True to his Colours | Page 3

though in disgrace,
or as if in despair of any really practical wisdom being allowed to have
sway in the sceptic's household.
Things were no better in the sitting-room: there was plenty of finery,
but no real comfort--scarcely a single article of furniture was entire;
while a huge chimney-glass, surmounted by a gilded eagle, being too
tall for its position, had been made to fit into its place by the sacrifice
of the eagle's head and body, the legs and claws alone being visible
against the ceiling. The glass itself was starred at one corner, and the
frame covered with scars where the gilding had fallen off. There were
coloured prints on the walls, and a large photograph of the members of
the "Free-thought Club;" the different individuals of the group being
taken in various attitudes, all indicative of a more than average amount
of self-esteem. There were book-shelves also, containing volumes
amusing, scientific, and sceptical, but no place was found for the Book
of books; it was not admitted into that cheerless household.
It was a December evening; a dull fire burned within the dingy bars of
William Foster's parlour grate. William himself was at his club, but his
wife and baby were at home: that poor mother, who knew nothing of a
heavenly Father to whose loving wisdom she could intrust her child;

the baby, a poor little sinful yet immortal being, to be brought up
without one whisper from a mother's tongue of a Saviour's love.
Kate Evans (such was Mrs Foster's maiden name) had had the best
bringing up the neighbourhood could afford; at least, such was the view
of her relatives and friends.
Her parents were plain working-people, who had been obliged to
scramble up into manhood and womanhood with the scantiest amount
possible of book-learning. When married they could neither of them
write their name in the register; and a verse or two of the New
Testament laboriously spelt out was their farthest accomplishment in
the way of reading.
Kate was their only child, and they wisely determined that things
should be different with her. The girl was intelligent, and soon snapped
up what many other children of her own age were a long time in
acquiring. She was bright and attractive-looking, with keen eyes and
dark flowing hair, and won the affection of her teachers and
companions by her open- heartedness and generosity of disposition.
Naturally enough, the master and mistress of the large school which she
attended were proud of her as being one of their best scholars, and were
determined to make the most of her abilities for their own sake as much
as hers. And Kate herself and her parents were nothing loath. So books
were her constant companions and occupation in all her waking hours.
The needle was very seldom in her fingers at the school, and the house-
broom and the scrubbing-brush still less often at home.
The poor mother sighed a weary sigh sometimes when, worn out with
toiling, she looked towards her child, who was deep in some scientific
book by the fireside; and now and then she just hinted to her husband
that she could not quite see the use of so much book-learning for a girl
in their daughter's position; but she was soon silenced by the remark
that "Our Kate had a head-piece such as didn't fall to the lot of many,
and it were a sin and a shame not to give her all the knowledge possible
while she were young and able to get it."

So the head was cultivated, and the hands that should have been busy
were neglected; and thus it was that, at the age of sixteen, Kate Evans
could not sweep a room decently, nor darn a stocking, nor mend her
own clothes, nor make nor bake a loaf of bread creditably. But then,
was she not the very rejoicing of her master and mistress's hearts, and
the head girl of the school? And did not the government inspector
always give her a specially pleasant smile and word or two of
approbation at the annual examination?
Poor Kate! It was a marvel that she was not more spoiled by all this;
but she was naturally modest and unpresuming, and would have made a
fine and valuable character had she been brought up to shine, and not
merely to glitter. As it was, she had learned to read and write well, and
to calculate sums which were of little practical use to her. Indeed, her
head was not unlike the lumber-room of some good lady who has
indulged a mania for accumulating purchases simply because of their
cheapness, without consideration of their usefulness, whether present or
future; so that while she could give you the names and positions and
approximate