"Now, then, Lizzie, run to your mother and get the lady a chair."

And when the child came back with the chair, and the lady was
seated by the fire, he said:--

"I'm thinking there will be no lecturer here to-night, and that it
would be kind of you if you were to give the lecture yourself. You
have read some books about poultry, I am sure?"

"Well, a little--but--"

"Oh, that doesn't matter," said the priest. "I'm sure the book you
have read is full of instruction."

He walked up the room towards a group of men and told them they
must cease talking, and coming back to the young woman, he said:--

"We shall be much obliged if you will say a few words about
poultry. Just say what you have in your mind about the different
breeds."

The young woman again protested, but the priest said:--

"You will do it very nicely." And he spoke like one who is not
accustomed to being disobeyed. "We will give the lecturer five
minutes more."

"Is there no farmer's wife who could speak," the young lady said
in a fluttering voice. "She would know much more than I. I see