Indeed, dear," she added in a lower tone, "I don't think I should have
any fear for you if I were sure that you were not going alone, if I knew
that you had an almighty Friend to be with you and guide you in the
right way."

It was very rarely that Mrs. Arnold said so much to any of her children,
and Ruth was quite overcome. She ran off to her own little room to give
vent to her feelings, and to think over all that she had heard.




CHAPTER III.

RUTH'S DECISION.


For the first few moments Ruth felt quite determined not to leave home;
but as she thought over the advantages and disadvantages of the plan her
resolution wavered. How often she had wished, though vainly, to go to a
good boarding-school! and now there was an opportunity for her to have a
twelvemonth's education, without the great drawback of living at school
among strangers and losing the comforts and freedom of home. It was true
that she had only seen her aunt for a short time several years before,
and her cousins were quite unknown, except for the short notes she
usually received at Christmas, with a present from Julia. Still they
were relatives, and would not regard her as a stranger.

There were so many arguments for accepting her aunt's invitation: the
pleasure of the sea-side trip, the change, the novelty of living in a