'I should not be happy in her place, ma'am. I don't see, for my part, how it is possible. And it seems to me certainly she wants a great many things.' 'What do you think, Miss Gainsborough.' 'I think the Bible must be true, ma'am.' 'That is Faith's answer.' 'And then, the word is, "Blessed is every one that _feareth the Lord;_" it is true of nobody else, I suppose.' 'My dear, is that the answer of Experience?' 'I do not know, ma'am.' But Esther's smile gave a very convincing affirmative. 'But the promise is, "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly."' 'There you have it. "No good thing;" and, "from them that walk uprightly." Miss Disbrow, when you were getting well of that fever, did your mother let you eat everything?' 'Oh no, ma'am; not at all.' 'What did she keep from you?' 'Nearly everything I liked, ma'am.' 'Was it cruelty, or kindness?' 'Kindness, of course. What I liked would have killed me.' 'Then she withheld from you "no good thing," hey? while she kept from you nearly everything you liked.' There was silence all round the table. Then Miss Baines spoke again. 'But, ma'am, that old woman has not a fever, and she don't get any nice things to eat.' 'It is quite likely she enjoys her meals more than you do yours. But granting she does not, are you the physician to know what is good for her?' 'She does not want any physician, ma'am.' A laugh ran round the table, and Miss Fairbairn let the subject drop. When dinner was nearly over, however, she remarked: 'You want light for your practising. I will excuse you, Miss Gainsborough, if you wish to go.' Esther went, very willingly. Then Miss Fairbairn held one of her little discourses, with which now and then she endeavoured to edify her pupils. 'Young ladies, I am going to ask you to take pattern by Miss Gainsborough. Did you notice her movements when she went to do that little errand for me?' Silence. Then murmurs of assent were heard, not very loud, nor enthusiastic. Miss Fairbairn did not expect that, nor care. What she wanted was to give her lesson. 'Did you observe how she moved? She went like a swan'-- 'On land' her keen ears heard somebody say under breath. 'No, not on the land; like a swan on the water; with that smooth, gliding, noiseless movement which is the very way a true lady goes. There was the cat lying directly in her way; Miss Gainsborough went round her gracefully, without stopping or stumbling. The servant came right against her with a tray full; Miss Gainsborough stood still and waited composedly till the obstacle was removed. You could not hear her open or shut the door; you could not hear her foot on the stairs, and yet she went quick. And when she came back, she did not rustle and bustle with her newspaper, but laid it nicely folded beside me, and went back to her seat as quietly as she had left it. Young ladies, that is good breeding in motion.' CHAPTER XXI. _THE COLONEL'S TOAST_.