The Carved Cupboard | Page 7

one, but very difficult to
put into practice, I should think.'
'Why, surely, no, my dear! And for you 'tis easier than most.'
'That is because I always say I find it is easy to be happy. But, Nannie,
delighting oneself in the Lord is a very different thing.'
'Ay, but the lark that rises with his song, and the flowers that turn their
faces to the sun, or soft refreshing showers, don't find it difficult to
delight themselves in the air and sunshine. I think, Miss Elfie, you are
one of the Lord's dear children, are you not?'
Elfie's face flushed; then sitting down in a low chair, she rested her
head against Nannie's knees.
'Yes,' she said softly. 'I told you how different everything had been with
me when last I was home, Nannie. That German governess was such a
help to me. But what I feel is this: I enjoy everything in life so; it all
seems so bright and sunny to me, that I feel the pleasure I take in
everything may be such a snare. I ought to have my enjoyment in the
Lord apart from it all. And I sometimes ask myself if I could be happy
shut up in a prison cell, away from all I love, and--and I almost think I
couldn't. Nannie smiled.

'You are a foolish child. Do you think the Lord loves to put His
children in miserable circumstances and keep them there? Your youth
and your gladness and your hopes are all gifts from Him. He loves to
see us happy. Doesn't the sun, and the brightness, and all the lovely bits
o' nature, come straight from Him? He didn't make London with its
smoke and fog and misery, 'tis us that have done that.'
'But I like London,' put in Elfie. 'I love the shops and the people and the
bustle, and at first I didn't like the idea of the country at all, but now I
am beginning to.'
'Wherever you may be, Miss Elfie, delight yourself in your
surroundings, unless they be sinful; but be sure o' this, you can delight
yourself in the Lord in the midst of it all, and have no need to separate
Him from all your innocent joys. Doesn't your verse say as much? Will
the Lord take all that is pleasant away from you, if you do His
command? No; "He will give thee the desires of thine heart." Could
you want more proof of His love? You may later on in life have another
lesson to learn, but 'twill come easier then, and you'll be able to say
with Habakkuk, "Although everything else fails, yet I will rejoice in the
Lord."'
Elfie was silent. Then she got up and kissed her old nurse.
'You're an old saint; you always do me such a world of good. I think
you have given me the best verse of them all, and I will try and make it
my motto. Now I must go. I only ran up to have a peep at you.'
CHAPTER III
A Country Home
'If thou would'st read a lesson that will keep Thy heart from fainting,
and thy soul from sleep, Go to the woods and hills. No tears Dim the
sweet look that Nature wears.'--Longfellow.
The day had come when the four sisters took their leave of London.
The sale had taken place, as they only took enough furniture for their

small house, and Nannie had taken a tender and sad farewell of her
charges.
'I feel,' said Gwen, after they had watched her driven away in a cab
with all her little belongings, 'that Nannie does not expect to see any of
us again. She has given us her dying blessing, like Jacob did to his sons.
I wonder if her verses will prove prophetic.'
Captain Knox went with them to the station, to see the last of Clare. He
cheered her up by saying he would run down and see them before he
went abroad, and the sisters were all doing their best to be cheerful.
They had sent down two young maids the day before to get things
comfortable, and both Agatha and Gwen had been backwards and
forwards arranging their furniture, so that they did not feel they were
going into a comfortless house.
'I always like everything new,' asserted Elfie. 'I feel quite excited to see
what it will be like.'
'I think it is a dear little place,' Agatha said. 'I am sure we shall be
happy there.'
But their arrival at Brambleton station was in the midst of steady,
driving rain, and a wind that threatened instant destruction to open
umbrellas. A fly was found, and they were soon driving along the
country road, all distant scenery being obliterated