her at the springs last summer, and one day I found her in great grief over a letter her husband had just received. It seems he had been called to a parish in the country, but after he had accepted the call came this letter, saying that the church understood that his wife was a permanent invalid, and as they always expected their pastor's wife to take the lead in all sorts of good works, they must withdraw their call."
"They must be a nice people," said Marion.
"I think myself he had an escape, but you can imagine how his wife would feel. She had no prospect, as she thought, of being anything but a hindrance and a trouble all her life. So I made out this list—only much more at length—to comfort her."
"But, after all, Uncle Duncan, it is a great disappointment," said Marion. "I did so want to do the Master's work."
"And has any one said you should not, my dear lassie?"
"It seems so. It seems as if he had rejected me."
"Not at all. It is not rejecting your services to give you other work than that you have picked out for yourself. Do you remember long ago how offended you were because I wanted you to do the work and let Auntie Baby sit with Therese?"
"Yes; and what an affair I made of it when I got my own way!"
"Exactly; and a good many other persons have got into trouble because they were determined to have their own way in spite of all hindrances. If you are willing to work, you will have work enough to do. What better place do you want than that of a daughter at home?"