Fidelia rose without a word. She made her sister lie down, and brought her water to drink, and bathed her face; and then Mrs Stone's step was heard on the stairs, and Eunice said-- "Go away for a little while. Go out for a walk through the woods, and think it all over, and ask our Father to give you a little glimpse of all the blessing He intends to give you through your sorrow. My darling, I have gone through the suffering. Yes, I know that parting is not so hard for the one who goes. But it is all as good and right as God can make it for His children, and you will see it so in a little while." "Oh, Eunice, I am not good! You do not know--" "But He knows, dear. Tell it all to Him, who loves you even better than I love you." There was no time for more, and Fidelia went out at one door as Mrs Stone came in at the other. She was bewildered and helpless for the moment. Her first impulse was to throw herself on the bed in an utter abandonment of sorrow, and, alas! of rebellion, under the hand that touched her. But Eunice had said--"Go out into the woods," and she must go. So she rose and bathed her face, and, wrapping herself in her shawl, went out through the garden to the fields, and then to the woods, walking rapidly. It was not grief alone which worried her. She was amazed and rebellious, and sought to see nothing beyond the desolation of being left without her sister. She was very selfish in the first shock of surprise and pain, and it was an hour of bitterness that she passed beneath the cedars by the brook; and, alas for her! she took both pain and bitterness home with her again. Remembering her own time of trouble, Eunice had patience with her, knowing that light and help would come. She waited long, but she waited patiently, and help came at last. "Fidelia," said Mrs Stone, one night soon after this, "are you thinking of going to conference meeting to-night?" "No; I can't say I am. Mr Runkin is not at home." "Unless he came this morning, which is not likely. But there'll be somebody there to lead the meeting, I expect." "Deacon Ainsworth, I guess," said Fidelia, with a shrug. "I don't feel as if it would pay to go to hear him." "No, I don't suppose it would pay to go to hear him, if that were all you went for, or to hear anybody else. But don't you know that to `two or three gathered together' in His name the promise is given?" "There will be two or three and more there, without me; and I shouldn't help much, Aunt Ruby." "But you might be helped if the Lord Himself were there. I'd guess you'd better go. If you go, you'd better take down this book to the doctor. He left it here by mistake, I expect, since it is in a strange tongue. I presume he thinks he lost it out of his chaise, and he'll be glad to get it again. If you do go, Jabez'll be along at the right time to come home with you." All this Mrs Stone said, seeing, but not seeming to sea, the cloud that lay darkly on Fidelia's face.