“But don’t you think that a very shocking way to look at religion, doctor?” “Ah! my dear friend; it should never shock us to hear a truth. The only real Christians, according to the original type, to be found to-day, are among certain orders of the Catholic church, who literally ‘take no heed of the morrow,’ never have ‘scrip in their purse,’ or a second suit of clothes. They literally crucify the flesh, and study to be just like Christ. Mrs. Kendrick is perfectly right. You see, in helping and befriending one like Susie, whom modern society despises and neglects, you are a very old-fashioned kind of Christian, though not necessarily of the primitive type.” “Well, if I can only be a Christian in the _true_ sense, whatever that may be, it is all I ask for myself,” said Mrs. Buzzell, earnestly. “And by that you mean pure in all your thoughts, and upright in all your dealings, and nothing else.” “Certainly I do.” “Well, that is what I call true morality. You call it by a different name. We don’t differ so much. For bigot and infidel, we stand very comfortably near together, I should say,” said the doctor, smiling. Mrs. Buzzell saw she had admitted too much by that “nothing else,” but she did not feel like arguing, and so turned the subject. CHAPTER XVIII. HOW DAN GOT MARRIED. With October, came busy days for Clara. Her mother was in a fever from the fear that the wedding _trousseau_ would not be ready by the middle of November, when the wedding was to take place. The twins sewed very cleverly when the fit was on; but the fits were very uncertain, and Dr. Delano very imprudently, as Mrs. Forest thought, would call every evening of his life; but then, men were always so very inconsiderate, she said. Little bundles of linen exquisitely made up, kept constantly coming home from some mysterious laboratory. Mrs. Forest was silent, though she recognized at a glance the deft fingers of Susie; but Clara said they were made by her good fairy. One day, to facilitate the sewing operations, Mrs. Forest offered the twins money if they would do certain work. It had not the least effect. Leila explained shrewdly: “You know, mamma, you will tell us just how to spend the money—so it would be just like having you buy things for us.” “It would be nice,” said Linnie, “to have just a little money to squander.” “And what do you do, pray, with all the immense sums you have wheedled out of your father?” asked the doctor, laughing. “I hope you are not so spooney, papa”—(spooney was a pet word of Leila’s)—“as to think we squander it. Why, mamma always directs just what we shall do with our money. She admits it is our money, and we can do as we like with it; but you see, papa,” continued Leila, with a sly little wink at her mother’s expense, “we don’t ever like, you know!”