"What was there in all this to make you so very glad?" inquired Judy.
Matilda hesitated, and could not find what to say.
"Pink has her own ways of being happy you see," Norton remarked.
"She is not the only one, I hope," said David.
"The only one, what?" said Judy sharply. "You are as bad as she is, David, to-night, for talking thick."
"Have we got through, my dear?" inquired Mrs. Lloyd kindly.
"Through all the things that were making me feel glad?" said Matilda. "No, ma'am—not quite." And she stopped and flushed.
"Let us have it," said Mrs. Lloyd. "A bargain is a bargain."
"Yes, ma'am," said Matilda. "I am afraid—I was afraid—perhaps you wouldn't understand me. I was glad of all these things;—and then, I thought, I was so glad that I knew about Jesus; and that I am his child; and that he has given me all these other things to be glad about, and this work to do for Sarah!"
There was a profound silence for a minute or two. Judy was astonished out of speech. David, perhaps, disgusted. Norton was a little proud that Matilda had independence enough to dare to speak out, even if he chafed a little under the subject of her plain speaking. The elder ladies looked at one another with an odd expression in their eyes. When Mrs. Lloyd spoke she went back to the practical question.