now, by her hastiness towards her cousin, whom she had been so anxious
to influence for good, she had probably disgusted her with the things
in which she most wanted to interest her.

She did not turn away, however, from the lights conscience brought to
her. Nurtured in a happy Christian home, under the watchful eye of the
loving father whose care had to a great extent supplied the want of
the mother she could scarcely remember, she could not have specified
the time when she first began to look upon Christ as her Saviour, and
to feel herself bound to live unto _Him_, and not to herself. But her
teacher's words had given her a new impulse--a more definite
realization of the strength by which the Christian life was to be
lived--

"The mind to blend with outward life,
While keeping at Thy side."

Humbled by her failure, she honestly confessed it, and asked for more
of the strength which every earnest seeker shall receive.

With a much lighter heart and clearer brow, Lucy went to rejoin
Stella, whom she found amusing herself with Harry and his rabbits,
having forgotten all about Lucy's hastiness. Lucy seated herself on
the grass beside them, joining readily in the admiration with which
Stella, no less than Harry, was caressing the soft, white, downy
creature with pink eyes, which was her brother's latest acquisition.

"I want him to call it Blanche--such a pretty name, isn't it, Lucy?"
said Stella.