"Milly," said Fan, after a moment's silence, "I thought God heard our prayers?"
"So he does, Fan."
"Yes, but I mean I thought he would do what we asked."
"Not always, because we often ask for something that he sees would not be good for us. But what are you thinking about? have you prayed for something that you didn't get? Perhaps you expected the answer too soon. We often have to wait and pray again and again many times, and at last the answer comes. And sometimes it comes in a better way than we had thought of."
"I'll tell you, Milly," Fan said slowly and hesitatingly, "I prayed that Mrs. Clark mightn't be at home; but there she was."
Mildred could scarcely keep from smiling. "That wasn't a good or right prayer, little sister," she said, "because—don't you see?—it was selfish, and almost the same as disobeying mother; since if the prayer had been granted you would have been prevented from doing her errand."
"Milly, I didn't think of that," Fan answered penitently. "I won't pray that way any more."
"No, dear; a better prayer would be for help to overcome your foolish timidity. We will both ask our kind heavenly Father for that."