"Then it won't do to let you stay. You shall come another time, and we will roast another apple, won't you?"
"I should like to come," said Matilda. "Mr. Richmond, didn't you say you were going to talk to the Band and explain things, when we have our meetings?"
"I did say so. What do you want explained?"
"Some time,—I would like to know just all it means, to be a servant of Christ."
"All it means," said Mr. Richmond. "Well, it means a good deal, Tilly. I think we had better begin there with our explanations. I shall not make it a lecture; it will be more like a class; so you may ask as many questions as you please."
CHAPTER VI.
The light of day was darkening fast, as Matilda ran home. Even the western sky gave no glow, when she reached her own gate and went in. After all, she had run but a very little way, in her first hurry; the rest of the walk was taken with sober steps.
When she came down-stairs, she found the lamp lit and all the young heads of the family clustering together to look at something. It was Anne's purchase, she found; Anne had spent her aunt's gift in the purchase of a new silk dress; and she was displaying it.
"It is a lovely colour," said Maria. "I think that shade of—what do you call it? is just the prettiest in the world. What do you call it, Clarissa? and where did you get it, Anne?"