"Yes. She is very good and dear. But then we have no religion in our house--except Mrs Ascot; and I am afraid hers is not the right kind. It is _not_ at all like Miss Baines', at any rate. But then how is one to know?" "But I hope there are good people among all kinds," said Eppie, not knowing very well what to say. "Yes. Mr St. Cyr is good, though Mrs Ascot is not. That is true. And it does not matter so much, so that we have a religion of some kind. Though, of course, one would wish to have the best." "You are wrong there, missy. It matters much. And you should be thankful that you were sent here to the school, where the Bible is read, and where you may learn your duty to God and man. That is the best religion." "But I have not learned it very well," I fear. "Maybe that is your own fault. I have heard you say that you are not very fond of going to the kirk and reading your Bible." "That is quite true. And that is the right way, is it? Were you fond of going to the kirk when you were young? We go to the church, you know." "I would be very thankful to be able to go to the kirk," said Eppie evasively: "And is your religion just like Miss Baines'? Hers must have been right, because it made her happy when she was in great trouble, and it made her not afraid to die. Is yours the same, Mistress Campbell?" Eppie looked at her, wondering a little at her persistency, and then she said, "Ay is it--the very same. The same in kind, though not in degree. Miss Baines was a good woman, a far better woman than the like of me." "Tell me about it," said Frederica. Mistress Campbell looked sadly at a loss. "How did they teach you to be religious when you were young?" "We were taught to read our Bibles and to say the catechism, and to go to the kirk. And my father had worship morning and evening, and we were bidden do our duty, and be content with our lot." Eppie hesitated, by no means satisfied with her attempt to make the matter clear, and then she said,-- "To be religious is to be good, and to do our duty to God and our fellow-creatures. Don't you mind what the Bible says? `Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself.' And in another place it says, `Pure religion and undefiled is this, to visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction.' That is religion," said Eppie, with a pleased sense of having got well out of a difficulty. Frederica nodded. "Yes, I have read that. That is the way is it? Do good people all do that? But then they must begin at the very beginning of their lives." Eppie shook her head. "We are poor imperfect creatures at the best," said she. "But God's ways are not our ways, nor His thoughts our thoughts. We are unprofitable servants. If we got what we deserve, it would go ill with us. But He is merciful and gracious, and full of compassion, and of tender mercy." Frederica considered gravely for a little while.