VALLEY

A FAST DAY 291the better of something to eat,or we shall have morefaintings,""I suppose we shouldn't have made Una fast," saidFaith remorsefully. "When I think of it, only Jerryand I should have been punished. We got up the concertand we were the oldest.""I sang Polly Wolly justthe same as the rest ofyou," said Una's weak little voice, "so I had to bepunished, too."Mrs. Clow came with a glass of milk, Faith andJerry and Carl sneaked off to the pantry, and JohnMeredith went into his study, where he sat in thedarkness for a long time, along with his bitterthoughts. So his children were bringing themselvesup because there was "nobody to do it" strugglingalong amid their little perplexities without a hand toguide or a voice to counsel. Faith's innocently utteredphrase rankled in her father's mind like a barbed shaft.There was "nobody" to look after them to comforttheir little souls and care for their little bodies. Howfrail Una had looked, lying there on the vestry sofain that long faint! How thin were her tiny hands,how pallid her little face! She looked as if she mightslip away from him in a breath sweet little Una, ofwhom Cecilia had begged him to take such special care.Since his wife's death he had not felt such an agonyof dread as when he had hung over his little girl inher unconsciousness. He must do something butwhat?Should he ask Elizabeth Kirk to marry him?