"Oh yes, indeed, Mrs. Campbell," answered Kitty, eagerly. "I do think she is a real Christian, and mamma says so too. She is so faithful about everything. I do think she makes a conscience of the least thing she undertakes."
"That is a good trait, certainly," said Mrs. Campbell.
"And then she is so much in earnest about everything she does," added Lizzy. "Oh, she is a splendid girl; I do hope she will get well."
"Mamma says Therese has great talents," observed Kitty; "she says she never knew a girl on whom a thoroughly good education could be better bestowed, and that it is a pity she should not have the chances some girls are throwing away."
"Why doesn't your mother send her to school, then?" asked Marion.
"She cannot afford it," answered Kitty, simply. "You know we are not rich at all, and mother could not afford to keep Therese unless she saved her the expense of another girl. If it were only Therese, we might do it, but we have to help other people who have more claims upon us. I wish it was different, I am sure, for I love Therese dearly."
"Therese thinks she has a splendid chance," said Lizzy; "she told Marion and me so that very day she was taken sick. Don't you remember, Marion? She said she was just as happy as she could be, and that there were very few girls who had as good a chance as hers."
"I am glad she thinks so, I am sure," said Kitty; "we do help her all we can."
"I'm sure I wish I had somebody to help me," said little Mary McIntyre, who was one of the party and had hitherto listened in silence to the conversation. "You wouldn't laugh at what I said about learning, girls, if you went to school to Miss Smith. She does make everything so stupid, and she says I ask frivolous and foolish questions because I want to know about the people who live in the countries in the geography," continued Mary, forgetting her shyness in the recital of her wrongs; "and for my part, I think it is quite as important to know who lives along the rivers is to know just how long and how wide they are."
"You must consider, my dear, that Miss Smith has a good deal to do," said Mrs. Campbell, sympathizing with the little girl; "but, Mary, if Miss Smith does not answer your questions, you should try to find out in other ways. You must use the opportunities you have, and you will find that others will grow out of them. But, my dear girls, doesn't it strike you that we have been sitting an unconscionable time at the table, and that our friends will wonder what has become of us? I think we had better return to the drawing-room."