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Stephen got a lodging, and abandoned his back room to the brother and sister. But he had to attend to his shop, and therefore saw much of both of them. Finding then to his astonishment that Sara could not read, he gave all his odd moments to her instruction, and her mind being at rest about Charley so long as she had him in bed, her spirit had leisure to think of other things.

She learned rapidly. The lesson-book was of course the New Testament; and Stephen soon discovered that Sara’s questions, moving his pity at first because of the ignorance they displayed, always left him thinking about some point that had never occurred to him before; so that at length he regarded Sara as a being of superior intelligence waylaid and obstructed by unfriendly powers upon her path towards the threshold of the kingdom, while she looked up to him as to one supreme in knowledge as in goodness. But she never could understand the pastor. This would have been a great trouble to Stephen, had not his vanity been flattered by her understanding of himself. He did not consider that growing love had enlightened his eyes to see into her heart, and enabled him thus to use an ordinary human language for the embodiment of common-sense ideas; whereas the speech of the pastor contained such an admixture of technicalities as to be unintelligible to the neophyte.

Stephen was now distressed to find that whereas formerly he had received everything without question that his minister spoke, he now in general went home in a doubting, questioning mood, begotten of asking himself what Sara would say. He feared at first that the old Adam was beginning to get the upper hand of him, and that Satan was laying snares for his soul. But when he found at the same time that his conscience was growing more scrupulous concerning his business affairs, his hope sprouted afresh.

One day, after Charley had been out for the first time, Sara, with a little tremor of voice and manner, addressed Stephen thus:–

“I shall take Charley home to-morrow, if you please, Mr. Archer.”

“You don’t mean to say, Sara, you’ve been paying for those lodgings all this time?” half-asked, half-exclaimed Stephen.

“Yes, Mr. Archer. We, must have somewhere to go to. It ain’t easy to get a room at any moment, now them railways is everywheres.”

“But I hope as how you’re comfortable where you are, Sara?”

“Yes, Mr. Archer. But what am I to do for all your kindness?”

“You can pay me all in a lump, if you like, Sara. Only you don’t owe me nothing.”

Her colour came and went. She was not used to men. She could not tell what he would have her understand, and could not help trembling.

“What do you mean, Mr. Archer?” she faltered out.

“I mean you can give me yourself, Sara, and that’ll clear all scores.”

“But, Mr. Archer–you’ve been a-teaching of me good things–You don’t mean to marry me!” exclaimed Sara, bursting into tears.

“Of course I do, Sara. Don’t cry about it. I won’t if you don’t like.”

This is how Stephen came to change his mind about his stock in trade.