"Thou shalt be a royal diadem in the hand of thy God." Mrs. Roberts had
been at work hunting diamonds for His diadem.
As Mr. Colson stood there chatting freely with Miss Henderson, there was
nothing about the association that looked incongruous, neither did it
occur to any. There was not a trace of embarrassment about this boy from
the slums; he had forgotten the slums, and stood talking with one of the
aristocrats of the city.
How came she to talk with him, to allow herself to be entertained by
him? Let me tell you: thereby hangs a tale. Some time before this
evening--in fact, nearly two years before--Mrs. Roberts had come to a
puzzle, and stood and looked at it doubtfully. Then she presented it to
the others:--
"They are growing easy in their manners with me, learning to be
gentlemanly without embarrassment, and thoughtful over little things
without being ashamed of it; but I am afraid that with other ladies they
would be sadly frightened and awkward. When Mrs. Delaney came in this
evening I could but notice how utterly silent Mr. Colton became; he had
been talking well before. It seems as though there was a great gulf
between them and social advancement. How can we bridge it?"
Then young Ried ventured his thought:--"My sister Ester had a class in
the Center Street Sabbath-school--nice little girls, who wore pretty
dresses, and had their hair curled, and came from the best families.
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