'Yes. But of course I studied the Bible, to find out what the Lord says of Himself, and to find out what He tells me to do and to be. For of course I must do His will, if I want Him to hear my prayers. You see that.'
'I expect that means a good deal, don't it?'
'Yes.'
'Mebbe somethin' I wouldn't like to do.'
'You will like to do it, when once you know Him,' Esther said eagerly. 'That makes all the difference. You know, we always love to please anybody that we love.'
The gardener's wife had become very thoughtful. She went along her garden bed, stooping here to strip a decayed leaf from a cabbage, and there to pick up a dry bean that had fallen out of its pod, or to pull out a little weed from among her lettuces.
'I'm much obliged to you,' she said suddenly.
'You see,' said Esther, 'it is as free to you as to me. And why shouldn't we be happy if we can?'
'But there's those commandments! that's what skeers me. You see, I'm a kind o' self-willed woman.'
'It is nothing but joy, when once you know Him.'