Chapter IV: Milly at Prayers

IT was evident that Emily had attempted to improve her cousin's appearance. Her face and hands were clean; and one lock of hair next her face had been brushed smoothly, and tied back with a cherry ribbon, from Emily's drawer. An apron and collar had been added from the same place.

At the door of the dining-room, Milly snatched her hand from her cousin, and dashed up to her aunt, asking, in a loud voice, "Say, doesn't I look smart? May I keep this red ribbon for my own?"

At the table, while her uncle said grace, Milly folded her hands to be sure; but her eyes wandered from one dish to another. She did not wait till the plate of biscuit was passed, but snatched one, and commenced eating it, biting a huge piece off the side as a dog would have done.

Emily blushed. "Wasn't it dreadful?" she asked mamma afterward.

"Did you have no dinner, Milly?" inquired her uncle, greatly annoyed.

"I had a paper bag full of doughnuts and cheese," answered the child, talking with her mouth full, and showing all the process of masticating her food, occasionally using her tongue to disengage the bread from her teeth. "Martha made them on purpose. You know old Martha, don't you?"

Mr. Morgan gravely bowed assent. Every moment he was becoming more convinced that Milly must be sent away to school.

When Mrs. Morgan passed the visitor a glass dish of currant jelly, she smacked her lips, and glancing in her aunt's face with a smile, she burst out:

"I say, isn't this red stuff jolly good?"

"I'm glad you like it, my dear," was the kind reply.

Mr. Morgan pushed back his plate, saying in rather a petulant tone, "My appetite has gone."

"Oh, papa!" said Emily, "You've only eaten one biscuit."

When the tea had been removed, Emily carried the Bible and hymn books to her father, taking the opportunity, as she leaned over his shoulder, to whisper to him:

"I love you dearly, papa."

He glanced in her anxious face, nodded pleasantly, and then named the hymn they would sing.

The exercises which followed appeared to interest Milly intensely. She listened to the reading with open mouth, her keen gaze being fastened on her uncle till he closed the Bible.

During the singing, her expression softened, till the tears stood in her eyes. But after the first verse, she hummed an accompaniment, entirely ignoring the words, her voice, as they all acknowledged afterward, being as sweet and clear as a nightingale in his native woods.

When they rose from their seats to kneel, Milly squatted awkwardly down in front of her chair, her chin resting on her hands. Her eyes were at first fixed on a beautiful painting of fruit which hung above her; but presently her attention was arrested by the petitions:

"Help us, Lord, to be kind to the poor orphan who has this day come to us. May she be docile and affectionate; and may we be patient and faithful. May we always bear in mind that she has not been so highly favored by Providence as we have been, and may we, both by precept and example, teach her that the ways of wisdom are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."

When the prayer was finished, Milly stood still for a moment, while Emily, as usual, gathered the books and restored them to a shelf in the bookcase. Then, with a sudden impulse, the poor little stranger dashed to the side of her uncle, exclaiming:

"I like you. I thought at first I shouldn't; and I like to hear you talk to God as you did just now."

"Stop a minute, Milly," cried her uncle, as she was darting away. "I want to speak to you. Do you know," he added affectionately, taking her hand, "that your mother was my sister Ida, whom I dearly loved? For her sake, and for your own, too, I hope we shall do everything in our power to make you a useful and happy woman. But tell me, Milly, do you ever talk to God? Do you ask him to take care of you, and make you his child?"

"I did once, on board ship," returned Milly. "A man told me God made everything on sea and land; but I don't believe he made Juggernaut. It's such a horrid creature, and kills so many people under its great wheels."

Before Mr. Morgan could say any more, the child darted away.