“We do,” said Tessa.
“We don’t. We take somebody because he asks us and nobody else asks.”
“I will not. I do not believe that God means it so. He chooses that we shall satisfy the best and hungriest part of ourselves, and the best part is the hungriest, and the hungriest the best; we may not have opportunity in one year, or two years, or ten years, but if we wait He will give us the things we most need! He did not give us any longing simply to make us go crying through the universe; the longing is His message making known to us that the good thing is. I will not be false to myself, cheating myself by shutting my eyes and saying, ‘Ah, this is good! I have found my choice,’ when my whole soul protests, knowing that it is a lie. I can wait.”
“Oh, Tessa!” laughed Sue. “Doesn’t she talk like a book? I never half know what she means when she goes into such hysterics. Do you expect to get all your good things?”
“All my good things! Yes, every single one; it is only a question of time. God can not forget, nor can He die. I shall not be discouraged until I am sure that He is dead.”
“O, Tessa, you are wicked,” cried Sue.
“You remind me of something,” said Miss Jewett. “‘Blessed are all they that wait for Him.’”
“I can’t wait for my blessings,” said Sue; “I want to snatch them.”
Gently pushing aside Sue’s head, Tessa found her work and her needle; she worked silently while Sue laughed and grumbled and Miss Jewett talked, not over Sue’s head as Tessa’s habit was, but into her heart.
“Sue, I shall lose you in Bible class.”