At dinner-time, Elfie came back from the market to know how she had got on. She was not so surprised as Susie thought she would be, when she heard what had happened; but she hung her head with a sense of shame she had never felt before, when Susie told her how it was they would not even give her a trial. "It's my fault," said Elfie. "O Susie, what shall I do?" And then she burst into tears. "There, don't cry; it ain't worth crying about," said Susie, trying to speak cheerfully. "I will go out again presently, and perhaps somebody else will give me a trial." "But they'll think you're a thief because you go with me," said Elfie sadly. "Never mind, as long as I am not one really. God knows we are trying to be honest, and other people will be sure to know it too by-and-by.—What have you been doing, Elfie?" she asked, by way of turning the conversation. Elfie's face brightened. She had been very successful at the market this morning, and had earned sixpence, besides having a lapful of potatoes and turnips given to her. "I didn't take one of them, Susie," she said, "and I've promised the man I'll never touch his things again; and he says he'll give me a job now and then, if I keep honest." "And you will, Elfie, even if the work don't come always?" said Susie, speaking very earnestly. "I'll try, Susie; I will try," said Elfie. "And pray too; you must not forget that. God will help you if you ask him," said Susie. Two meals a day were all the girls could afford; and so it was arranged that the potatoes and turnips should be boiled for tea, to save buying bread. Susie knew how to cook them, for she had seen her mother do so many times, and she promised to have them all ready by the time Elfie came home; for she was going out again to try and get something else to do. After she was gone, the tears came into Susie's eyes again. Somehow it seemed that she was bearing the punishment of Elfie's wrong-doing, while Elfie herself was more than successful in her feeble attempts to be honest. It was hardly fair, she thought, and for a few minutes her tears flowed fast; but gradually there came into her mind some words of her mother's, about the work God intended her to do in the world, and she thought that this was the way He intended her to help Elfie, perhaps; and that thought made her more calm. At tea-time, when Elfie came in, cold, hungry, tired, and rather cross, Susie was as cheerful and gentle as ever. She had asked God to help her to love Elfie "through evil report," and be patient with her, and he had answered her prayer. And it was no seeming cheerfulness, but real and heartfelt love, that she met her with now, as she threw herself on the floor in front of the fire. "We shall have a dinner-tea to-day," she said, as she turned the potatoes and turnips out into a dish. "Come along, Elfie, and let us eat it while it's hot, and then we'll go to school." "I'm tired, I don't want to go to school to-night," said Elfie crossly.