Page:The trail of the golden horn.djvu/255



ARION BRISBANE was kept very busy for some time after the sergeant and the constable had left. The mission house was in sad need of attention. With the aid of the Indian woman she set to work upon the main room, swept, dusted, and scrubbed the floor. This took all day, and at night she was very tired. But the place looked the better for the cleaning, and she viewed it with considerable satisfaction.

“That is the first thorough cleaning it has had for some time, it seems to me,” she declared.

“It used to be clean,” Zell replied. “When Mrs. Norris was living she was very particular. I often helped her, and so did the other girls. We always liked to do it for her, as she was so good and kind.”

“She must have been a noble woman, Zell. I suppose you miss her.”

The girl rose from her seat and moved slowly across the room. She was still weak, and walked with difficulty. She stopped before a little table, above which were several shelves, filled with books, papers, letters, and writing material.

“This is where she so often sat and wrote,” she said. “I can see her now sitting here while we were at our lessons. She would read and write, and every morning she would kneel here while the Gikhi had prayers. I am afraid that we didn’t pay much attention to what