and she knew it. Perhaps she sorrowed less deeply over the loss to her
pensioner's immortal soul, thus taking holiday from spiritual
discipline, than the serious problem involved in subtracting one from
the congregation. Would a Sunday-school picnic constitute a bribe worth
mentioning? Perhaps not, so far as Nance was concerned; but her own
class might like it, and on that young blood she depended, to vivify
the church.

A bit of pink came flashing along the country road. It was Phoebe,
walking very fast.

"Dear heart!" said Dorcas, aloud to herself, as the girl came hurriedly
up the path. She was no longer a pretty girl, a nice girl, as the
commendation went. Her face had gained an exalted lift; she was
beautiful. She took Miss Dorcas by the arms, and laughed the laugh that
knows itself in the right, and so will not be shy.

"Miss Dorcas," she said, "I've got to tell you right out, or I can't do
it at all. What should you say if I told you I was married?--to the
doctor?"

Dorcas looked at her as if she did not hear.

"It's begun to get round," went on Phoebe, "and I wanted to give you
the word myself. You see, auntie was sick, and when he was there so
much, she grew to depend on him, and one day, when we'd been engaged a
week, she said, why shouldn't we be married, and he come right to the
house to live? He's only boarding, you know. And nothing to do but it
must be done right off, and so I--I said 'yes! And we were married,
Thursday. Auntie's better, and O Miss Dorcas! I think we're going to