tense longing, and remembering who it was that said, 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as our Father which is in heaven is perfect.'

At this point of the conversation the vicar was interrupted by the opening of the door.

"Please, sir,” said the servant who entered, "a message has come from Miss Gardiner's. Sarah is taken much worse, and wants to see you if you will be so good as to go to her."

Mr Manners obeyed the call, and was soon walking through mud and rain on that cold April night, to visit the poor sick girl.

CHAPTER IX.

WHEN Mr Manners arrived at Miss Gar

diner's house, he found Sarah indeed very ill. She was in a high fever, brought on by the excessive pain in her ankle. The doctor said that the broken bone had not been properly set, because of the inflammation which set in before he was sent for, and that was the cause of the violent pain she had suffered.

Mr Manners went up-stairs at once, and stood at the sufferer's bed-side. At first she lay with her eyes shut, and evidently quite unaware of his presence. She was talking to herself in low incoherent sentences. He caught the words Confirmation and Holy Communion several times, and at last she raised herself partly in bed and exclaimed

"Oh, how I wish the parson would come, he would tell me."

"I am here, dear child," said Mr Manners,

leaning over her, and taking her thin burning hand in his, "what is it you want me to tell you ?"

"Oh, sir! is it really true that I shall die? I heard the doctor tell my aunt so when they thought I was asleep. I cannot bear to die, and now just before the Confirmation, too, when I wanted so much to be confirmed."

Here she paused, exhausted, the wild look left her eyes, and she sank back, fainting on her pillows.

Mr Manners saw that she was not in a fit state for talking, so after assisting the nurse in bringing her round, he knelt down and said a few words of prayer by her bed-side, and then thoughtfully left the cottage.

He saw now how much feeling had lurked beneath Sarah's cold manner, and he felt grieved that he had not discovered it before. Now the poor girl was evidently most seriously ill, and it was doubtful whether she would ever recover. He could only hope that some of the words he had spoken to the class generally had made a deeper impression upon her than he had fancied at the time.

Sarah got daily worse and worse, for a

E

week after that night, the fever raged, and she was often quite delirious.

The doctor looked grave when he was questioned as to her chances of recovery, and said he feared much that she would sink from weakness when once the fever left her.

Miss Gardiner was constantly in her room, tending her most carefully; and it was remarked by all who saw her that her face was more gentle, and her manner less hard, than they had ever known it. During this time of trouble, she had, of course, no time to attend to the duties of the house, so Bessie Sutton was sent for to attend to the cow and poultry, and to keep the house clean.

Bessie could work very well if she chose, and did so when the eye of her mistress was upon her, but hers was eye-service, for no sooner was Miss Gardiner safe out of the room, than she would leave her scrubbing or brushing, or whatever she was about, and amuse herself in an idle way, by peering into all the cupboards and boxes to see what they contained, admiring her pretty face in the glass in the parlour, or looking out of the window at the passers-by.

One afternoon, as she was so engaged, she saw a young man come to the door with a pack on his back.

'Any dresses or shawls wanted to-day," said the bag-man, as he saw Bessie.

"No thank you," said Bessie; "there is sickness in the house, and the missis is upstairs, but I am sure she does not want anything."

"What she is up-stairs, and has left you all alone-how dull you must be !" said the man. "I declare it is a shame to treat a pretty girl like you in such a manner! Come, I am a good-natured fellow, and have a few minutes to spare, so I will just open my pack and show you some of the elegant things I have with me."

Bessie thought this very good-natured of the man, and as she dearly loved finery, she pressed eagerly forward to look at the goods the man displayed to her.

Dresses, shawls, veils, and silk handkerchiefs were shown her, till she longed to possess them. One dress in particular took her fancy more than all the rest. It was a bright pink muslin with white spots on it.