"Butt thinks a great deal of father," Bob said, eagerly, "and no wonder! He told me he was almost despairing when father gave him work. He said father was one of the few people who wouldn't hit a man when he's down. I know what he means, don't you, mother?" "Yes," was the brief assent. "So do I," said Mavis. "I think the Good Samaritan in the parable must have been very like Uncle John." There was one piece of news which Rose had refrained from mentioning to her mother as yet, and that was that she and Mavis were now in the same class at school. She dreaded telling her this, and it was a decided relief when she learnt that it was not necessary for her to do so, as Mavis had forestalled her. Mavis had also told her aunt, how greatly Rose was troubled on account of her slowness in learning, and how really painstaking she was, and this, coupled with Miss Matthews' report that Rose was patient and industrious and always desirous of doing her best, caused Mrs. John to reflect that she had been a little hard on her daughter. "Although she's not quick like her cousin, she has many good qualities," she thought to herself. "God does not endow us all with gifts alike, and I have been unwise to make comparisons between the children." So she spoke kindly and encouragingly upon the matter to Rose, who exclaimed, with a ring of glad surprise in her voice— "Oh, mother, I so feared you would be angry with me for allowing Mavis to catch up to me in her lessons! Indeed, indeed, I have done my best. I know I'm slow and stupid in many ways; but God has given me one talent, and, now I know that, I don't mind. Nurse said I had a real talent for nursing, so I mean to be a nurse when I grow up. Mavis will be a great singer, I expect, but I shall be quite content to be a nurse." Mrs. John made no response, but she pressed a warm kiss on Rose's lips, and her little daughter saw she was pleased, and added ingenuously— "I asked God to make you understand I'd done my best, and He has." CHAPTER XI HAPPY DAYS IT was a beautiful afternoon in May. The lilac and laburnum trees were in full bloom in the Mill House garden. And fritillaries—snakes' heads, as some people call them—were plentiful in the meadows surrounding W—, lifting their purple and white speckled heads above the buttercups and daisies in the fresh-springing green grass. "I think they are such funny flowers," said Mavis, who with Rose, had been for a walk by the towpath towards Oxford, along which they were now returning. She looked at the big bunch of fritillaries she had gathered, as she spoke. "And though they are really like snakes' heads, I call them very pretty," she added. "Yes," agreed Rose. "Look, Mavis, there's Mr. Moseley in front of us. He's been sending Max into the water. I expect we shall catch up to him." "And then I shall be able to tell him my news!" Mavis cried delightedly. "Oh, Rosie, I don't think I was ever so happy in my life before as I am to-day!"