Page:The trail of the golden horn.djvu/261

Rh We can spend a cozy evening together in this nice warm room.”

Going over to the table, she picked up the book she had so hurriedly laid down, and opened it. She then sat down upon a rough bench, and motioned Zell to her side. The girl obeyed, and in another minute the two were seated side by side with the light of a nearby candle resting upon their fair faces.

“I am going to read you something from this book,” Marion said. “It was written years ago by Mrs. Norris. She wrote something every day, and I feel that it will be perfectly right for us to read some of the beautiful things she recorded here. Would you like to hear them?”

“Oh, indeed I should, Miss,” was the eager reply. “I have often wondered what she wrote in that book. She seemed so fond of it.”

Marion passed over the part of the journal which told of the trials of the missionaries when they first reached The Gap, until she came to an entry which she knew would interest the girl. It was the day before Christmas, and this the writer noted.

“‘My dear husband has just come home after an absence of nearly two weeks. He has been visiting the Indians, and many of them have come back with him for the treat, and the wonderful Christmas services we are planning to have. And what a present he brought with him—a little girl, a half-breed! She is a dear little thing, and has such sweet ways. She is only seven years old, yet she is exceptionally bright and smart for her age. She is a real Christmas gift, the best I ever had. How I have always longed for a child to care for, and perhaps she may be the first-fruit