And with arms folded on her breast and head erect, she stalked out of the house, leaving the invalid girl quivering from head to foot with nervous excitement and distress, crying and laughing hysterically.
"Oh dear! oh dear!" she sighed to herself. "I haven't behaved in a Christian manner; I was angry at what she said."
Mrs. Prescott and Mrs. Keith were strolling in from the garden, chatting pleasantly of their domestic affairs, when an infant's screams were heard coming from a back room.
"There, my baby is awake and calling for his mother," said Mrs. Prescott. "Please excuse me a minute. Just step into the parlor again and talk with Effie."
Mrs. Keith complied and found Effie alone, lying back in her chair, trembling, flushed and tearful.
"My poor child! are you suffering very much?" she asked, bending over her and smoothing her hair with a caressing motion.
"No, ma'am, I'm not worse—only—it was something that Damaris said; and that I didn't take it quite as I ought.
"Oh, Mrs. Keith, do you think God sends sickness to punish us for our sins? and that my health is poor because I'm more wicked than anybody who is well?"
"Certainly not. I have excellent health as a general thing, while many an eminent saint has been a great sufferer.