"La, child, knowledge ain't all; it's practice; and you ain't in the way to practise much, I can see. That's the fashion now-a-days; young heads filled full and clever, maybe; and hands as empty and useless as ever hands kin be. Now I don't believe, for my part, that our hands was given us to do nothin'."
"O no, nor I," said Matilda.
"Well, then, what be your hands learning? See if I'm wrong."
Matilda cast about how to answer, for in truth her hands had got no new skill in the past months, although the old skill had come in play very conveniently. While she hesitated, came the welcome sound of the opening and closing front door. Mr. Richmond was returned. His steps went however first upstairs, and then came down and went into the study. Miss Redwood had disappeared and was getting her beef ready in the kitchen. Matilda could wait no longer. Taking David's hand and gently persuading him to allow of her leading, she went to the study door and knocked.
Mr. Richmond had just made the fire blaze up; so they had light to see each other by. David stood by and watched the greeting; it was very glad and affectionate, he saw, on both sides, with a certain tender confidence that impressed him. He was surprised also to see that Mr. Richmond was so young a man and so handsome a man; and when the brilliant eyes were turned on himself he was quite susceptible to their fascination. Matilda lost no time.
"David Bartholomew, Mr. Richmond; one of my new cousins, you know. And Mr. Richmond,—David knows about the Messiah in the Old Testament, and he wants to know if the Messiah is Jesus; and so I wanted him to see you, because you could tell him; and so I got him to come with me."
If David's shyness was at all disturbed by this speech, it was entirely soothed again by Mr. Richmond's reception of it, and of him. The genial, frank clasp of his hand, the kindly, free glance of the blue eyes, quite won David, as it was apt to win everybody; and in a minute more he found himself sitting at his ease in this strange house, perfectly contented to be then, and interested to watch Matilda's intercourse with her old friend and her pleasure in it. There was time for but little, however, before Miss Redwood's activity had got the "beef and eggs" and all the rest of the tea-table in a state of readiness, and her call summoned them into the other room. David made a little demur about staying, instantly overruled both by Mr. Richmond and Matilda, and he sat down with the rest. And if he said little, the other three tongues were busy enough.
"And how do you like New York?" inquired the housekeeper. Matilda's answer was very unqualified.
"'Tain't no better a place than this, is it?" the lady asked rather defiantly.
"It is a larger place, Miss Redwood," said the minister.