Jewel waited a minute and then,seeing that her cousin was absorbed,she laid down the Quarterly and took up her doll and sat still,watching the pretty profile,undisturbed by doubts as to what her cousin might think of the book she held,and full of utter confidence that He who healeth all our diseases would minister to her through its pages.
At last Eloise again became conscious of her surroundings.She turned to her companion,a skeptical comment on her lips,but she suppressed the words at sight of the innocent,expectant face.She certainly had nothing to give this child better than what she already possessed.
"You can read it any time when you feel sorry,cousin Eloise,that and my Bible too.Mother always does.""Does she ever feel sorry?"
"Sometimes;but it can't last where the Bible is.""I never saw that the Bible had anything to do with us,"said Eloise.
"Why--ee!"Jewel suddenly dropped Anna Belle and again took up the Bible.
"What do you think I opened to?"holding the verse with her finger as she looked up.Then she read,"'If ye love them that love you what thank have ye?'Now isn't that something to do with you and grandpa?""I don't see how I can love people who don't choose to be lovable,"returned Eloise."What's the use of pretending?""But then,"said the child,"the trouble is that everything that isn't love is hate."Her visitor raised her eyebrows."Ah!I should have to think about that,"she returned.
"Yes,you'd better,"agreed Jewel.Then she turned to the Psalms and read the ninety-first.
When she had finished she looked up at her cousin,an earnest questioning in her eyes.
"That is very beautiful,"said Eloise."I never heard it before.How well you read it,Jewel.""Yes,"replied the child."It's so much easier to read things when you know them by heart."Then she turned to the Twenty-third Psalm and read it.
"Yes,I've heard that one.It's beautiful of course,but I never thought of its having anything to do with us."Eloise was watching her cousin curiously.It seemed too strange for belief that a healthy child of her age should be taking a vital interest in the Bible and endeavoring to prove a position from its pages.