'The sort of people that bite a nail in two, and smile as if it were a stick of peppermint candy.' 'I didn't know there were any such people.' 'No, naturally. So it won't do for you to try to imitate them.' 'But I was not trying anything like that.' 'What were you trying to do, then?' Esther hesitated. 'I thought--I must do without you; and so--I thought I had better not think about you.' 'Did you succeed?' 'Not very well. But--I suppose I could, in time.' 'See you don't! What do you think in that case _I_ should do?' 'Oh, you!' said Esther; 'that is different. I thought you would not care.' 'Did you! You did me honour. Now, Queen Esther, let us understand this matter. I do care, and I am going to care, and I shall always care. Do you believe it?' 'I always believe what you say,' said the girl, with a happy change in her face, which touched Pitt again curiously. Somehow, the contrast between his own strong, varied, rich, and active life, with its abundance of resources and enjoyments, careless and satisfied,--and this little girl alone at home with her cranky father, and no variety or change or outlook or help, struck him painfully. It would hardly have struck most young men; but Pitt, with all his rollicking waywardness and self-pleasing, had a fine fibre in him which could feel things. Then Esther's nature, he knew, was one rich in possibilities; to which life was likely to bring great joy or great sorrow; more probably both. 'What book have you got there?' he asked suddenly. 'Book?--Oh, the Bible.' 'The Bible! That's something beyond your comprehension, isn't it?' 'No,' said Esther. 'What made you think it was?' 'Always heard it wasn't the thing for children. What set you at that, Queen Esther? Reading about your namesake?' 'I have read about her. I wasn't reading about her to-night.' 'What were you after, then?' 'It's mamma's Bible,' said Esther rather slowly; 'and she used to say it was the best place to go for comfort.' 'Comfort! What do you want comfort for, Esther?' 'Nothing, now,' she said, with a smile. 'I am so glad you are come!' 'What _did_ you want comfort for, then?' said he, taking her hand, and holding it while he looked into her eyes. 'I don't know--papa had gone to bed, and I was alone--and somehow it seemed lonesome.' 'Will you go with me to-morrow after Christmas greens?' 'Oh, may I?' cried the girl, with such a flush of delight coming into eyes and cheeks and lips, that Pitt was almost startled. 'I don't think I could enjoy it unless you came. And then you will help me dress the rooms.' 'What rooms?' 'Our rooms at home. And now, what have you been doing since I have been away?'