gentleman."

"Like poor papa then?" inquired the irrepressible Eleanor.

Mrs. Goddard turned pale and pressed the little girl close to her side,
leaning down to whisper in her ear.

"You must not ask foolish questions, darling--I will tell you by and by."

"Papa was a rich gentleman," objected the child.

Mrs. Goddard looked at Mrs. Ambrose, and the ready tears came into her
eyes. The vicar's wife smiled kindly and took little Nellie by the hand.

"Come, dear," she said in the motherly tone that was natural to her when
she was not receiving visitors. "Come and see the garden and you can play
with Carlo."

"Can't I see Laws Catterbay, too?" asked the little girl rather
wistfully.

"Carlo is a great, big, brown dog," said Mrs. Ambrose, leading the child
out into the garden, while Mrs. Goddard followed close behind. Before
they had gone far they came upon the vicar, arrayed in an old coat, his
hands thrust into a pair of gigantic gardening gloves and a battered old
felt hat upon his head. Mrs. Goddard had felt rather uncomfortable in the
impressive society of Mrs. Ambrose and the sight of the vicar's genial
face was reassuring in the extreme. She was not disappointed, for he
immediately relieved the situation by asking all manner of kindly
questions, interspersed with remarks upon his garden, while Mrs. Ambrose