Aunt Miriam kissed her again and again, fondly repeating, "The Lord hear thee!--The Lord bless thee!--The Lord keep thee!--as a lily among thorns, my precious little babe;--though in the world, not of it.--"
"Do you think that is possible?" said Mr. Carleton significantly, when a few moments after they had risen and were about to separate. Aunt Miriam looked at him in surprise and asked,
"What, sir?"
"To live in the world and not be like the world?"
She cast her eyes upon Fleda, fondly smoothing down her soft hair with both hands for a minute or two before she answered,
"By the help of one thing sir, yes!"
"And what is that?" said he quickly.
"The blessing of God, with whom all things are possible."
His eyes fell, and there was a kind of incredulous sadness in his half smile which aunt Miriam understood better than he did. She sighed as she folded Fleda again to her breast and whisperingly bade her "Remember!" But Fleda knew nothing of it; and when she had finally parted from aunt Miriam and was seated in the little wagon on her way home, to her fancy the best friend she had in the world was sitting beside her.
Neither was her judgment wrong, so far as it went. She saw true where she saw at all. But there was a great deal she could not see.