Christie Redferns Troubles | Page 9

butter in all Glengarry, she was sure.
"And a hundred and twenty pounds of it! It's worth twenty-five cents a
pound, at least. Think of that, Christie!--thirty dollars in all! That is
something of your doing, I should think."
"Partly," said Christie. "I only helped." But she was very much pleased.
"If we could only sell it, it would get us shoes, and lots of things."
"But I'm afraid we mustna sell it," said Effie. "We shall have so little
meat all the winter--and it is so dear, too; and we shall need the butter.
And how many cheeses are there? Five?"
"Five uncut. One is nearly done since the harvest. See, these two are
better than the others. But it is getting so dark you canna see them. I
think the cheese will be a great help. We had none last winter, you
know."

"Yes, indeed!" said Effie, heartily. "We shall have a better winter than
the last was."
"Except that you winna be at home," said Christie, desponding a little
again.
"Well, I would like to be at home, if it were best; but we canna have all
we would like, you know. If you have milk to skim, you will need a
candle, Christie."
"No: I skimmed it before I went away. See, father and the girls have
come home at last. How glad they will be to see you, Effie!"
Yes, everybody was glad to see Effie--though no one said much about
it that night. Indeed, it was rather a silent party that partook of the
frugal supper. Except that the book-man (as the colporteur was called)
exchanged now and then a remark with Mr Redfern, little was said till
supper was over and the Bible laid on the table for worship. The
Redfern family had the custom of reading verse-about, as it is called,
partly because lights were sometimes scarce, and partly because, after
the work of a long summer day, both great and small were too tired to
enjoy protracted reading; and it must be confessed that, at times,
morning and evening devotions were both brief and formal. They were
not so to-night, however; for they were led by Mr Craig, the book-man,
a cheerful and earnest Christian, to whom, it was easily seen, God's
worship was no mere form, but a most blessed reality. Indeed, so
lengthened was the exercise to-night that the little ones were asleep
before it was done; and so earnest was he, so elevated were his
ascriptions of praise, so appropriate his confessions and petitions, that
the elder members of the family, notwithstanding their weariness, could
not but listen and join with wonder and delight.
"He believes that it is worth one's while to pray, at any rate," said
Christie to herself; and all at once it flashed upon her that a part of her
prayer had been answered. Aunt Elsie had not spoken one word of
reproof for her long delay by the side of the brook. Not a little startled,
Christie paused to consider the matter further.

"She could hardly have scolded me while a stranger was here. And,
besides, Effie's here, too, and I wouldna have much cared if she had.
And it's no' too late yet. She'll be sending me to my bed the moment the
dishes are put by."
But she did not. Long after the little ones, and even Annie and Sarah,
were asleep, Christie was allowed to sit without rebuke, listening to the
pleasant talk of her father and Mr Craig, and now and then saying a
word to Effie, on whose lap her head was laid. The only words that
Aunt Elsie spoke to her that night were kind enough; and some of them
were spoken while Effie was not there.
"So that it couldna be to please her," thought Christie. "What if God
should hear my prayer, after all?"
The thought was quite as startling as it was pleasant. Then she
wondered if Effie had brought the book. She did not like to ask her. She
did so want to believe that she might fall back on God's help in all her
troubles; but if Effie had not brought the book she could not be sure
that her prayer had been heard. "Could it be possible?" she said to
herself. It seemed altogether too good, too wonderful, to be true. And
yet there were verses in the Bible very plain, very easy to be
understood--"Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find;" and
many more besides that.
She repeated the words slowly and earnestly. That must be true, she
thought. Every one believed the Bible. And yet how few live and pray
and trust as though they really do believe it! She had heard discussions,
many and long, between her