CHAPTER XII.
"If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God."
—1 Peter, 4:11.
"Mamma, can we—Elsie and I—have a little private talk with you?" asked Violet as they left the dinner-table the next Sunday.
"Certainly, daughter, if it be suited to the sacredness of the day."
"Quite so, mamma," answered Elsie: "it is, at least in part, a question of conscience."
"Then we shall want our Bibles to help us decide it. Let us take them and go out upon the lawn, to the inviting shade of yonder group of magnolias."
"Do you intend to be so selfish as to monopolize your mother's society?" asked her father playfully.
"Just for a little while, grandpa," Vi answered with coaxing look and tone. "Please, all of you, let us two have mamma quite to ourselves for a few minutes."
"Well, daughters, what is it?" Mrs. Travilla asked, as she seated herself under the trees with one on each side.