"You really mean it, mamma?" cried Betty delightedly. "Yes. Run away now and get to sleep as soon as you can." Betty stooped, kissed her mother impulsively, and was gone. When she reached her own bed-room, she knelt down and folded her hands in prayer. "Dear Lord," she said, "please tell the Church to call me on a mission, and keep mamma's money safe. Amen." Then she jumped into bed, and was soon asleep. CHAPTER II. No great truth was ever born into the world, without the throes of suffering of those who bore it. Mrs. Emmit's invitations to four of the pioneers of Ephraim were gladly accepted, and all expressed themselves as delighted to meet the Eastern lady, who was going to make every careless "Latter-day Saint" reflect on the "Word of Wisdom." The large, homey sitting-room was bright with the rays of the setting sun, sinking over the mountains in its golden glory, and casting its stray beams in at the bay-window, with a cheeriness that made the simple room look beautiful. It was eight o'clock. One by one the guests arrived, each bringing a handful of roses. "June roses! How perfectly exquisite!" exclaimed Mrs. Catt, graciously accepting the flowers, while Betty ran for vases. Soon they were all prettily arranged on the center table, filling the room with a rich fragrance. "Surely, life in Ephraim is worth while," declared Mrs. Catt, again smiling on the happy, old faces surrounding her. "All flowers and sunshine!" When Betty had finished fixing the flowers, she sat on a cushion by her wonderful guest and affectionately leaned her head on Mrs. Catt's knee. Her little face was flushed with excitement, and her eyes looked larger than ever. "Ephraim's going ter show off now, and she's just the kind ter 'preciate!" she thought joyfully. How the child did love her own home town! "Yes, it's all roses and sunshine now ma'am, but times there was when it wasn't jes' like this," remarked one old lady, shaking her head thoughtfully. "That's true, Sister Anne," spoke up old Brother Jacobson. "We've known the time, when only thorns grew!" "Now, that is just what I want you to tell me about. I'm just longing to hear about those by-gone days--why you came here, and what you found.--Do, someone, begin, please!" urged Mrs. Catt, sweetly. One thin, erect, old lady, with a quick, bright eye, turned to Mrs. Catt with a smile. "Sister Anne and Brother Jacobson may have suffered from the thorns, but I can't say that I did. What did I come for? For the faith, of course, as we all did. I walked eight hundred miles, pushing a cart, and I tell you, ma'am, every mile was too short for the faith! And when I got here? Every burden was too light to bear for the sake of the glorious truth, and the Lord has blessed me with children, and grand-children, and health, but I'd been glad to go on suffering for the glory of the gospel!" There was a silence after this burst of enthusiasm, and Mrs. Catt eyed the woman as if studying some strange species.