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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of From Jest to Earnest, by E. P. Roe
+#9 in our series by E. P. Roe
+
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+
+
+Title: From Jest to Earnest
+
+Author: E. P. Roe
+
+Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6102]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on November 6, 2002]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM JEST TO EARNEST ***
+
+
+
+
+This eBook was created by Charles Aldarondo
+
+
+
+
+
+The Works of E. P. ROE
+
+FROM JEST TO EARNEST
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+DEDICATION.
+
+
+
+
+
+This book is dedicated in fraternal affection to the friend of my
+youth and maturer years--the REV. A. MOSS MERWIN, who, with every
+avenue of earthly ambition open to him at home, and with every
+motive urged upon him to remain at home, has been for years, and
+is now, a faithful missionary in a foreign land.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I. A PRACTICAL JOKE
+
+CHAPTER II. THE VICTIM
+
+CHAPTER III. PUZZLED AND INTERESTED
+
+CHAPTER IV. A LITTLE PAGAN
+
+CHAPTER V. PLAIN TALK
+
+CHAPTER VI. A SLEIGH-RIDE AND SOMETHING MORE
+
+CHAPTER VII. ANOTHER SPELL THAN BEAUTY'S
+
+CHAPTER VIII. FINDING ONE'S LEVEL
+
+CHAPTER IX. "THE OTHER SET"
+
+CHAPTER X. HUMAN NATURE
+
+CHAPTER XI. A POSSIBLE TRAGEDY
+
+CHAPTER XII. MISS MARSDEN ASKS SOMBRE QUESTIONS
+
+CHAPTER XIII. A LOVER QUENCHED
+
+CHAPTER XIV. LOTTIE A MYSTERIOUS PROBLEM
+
+CHAPTER XV. HEMSTEAD SEES "OUR SET"
+
+CHAPTER XVI. HOW WOMAN MAKES OR MARS
+
+CHAPTER XVII. MIDNIGHT VIGILS
+
+CHAPTER XVIII. HEMSTEAD'S HEAVY GUN AND ITS RECOIL
+
+CHAPTER XIX. THE PREACHER TAUGHT BY THE PAGAN
+
+CHAPTER XX. THE DAWNING LIGHT
+
+CHAPTER XXI. MISUNDERSTOOD
+
+CHAPTER XXII. "YOU MUST WAIT AND SEE"
+
+CHAPTER XXIII. A RATIONALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL
+
+CHAPTER XXIV. THE TERROR OF A GREAT FEAR
+
+CHAPTER XXV. A TRUE KNIGHT
+
+CHAPTER XXVI. ON A CRUMBLING ICE-FLOE
+
+CHAPTER XXVII. THE MEETING AND GREETING
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII. THE TRIAL OF LOVE
+
+CHAPTER XXIX. HEMSTEAD'S ADVICE, AND LOTTIE'S COLORS
+
+CHAPTER XXX. AROUND THE YULE-LOG
+
+CHAPTER XXXI. UNDER THE MISTLETOE
+
+CHAPTER XXXII. THE CHRISTMAS SUNDAY
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII. THE END OF THE "JEST"
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV. LOYAL
+
+CHAPTER XXXV. MR. DIMMERLY CONCLUDES TO "MEDDLE"
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI. A NIGHT IN THE SNOW
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII. IN EARNEST
+
+
+
+
+
+
+FROM JEST TO EARNEST.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A PRACTICAL JOKE.
+
+
+
+
+
+On a cloudy December morning a gentleman, two ladies, and a boy
+stepped down from the express train at a station just above the
+Highlands on the Hudson. A double sleigh, overflowing with luxurious
+robes, stood near, and a portly coachman with difficulty restrained
+his spirited horses while the little party arranged themselves for
+a winter ride.  Both the ladies were young, and the gentleman's
+anxious and almost tender solicitude for one of them seemed hardly
+warranted by her blooming cheeks and sprightly movements.  A close
+observer might soon suspect that his assiduous attentions  were
+caused by a malady of his own rather than by indisposition on her
+part.
+
+The other young lady received but scant politeness, though seemingly
+in greater need of it. But the words of Scripture applied to
+her beautiful companion, "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given,
+and he shall have more abundance." She had been surfeited all her
+life with attention, and though she would certainly have felt its
+absence, as she would the loss of wealth, life-long familiarity
+with both led her to place no special value upon them.
+
+Therefore during the half-hour's ride her spirits rose with the
+rapid motion, and even the leaden sky and winter's bleakness could
+not prevent the shifting landscape from being a source of pleasure
+to her city eyes, while the devotion  of her admirer or lover was
+received as a matter of course.
+
+The frosty air brought color into her companion's usually pale
+face, but not of an attractive kind, for the north-east wind that
+deepened the vermilion in the beauty's cheek could only tinge that
+of the other with a ghastly blue. The delicate creature shivered
+and sighed.
+
+"I wish we were there."
+
+"Really, Bel, I sometimes think your veins are filled with water
+instead of blood. It's not cold to-day, is it, Mr. De Forrest?"
+
+"Well, all I can say with certainty," he replied, "is that I have
+been in a glow for the last two hours. I thought it was chilly
+before that."
+
+"You are near to 'glory' then," cried the boy saucily, from his
+perch on the driver's box.
+
+"Of course I am," said Mr. De Forrest in a low tone, and leaning
+towards the maiden.
+
+"You are both nearer being silly," she replied, pettishly.  "Dan,
+behave yourself, and speak when you are spoken to."
+
+The boy announced his independence of sisterly control by beginning
+to whistle, and the young lady addressed as "Bel" remarked, "Mr.
+De Forrest is no judge of the weather under the circumstances. He
+doubtless regards the day as bright and serene. But he was evidently
+a correct  judge up to the time he joined you, Lottie."
+
+"He joined you as much as he did me."
+
+"O, pardon me; yes, I believe I was present."
+
+"I hope I have failed in no act of politeness, Miss Bel," said De
+Forrest, a little stiffly.
+
+"I have no complaints to make. Indeed, I have fared well, considering
+that one is sometimes worse than a crowd."
+
+"Nonsense!" said Lottie, petulantly; and the young man tried not
+to appear annoyed.
+
+The sleigh now dashed in between rustic gate-posts  composed of rough
+pillars of granite; and proceeding along an avenue that sometimes
+skirted a wooded ravine, and again wound through picturesque groupings
+of evergreens, they soon reached a mansion of considerable size,
+which bore evidence of greater age than is usual with the homes in
+our new world.
+
+They had hardly crossed the threshold into the hall before they
+were hospitably welcomed by a widowed lady, whose hair was slightly
+tinged with gray, and by her eldest daughter.
+
+The greetings were so cordial as to indicate ties of blood, and
+the guests were shown to their rooms, and told to  prepare for an
+early dinner.
+
+In brief, Mrs. Marchmont, the mistress of the mansion, had gratified
+her daughter's wish (as she did all her fancies) by permitting her
+to invite a number of young friends for the Christmas holidays.
+Both mother and daughter were fond of society, and it required no
+hospitable effort to  welcome visitors at a season when a majority
+of their friends had fled from the dreariness of winter to city
+homes.  Indeed, they regarded it as almost an honor that so prominent
+a belle as Charlotte Marsden had consented to spend a few weeks
+with them at a time when country life is at a large discount with
+the fashionable. They surmised that the presence of Mr. De Forrest,
+a distant relative of both Miss Marsden and themselves, would be
+agreeable to all  concerned, and were not mistaken; and to Miss
+Lottie the presence of a few admirers--she would not entertain the
+idea that they were lovers--had become an ordinary necessity  of
+life. Mr. De Forrest was an unusually interesting specimen of the
+genus,--handsome, an adept in the mode and etiquette of the hour,
+attentive as her own shadow, and quite as subservient.
+
+His love-making would equal his toilet in elegance. All would be
+delicately suggested by touch of hand or glance of eye, and yet he
+would keep pace with the wild and  wayward beauty in as desperate
+a flirtation as she would permit.
+
+Miss Lottie had left her city home with no self-sacrificing purpose
+to become a martyr for the sake of country relatives.  She had
+wearied of the familiar round of metropolitan gayety; but life on
+the Hudson during midwinter was an entire novelty. Therefore, as
+her little brother had been included in the invitation, they had
+started on what was emphatically a frolic to both.
+
+Bel Parton, her companion, was another city cousin of the Marchmonts,
+with whom they were in the habit of  exchanging visits. She was
+also an intimate of Lottie's, the two being drawn together by the
+mysterious affinity of opposites.
+
+She was indeed a very different girl from Lottie Marsden, and many
+would regard her as a better one. Her face and character were of a
+type only too familiar to close observers of society. She was the
+beginning of several desirable things, but the pattern was in no
+instance finished, and was always ravelling out on one side or the
+other. She had the features of a pretty girl, but ill health and
+the absence of a pleasing expression spoiled them. She had a fine
+education, but did not know what to do with it; considerable talent,
+but no energy; too much conscience, as she had not the resolution
+to obey it. Her life was passed mainly in easy chairs, chronic
+dyspepsia, and feeble protest against herself and all the world.
+
+Lottie often half provoked but never roused her by saying: "Bel,
+you are the most negative creature I ever knew.  Why don't you do
+something or be something out and out?  Well, ''Tis an ill wind
+that blows nobody any good.' You make an excellent foil for me."
+
+And gloriously rich and tropical did Lottie appear against the
+colorless background of her friend. Bel felt that she suffered
+by the comparison so frankly indicated, but was too indolent and
+irresolute to change for the better or avoid companionship with
+one whose positive and full-blooded nature seemed to supplement
+her own meagre life.
+
+When all appeared in the dining-room the shades and contrasts in
+character became more evident. At the head of the table sat a gentleman
+as yet not introduced, Mr.  Dimmerly by name, a bachelor brother
+of Mrs. Marchmont who resided with her. He was a quaint-appearing
+little man, who in a greater degree than his age required seemed
+to belong to a former generation. His manners were too stately for
+his stature, and he was embarrassed by his elaborate efforts at
+politeness as his movements might have been by too ample garments.
+
+He and his sister were representatives of one of the "old families"
+of the State, and, like their mansion, reminded one of the past.
+Indeed, they seemed to cherish, as a matter of pride and choice,
+their savor of antiquity, instinctively  recognizing that their
+claims upon society were inherited rather than earned.
+
+Old families do not always appear to accumulate the elements of
+greatness to such a degree that there is an  increasing and almost
+irresistible impetus of force and genius.  Successive generations
+are not necessarily born to a richer dower of mind and morals.
+Too often it would seem that the great qualities that in the first
+place launched a family on a brilliant career expend themselves,
+until the latest scion, like a spent arrow, drops into insignificance.
+
+Mrs. Marchmont was regarded by society as an elegant woman, and
+she was, in all externals. The controlling principle  of her life
+was precedent. What had been customary, and still obtained among
+the "good old families," had a flavor of divine right in it.
+
+Alas for the Marchmont family, for the young lady of the house
+seemed inclined to maintain and perpetuate nothing save her own
+will, and had no special development in any respect, save a passion
+for her own way. Still she was one of those girls whom society calls
+a "pretty little thing," and was predestined to marry some large,
+good-natured man who would imagine that she would make a nice
+little pet, a household fairy, but who might learn to his dismay
+that the fairy could be a tormenting elf. She would not marry
+the young gentleman with whom her name was at present  associated
+by the gossips, and who had driven over that morning to help her
+entertain the expected guests. Mr. Harcourt and Miss Marchmont
+understood each other. He was a distant relative of her mother's,
+and so under the disguise of kinship could be very familiar.
+The tie between them was composed of one part friendship and two
+parts flirtation.  He had recently begun the practice of law in a
+neighboring town, and found the Marchmont residence a very agreeable
+place at which to spend his leisure. It was Miss Marchmont's
+purpose that he should form one of the gay party that would make
+the holiday season a prolonged frolic. He, nothing loath, accepted
+the invitation, and appeared in time for dinner. To many he seemed
+to possess a dual nature. He had a quick, keen intellect, and,
+during business  hours, gave an absorbed attention to his profession.
+At other times he was equally well known as a sporting man, with
+tendencies somewhat fast.
+
+Mrs. Marchmont's well-appointed dining-room was peculiarly  attractive
+that wintry day. Finished off in some dark wood on which the ruddy
+hickory fire glistened warmly, it made a pleasing contrast to the
+cold whiteness of the snow without. A portly colored waiter in dress
+coat seemed the appropriate presiding genius of the place, and in
+his ebon hands the polished silver and crystal were doubly luminous.
+
+And yet the family, with its lack of original force, its fading
+traditions of past greatness, made rather a dim and neutral tint,
+against which such a girl as Charlotte Marsden appeared as the
+glowing embodiment of the vivid and  intense spirit of the present
+age. Her naturally energetic and mercurial nature had been cradled
+among the excitements of the gayest and giddiest city on the continent.
+A phlegmatic  uncle had remarked to her, in view of inherited and
+developed characteristics, "Lottie, what in ordinary girls is a
+soul, in you is a flame of fire."
+
+As she sat at the table, doing ample justice to the  substantial
+viands, she did appear as warm and glowing as the coals of hard-wood,
+which, ripened in the sunshine, lay upon the hearth opposite.
+
+The bon-vivant, Julian De Forrest, found time for many admiring
+glances, of which Lottie was as agreeably conscious as of the other
+comforts and luxuries of the hour. They were all very much upon
+the same level in her estimation.
+
+But De Forrest would ask no better destiny than to bask in the light
+and witchery of so glorious a creature. Little did he understand
+himself or her, or the life before him. It would have been a woful
+match for both. In a certain sense he would be like the ambitious
+mouse that espoused the lioness. The polished and selfish idler,
+with a career  devoted to elegant nothings, would fret and chafe
+such a nature as hers into almost frenzy, had she no escape from
+him.
+
+There would be fewer unhappy marriages if the young, instead
+of following impulses and passing fancies, would ask, How will
+our lives accord when our present tendencies and temperaments are
+fully developed? It would need no  prophetic eye to foresee in many
+cases, not supplemental and helpful differences, but only hopeless
+discord. Yet it is hard for a romantic youth to realize that the
+smiling maiden before him, with a cheek of peach-bloom and eyes
+full of mirth and tenderness, can become as shrewish as Xantippe
+herself. And many a woman becomes stubborn and acid, rather than
+sweet, by allowing herself to be persuaded into marrying the wrong
+man, and then by not having the good sense to make the best of it.
+
+Alas! experience also proves that, of all prosaic, selfish grumblers,
+your over-gallant lover makes the worst. And yet, while the world
+stands, multitudes will no doubt eagerly seek the privilege of
+becoming mutual tormentors.
+
+Lottie thought Mr. De Forrest "very nice." She liked him better than
+any one else she had met and flirted with since her school-days,
+during which period of sincerity and immaturity she had had several
+acute attacks of what she imagined to be the "grand passion." But
+as the objects were as absurd as her emotions, and the malady soon
+ran, its course, she began to regard the whole subject as a jest,
+and think, with her fashionable mother, that the heart was the last
+organ to be consulted in the choice of a husband, as it was almost
+sure to lead to folly. While her heart slept, it was easy to agree
+with her mother's philosophy. But it would be a sad thing for
+Charlotte Marsden if her heart should become awakened when her will
+or duty was at variance with its cravings. She might act rightly,
+she might suffer in patience, but it would require ten times the
+effort that the majority of her sex would have to make.
+
+Her mother thought that the elegant and wealthy Mr. De Forrest was
+the very one of all the city for her beautiful daughter, and Lottie
+gave a careless assent, for certainly he was "very nice." He would
+answer, as well as any one she had ever seen, for the inevitable
+adjunct of her life. He had always united agreeably the characters
+of cousin, playmate,  and lover, and why might he not add that of
+husband?  But for the latter relation she was in no haste. Time
+enough for that in the indefinite future. She loved the liberty
+and year-long frolic of her maiden life, though in truth she had no
+idea of settling down on becoming a matron. In the mean time, while
+she laughed at De Forrest's love-making, she did not discourage it,
+and the young man felt that his clear understanding with the mother
+was almost equal to an engagement to the daughter. He welcomed this
+country visit with peculiar satisfaction, feeling that it would
+bring matters to a crisis. He was not mistaken.
+
+By the time they were sipping their coffee after dessert, the promise
+of the leaden sky of the morning was fulfilled in a snow-storm, not
+consisting of feathery flakes that  fluttered down as if undecided
+where to alight, but of sharp, fine crystals that slanted steadily
+from the north-east. The afternoon sleigh-ride must be given up,
+and even the children looked ruefully and hopelessly out, and then
+made the best of in-door amusements.
+
+Miss Marchmont gathered her guests around the parlor fire, and fancy
+work and city gossip were in order. The quiet flow and ripple of
+small talk was suddenly interrupted by her petulant exclamation:
+
+"Oh! I forgot to tell you a bit of unpleasant news.  Mother,
+without consulting me, has invited a poor and poky cousin of ours
+to spend the holidays with us also. He is from the West, green as
+a gooseberry, and, what's far worse, he's studying for the ministry,
+and no doubt will want to preach at us all the time. I don't know
+when I've been more provoked, but mother said it was too late, she
+had  invited him, and he was coming. I fear he will be a dreadful
+restraint, a sort of wet blanket on all our fun, for one must be
+polite, you know, in one's own house."
+
+"I am under no special obligation to be polite," laughed Lottie.
+"Mark my words. I will shock your pious and proper cousin till he
+is ready to write a book on total depravity. It will be good sport
+till I am tired of it."
+
+"No, Lottie, you shall not give such a false impression of yourself,
+even in a joke," said Bel. "I will tell him, if he can't see, that
+you are not a sinner above all in Galilee."
+
+"No, my matter-of-fact cousin, you shall not tell him  anything.
+Why should I care what he thinks? Already in fancy I see his face
+elongate, and his eyes dilate, in holy horror at my wickedness. If
+there is one thing I love to do more than another, it is to shock
+your eminently good and proper people."
+
+"Why, Miss Lottie," chuckled De Forrest, "to hear you talk, one
+would think you were past praying for."
+
+"No, not till I am married."
+
+"In that sense I am always at my devotions."
+
+"Perhaps you had better read the fable of the Frogs and King Stork."
+
+"Thank you. I had never dared to hope that you  regarded me as good
+enough to eat."
+
+"No, only to peck at."
+
+"But listen to Miss Addie's proposal. If I mistake not, there is
+no end of fun in it," said Mr. Harcourt.
+
+"I've thought of something better than shocking him.  These Western
+men are not easily shocked. They see all kinds out there. What I
+suggest would be a better joke, and give us all a chance to enjoy
+the sport. Suppose, Lottie, you assume to be the good and pious
+one of our party, and in this character form his acquaintance. He
+will soon be talking religion to you, and like enough, making love
+and wanting you to go with him as a missionary to the Cannibal
+Islands."
+
+"If you go, O that I were king of them!" broke in De Forrest.
+
+"You mean, you would have Lottie for dinner, I  suppose," continued
+Miss Marchmont. "She would be served up properly as a tart."
+
+"No," he retorted, "as sauce piquante. She could make a long life
+a highly seasoned feast."
+
+"You evidently are an Epicurean philosopher; all your thoughts seem
+to run on eating," said Lottie, sharply.
+
+"But what say you to my suggestion?" asked Addie Marchmont. "I think
+it would be one of the best practical jokes I ever knew. The very
+thought of such an incorrigible  witch as you palming yourself off
+as a demure Puritan maiden is the climax of comical absurdity."
+
+Even Lottie joined heartily in the general laugh at her expense,
+and the preposterous imposition she was asked to attempt, but
+said dubiously: "I fear I could not act successfully  the role of
+Puritan maiden, when I have always been in reality just the opposite.
+And yet it would be grand sport to make the attempt, and a decided
+novelty. But surely your cousin cannot be so verdant but that he
+would soon see through our mischief and detect the fraud."
+
+"Well," replied Addie, "Frank, as I remember him, is a singularly
+unsuspicious mortal. Even as a boy his head was always in the
+clouds. He has not seen much society save that of his mother and
+an old-maid sister. Moreover, he is so dreadfully pious, and life
+with him such a solemn thing, that unless we are very bungling he
+will not even imagine such frivolity, as he would call it, until
+the truth is forced upon him. Then there will be a scene. You will
+shock him then, Lottie, to your heart's content. He will probably
+tell you that he is dumbfounded, and that he would not believe that
+a young woman in this Christian land could trifle with such solemn
+realities,--that is, himself and his feelings."
+
+"But I don't think it would be quite right," protested Bel, feebly.
+
+Mr. Harcourt lifted his eyebrows.
+
+"Nonsense! Suppose it is not," said Lottie, impatiently.
+
+"But, Addie," persisted Bel, "he will be your guest."
+
+"No he won't. He's mother's guest, and I feel like punishing them
+both."
+
+"Very well," said Lottie, lightly; "if you have no scruples,  I
+have none. It will be capital sport, and will do him good. It would
+be an excellent thing for his whole  theological seminary if they
+could have a thorough shaking up by the wicked world, which to him,
+in this matter, I shall represent. They would then know what they
+were preaching  about. What do you say, Julian?"
+
+"When did I ever disagree with you?" he replied,  gallantly. "But
+in this case I really think we owe Miss Addie a vote of thanks for
+having hit upon a joke that may enliven the greater part of our
+visit. This embryo parson seems a sort of a scriptural character;
+and why should he not blindly, like Samson, make sport for us all?"
+
+"I fear you do not understand your own scriptural  allusion,"
+sneered Bel. "Like Samson, he may also pull  everything down about
+our ears in a most uncomfortable manner."
+
+"I hope you won't spoil everything by telling him or mother," said
+Addie, petulantly.
+
+"Oh, no! Since you are determined upon it, I will look on and see
+the fun, if there is any. But, bah! He will find you all out in
+a day. As for Lottie palming herself off as a goodish young woman
+to whom any sane man would talk religion,--the very thought is
+preposterous!"
+
+"Don't be too confident, Miss Bel," said Lottie, put upon her mettle.
+"If you all will only sustain me and not awaken his suspicions with
+your by-play and giggling, I will deceive the ingenuous youth in
+a way that will surprise you as well as him. Good acting must have
+proper support.  This is something new,--out of the rut; and I am
+bound to make it a brilliant jest that we can laugh over all our
+lives.  So remember, Julian, you will disconcert me at your peril."
+
+"No fears of me. So long as your jest remains a jest, I will be
+the last one to spoil the sport."
+
+With a chime of laughter that echoed to the attic of the old mansion,
+Lottie exclaimed, "The idea that I could ever become in earnest!"
+
+"But the young clergyman may become dead in earnest," said Bel, who
+seemed the embodiment of a troublesome but weak conscience. "You
+know well, Mr. De Forrest, that Lottie's blandishments may be fatal
+to his peace."
+
+"That is his affair," replied the confident youth, with a careless
+shrug.
+
+Having arranged the details of the plot and been emphatically
+cautioned by Lottie, they awaited their victim.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE VICTIM.
+
+
+
+
+
+Frank Hemstead was expected on the evening train from the north,
+so the conspirators would not have long to wait. To pass the brief
+intervening time Lottie went to the piano and gave them some music
+like herself, brilliant, dashing, off-hand, but devoid of sentiment
+and feeling.  Then she sprang up and began playing the maddest
+pranks on languid Bel, and with Addie was soon engaged in a romp
+with De Forrest and Harcourt, that would have amazed the most
+festive Puritan that ever schooled or masked a frolicsome nature
+under the sombre deportment required. The young men took their cue
+from the ladies, and elegance and propriety were driven away in
+shreds before the gale of their wild spirits. Poor Bel, buffeted
+and helpless, half-enjoying, half-frightened, protested, cried,
+and laughed at the tempest around her.
+
+"I mean," said Lottie, panting after a desperate chase among the
+furniture, "to have one more spree, like the topers before they
+reform."
+
+Though these velvety creatures with their habits of grace and elegance
+could romp without roughness, and glide where others would tear
+around, they could not keep their revel so quiet but that hurrying
+steps were heard. Bel warned them, and, before Mrs. Marchmont could
+enter, Lottie was playing a waltz, and the others appeared as if
+they had been dancing. The lady of precedent smiled, whereas if
+she had come a moment earlier she would have been horrified.
+
+But the glow from the hearth, uncertain enough for their innocent
+deeds of darkness, had now to fade before the chandelier, and Mrs.
+Marchmont, somewhat surprised at the rumpled plumage of the young
+ladies, and the fact that Mr.  De Forrest's neck-tie was awry,
+suggested that they retire and prepare for supper, whereat they
+retreated in literal  disorder. But without the door their old
+frenzy seized them, and they nearly ran over the dilatory Bel upon
+the stairs.  With sallies of nonsense, smothered laughter, a breezy
+rustle of garments, and the rush of swift motion, they seemed to
+die away in the upper halls like a summer gust. To Mrs.  Marchmont
+their departure had seemed like a suppressed whirlwind.
+
+"The young people of my day were more decorous," soliloquized the
+lady, complacently. "But then the De Forrests have French blood in
+them, and what else could you expect? It's he that sets them off."
+
+The sound of approaching sleigh-bells hastened the young people's
+toilets, and when they descended the stairs, this time like
+a funeral procession, a tall figure, with one side that had been
+to the windward well sifted over with snow, was just entering the
+hall.
+
+Mrs. Marchmont welcomed him with as much warmth as she ever permitted
+herself to show. She was a good and kind lady at heart, only she
+insisted upon covering the natural bloom and beauty of her nature
+with the artificial enamel of mannerism and conventionality. During
+the  unwrapping process the young people stood in the background,
+but Lottie watched the emergence from overcoat and  muffler of the
+predestined victim of her wiles with more than ordinary curiosity.
+
+The first thing that impressed her was his unusual height, and
+the next a certain awkwardness and angularity. When he came to
+be formally presented, his diffidence and lack of ease were quite
+marked. Bel greeted him with a distant inclination of her head,
+De Forrest also vouchsafed merely one of his slightest bows, while
+Harcourt stood so far away that he was scarcely introduced at
+all; but Lottie went demurely forward and put her warm hand in his
+great cold one, and said, looking up shyly, "I think we are sort
+of cousins, are we not?"
+
+He blushed to the roots of his hair and stammered that he hoped
+so.
+
+Indeed, this exquisite vision appearing from the shadows of the
+hall, and claiming kinship, might have disconcerted a polished
+society man; and the conspirators retired into the gloom to hide
+their merriment.
+
+As the stranger, in his bashful confusion, did not seem to know
+for the moment what to do with her hand, and was inclined to keep
+it, for in fact it was warming, or, rather, electrifying him, she
+withdrew it, exclaiming, "How cold you are! You must come with me
+to the fire at once."
+
+He followed her with a rather bewildered expression, but his large
+gray eyes were full of gratitude for her supposed kindness, even
+if his unready tongue was slow in making graceful acknowledgment.
+
+"Supper will be ready in a few moments, Frank," said his aunt,
+approaching them and rather wondering at Lottie's friendliness.
+"Perhaps you had better go at once to your room and prepare. You
+will find it warm," and she glanced significantly at his rumpled
+hair and general appearance of disorder, the natural results of a
+long journey.
+
+He started abruptly, blushed as if conscious of having forgotten
+something, and timidly said to Lottie, "Will you excuse me?"
+
+"Yes," she replied sweetly, "for a little while."
+
+He again blushed deeply and for a second indulged in a shy glance
+of curiosity at the "cousin" who spoke so kindly.  Then, as if
+guilty of an impropriety, he seized a huge carpet-bag  as if it
+were a lady's reticule. But remembering that her eyes were upon
+him, he tried to cross the hall and mount the stairs with dignity.
+The great leathern bag did not  conduce to this, and he succeeded
+in appearing awkward in the extreme, and had a vague, uncomfortable
+impression that such was the case.
+
+Mrs. Marchmont having disappeared into the dining-room, the young
+people went off into silent convulsions of laughter, in which even
+Bel joined, though she said she knew it was wrong.
+
+"He is just the one of all the world on whom to play such a joke,"
+said Lottie, pirouetting into the parlor.
+
+"It was capital!" chimed in De Forrest. "Lottie, you would make a
+star actress."
+
+"He has an intelligent eye," continued she, a little more thoughtfully.
+"He may be able to see more than we think.  I insist that you all
+be very careful. Aunt will suspect something, if he doesn't, and
+may put him on his guard."
+
+Mr. Hemstead soon returned, for it was plain that his toilets were
+exceedingly simple. The elegance wanting in his manners was still
+more clearly absent from his dress.  The material was good, but
+had evidently been put together by a country tailor, who limped a
+long way behind the latest mode. What was worse, his garments were
+scarcely ample enough for his stalwart form. Altogether he made in
+some externals a marked contrast to the city exquisite, who rather
+enjoyed standing beside him that this contrast might be seen.
+
+To Lottie he appeared excessively comical as he stalked in and around,
+trying vainly to appear at ease. And yet the thought occurred to
+her, "If he only knew what to do with his colossal proportions--knew
+how to manage them--he would make an imposing-looking man." And when
+De Forrest posed beside him just before they went out to tea, even
+this thought flashed across her, "Julian, seems like an elegant
+manikin beside a man." If De Forrest had only known it, the game
+of contrasts was not wholly in his favor.
+
+But poor Mr. Hemstead came to grief on his way to the supper-room.
+Miss Marchmont tried to disguise her diminutive  stature by a long
+trailing dress. Upon this he placed his by no means delicate foot,
+as she was sweeping out with Mr. Harcourt. There was an ominous
+sound of parting stitches, and an abrupt period in the young lady's
+graceful progress. In his eager haste to remedy his awkwardness,
+he bumped up against Mr. Dimmerly, who was advancing to speak to
+him, with a force that nearly overthrew that dapper gentleman, and
+rendered his greeting rather peculiar.  Hemstead felt, to his intense
+annoyance, that the young people were at the point of exploding
+with merriment at his expense, and was in a state of indignation
+at himself and them. His aunt and Mr. Dimmerly, who soon recovered
+himself, were endeavoring to look serenely unconscious, with but
+partial success. All seemed to feel as if they were over a mine
+of discourteous laughter. The unfortunate object looked nervously
+around for the beautiful "cousin," and noted with a sigh of relief
+that she had disappeared.
+
+"I hope she did not see my meeting with uncle," he thought. "I
+was always a gawk in society, and to-night seem possessed with the
+very genius of awkwardness. She is the only one who has shown me
+any real kindness, and I don't want her to think of me only as a
+blundering, tongue-tied fool."
+
+He would not have been re-assured had he known that Lottie, having
+seen all, had darted back into the parlor and was leaning against
+the piano, a quivering, and for the  moment a helpless subject of
+suppressed mirth. Mr. Dimmerly was always a rather comical object
+to her, and his flying arms and spectacles, as he tried to recover
+himself from the rude shock of his nephew's burly form, made a
+scene in which absurdity, which is said to be the chief cause of
+laughter, was pre-eminent.
+
+But, the paroxysm passing, she followed them and took a seat
+opposite her victim, with a demure sweetness and repose of manner
+well-nigh fatal to the conspirators.
+
+As Mr. Hemstead was regarded as a clergyman, though not quite through
+with his studies, his aunt looked to him for the saying of grace.
+It was a trying ordeal for the young fellow under the circumstances.
+He shot a quick glance at Lottie, which she returned with a look of
+serious expectation,  then dropped her eyes and veiled a different
+expression under the long lashes. But he was sorely embarrassed,
+and stammered out he scarcely knew what. A suppressed titter from
+Addie Marchmont and the young men was the only response he heard,
+and it was not re-assuring. He heartily wished himself back in
+Michigan, but was comforted by seeing Lottie looking gravely and
+reproachfully at the irreverent gigglers.
+
+"She is a good Christian girl," he thought, "and while the others
+ridicule my wretched embarrassment, she sympathizes."
+
+Hemstead was himself as open as the day and equally unsuspicious
+of others. He believed just what he saw, and saw only what was
+clearly apparent. Therefore Lottie, by tolerably fair acting, would
+have no difficulty in deceiving him, and she was proving herself
+equal to very skilful feigning.  Indeed she was one who could do
+anything fairly that she heartily attempted.
+
+A moment after "grace" Harcourt made a poor witticism,  at which
+the majority laughed with an immoderateness quite disproportionate.
+Mrs. Marchmont and her brother joined in the mirth, though evidently
+vexed with themselves that they did. Even Hemstead saw that Harcourt's
+remark was but the transparent excuse for the inevitable laugh at
+his expense. Lottie looked around with an expression of mingled
+surprise and displeasure, which nearly convulsed those in the
+secret. But her aunt and uncle felt themselves justly rebuked, while
+wondering greatly at Lottie's unwonted virtue. But there are times
+when to laugh is a dreadful necessity, whatever be the consequences.
+
+"Mr. Hemstead," said Lottie, gravely, beginning, as she supposed,
+with the safe topic of the weather, "in journeying east have you
+come to a colder or warmer climate?"
+
+"Decidedly into a colder one," he answered, significantly.
+
+"Indeed, that rather surprises me!"
+
+"Well, I believe that the thermometer has marked lower with us,
+but it has been said, and justly I think, that we do not feel the
+cold at the West as at the East."
+
+"No matter," she said, sweetly. "At the East, as in the West, the
+cold is followed by thaws and spring."
+
+He looked up quickly and gratefully, but only remarked, "It's a
+change we all welcome."
+
+"Not I, for one," said Mr. Harcourt. "Give me a clear, steady
+cold. Thaws and spring are synonymous with the sloppy season or
+sentimental stage."
+
+"I, too, think steady cold is better in the season of it," remarked
+Mr. Dimmerly, sententiously.
+
+"But how about it out of season, uncle?" asked Lottie.
+
+"Your hint, perhaps, is seasonable, Lottie," quietly  remarked her
+aunt, though with somewhat heightened color.  "I trust we shall
+keep the steady cold out of doors, and that ALL our guests will
+find only summer warmth within."
+
+"Really, auntie, you put me in quite a melting mood."
+
+"No need of that, Lottie, for you are the month of June all the
+year round," said her aunt.
+
+"The month of April, rather," suggested Bel.
+
+"I should say July or August," added Mr. Dimmerly, laughing.
+
+"Would you not say November?" asked Lottie of Mr.  Hemstead.
+
+"Yes, I think so," he replied, with a blush, "for  Thanksgiving
+comes in that month."
+
+There was a general laugh, and Mr. Dimmerly chuckled, "Very good,
+you are getting even, Frank."
+
+"I hardly understand your compliment, if it is one," said Lottie,
+demurely. "Is it because you are so fond of sermons or dinners that
+Thanksgiving glorifies the dreary month of November?"
+
+"Neither a sermon nor a dinner is always a just cause for Thanksgiving,"
+he replied, with a pleasant light in his gray eyes.
+
+"Then where is the force of your allusion?" she said, with a face
+innocently blank.
+
+"Well," replied he, hesitatingly, and blushing deeply, "perhaps my
+thought was that you might be an occasion for Thanksgiving if both
+sermon and dinner were wanting."
+
+Again there was a general laugh, but his aunt said, "Frank, Frank,
+have you learned to flatter?"
+
+Lottie shot a quick glance of pleased surprise at him, and was
+much amused at his evident confusion and flaming cheeks. To be sure
+his words were part of the old  complimentary tune that she knew
+by heart, but his offering was like a flower that had upon it the
+morning dew. She recognized  his grateful effort to repay her for
+supposed kindness, and saw that, though ill at ease in society, he
+was not a fool.
+
+"Would it not be better to wait till in possession before keeping
+a Thanksgiving?" said De Forrest, satirically.
+
+"Not necessarily," retorted Hemstead, quickly, for the remark was
+like the light touch of a spur. "I was grateful for the opportunity
+of seeing a fine picture at Cleveland, on my way here, that I never
+expect to own."
+
+Lottie smiled. The victim was not helpless. But she turned, and
+with a spice of coquetry said, "Still I think you are right, Mr.
+De Forrest."
+
+Then she noted that Mr. Hemstead's eyes were dancing with mirth at
+her hint to one who was evidently anxious to keep "Thanksgiving"
+over her any month in the year.
+
+"I'm sure I am," remarked De Forrest. "I could never be satisfied
+to admire at a distance. I could not join in a prayer I once heard,
+'Lord, we thank thee for this and all other worlds.'"
+
+"Could you?" asked Lottie of Hemstead.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"That is no answer."
+
+Hemstead was growing more at ease, and when he only had to use his
+brains was not half so much at a loss as when he must also manage
+his hands and feet, and he replied laughingly: "Well, not to put too
+fine a point upon it, this world is quite useful to me at present.
+I should be sorry to have it vanish and find myself whirling in
+space, if I am a rather large body. But as I am soon to get through
+with this world, though never through with life, I may have a chance
+to enjoy a good many other worlds--perhaps all of them--before
+eternity is over, and so be grateful that they exist and are in
+waiting."
+
+"Good heavens!" exclaimed Lottie. "What a traveller you propose to
+be. I should be satisfied with a trip to Europe."
+
+"To Paris, you mean," said Bel.
+
+"Yes," replied Mr. Hemstead, "until the trip was over."
+
+"Then I trust she will be content with New York,"  insinuated De
+Forrest; "for Mr. Hemstead speaks as if the stars were created for
+his especial benefit."
+
+"You are enjoying some honey, Mr. De Forrest?" said Hemstead,
+quietly.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Did the flowers grow and the bees gather for your especial benefit?"
+
+"I admit I'm answered."
+
+"But," said sceptical Mr. Harcourt, "when you've got through with
+this world how do you know but that you will drop off into space?"
+
+"Come," said Addie, rising from the table, "I protest against a
+sermon before Sunday."
+
+They now returned to the parlor, Hemstead making the transition in
+safety, but with no little trepidation.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+PUZZLED AND INTERESTED.
+
+
+
+
+
+On the way to the parlor Lottie hovered near Mr.  Hemstead. Unlike
+Micawber, she was not one to wait, but purposed that something
+SHOULD "turn up." The two other young ladies, and Harcourt and De
+Forrest, sat down to a game of whist. In pursuance of instructions
+from Lottie, De Forrest was not to be over-attentive, though it was
+evident that he would give more thought to her than to his game.
+Her demure mischief amused him vastly, and, knowing  what she was,
+the novelty of her Puritan style had a double fascination. Making
+personal enjoyment the object of his life, he felicitated himself
+on soon possessing the beautiful and piquant creature, who, when she
+came to  devote herself to him, would spice his days with endless
+variety.  The thought that this high-spirited, positive, strong-minded
+American girl might crave better and more important work than that
+of an Eastern houri or a Queen Scheherezade, never occurred to
+him. He blundered, with many other men, in supposing that, if once
+married, the wayward belle would become subservient to his tastes
+and modes as a matter of course. In his matrimonial creed all his
+difficulty consisted in getting the noose finally around the fair
+one's neck: this accomplished, she would become a ministering
+captive.  Many a one has had a rude awakening from this dream.
+
+Although from Addie Marchmont's description he believed that he
+had little cause to fear a rival in Hemstead, still he awaited his
+coming with a trace of anxiety. But when the seemingly overgrown,
+awkward student stepped upon the scene, all his fears vanished. The
+fastidious Lottie, whose eye had grown so nice and critical that
+she could refuse the suit of many who from their wealth and position
+thought it impossible  to sue in vain, could never look upon this
+Western giant in a way other than she proposed,--the ridiculous
+subject of a practical joke. True, he had proved himself no fool
+in their table-talk, but mere intellectuality and moral excellence
+counted for little in De Forrest's estimation when not  combined
+with wealth and external elegance. The thought that the "giant"
+might have a heart, and that Lottie's clever seeming might win it,
+and the consequent mortification and suffering, did not occasion
+a moment's care. Unconsciously De Forrest belonged to that lordly
+class which has furnished our Neros, Napoleons, and tyrants of
+less degree, even down to Pat who beats his wife. These, from their
+throne of selfishness, view the pain and troubles of others with
+perfect unconcern. Therefore, believing that his personal interests
+were not endangered by so unpromising a man as Hemstead, even
+Lottie did not look forward to the carrying out of the practical
+joke with more zest than he. If the unsuspicious victim could only
+be inveigled into something like love, its awkward display might
+become comical in the extreme.  Therefore, he gave but careless
+heed to his game, and keen glances to Lottie's side-play. But as
+the other conspirators were acting in much the same manner he was
+able to hold his own.
+
+Hemstead looked grave, as cards were brought out, but without remark
+he sat down with his aunt at a table on the opposite side of the
+hearth. Lottie perched on a chair a little back of them, so that
+while she saw their side faces they must turn somewhat to see her.
+When they did so she was quietly stitching at her fancy-work, but
+the rest of the time was telegraphing with her brilliant eyes all
+sorts of funny messages to the party opposite, so that they were
+in a state of perpetual giggle, not in keeping with whist.
+
+Mr. Dimmerly soon bustled in, and, looking wistfully at the game
+in progress, was about to propose that they form one likewise at
+their table, for an evening without cards was to him a mild form
+of purgatory. But Lottie anticipated him. Giving a signal to the
+others and drawing down her face to portentous length, she said to
+Hemstead, "I fear you do not approve of cards."
+
+"You are correct, Miss Marsden," he replied, stiffly.
+
+As he turned away, she glanced at the card-players with a look of
+horror, as if they were committing sacrilege, and Harcourt had to
+improvise another poor joke to account for their increasing merriment.
+
+But Mr. Dimmerly looked at his nephew in dismay and some irritation.
+"What under heaven can I now do, this long evening," he thought,
+"but gape and talk theology?"
+
+But Lottie, in the purpose to draw out and quiz her victim,
+continued: "Really, Mr. Hemstead, you surprise me. Cards are the
+staple amusement of a quiet evening in New York.  I fear I have
+been doing wrong all my life without knowing it."
+
+"If you did not know you were wrong, you were not very guilty," he
+replied, smiling.
+
+"Yes, but now I do know, or at least from one who will be an
+authority on such matters--pardon me--who is one now, I am assured
+that this old custom is wrong. In questions  of right and wrong,
+I suppose a minister should guide."
+
+"No, Miss Marsden, that is not Protestantism. Your conscience,
+instructed by the Bible, should guide."
+
+"But I see no more harm in whist than in a sleigh-ride."
+
+"Perhaps your conscience needs instruction."
+
+"O, certainly, that is it! Please instruct it."
+
+He turned quickly, but saw a face serious enough for an anxious
+seat in an old-time revival.
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Dimmerly, testily. "My conscience needs instruction
+also. What harm is there in a quiet game of whist?"
+
+"Well, I do not know that there is anything wrong in a 'quiet game
+of cards,' per se" commenced Hemstead, didactically.
+
+"'Per' who?" asked Lottie, innocently.
+
+Just then the party at the other table seemed to explode, but they
+made it appear as if the cause came from themselves.
+
+"Yes, yes, nephew, speak English. You may find some reasons in
+Latin, but none in English, the only language of sound sense."
+
+"Well," resumed Hemstead, somewhat confused, "I do not know that
+a quiet game such as you would play here would be wrong in itself.
+But the associations of the game are bad, and your example might
+be injurious."
+
+"The associations bad!" said Lottie, lifting her eyebrows.  "Cards
+are associated in my mind with father, mother, and quiet home
+evenings."
+
+"I have chiefly seen them played by rough characters, and in
+questionable places," he replied quickly.
+
+"I'm sorry you visit such places," she replied in a tone of rebuke.
+
+Even Mr. Dimmerly and his sister laughed at this remark, as coming
+from Lottie, while the others were almost  convulsed. Bel managed
+to gasp out, as a blind, "Mr.  Harcourt, if you don't behave yourself
+and play fair, I'll throw down my hand."
+
+But straightforward Hemstead increased difficulties by saying, a
+little stiffly, "I hope, Miss Marsden, that you do not suppose that
+one of my calling would frequent places of improper resort."
+
+"No, indeed," she replied quickly, "and therefore I was the more
+surprised when you spoke of witnessing something in 'questionable
+places.'"
+
+He turned to her with a look in which perplexity and annoyance
+were mingled, and said hastily: "It is different with a man from a
+lady. A man is more out in the world, and, no matter how careful,
+cannot help catching glimpses of the evil substratum of society.
+One cannot help passing through a smoking-car occasionally, or--"
+
+"Good heavens!" exclaimed Lottie, as if startled. "Is a smoking-car
+a 'questionable place'? Mr. De Forrest," she continued sharply,
+"did you not spend half an hour in the smoking-car coming up?"
+
+"Yes," he replied faintly.
+
+"You surprise me, sir," she said severely. "Mr. Hemstead  declares
+it is a 'questionable place.' I hope hereafter you will have more
+regard for your reputation."
+
+"Please do not mistake me," said Hemstead, with  increasing annoyance;
+"I did not mean to assert any moral qualities of smoking-cars, though
+with then filth and fumes there would be no question in your mind
+about them whatever,  Miss Marsden. What I meant to say was, that
+in such places as smoking-cars, hotel lobbies, and through the
+open doors of saloons, are caught glimpses of a life which we all
+should unite in condemning and loathing; and what I have seen has
+always led me to connect cards with just that kind of life. Moreover,
+gambling--that fearful and destructive vice--is almost inseparable
+from cards."
+
+"How experiences differ!" said Lottie, reflectively. "I have had
+but few glimpses of the life you describe so graphically.  With
+the bits of pasteboard that you have seen chiefly in coarse, grimy
+hands, I associate our cosey sitting-room at home, with its glowing
+grate and 'moon-light lamp,' as we call it, for father's eyes are
+weak. Even now," she continued, assuming the look of a rapt and
+beautiful sibyl, that was entrancing to Hemstead as well as De
+Forrest--"even now I see papa and mamma and old-fashioned Auntie
+Jane, and poor invalid Jennie, all gathered at home in our sacred
+little snuggery where father permits no visitors to come."
+
+The look she had assumed became genuine, and her eyes suddenly
+moistened as the scene called up became real and present to her.
+With all her faults she had a warm heart, and loved her kindred
+sincerely.
+
+But this touch of truth and feeling served her mischievous  purpose
+better than she thought, for it convinced the honest-minded Hemstead
+that she was just what she seemed, and his sympathy went out to
+her at once as a well-meaning, true-hearted girl.
+
+He was a little taken aback, however, when Lottie, ashamed of her
+feeling, said brusquely, "As to gambling with cards, we no more
+thought of it than sending to a corner  grocery for a bottle of
+whiskey, and taking from it a drink all around between the games."
+
+"O Lottie!" laughed her aunt, "what an absurd picture you suggest!
+The idea of your stately mother taking a drink from a bottle of
+whiskey!"
+
+"It is no more strange to me," persisted Lottie, gravely, "than
+Mr. Hemstead's associations. Of course I know that bad and vulgar
+people play cards, but they also drive horses and walk the streets,
+and do other things which it is perfectly proper for us to do."
+
+"I admit, Miss Marsden, that education and custom make a great
+difference. I have always been taught to look upon cards with great
+abhorrence. What may be right for you would be wrong for me."
+
+"No," said positive Lottie, "that will not satisfy me. A thing is
+either right or wrong. If you can prove to me that a quiet game of
+cards is wrong, I won't play any more--at least I ought not," she
+added hastily. "Because some vulgar  and fast people gamble with
+them is nothing. You will take a sleigh-ride with us to-morrow,
+and yet loud jockeys bet and gamble over horses half the year."
+
+Hemstead sprang up. His ungainliness disappeared, as was ever the
+case when he forgot himself in excitement.
+
+"Miss Marsden," he said, "what you say sounds plausible,  but years
+ago I saw the mangled corpse of a young suicide. He was an adept
+at cards, and for aught I know had learned the game as your brother
+might, at home. But away among strangers at the West that knowledge
+proved fatal. He was inveigled into playing by some gamblers, staked
+all his own money, then that committed to his trust.  Having lost
+everything but life, he threw that also down the abyss. He might
+have been living to-day if he had known as little about cards as
+I do."
+
+His manner was so earnest, the picture called up so sad and tragic,
+that even Lottie's red cheek paled a little, and the gigglers
+became quiet. She only said, "He was very weak and foolish. I can't
+understand such people."
+
+"But the world is largely made up of the weak and foolish,  who
+need safeguards rather than temptations. And history would seem
+to prove that even the wisest and best are at times 'weak and
+foolish.' I think the knowledge of card-playing can result in no
+harm to you, shielded as you will be, but it might to your brother.
+Miss Marsden," asked he, abruptly, "do you know how many professional
+gamblers there are in the world?"
+
+"No."
+
+"I do not remember the estimated number accurately, but it is very
+large. They often revel in wealth, but they do not make it out of
+each other. It is from the unwary, the 'weak and foolish' who think
+they can win money by playing  a fair game. They are permitted to
+win just enough to turn their heads, and then are robbed. Remorse,
+despair, and suicide too often follow. Cards are the usual means
+employed in these great wrongs. I should be sorry to see a young
+brother of mine, who was soon to face the temptations  of the world,
+go away with a knowledge that has been the ruin of so many."
+
+This was bringing the question home to Lottie in a way that she
+did not expect. Her heedless, wilful, impulsive brother, the dear
+torment of her life, was just the one an artful knave could mislead.
+For a moment or two she sat silent and thoughtful. All awaited her
+answer save Mr.  Dimmerly, who, without his whist, had dropped off
+into a doze, as was his wont. Then her decided character asserted
+itself, and she spoke sincerely for the moment.
+
+"I do not believe in the safety of ignorance. If a young man is weak
+and bad enough to gamble, he will do it with something else, if not
+cards. From what I hear, men bet and gamble with all uncertainties.
+The most innocent things are carried to vulgar and wicked excess.
+You can't shield one from without if lacking the will and power to
+say, No! I think it will be safer and wiser in the end, if a thing
+is right fer se, as you say, to do it, and if wrong not to do it.
+To me, a game of cards is no more than a game of checkers, or a
+stroll in a garden."
+
+In his eagerness to reply, Hemstead took a step forward and trod
+upon, not a lady's dress this time, but the tail of Mrs. Marchmont's
+pet dog. As may be imagined, his tread was not fairy-like, and there
+was a yelp that awoke the echoes. Mr. Dimmerly started out of his
+sleep, with a snort like the blast of a ram's hom before Jericho,
+and, pushing his gold spectacles to the top of his bald head, stared
+in bewilderment at the forms convulsed with merriment around him.
+
+Even Hemstead joined in the laugh, though inwardly  inclined to
+anathematize his big feet. Lottie retreated from further discussion
+by saying:
+
+"I have heard that theologians were inclined to be dogmatic  in
+controversy, and I fear that you are no exception, Mr. Hemstead.
+So, since I have had the last word, with your permission, I retire
+'of the same opinion still.'"
+
+"I submit," he rejoined, good-naturedly. "In any case my answer
+would have been CURTAILED"
+
+"Ha, ha!" chimed out Lottie's laugh. "That is better than your
+logic."
+
+"Frank! that you should call this dear little creature a cur!" said
+Mrs. Marchmont, comforting her still whining pet.
+
+"What DISCOURTESY!" said Lottie.
+
+"What is the matter with you all?" asked Mr. Dimmerly, rising. "From
+talking Latin you have got on something that I understand as well
+as Choctaw. Lottie, I hope you are not argued out of one of our
+best old English customs.  I have inherited whist from a dozen
+generations. So, nephew, with your leave or your frown, I must have
+my game."
+
+"I cannot say, uncle, that Mr. Hemstead has argued very much, but
+two very painful TALES have been presented in an imPRESSIVE manner.
+You see how moved auntie and Fido are still over one of them. But
+come, Mr. Hemstead, you have discharged your duty. If they play
+whist all night and commit suicide in the morning, your skirts are
+clear. Shake off the dust of your feet at them, and take a promenade
+in the hall with me. Cousin Julian" (with emphasis on the word
+cousin), "your conscience is as tough and elastic as Mr. Hemstead's
+is tender. You haunt smoking-cars and other questionable places;
+so, without serious moral harm, you can gratify uncle."
+
+Mrs. Marchmont, who had listened with polite weariness to the latter
+part of the discussion, now took part in the game as quietly as
+she would pour tea at the head of the table. The aunt and nephew
+had lived in such different atmospheres that they could scarcely
+understand each other, and both harbored thoughts that were hardly
+charitable, as is usually the case in regard to those actions which
+have no moral qualities in themselves, and after all must be decided
+by each one's conscience. To Mrs. Marchmont, with her antecedents,
+a game of whist was one of the most innocent ants of her life.
+
+But Hemstead was too well pleased with Lottie's arrangement  to
+grieve deeply over what, to his conscience, was wrong, and soon
+forgot uncle, aunt, and cousin, and even the unlucky lap-dog, whose
+dismal howl had so discomfited him a moment before. Just such a
+luminary as Lottie Marsden  had never appeared above his horizon, and
+her orbit seemed so eccentric that as yet he could not calculate
+it; but this element of uncertainty made observation all the
+more interesting. The wide old hall, without the embarrassment  of
+observant eyes, was just the place to learn something  more definite
+of one who thus far had dazzled and puzzled, while she gained his
+strong interest. True, Addie and Mr. Harcourt were walking before
+them, but seemed so absorbed in each other as not to notice them.
+He felt a curious thrill when a little hand lighted, like a
+snow-flake, upon his arm, but soon increased its pressure with a
+sort of cousinly confidence. He looked inquiringly into the face
+turned up to him as they passed under the lamp, and thought, "In
+its guileless beauty it reminds me of the clear mountain lakes that
+I have seen in this region."
+
+His figure was true, but not as he understood it; for Lottie's  face,
+like the lake, would then reflect anything that happened upon the
+margin of her thoughts, while her heart remained hidden. He thought he
+saw herself, but in truth only false and vanishing images. Still,
+like the mirroring water, her skilful feigning could make the
+images seem very real. Hemstead, with his boundless faith in woman,
+believed all he saw, and hoped still more.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A LITTLE PAGAN.
+
+
+
+
+
+The joke had now taken a phase that De Forrest did not relish. While
+Lottie's by-play was present, and she was telegraphing to him with
+her brilliant eyes, it was excellent. But to sit with his back to
+the door leading into the hall, vis-a-vis to Mr. Dimmerly's puckered
+face, and give close attention to the game, was a trying ordeal to
+one who only consulted his own pleasure. And yet he feared he would
+offend Lottie, did he not remain at his post. She was a despotic
+little sovereign, and he felt that he must use all address until she
+was safely brought to the matrimonial altar. He comforted himself,
+however, with the thought that she was generous, and when he acted
+the role of martyr she usually rewarded him with a greater show of
+kindness, and no got through an hour with indifferent grace.
+
+But this purgatorial hour to him was keenly enjoyed by Lottie and
+Hemstead, though by each for different reasons.
+
+"I fear you think me a giddy, wayward girl," said Lottie gently.
+
+"In frankness, I hardly know what to think," replied Hemstead.
+
+"Frank is your name, is it not?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"It seems appropriate. I hope you won't judge me too harshly."
+
+"The danger is the other way, I fear," he said laughing.
+
+"Well, one of your profession ought to be charitable.  But I might
+naturally expect to be disapproved of by one so good and wise as
+you are."
+
+"Why do you think me 'good and wise'?"
+
+"Because you are a minister, if for no other reason."
+
+"I am also a man."
+
+"Yes," she said innocently. "You are quite grown up."
+
+He looked at her quickly; her demure face puzzled him, and he said,
+"I fear you think I am overgrown."
+
+"And I fear you don't care what I think. Men of your profession
+are superior to the world."
+
+"Really, I shall think you are sarcastic, if you talk in that way
+any more." But she looked so serious that he half believed she was
+in earnest.
+
+"Are ministers like other men?" she asked, with a spice of genuine
+curiosity in her question. The venerable pastor of the church which
+she attended in New York had not seemed to belong to the same race
+as herself. His hair was so white, his face so bloodless, his life
+so saintly, and his sermons so utterly beyond her, that he appeared
+as dim and unearthly as one of the Christian Fathers. A young
+theologian  on the way to that same ghostly state was an object
+of piquant interest. She had never had a flirtation with a man of
+this character, therefore there was all the zest of novelty.  Had
+she been less fearless, she would have shrunk from it, however, with
+something of the superstitious dread that many have of jesting in
+a church, or a graveyard. But there was a trace of hardihood in her
+present course that just took her fancy. From lack of familiarity
+with the class, she had a vague impression that ministers differed
+widely from other men, and to bring one down out of the clouds as a
+fluttering captive at her feet would be a triumph indeed. A little
+awe mingled with her curiosity as she sought to penetrate the
+scholastic and saintly atmosphere in which she supposed even an
+embryo clergyman dwelt. She hardly knew what to say when, in reply
+to her question, "Are ministers like other men?" he asked, "Why
+not?"
+
+"That is hardly a fair way to answer."
+
+"You do not find me a mysterious being."
+
+"I find you very different from other young men of my acquaintance.
+What to me is a matter of course is dreadful to you. Then you ministers
+have such strange theological ways of dividing the world up into
+saints and sinners, and you coolly predict such awful things for
+the sinners (though I confess the sinners take it quite as coolly).
+The whole thing seems professional rather than true."
+
+The tone of deep sadness in which the young man next spoke caused
+her to look at him with a little surprise.
+
+"I do not wonder that this mutual coolness perplexes you. If we
+believe the Bible, it is the strangest mystery in existence."
+
+"You may well put that in. Do the generality of people believe the
+Bible? But as I was saying, from the very nature of your calling
+you come to live far away from us. Our old minister knows more about
+dead people than living. He knows all about the Jews and Greeks who
+lived eighteen centuries ago, but next to nothing of the young of
+his own church. My motives and temptations would be worse than.
+Sanscrit to him,--harder to understand than the unsolved problems
+of mathematics. What does such a man know about the life of a young
+lady in society? That which influences me would seem less than
+nothing to him."
+
+"I think you misjudge your pastor. If you became well acquainted
+with him, you might find a heart overflowing with sympathy."
+
+"I can no more get acquainted with him than if he dwelt on Mount
+Olympus. If I were only a doctrine, he might study me up and know
+something about me. But there is so much flesh and blood about me
+that I fear I shall always be distasteful to ministers."
+
+"I assure you, Miss Marsden, I find you more interesting than some
+doctrines."
+
+"But you are young. You are on a vacation, and can for a time descend
+to trifles, but you will grow like the rest. As it is, you speak
+very guardedly, and intimate that I would be as nothing compared
+with other doctrines."
+
+"What is a doctrine, Miss Marsden?"
+
+"O, bless me, I don't know exactly; a sort of abstract summing up
+of either our qualities or God's qualities. The only doctrine I
+even half understand is that of 'total depravity,' and I sometimes
+fear it's true."
+
+"I think you are a great deal more interesting than the 'doctrine
+of total depravity,'" said Hemstead, laughing.
+
+"Perhaps you will come to think I am synonymous with it."
+
+"No fear. I have seen too much of you for that already."
+
+"What redeeming features have you seen?"
+
+He looked at her earnestly for a moment, and she  sustained his
+gaze with an expression of such innocent  sweetness that he said, a
+little impulsively, "All your features redeem you from that charge."
+
+"O, fie!" she exclaimed, "a pun and flattery in one breath!"
+
+"I do not mean to flatter. Although in some respects you puzzle me,
+I am very clear and positive as to my feeling of gratitude. While
+my aunt feels kindly toward me, she is formal. It seemed to me when
+I came out of the cold of the wintry night I found within a more
+chilling coldness.  But when you gave me your warm hand and claimed
+something like kindred, I was grateful for that which does not always
+accompany kindred,--genuine kindness. This feeling  was greatly
+increased when instead of making my diffidence  and awkwardness
+a theme of ridicule, you evinced a delicate sympathy, and with
+graceful tact suggested a better courtesy to others. Do you think
+then, that, after this glimpse down such a beautiful vista in your
+nature, I can associate you with 'total depravity'? It was plain
+to you, Miss Marsden, that I had seen little of society, but you
+acted as if that were my misfortune, not my fault. I think the
+impulse that leads one to try to shield or protect another who for
+the time may be weak or defenceless is always noble."
+
+If Lottie had shown a little before that she had a heart, she now
+became painfully aware that she had a conscience, and it gave her
+some severe twinges during this speech.  For a moment she wished
+she deserved his commendation.  But she was not one to do things
+by halves, and so,  recklessly throwing aside her qualms, she said
+laughingly, "I don't think a gentleman of your inches at all an
+object of pity. You are big enough to take care of yourself."
+
+"And I mean to as far as I can. But we all need help at times. You
+know a mouse once served a lion."
+
+"Thank you. Now you have counterbalanced all your fine speeches
+and compliments. 'A mouse serving a lion!' Well, roar gently if
+you please."
+
+"I'm afraid I appear to you like another animal that once donned
+a lion's skin, but whose ears, alas, protruded."
+
+"That is rather a skilful retreat; but I imagine that you think
+yourself a veritable lion."
+
+"If you insist on my being a lion, I must refer you to ancient
+mythology, where one of these overrated beasts is held a crouching
+captive by Diana."
+
+"Well, that is quite a transition. First compared to a mouse, and
+then to the moon. I fear that if you have not visited 'questionable
+places,' you have permitted your mind to dwell on the 'questionable'
+myths of the past.
+
+"O, that was in the regular order of things," he replied.  "Before
+coming to the study of theology, we are put through mythology;
+that is, under the guidance of reverend professors we make the
+acquaintance of a set of imaginary beings who, had they veritably
+lived, and in our day, would have soon found their way to the
+penitentiary."
+
+"At the door of which the 'lion' and 'Diana' would part company,
+and so I should lose my gentle 'captive' and become as disconsolate
+as auntie would have been had you trodden on the reverse extremity
+of her pet."
+
+"O, pardon me, but Diana was an exception to the rest."
+
+"Better or worse?"
+
+"Better, of course. She was a trifle cruel, though, was she not?"
+
+"You have been proving me very tender-hearted."
+
+"So every woman should be."
+
+"I doubt whether you know much about us."
+
+"I cannot imagine a being--not even an angel-more pure, unselfish,
+and true than my mother; and she is a woman."
+
+"Miss Lottie," here broke in De Forrest, "I've played whist to the
+utmost limit of my conscience. You will not keep me on the rack
+any longer."
+
+"O, no, Cousin Julian," she replied, sotto voce, "only on the sofa
+with our dear cousin Bel. See, she sits there alone.  Good-by," and
+she swept past, with a malicious twinkle in her eyes at his blank
+expression.
+
+But Bel saw and understood the scene. With a cynical smile she
+went to the piano, and commenced a brilliant waltz. Under its spell
+Addie and Mr. Harcourt came whirling  up the hall, and Lottie, who
+had been under restraint so long, could not resist the temptation
+of letting De Forrest carry her off also.
+
+"It's only with my cousin, you know," she whispered apologetically
+to Hemstead.
+
+He stood in the door-way for a few moments and watched her graceful
+figure with a strange and growing interest Whether saint or sinner,
+this being so emphatically of flesh and blood was exceedingly
+fascinating. The transition from the cloister-like seclusion of his
+seminary life to this suburb of the gay world was almost bewildering;
+and Lottie Marsden was one to stir the thin blood and withered
+heart of the coldest anchorite. The faint perfume which she seemed
+to exhale like a red rosebush in June was a pleasing exchange for
+the rather musty and scholastic atmosphere in which he so long
+had dwelt. As she glanced by as lightly as a bird on the wing, she
+occasionally beamed upon him with one of her dangerous smiles. She
+then little thought or cared that his honest and unoccupied heart
+was as ready to thaw and blossom into love as a violet bank facing
+the south in spring. He soon had a vague consciousness that he was
+not doing just the prudent thing, and therefore rejoined his aunt
+and uncle. Soon after he pleaded the weariness of his journey and
+retired. As he was about to mount the stairs Lottie whirled by and
+whispered, "Don't think me past praying for."
+
+The slang she used in jest came to him, with his tendencies  and
+convictions, like an unconscious appeal and a divine suggestion.
+He was utterly unconventional, and while readily  unbending into
+mirthfulness, he regarded life as an exceedingly  serious thing.
+As the eyes of artist and poet catch glimpses of beauty where to
+others are only hard lines and plain surfaces, so strong religious
+temperaments are quick to see providences, intimations, and leadings.
+
+Hemstead went to his room with steps that deep thought rendered
+slower and slower. He forgot his weariness, and sat down before
+the fire to think of one known but a few brief hours. If there are
+those who can coolly predict "awful things" of the faithless and
+godless, Hemstead was not one of them. The young girl who thought
+him a good subject for jest and ridicule, he regarded with profound
+pity.  Her utter unconsciousness of danger had to him the elements
+of deepest pathos.
+
+While perplexed by contradictions in her manner and words, he
+concluded that she was what she seemed, a girl of unusual force
+of mind, frank and kindly, and full of noble impulses, but whose
+religious nature was but slightly developed. He at that time would
+have been shocked and indignant if he had known the truth. Her
+natural tendencies  had been good. Her positive nature would never
+waver weakly along the uncertain boundary of good and evil, as was
+the case with Bel Parton. She was one who would be decided and
+progressive in one direction or the other, but now was clearly
+on the sinister side of truth and moral  loveliness. Surrounding
+influences had been adverse. She had yielded to them, and they had
+carried her farther astray than if she had been of a cautious and
+less forceful temperament.  While therefore full of good impulses,
+she was also passionate  and selfish. Much homage had made her
+imperious, exacting, and had developed no small degree of vanity.
+She exulted in the power and pre-eminence that beauty gave, and
+often exerted the former cruelly, though it is due to her to state
+that she did not realize the pain she caused.  While her own heart
+slept, she could not understand the aching disquiet of others that
+she toyed with. That it was good sport, high-spiced excitment, and
+occupation for her restless, active mind, was all she considered.
+As she would never be neutral in her moral character, so she was
+one who would do much of either harm or good. Familiarity with
+the insincerities of fashionable life had blurred her sense of
+truthfulness in little things, and in matters of policy she could
+hide her meaning or express another as well as her veteran mother.
+
+And yet there were great possibilities of good in her  character.
+She had a substratum of sound common sense; was wholesomely averse
+to meanness, cowardice, and temporizing;  best of all, she was not
+shallow and weak. She could appreciate noble action, and her mind
+could kindle at great thoughts if presented clearly and strongly.
+
+She could scarcely be blamed severely for being what she was, for
+she had only responded to the influences that had ever surrounded
+her, and been moulded by them. Her character was rapidly forming,
+but not as yet fixed. Therefore  her best chance of escaping a moral
+deformity as marked as her external beauty was the coming under an
+entirely different class of influences.
+
+However earthly parents may wrong their children by neglect, or
+by permitting in themselves characters that  react ruinously upon
+those sacredly intrusted to their training, the Divine Father seems
+to give all a chance sometime in life for the achievement of the
+grandest of all victories, the conquest of self. Whatever abstract
+theories dreamers may evolve secluded from the world, those who observe
+closely--who KNOW humanity from infancy to age--are compelled to
+admit, however reluctantly, that the inner self of every heart is
+tainted and poisoned by evil. The innocence of childhood is too
+much like the harmlessness of the lion's whelps. However loftily and
+plausibly some may assert the innate goodness and self-rectifying
+power of humanity, as Tom Paine wrote against the Bible without
+reading it, not having been able at the time to procure one in
+infidel Paris, those who take the scientific course of getting the
+facts first shake their heads despondingly. It is true that parents
+discover diversities in their children. Some are sweeter-tempered
+than others, and seem pointed  horizontally, if not heavenward,
+in their natures. Many bid fair to stand high, measured by earthly
+standards. But the approving  world can know nothing of the evil
+thoughts that haunt the heart.
+
+What mother has not been almost appalled as she has seen the face
+of her still infant child inflamed with rage and the passionate
+desire for revenge? The chubby hand is not always raised to caress,
+but too often to strike. As mind and heart develop, darker and meaner
+traits unfold with every natural grace. There is a canker-worm in
+the bud, and unless it is taken out, there never can be a perfect
+flower.
+
+But Mr. and Mrs. Marsden thought of none of these things. The mother
+received her estimate of life, and her duty, from current opinion
+on the avenue. She complacently  felicitated herself that she kept
+up with the changing mode quite as well as most women of wealth
+and fashion, if not better. She managed so well that she excited
+the admiration of some, and the envy of more; and so was content.
+As for Mr. Marsden, what with his business, his newspaper, whist,
+and an occasional evening at the club or some entertainment or public
+meeting that he could not escape, his life was full and running
+over. He never had time to give a thought to the fine theories about
+his children, nor to the rather contradictory facts often reported
+from the nursery. But as year after year he paid the enormous and
+increasing bills for nurses, gouvernantes, Italian music masters,
+and fashionable schools, he sincerely thought that few men did as
+much for their children as he.
+
+Of course, a lady from whom society expected so much as from Mrs.
+Marsden could not give her time to her children.  In the impressible
+period of infancy and early childhood,  Lottie and her brother, and
+an invalid sister older than herself, had been left chiefly to the
+charge of servants.  But Mrs. Marsden's conscience was at rest,
+for she paid the highest prices for her French and German nurses
+and governesses,  and of course "had the best," she said. Thus the
+children lived in a semi-foreign atmosphere, and early caught a,
+"pretty foreign accent," which their mamma delighted to exhibit in
+the parlor; and at the same time they became imbued with foreign
+morals, which they also put on exhibition  disagreeably often. When
+through glaring faults the stylish nursery-maid was dismissed, the
+obliging keeper of the intelligence office around the corner had
+another foreign waif just imported, who at a slightly increased sum
+was ready to undertake the care, and he might add the corruption,
+of the children in the most approved style. She was at once engaged,
+and to this alien the children were committed  almost wholly, while
+Mrs. Marsden would tell her afternoon visitors how fortunate she
+had been in obtaining a new nurse with even a "purer accent." The
+probabilities were that her doubtful accent was the purest thing
+about her. Sometimes, as the results of this tutelage grew more
+apparent, even Mrs. Marsden had misgivings. But then her wealthiest
+and most fashionable neighbors were pursuing the same course with
+precisely the same results; and so she must be right.
+
+If Lottie had been born pellucid as a drop of dew, as some claim,
+she would not have remained so long, even in the nursery, and as
+she stepped out farther and faster in the widening sphere of her
+life, surrounding influences did not improve.
+
+Her extreme beauty and grace, and the consequent  admiration and
+flattery, developed an unusual degree of vanity, which had strengthened
+with years; though now she had too much sense and refinement to
+display it publicly. While generous and naturally warm-hearted,
+the elements of gentleness  and patient self-denial for the sake
+of others at this time could scarcely have been discovered in her
+character.
+
+Indeed this beautiful girl, nurtured in a Christian land, a regular
+attendant upon church, was a pagan and belonged to a pagan family.
+Not one of her household worshipped God.  Mr. and Mrs. Marsden
+would have been exceedingly shocked and angered if they had been
+told they were heathens.  But at the time when Paul found among
+the multitudinous altars of Athens one dedicated to the "Unknown
+God," there were many Grecian men and women more highly  cultivated
+than these two aristocrats of to-day. But in spite of external
+devoutness at church, it could easily be shown that to this girl's
+parents the God of the Bible was as "unknown" and unheeded as the
+mysterious and unnamed deity  concerning whose claims the Apostle
+so startled the luxurious Athenians. Like the ancient Greeks, all
+had their favorite shrines that, to a greater or a less degree,
+absorbed heart and brain.
+
+Lottie was a votaress of pleasure: the first and about the only
+article of her creed was to make everything and everybody  minister
+to her enjoyment. She rarely entered on a day with a more definite
+purpose than to have a "good time"; and in the attainment of this
+end we have seen that she was by no means scrupulous.
+
+She was as cruel a little pagan, too, as any of her remote Druidical
+ancestors, and at her various shrines of vanity, pleasure, and
+excitement, delighted in offering human sacrifices.  She had become
+accustomed to the writhing of her victims, and soothed herself
+with the belief that it did not hurt them so very much after all.
+She considered no farther than that flirtation was one of the
+recognized amusements of the fashionable. What the TON did was law
+and gospel to her mother; and the same to Lottie, if agreeable. If
+not, there was no law and no gospel for her.
+
+She had no more scruple in making a victim of Hemstead than a Fiji
+Island potentate would have in ordering a breakfast  according to
+his depraved and barbarous taste. And when even society-men had
+succumbed to her wiles, and in abject helplessness had permitted
+her to place her imperious foot upon their necks, what chance had
+a warm-hearted, unsophisticated fellow, with the most chivalric
+ideas of womanhood?
+
+Quick-witted Lottie, on seeing Hemstead and hearing his table-talk,
+had modified Addie Marchmont's suggestion in her own mind. She saw
+that, though unsuspicious and trusting  in his nature, he was too
+intelligent to be imposed upon by broad farce. Therefore, a religious
+mask would soon be known as such. Her aunt also would detect the
+mischievous plot against her nephew and guest, and thwart it. By
+appearing as a well-meaning unguided girl, who both needed and
+wished an adviser, she might more safely keep this modern  Samson
+blindly making sport for her and the others, and at the same time
+not awaken the troublesome suspicions of her aunt and uncle. In the
+character of one who was full of good impulses--who erred through
+ignorance, and who wished to be led and helped to better things--she
+was nearer the truth, and could act her part more successfully.
+
+But what could Frank Hemstead, coming from a home in which he
+had breathed the very atmosphere of truth and purity, know of all
+this? To him Lottie was the most beautiful  creature he had ever
+seen, and in his crystal integrity he would have deemed it a foul
+insult to her to doubt that she was just what she seemed. To his
+straightforward nature, believing a woman the opposite of what she
+seemed was like saying to her, "Madam, you are a liar."
+
+The world would be better if women did more to preserve this
+chivalric trust.
+
+"Past praying for!" His creed taught him to pray for all the world,
+and already a subtile, unrecognized impulse of his heart led him
+to plead before the Divine Father for one who seemed, in outward
+grace, already fitted for heavenly surroundings.
+
+When a block of unusually perfect marble falls under the eye of
+a true sculptor, he is conscious of a strong impulse to bring out
+the exquisite statue that is distinctly visible to his mind. Hemstead
+was an enthusiast in the highest form of art and human effort, and
+was developing, as the ruling motive of his life, a passion for
+moulding the more enduring material of character into moral symmetry
+and loveliness.  Humanity in its most forbidding guise interested
+him, for his heart was warm and large and overflowed with a great
+pity for the victims of evil. In this respect he was like his
+Master, who had "compassion on the multitude." His anticipation
+of his life-work was as non-professional as that of a mother who
+yearns over the children she cannot help loving. Lottie appeared
+strong and lovely by nature. It seemed to him that the half-effaced,
+yet still lingering image of God rested upon her beautiful face
+more distinctly than he had ever seen it elsewhere. The thought of
+that image becoming gradually blurred and obliterated by sin--of
+this seemingly exquisite and budding flower growing into a coarse,
+rank weed--was revolting to his mind.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+PLAIN TALK.
+
+
+
+
+
+At last the sound of mirth and laughter ceased, and the house became
+quiet.
+
+Lottie sat warming her feet at the glowing coals in her room,
+before retiring. A dreamy smile played upon her face, coming and
+going with passing thoughts, even as the firelight flickered upon
+it.
+
+She was in an unusually amiable mood, for this affair with Hemstead
+promised richly. If he had been an ordinary and polished society-man,
+the flirtation would have been humdrum,  like a score of others.
+But he was so delightfully fresh and honest, and yet so clever
+withal, that her eyes sparkled with anticipating mirth as she saw
+him in various attitudes of awkward love-making, and then dropping
+helplessly into the abyss of his own great, but empty heart, on
+learning the vainness of his passion.
+
+"He finds me 'more interesting than some doctrines,' indeed! I'll
+put all his dry doctrines to rout in less than a week. I'll drive
+text-books and professors out of his head, and everything else
+(save myself) out of his heart, for a little while. But after he
+gets back to Michigan, the doctrines will come creeping back into
+their old place, and he will get comfortably over it like the rest.
+In the mean while, as substantial and useful results, I will have
+my rare bit of sport, and he will know more about the wicked world
+against which he is to preach. By and by he will marry a pious Western
+giantess, whose worst dissipation is a  Sunday-school picnic, and
+will often petrify her soul with horror and wonder by describing
+that awful little pagan, Lottie Marsden.
+
+"And a heathen I am in very truth. Where are missionaries  needed
+more than in Fifth Avenue? They had better not come, though; for
+if we would not eat them, we would freeze them."
+
+"What are you thinking about, Lottie, that you are smiling  so
+sweetly?" asked her room-mate, Bel Parton.
+
+"In truth, it was a sweet thought," said Lottie, her laugh awakening
+sudden echoes in the still house, and sounding as oddly as a bird's
+song at night. "I'm glad Frank Hemstead  doesn't know. If he did,
+I should appall instead of fascinating him."
+
+"I think your plot against him is very wrong,--wicked, indeed. He
+is such a sincere, good young man, that I like it less and less.
+I couldn't do such a thing."
+
+"Still you can look on and enjoy the fun, and that is all you have
+to do. Poor Bel, you are always in need of an M. D.'s or a D. D.'s
+care. I have forsworn both."
+
+So spoke Lottie in the arrogance of her perfect health and abounding
+beauty, and then (such are the seeming  contradictions of character)
+she knelt and appeared as a  white-robed saint at her devotions. But
+the parrot-like prayer that she hastily mumbled was of no possible
+value to any one.  She had continued the habit from childhood,
+and it was mainly habit. The other motive was something like the
+feeling  of a careless Catholic, who crosses himself, though he
+cannot explain what good it does him.
+
+A moment later she might have been taken as a model of sleeping
+innocence.
+
+This world is evidently sadly out of joint. We all know of the most
+gentle, lovely, unselfish spirits, beautiful to Heaven's eye, that
+are enshrined in painfully plain caskets.  In the instance of Lottie
+Marsden, the casket was of nature's most exquisite workmanship,
+but it held a tarnished jewel.
+
+It was with some misgivings that Hemstead looked  forward to meeting
+his "cousin," on the following morning.  Would she be as radiantly
+beautiful, as piquant, and withal as kindly and frank as on the
+previous evening? Even his limited experience of the world had shown
+him that in the matter-of-fact and searching light of the morning
+many of the illusions of the night vanish. He had noted with no
+little surprise that ladies seemingly young and blooming had come
+down to breakfast looking ten years older; so he had said to himself,
+"She dazzled me last night. I shall see her as she is to-day."
+
+Being an early riser he entered the cheerful breakfast-room
+considerably before the others, and in a moment was entranced by
+the view from the windows.
+
+The severe north-east storm had expended itself during the night,
+and its fine, sharp crystals had changed into  snowflakes. As an
+angry man after many hard cutting words relents somewhat and speaks
+calmly if still coldly, so nature, that had been stingingly severe
+the evening before, was now quietly letting fall a few final hints
+of the harsh mood that was passing away. Even while he looked, the
+sun broke through a rift over the eastern mountains, and lighted up
+the landscape as with genial smiles. It shone, not on an ordinary
+and prosaic world, but rather on one that had been touched by magic
+during the night and transformed into the wonder-land of dreams.
+
+The trees that in the dusk of the previous night had writhed and
+groaned and struck their frozen branches  together, gesticulating
+like despairing anguish, now stood serene, and decked more daintily
+than June would robe them. Whiter even than the pink-tinged blossoms
+of May, was the soft wet snow that incased every twig, limb, and
+spray. The more he looked, the more the beauty and the wonder of
+the scene grew upon him. The sun was dispersing  the clouds and
+adding the element of splendor to that of beauty. It became one of
+the supreme moments of his life, and in the vanishing beauty of an
+earthly scene he received an earnest of the perfect world beyond.
+
+"With the exception of the broad dark river," he thought, "this
+might be the Millennial morn, and nature standing decked in her
+spotless ascension robes, waiting in breathless expectancy."
+
+But his musings were unexpectedly interrupted, for just at this
+moment Lottie Marsden put her hand lightly on his arm and said,
+"Cousin Frank--pardon me--Mr. Hemstead, what is the matter? You
+look as rapt as if you saw a vision."
+
+He turned and seemed as startled as if he had, for standing  by
+him and looking inquiringly into his face was a being that, with
+her brilliant eyes and exquisitely clear and delicate complexion,
+seemed as beautiful, and at the same time as frail and ready to
+vanish, as the snow-wreaths without.
+
+She saw the strong admiration and almost wonder depicted on his
+open face, though she seemed so innocently oblivious of it, and for
+a moment left him under the spell, then said, "Are you so resentful
+at my desertion last evening that you won't speak to me?"
+
+"Look there," he replied, and he pointed to the fairy-land without.
+
+Lottie's wonder and delight were almost equal to his own, for she
+had never witnessed such a scene before.
+
+"I am so glad I came!" she said. "We see nothing like this in the
+city. Look at those snowy mountains. How vast and white they are!"
+
+"And look at that little tree with its red berries gleaming against
+the snowy foil. They look like those rulsy ear-rings against the
+whiteness of your neck."
+
+She looked at him quickly and humorously, asking, "Where did you
+learn the art of complimenting?"
+
+"I had no thought of trivial compliment in the presence of a scene
+like this," he answered gravely; "I was awed by the beauty I saw,
+and it seemed as if the Great Artist must be near. I wished to
+call your attention to the truth that, like all His work, the least
+thing is perfect. That little tree with its red berries is beautiful
+as well as the mountain. I now am glad too that you came, though
+I dreaded any one's coming before, and the necessity of returning
+to common-place  life. But suddenly, and as silently as one of those
+snow-flakes, you appear, and I am startled to find you in keeping
+with the scene, instead of an intrusion."
+
+"And do I seem to you like a snow-flake--as pure and as cold?" she
+asked, bending upon him her brilliant eyes.
+
+"Not as cold, I trust, and if you were as pure you would not be
+human. But your beauty seemed to me as marvellous  as that of the
+scene I had been wondering at. I am not versed in society's disguises,
+Miss Marsden, and can better express my thoughts than hide them.
+You know you are very beautiful. Why should I not say so as well
+as involuntarily express the fact in my face as I did a moment ago,
+and as every one does, I suppose, who meets you.  There is nothing
+brought to your attention more often, and more pressed upon you.
+It must be so. Does not your beauty cause you much anxiety?"
+
+"What a funny question!" laughed Lottie. "Your frankness  is
+certainly as transparent as those snow-crystals there.  I cannot
+say that it does. Why should it, even granting that it exists
+independently of your disordered imagination?"
+
+"It exposes you to a temptation very hard to resist. Such beauty
+as yours should be but the reflex of character. I once saw, in an
+art gallery of New York, a marble face so white, pure, and sweet,
+that it has ever remained in my memory as an emblem of spiritual
+beauty. Suppose every one that came in should touch that face, and
+some with coarse and grimy fingers, what a smutched and tawdry look
+it would soon have. You cannot help the admiring glances, flattering
+words, and the homage that ever waits on beauty, any more than
+the marble face the soiling touch of any Vandal  hand; but you can
+prevent your soul from being stained and smirched with vanity and
+pride."
+
+"I never had any one to talk to me in this way," said Lottie, looking
+demurely down. "Perhaps I should have been better if I had. I fear
+you think me very vain and conceited."
+
+"I should think it very strange if you were not somewhat vain. And
+yet you do not act as if you were."
+
+"Supposing I am vain. What difference does it make, if no one knows
+it?" she asked abruptly.
+
+"There are two who always will know it."
+
+"Who?"
+
+"God and yourself. And by and by all masks must be dropped, and
+all the world see us as we are."
+
+"Do you believe that?" she asked, a little startled at the thought.
+
+"I know it," he replied, in a tone of quiet confidence that carries
+more conviction than loud assertion. "Moreover, your beauty involves
+a heavy burden of responsibility."
+
+"Really, Mr. Hemstead, if you keep on you will prove beauty a great
+misfortune, whether I possess it or not."
+
+"Far from it."
+
+"Granting for sake of argument your premise, how am I burdened with
+responsibility?"
+
+"Would it not almost break your heart, if your honorable father
+were misappropriating money intrusted to his care?"
+
+"Don't suggest such a thing."
+
+"Only for the sake of illustration. Suppose he had the qualities
+and position which led a great many to place their means in his
+hands; would that not increase his responsibility?"
+
+"Yes, if he accepted such trusts."
+
+"Are there not more valuable possessions than dollars, stocks,
+and bonds? Every one is more or less fascinated, drawn, and won by
+beauty, and to the beautiful the most sacred thoughts and feelings
+of the heart are continually intrusted.  History and biography show
+that beautiful women, if true, gentle, and unselfish, have great
+power with their own sex, and almost unbounded influence over men.
+Your power, therefore, is subtle, penetrating, and reaches the inner
+life, the very warp and woof of character. If a beautiful statue
+can ennoble and refine, a beautiful woman can accomplish infinitely
+more. She can be a constant inspiration, a suggestion  of the perfect
+life beyond and an earnest of it. All power brings responsibility,
+even that which a man achieves or buys; but surely, if one receives
+Heaven's most exquisite gifts, bestowed as directly as this marvellous
+beauty without, and so is made pre-eminent in power and influence,
+she is under a double responsibility to use that power for good.
+That a woman can take the royal gift of her own beauty, a divine
+heritage, one of the most suggestive relics of Eden still left
+among us, and daily sacrifice it on the poorest and meanest of
+altars--her own vanity--is to me hard to understand.  It is scarcely
+respectable heathenism. But to use her beauty as a lure is far
+worse. Do we condemn wreckers, who place false, misleading lights
+upon a dangerous  coast? What is every grace of a coquette, but a
+false light, leading often to more sad and hopeless wreck?"
+
+No man had ever told Lottie more plainly that she was beautiful,
+than Hemstead, and yet she disliked his compliments  wofully. Her
+face fairly grew pale under his words.  Had he learned of her plot?
+Had he read her thoughts, and been informed of her past life? Did
+quiet satire and denunciation lurk under this seeming frankness?
+She was for the moment perplexed and troubled. Worse still, he
+compelled her to see these things in a new light, and her conscience
+echoed his words.
+
+But her first impulse was to learn whether he was speaking  generally,
+or pointedly at her; so she asked, in some little trepidation,
+"Has any naughty girl tried to treat you badly, that you speak so
+strongly?"
+
+He laughed outright at this question. "No one has had a chance,"
+he said; "and I do not think there are many who would take it.
+Moreover, I imagine that one of your proud belles would not even
+condescend to flirt with a poor awkward fellow like me. But I am
+not a croaking philosopher,  and look on the bright side of the
+world. It has always treated me quite as well as I deserved. I often
+think the world is not so bad as described, and that it would be
+better, if it had a chance."
+
+"Have you seen much of it, Mr. Hemstead?"
+
+"I cannot say that I have. I have read and thought about it far
+more than I have seen. On account of my limited means and student
+life, my excursions have been few and far between. I have already
+proved to you what an awkward stranger I am to society. But in
+thought and fancy I have been a great rambler, and like to picture
+to myself all kinds of scenes, past and present, and to analyze
+all kinds of character."
+
+"I hope you won't analyze mine," she said, looking at him rather
+distrustfully. "I should not like to be dissected before I was
+dead."
+
+"I wish all were as able to endure analysis as yourself, Miss
+Marsden. In any case, you have no reason to fear a severe critic
+in me."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because you have been so lenient towards me. I have received more
+kindness from you, a stranger, than from my own kindred."
+
+"You are very grateful."
+
+"Shakespeare declares ingratitude a 'marble-hearted fiend.'"
+
+"You evidently are not 'marble-hearted.'"
+
+"Though possibly a fiend. Thank you."
+
+"I wish there were no worse to fear."
+
+"You need not have occasion to fear any."
+
+"Well, I can't say that I do very much. Perhaps it would be better
+for me if I did."
+
+"Why so?"
+
+"Then I should be more afraid to do wrong. Miss Parton  cannot do
+wrong with any comfort at all."
+
+"Well, that would be a queer religion which consisted only in being
+afraid of the devil and his imps."
+
+"What is religion? I am foolish in asking such a question  however,
+for I suppose it would take you a year to answer it, and they will
+all be down to breakfast in a few moments."
+
+"O, no, I can answer it in a sentence. True religion is worshipping
+God in love and faith, and obeying Him."
+
+"Is that all?" exclaimed Lottie, in unfeigned astonishment.
+
+"That is a great deal."
+
+"Perhaps it is. You theologians have a way of preaching  awfully
+long and difficult sermons from simple texts.  But I never got as
+simple an idea of religion as that from our minister."
+
+"I fear you think I have been preaching for the last half-hour.
+Perhaps I can best apologize for my long homilies this morning by
+explaining. When an artist is in his best mood, he wishes to be
+at his easel. The same is true of every one who does something con
+amore. When I saw the transfigured world this morning, it was like
+a glimpse into heaven, and--"
+
+"And a naughty little sinner came in just at that moment, and
+got the benefit of your mood," interrupted Lottie.  "Well, I have
+listened to your sermon and understand it, and that is more than I
+can say of many I have heard. It certainly was pointed, and seemed
+pointed at me, and I have heard it said that it is proof of a good
+sermon for each one to go away feeling that he has been distinctly
+preached at. But permit me as a friend, Mr. Hemstead, to suggest that
+this will not answer in our day. I fear, from my little foretaste,
+that people will not be able to sit comfortably under your homilies,
+and unless you intend to preach out in the back-woods, you must
+modify your style."
+
+"That is where I do intend to preach. At least upon the frontiers
+of our great West."
+
+"O, how dismal!" she exclaimed. "And can you, a young, and I suppose
+an ambitious man, look forward to being buried alive, as it were,
+in those remote regions?"
+
+"I assure you I do not propose to be buried alive at the West, or
+spiritually smothered, as you hinted, in a fashionable  church at
+the East. I think the extreme West, where states and society are
+forming with such marvellous rapidity, is just the place for a
+young, and certainly for an ambitious man. Is it nothing to have
+a part in founding and shaping an empire?"
+
+"You admit that you are ambitious, then."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Is that right?"
+
+"I think so."
+
+"Our minister inveighs against ambition, as if it were one of the
+deadly sins."
+
+"He means the ambition that is all for self. That is as wrong and
+contemptible as the beauty that is miserable without  a looking-glass.
+An ardent desire to obtain my Divine Master's approval, and to be
+worthy of it--to be successful in serving a noble cause--cannot be
+wrong."
+
+She looked at his earnest face and eyes, that seemed to glow with
+hidden fire, almost wistfully; and said with a tinge of sadness, "You
+will feel very differently I fear, twenty years hence. Enthusiasm
+is a rare thing in the city, and I imagine it is soon quenched
+everywhere."
+
+"So it is; it needs constant rekindling."
+
+Just then Mrs. Marchmont and Mr. Dimmerly appeared, and soon after
+they all sat down to a late breakfast.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+A SLEIGH-RIDE AND SOMETHING MORE.
+
+
+
+
+
+Lottie assumed an unusual degree of gayety during the early part
+of the meal, but her flow of spirits seemed unequal, and to flag
+towards the last. She had sudden fits of abstraction, during which
+her jetty eyebrows contracted into unwonted frowns.
+
+Her practical joke did not promise so well as on the evening
+before. That unexpected half-hour's talk had shown some actions in
+a new light. She did not mind doing wicked things that had a spice
+of hardihood and venturesomeness in them. But to do what had been
+made to appear mean and dishonorable was another thing, and she was
+provoked enough at Hemstead for having unconsciously given that
+aspect to her action and character, and still more annoyed and
+perplexed that her conscience should so positively side with him.
+Thus it will be seen that her conscience was unawakened, rather
+than seared and deadened.
+
+As she came to know Hemstead better, she found that he was different
+from what she had expected. The conventional idea of a theological
+student had dwelt in her mind; and she had expected to find a
+rather narrow and spiritually  conceited man, full of the clerical
+mannerisms which she had often heard laughed at. But she saw that
+Hemstead's  awkwardness would wear away, through familiarity with
+society, and that, when at ease, he was simple and manly in manner.
+She also perceived that this seclusion from the world, which was
+the cause of his diffidence, had been employed in training  and
+richly storing his mind. Moreover, to one so accustomed  to the
+insincerity of society, his perfect frankness of speech and manner
+was a novelty, interesting, if not always pleasing. She read his
+thoughts as she would an open page, and saw that he esteemed her
+as a true, sincere girl, kind and womanly, and that he had for her
+the strongest respect. She feared that when he discovered her true
+self he would scorn her to loathing. Not that she cared, except
+that her pride would be hurt. But as she was more proud than vain,
+she feared this honest man's verdict.
+
+But soon her old reckless self triumphed. "Of course what I am
+doing will seem awful to him," she thought. "I knew that before I
+commenced. He shall not preach me out of my fun in one half-hour.
+If I could make him love me in spite of what I am, it would be the
+greater triumph.  After all, I am only acting as all the girls in
+my set do when they get a chance. It's not as bad as he makes out."
+
+Still that was an eventful half-hour, when they looked out upon a
+transfigured world together; and while she saw nature in her rarest
+and purest beauty, she had also been given a glimpse into the more
+beautiful world of truth, where God dwells.
+
+But, as the morning advanced, good impulses and better feelings
+and thoughts vanished, even as the snow-wreaths were dropping from
+branch and spray, leaving them as bare as before. By the time the
+sleigh drove up to the door she was as bent as ever upon victimizing
+the "Western giant," as the conspirators had named him. She was
+her old,  decided, resolute self; all the more resolute because
+facing, to her, a new hindrance,--her own conscience, which Hemstead
+had unwittingly awakened; and it said to its uncomfortable  possessor
+some rather severe things that day.
+
+If Lottie were Bel Parton, she would have been in a miserably
+undecided state. But it was her nature to carry out what she had
+begun, if for no other reason than that she had begun it, and she
+was not one to give up a frolic at anyone's scolding,--even her
+own.
+
+As she tripped down the broad stairs in a rich cloak trimmed with
+fur, she reminded Hemstead of some rare tropical bird, and De Forrest
+indulged in many notes of  admiration. Lottie received these as a
+matter of course, but looked at the student with genuine interest.
+His expression seemed to satisfy her, for she turned away to hide
+a smile that meant mischief.
+
+It was quietly arranged that Hemstead should sit beside her, and
+he felicitated himself over their artifice as if it were rare good
+fortune.
+
+Though the sun and the rising breeze had shaken off the clustering
+snow to a great extent, the evergreens still bent beneath their
+beautiful burdens, some straight cedars  reminding one of vigorous
+age, where snowy hair and beard alone suggest the flight of years.
+
+Though the face of nature was so white, it was not the face of
+death. There was a sense of movement and life which was in accord
+with their own spirits and rapid motion.  Snow-birds fluttered and
+twittered in weedy thickets by the way-side, breakfasting on the
+seeds that fell like black specks upon the snow. The bright sunlight
+had lured the red squirrels from their moss-lined nests in hollow
+trees, and their barking was sometimes heard above the chime of
+the bells.
+
+"There goes a parson crow," cried Addie Marchmont.  "How black and
+solemn he looks against the snow!"
+
+"Why are crows called parsons, Mr. Hemstead?" asked Lottie, as a
+child might.
+
+"Indeed, I don't know. For as good a reason, I suppose, as that
+some girls are called witches."
+
+She gave him a quick, keen look, and said, "I hope you mean nothing
+personal."
+
+"I should never charge you with being a witch, Miss Marsden, but
+I might with witchery."
+
+"A distinction without a difference," she said, seeking to lead
+him on.
+
+"He means," explained De Forrest, "that you might be bewitching if
+you chose."
+
+"Hush, Julian, you leave no room for the imagination," said Lottie,
+frowningly.
+
+"Look at that farm-yard, Miss Marsden," said Hemstead.  "The occupants
+seem as glad that the storm is over as we are. What pictures of
+placid content those ruminating cows are under that sunny shed. See
+the pranks of that colt which the boy is trying to lead to water.
+I wish I were on his back, with the prairie before me."
+
+"Indeed, are you so anxious to escape present company?"
+
+"Now I didn't say that. But we have passed by, and I fear you did
+not see the pretty rural picture to which I called your attention.
+Were I an artist I would know where to make a sketch to-day."
+
+"I think you will find that Miss Marsdeo's taste differs very
+widely from yours," said De Forrest; "that is, if you give us to
+understand that you would seek your themes in a barn-yard, and set
+your easel upon a muck-heap. Though your pictures might not rank
+high they would still be very rank."
+
+Even Lottie joined slightly in the general and not  complimentary
+laugh at Hemstead which followed this thrust, but he, with heightened
+color, said, "You cannot criticise my picture, Mr. De Forrest, for
+it does not exist. Therefore  I must conclude that your satire is
+directed against my choice of place and subjects."
+
+"Yes, as with the offence of Denmark's king, they 'smell to heaven.'"
+
+"I appeal to you, Miss Marsden, was not the scent of hay and the
+breath of the cattle as we caught them passing, sweet and wholesome?"
+
+"I cannot deny that they were."
+
+"You have judicial fairness and shall be umpire in this question.
+And now, Mr. De Forrest, there is a celebrated and greatly admired
+picture in a certain gallery, representing a scene from the Roman
+Saturnalia. You do not object to that, with its classic accessories,
+as a work of art?"
+
+"Not at all."
+
+"And yet it portrays a corruption that does in truth 'offend heaven.'
+Your muck-heap, which did not enter my thought at all, and would
+not have been in my picture, could I paint one, would have been
+wholesome in  comparison. Have I made a point, Judge Marsden?"
+
+"I think you have."
+
+"Finally, Mr. De Forrest, what are we to do with the fact that some
+of the greatest painters in the world have  employed their brushes
+upon just such scenes as these, which perhaps offend your nose
+and taste more than they do heaven, and that pictures such as that
+farm-yard would suggest adorn the best galleries of Europe?"
+
+"What artists of note have painted barn-yard scenes?" asked De
+Forrest, in some confusion.
+
+"Well, there is Herring, the famous English artist, for one."
+
+"'Herring' indeed. You are evidently telling a fish Story," said
+De Forrest, contemptuously.
+
+"No, he is not," said Lottie. "Herring is a famous painter, I am
+told, and we have some engravings of his works."
+
+"And I have read somewhere," continued Hemstead, "that his painting
+of an English farm-yard is the most celebrated of his works.
+Moreover, Judge Marsden, I must ask of you another decision as
+to the evidence in this case.  I affirm that I did not call your
+attention to the farm-yard itself, but to its occupants. Is not
+that true?"
+
+"I cannot deny that it is."
+
+"We all know that many eminent artists have made the painting of
+animals a specialty, and among them are such world-renowned names
+as Landseer and Rosa Bonheur.  Moreover, in the numerous pictures
+of the Nativity we often find the homely details of the stable
+introduced. One of Rubens' paintings of this sacred and favorite
+subject, which hangs in the gallery of the Louvre, represents two
+oxen feeding at a rack."
+
+"Come, Julian, hand over your sword. It won't do for you or any
+one to sit in judgment on such painters as Mr.  Hemstead has named.
+You are fairly beaten. I shall admire barn-yards in future, through
+thick and thin."
+
+"That is hardly a fair conclusion from any testimony of mine,"
+said Hemstead. "A barn-yard may be all that Mr.  De Forrest says of
+it, but I am sure you will always find pleasure in seeing a fine
+frolicsome horse or a group of patient cattle. The homely accessories
+may, and sometimes may not, add to the picture."
+
+"How do you come to know so much about pictures?  Theology has
+nothing to do with art."
+
+"I dissent from Judge Marsden's decision now, most  emphatically,"
+replied Hemstead. "Is not true art fidelity to nature?"
+
+"Yes, so it is claimed."
+
+"And where does nature come from? God is the Divine Artist, and
+is furnishing themes for all other artists. God is the author of
+landscapes, mountains, rivers, of scenes like that we saw this morning,
+or of a fine face and a noble form, as truly as of a chapter in the
+Bible. He manifests Himself in these things. Now fine paintings,
+statuary, and music bring out the hidden meanings of nature,
+and therefore more clearly God's thought. Theology, or knowledge
+concerning our Creator, is a science to which everything can minister,
+and surely the appreciation of the beautiful should be learned in
+connection with the Author of all beauty."
+
+"I never thought of God in that light before," said Lottie.  "He
+has always seemed like one watching to catch me at something wrong.
+Our solemn old Sunday-school teacher used to say to us children
+just before we went home, 'Now during the week whenever you are
+tempted to do anything wrong, remember the text, "Thou, God, seest
+me."' When wasn't I tempted to do wrong? and I had for a long time
+the uncomfortable feeling that two great eyes were always staring
+at me. But this isn't sleigh-riding chit-chat," and she broke into
+a merry little trill from a favorite opera.
+
+Hemstead, with his strong love of the beautiful, could not help
+watching her with deepening interest. The rapid motion, the music
+of the bells, the novel scenery of the  sun-lighted, glittering
+world around her, and, chief of all, her own abounding health and
+animal life, combined to quicken her excitable nature into the
+keenest enjoyment. From her red lips came ripples of laughter,
+trills from operas, sallies of fun, that kept the entire party from
+the thought of  heaviness, and to honest-minded Hemstead were the
+evidences of a happy, innocent heart.
+
+With secret exultation she saw how rapidly and unconsciously  the
+unwary student was passing under the spell of her beauty and
+witchery.
+
+One must have been cursed with a sluggish, half-dead body and a
+torpid soul, had he not responded to the  influences under which
+our gay party spent the next few hours.  Innumerable snow-flakes
+had carried down from the air every particle of impurity, and left
+it sweet and wholesome enough to seem the elixir of immortal youth.
+It was so tempered also, that it only braced and stimulated. The raw,
+pinching coldness of the previous day was gone. The sun, undimmed
+by a cloud, shone genially, and eaves facing the south were dripping,
+the drops falling like glittering gems.
+
+Now and then a breeze would career down upon them, and, catching
+the light snow from the adjacent fence, would cast it into their
+faces as a mischievous school-boy might.
+
+"Stop that!" cried Lottie to one of these sportive zephyrs.  "De
+you call that a gust of wind? I declare it was a viewless  sprite,
+or a party of snow elves, playing their mad pranks upon us."
+
+"I prefer fairies less cold and ethereal," said De Forrest, with
+a meaning look at the speaker.
+
+"What do you prefer, Mr. Hemstead?" she asked. "But where we people
+of the world speak of fairies, sprites, and nymphs, I suppose you
+permit yourself to think only of angels."
+
+"Were it so," he replied, "I should still be of the same mind as
+Mr. De Forrest, and be glad that you are not an angel."
+
+"Why so?"
+
+"You might use your wings and leave us."
+
+"Were I one, I would not leave you after that speech.  But see how
+far I am from it. I weigh one hundred and fifteen pounds."
+
+"I wish you were no farther off than that."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"It's not our weight in avoirdupois that drags us down.  But I am
+not going to preach any more to-day. Listen to the bells--how they
+echo from the hill-side!"
+
+"Yes, Julian, listen to Bel," said Lottie to De Forrest, who was
+about to speak. "I'm talking to Mr. Hemstead.  See those snow-crystals
+on my muff. How can you account for so many odd and beautiful
+shapes?"
+
+"To me all the countless forms in nature," said Hemstead, "prove an
+infinite mind gratifying itself. They are expressions  of creative
+thought."
+
+"Nonsense! God doesn't bother with such little things as these."
+
+"We do not know what seems small or great to Him.  The microscope
+reveals as much in one direction as the telescope in another, and
+the common house-fly seems in size midway in animal life."
+
+"And do you believe that the Divine hand is employed in forming
+such trifles as these?"
+
+"The Divine will is. But these trifles make the avalanche and the
+winter's protection for next year's harvest."
+
+"What is that?" asked Harcourt from the front seat, where he was
+driving.
+
+"Do you know," cried Lottie, "that Mr Hemstead thinks everything
+we see, even to nature's smallest trifles, an  'expression of the
+Divine creative thought.'"
+
+"Is that scene such an expression?" asked Harcourt, with a sneering
+laugh, in which the others joined.
+
+By the road-side there was a small hovel, at the door of which a
+half-fed, ill-conditioned pig was squealing. When they were just
+opposite, a slatternly, carroty-headed woman opened the door, and
+raised her foot to drive the clamorous beast away. Altogether, it
+was as squalid and repulsive a picture as could well be imagined.
+
+"Yes," replied Lottie, looking into his face with twinkling eyes,
+"was that sweet pastoral scene an expression of creative thought?"
+
+"The woman certainly was not," he answered, reddening.  "A thought
+may be greatly perverted."
+
+"Whatever moral qualities may be asserted of her manners,  costume,
+and character," said Harcourt, "she is not to blame for the cast
+of her features and the color of her hair. I scarcely know of
+an artist who would express any such thought, unless he wished to
+satirize humanity."
+
+"You can call up before you the portrait of some beautiful  woman,
+can you not, Mr. Harcourt?"
+
+"Let me assist you," cried De Forrest, pulling from his inner pocket
+a photograph of Lottie.
+
+"Hush, Julian. I'm sorry you do not appreciate this grave argument
+more; I'll take that picture from you, if you don't behave better."
+
+"Well, I have a picture before me now, that satisfies me fully,"
+said Mr. Harcourt, turning to Lottie with a smiling bow.
+
+"Now, suppose that you had painted just such a likeness and finished
+it. Suppose I should come afterwards, and, without destroying your
+picture utterly, should blend with those features the forbidding
+aspect of the woman we have just seen, would you not say that your
+thought was greatly perverted?"
+
+"I should think I would."
+
+"Well, Mother Eve was the true expression of the Divine Artist's
+creative thought, and the woman we saw was the perversion of it.
+You can trace no evil thing to the source of all good. Perfection
+is not the author of imperfection."
+
+"Who does the perverting, then?" asked Lottie.
+
+"Evil."
+
+"I don't think it fair that one face and form should be perverted
+into hideousness, and mother left with something of the first
+perfection."
+
+"Evil is never fair, Miss Marsden."
+
+"But is it only evil? I have heard plain children told, when
+resenting their ugliness, that it was wicked, for they were just
+as God made them."
+
+"Can you think of a better way to make a young girl hate God than
+to tell her that?"
+
+"But suppose it's true."
+
+"I am sure it is not. Just the opposite is true. The ugly
+and deformed are as evil has marred them, and not as God has made
+them. By seeking the Divine Artist's aid more than humanity's first
+perfection can be regained.  It is possible for even that wretched
+creature we saw to attain an outward loveliness exceeding that of
+any woman now living."
+
+"That passes beyond the limit of my imagination," said Harcourt.
+
+"Absurd!" muttered De Forrest.
+
+"I fear you are not orthodox," said Bel.
+
+"That means you do not agree with me. But please do not think that
+because I am a minister you must talk upon subjects that are rather
+grave and deep for a sleighing party."
+
+"That's right, Cousin Frank," said Addie. "Dr. Beams will want you
+to preach for him next Sunday. I advise you to reserve your thunder
+till that occasion, when you may come out as strong as you please."
+
+"'Chinese thunder' at best," whispered Harcourt to Addie; but all
+heard him.
+
+Hemstead bit his lip and said nothing, but Lottie spoke up quickly:
+"No matter about the 'thunder,' Mr. Harcourt.  That is only noise
+under any circumstances. But suppose there is the lightning of
+truth in what Mr. Hemstead says?"
+
+"And suppose there is not?" he replied, with a shrug.
+
+Hemstead gave Lottie a quick, pleased look, which Bel and De Forrest
+smilingly noted, and the conversation changed to lighter topics.
+
+As they were passing through a small hamlet some miles back from
+the river, a bare-headed man came running out from a country store
+and beckoned them to stop, saying: "We're going to give our dominie
+a donation party to-night.  Perhaps Mrs. Marehmont will do suthin'
+for us, or likely you'll all like to drive over and help the young
+folks enjoy themselves."
+
+"Capital!" cried Lottie; "I've always wanted to attend a country
+donation. Do you think we can come, Addie?"
+
+"O, certainly, if you wish, but I fear you won't enjoy it.  You
+will not meet any of our 'set' there."
+
+"I don't wish to meet them. I want to meet the other 'set' and have
+a frolic."
+
+"It will be moonlight, and we will have the drive, which will be
+the best part of it, you will find," said Harcourt.  "Yes, we will
+come."
+
+"Them folks thinks that they's made of different flesh and blood
+from the other 'set,' as they call us, and that pretty young woman
+wants to come as she would go to a menagerie," muttered the man
+as he went back to the store.  "No matter, let 'em come, they will
+help us make up the salary."
+
+"Of course, Mr. Hemstead, you will enter upon this expedition with
+great zeal, as it will be to the advantage of one of your fraternity."
+
+"I think, with Mr. Harcourt, that the ride will be the best part
+of it."
+
+"O, for shame! Can it be true that two of even your trade can never
+agree?"
+
+"Long ages of controversy prove that," said Harcourt.
+
+"I think your profession has done more to keep the world in hot
+water than ours, Mr. Harcourt."
+
+"We at least agree among ourselves."
+
+"All the worse, perhaps, for the world."
+
+"That's rather severe if you refer to the proverb, 'When rogues
+fall out, honest men get their dues,'" said Lottie.
+
+"I supposed we were talking in jest; I was."
+
+"You evidently belong to the church militant, since you strike
+back so hard even in jest," said Harcourt. "Very well, since you
+are so able to take care of yourself I shall have no compunctions
+in regard to your fate."
+
+Hemstead did not understand this remark, but the others did,
+and significant glances were exchanged. He turned inquiringly to
+Lottie, feeling that in a certain sense he had an ally in her, but
+she seemed looking away abstractedly as if she had not heeded the
+remark. She was too quick to be caught easily, and the conviction
+grew upon him that while the others from his calling and difference
+in views and tastes had a natural aversion, she was inclined to be
+friendly. And yet she puzzled him not a little at times, as now for
+instance, when she turned and said, "I suppose there are a great
+many nice young men at your seminary."
+
+"I never heard them called' nice young men,'" he replied, looking
+at her keenly.
+
+"O, I beg your pardon,--good, pious, devotional young men, I mean."
+
+"All ought to be that; do you not think so?"
+
+"Well, yes, I think so, since they are to become ministers."
+
+"But not otherwise?"
+
+"I didn't say that. There's a hint for you, Julian."
+
+De Forrest's reply was a contemptuous shrug and laugh.  It would
+be anything but agreeable to him to be thought "good, pious, and
+devotional,"--qualities not in demand at his club, nor insisted on
+by Lottie, and entirely repugnant to his tastes.
+
+"Do they all intend to be missionaries as well as yourself?"  she
+continued.
+
+"O, no; some no doubt will take city churches, and marry wealthy
+wives."
+
+"Would that be wrong?"
+
+"I am not the judge. It's a matter of taste and conscience."
+
+"Would you not marry a lady of wealth?"
+
+"I would marry the woman I loved; that is, if I could get her."
+
+"Well added," said De Forrest.
+
+"Yes, sir, I agree with you. Every man had better add that."
+
+"Indeed they had," said Lottie, with a mischievous twinkle in her
+eyes.
+
+"There is always a chance for a man who will never take 'no' for
+an answer," said De Forrest with a light laugh.
+
+"Do you think so?" she said, lifting her eyebrows  questioningly.
+"I agree with Mr. Hemstead. It's a matter of taste and conscience."
+
+"Do you intend to be a missionary, Mr. Hemstead?" asked Bel Parton.
+
+"I hope so," he replied, quietly.
+
+"Yes," said Lottie; "just think of it. He is going away out to
+the jumping-off place at the West, where he will have the border
+ruffians on one side and the scalping Indians on the other. You
+said you would marry the woman you loved, if you could. Do you think
+any real nice girl would go with you to such a horrible place?"
+
+"I'm sure I don't know. If the one I want won't  venture, I can go
+alone."
+
+"Do you think she'll go?" asked Lottie, so innocently that the
+others had no slight task in controlling their faces.
+
+"Who will go?" said Hemstead, quickly.
+
+"The one whom you said you wanted to."
+
+"Now I'm sure I did not mention any one," said  Hemstead, blushing
+and laughing.
+
+"Well, you did not exactly speak her name."
+
+74 FROM JE&T TO EARNEST-
+
+"No, I should think not, since I don't know it myself."
+
+"How provoking!" pouted Lottie. "I thought we were going to have
+a nice little romance."
+
+"It's a pity I've nothing to tell, in view of my sympathizing
+audience," he replied, with a glance at the gigglers on the other
+seats.
+
+"But I have been told," said Lottie, "that in emergencies committees
+have been appointed to select wives for missionaries,  and that
+there are excellent women who are willing to sacrifice themselves
+for the sake of the cause."
+
+An explosion of laughter followed these words, but she looked at
+the others in innocent surprise.
+
+"That's a funny speech for you to make so gravely," said Hemstead.
+"I fear you are quizzing me. Your missionary lore certainly exceeds
+mine in regard to the 'committees.' But there will be no emergency
+in my case, and I should be sorry to have any woman, excellent or
+otherwise, sacrifice herself for me."
+
+"I have certainly heard so," said Lottie, positively.
+
+"I fear you have heard more to the prejudice of missionaries  and
+their works than in their favor," he said somewhat gravely."
+
+"But I am willing to hear the other side," she whispered in his
+ear.
+
+"Now I protest against that," said De Forrest.
+
+"I'll give you the privilege of whispering to Bel," said Lottie,
+sweetly.
+
+"O, thank you," replied De Forrest, with a shrug.
+
+"You can also help me out," she continued, as the sleigh stopped
+at Mrs. Marchmont's door.
+
+As he did so he whispered in her ear, "Capital, Lottie, you are a
+star actress, and always my bright particular star."
+
+"Don't be sentimental, Julian," was her only response.
+
+At this moment Lottie's brother Dan fired a snow-ball that carried
+off Mr. Hemstead's hat; at which all laughed, and expected to see
+the young theologian assume a look of offended dignity. He disappointed
+them by good-naturedly springing out after his hat, and was soon
+romping with the boy and Mrs. Marchmont's two younger children.
+This was too tempting to Lottie, who joined the frolic at once.
+
+Hemstead laughingly allowed himself to be their victim, and skilfully
+threw great snow-balls so as just to miss them, while they pelted
+him till he was white, and, as if utterly defeated, he led them a
+breathless chase up and down the broad path. Their cries and laughter
+brought half the household to the doors and windows to watch the
+sport.
+
+De Forrest ventured down from the piazza, with the thought that
+he could throw a spiteful ball or two at one he already disliked a
+little, as well as despised. But Hemstead immediately showed what
+a self-sacrificing victim he was to Lottie and the children by
+almost demolishing De Forrest with a huge snow-ball that stung his
+ear sharply, got down his neck, spoiling his collar, and necessitating
+such a toilet that he was late for dinner.
+
+His plight took Lottie out of the field also, for she sank on the
+lower step of the piazza, her hand upon her side, helpless with
+laughter.
+
+Hemstead retreated to a side door, where he shook himself  after
+the manner of a polar bear, and escaped to his room.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+ANOTHER SPELL THAN BEAUTY'S.
+
+
+
+
+
+De Forrest tried to laugh at his discomfiture when he appeared at
+the dinner-table, but he was evidently annoyed and vexed with its
+author.
+
+"It was very nice of you, Mr. Hemstead," said Lottie, "to permit
+youself to be pelted by us. You evidently did not think us worthy
+of your steel. But I fear you gave Julian a strong compliment."
+
+"I only returned one of his."
+
+"But he did not hit you."
+
+"He meant to. We form our most correct judgment of people sometimes
+from what they intend, rather than what they do."
+
+"Well, I thank you for my share of the sport."
+
+"And I thank you for mine."
+
+"What occasion have you to thank me, when I almost put your eyes
+out with snow?"
+
+"You did not so blind them but that I could see a face aglow with
+exercise. That made a pleasing contrast to the cold white snow."
+
+"Frank, Frank, you will make Lottie vain," said Mrs.  Marchmont.
+"I did not know that complimenting was permitted to you."
+
+"That is all right, sister," said Mr. Dimmerly. "That's where
+he shows his good blood and connection with an old family. He is
+gallant to the ladies. They can't get that out of him, even at a
+theological seminary."
+
+Hemstead's blushing confusion increased the laugh at this speech.
+
+"O, mother," exclaimed Addie, "we are all going on a frolic to-night.
+You know that poor, forlorn little minister at Scrub Oaks, who
+has six children, and gets but six  hundred a year? Well, they are
+going to give him a donation to-night, so a dilapidated pillar of
+the church told us. We were invited to come, and Lottie wants to
+go."
+
+"Very well, my dear, since you and our guests wish it."
+
+"Now, auntie, that's very sweet of you to answer so," said Lottie.
+"I want to see the queer, awkward country people who go to such
+places. They amuse me vastly; don't they you, Mr. Hemstead?"
+
+"They interest me."
+
+"O, it wouldn't be proper for you to say 'amuse.'"
+
+"Nor would it be exactly true."
+
+"Why, Lottie," said Addie, "you know that ministers only think of
+people as a sad lot that must be saved."
+
+"We'll help make a jolly lot there, to-night," said Lottie, with a
+swift glance at Hemstead's contracting brows. "Moreover,  auntie,
+I want to see what a minister that lives on six hundred a year
+looks like. We give our pastor ten thousand."
+
+"You need not go so far for that purpose, Miss Marsden," said
+Hemstead, quietly: "that is all I shall get."
+
+"What!" she exclaimed, dropping her knife and fork.
+
+"That, in all probability, will be my salary at first. It may be
+but five hundred."
+
+"Is that all they pay you for going out among the border ruffians?"
+
+"That is the average."
+
+"I wouldn't go," she said indignantly,
+
+"You may rest assured I would not, for the money."
+
+"Frank will change his mind before spring," said his aunt; "or a
+year at least among the 'border ruffians,' as you call them, will
+cure him, and he will be glad to take a nice church at the East."
+
+"What do you say to that, Mr. Hemstead?"
+
+"Perhaps I would better answer by my actions," he replied.
+
+"But I can see from the expression of your eyes and mouth a very
+plain answer to the contrary. Mr. Hemstead, you could be a very
+stubborn man if you chose."
+
+"I hope I could be a very resolute one."
+
+"Yes, so we explain ourselves when we will have our own way. I
+think Aunt Marchmont's suggestion a very good one."
+
+"If we go to the donation we shall have to take something,"  said
+Bel.
+
+"O, yes," exclaimed Addie; "I am told all sorts of queer things are
+brought. Let us take the oddest and most  outlandish we can think
+of. Uncle, there is your old blue  dresscoat; we will take that
+for the minister. Wouldn't he look comical preaching in it? And,
+mother, there is your funny low-necked satin dress that you wore
+when a young lady. I will take that for his wife."
+
+"I understand everybody brings pies to a donation," said Harcourt.
+"I shall be more pious than any of them, and bring over fifty
+from town this afternoon. I will buy all the bake-shops out, in my
+zeal,--enough to give the parson and all his people the dyspepsia
+for a month."
+
+"If he lives on six hundred, nothing could give him the dyspepsia
+save his own sermons, I imagine," said De Forrest. "My young lady
+friends have half filled one of my bureau drawers with smoking-caps.
+I have one with me, and will give it to the minister."
+
+"You vain fellow," laughed Lottie. "I never gave you one."
+
+"Rest assured, no minister--even were he a minister to the Court
+of St. James--should get it, if you had."
+
+"What will you take, Mr. Hemstead?" asked Lottie, noting his grave
+face.
+
+"I shall not go."
+
+"Why not? You spoke as if you would, this morning."
+
+"I cannot go under the circumstances."
+
+"Why not?" asked Addie, rather sharply.
+
+"Could we take such gifts to a gentleman and lady, Cousin Addie?"
+
+"Well, I suppose not," she answered, reddening.
+
+"I see no proof that this clergyman and his wife are not in the fact
+that they are compelled to live on six hundred a year. Besides, I
+have too much respect for the calling."
+
+"Don't you see?" said De Forrest to Addie, in a loud whisper. "'Our
+craft is in danger.'"
+
+"Your explanation is more crafty than true, Mr. De  Forrest," said
+Hemstead, looking him straight in the eyes.
+
+"Come," cried Lottie, "my party is not to be broken up.  Mr.
+Hemstead, you need not look so serious or take the matter so much
+to heart. As you declared once before to-day, we were only 'talking
+in jest.' You cannot think we would willingly hurt the feelings of
+your brother clergyman.  Surely, if you thought they were serious,
+it was good of you to stand up for him. We will all give money:
+that must be the thing the poor man needs most sorely."
+
+"I will give twenty-five dollars if you will, Mr. Hemstead," said
+De Forrest, with a malicious twinkle in his eye.
+
+"That's liberal of you, Julian. That's action in the right
+direction," said Lottie; and she turned to Hemstead,  expecting a
+prompt response. But the moment she saw his face she surmised the
+truth and De Forrest's motive in making  the offer, and what had
+appeared generous was now seen to be the reverse. But she determined
+that Julian should give the money, nevertheless. Still she did not
+at once interfere, but watched with no little curiosity, to see
+how Hemstead would extricate himself.
+
+The young man was much embarrassed. He had an innate horror of
+seeming niggardly, and the course he had taken made his position
+more delicate. But his simplicity and truthfulness came to his
+aid, and he said firmly, although with a crimson face, "I am sorry
+I cannot accept your  generous proposition, but I will give in
+accordance with my ability. I can give only five dollars."
+
+Mr. Dimmerly and Mrs. Marchmont looked annoyed, while Addie gave
+utterance to an audible titter. Bel laughed, and then looked as if
+she had done wrong.
+
+But Lottie, with graceful tact, which was still only good acting,
+said: "And that, I am sure, is all that can be asked of Mr. Hemstead
+or of any one. But the poor man shall not lose the money, Julian,
+for I will supply Mr. Hemstead with what is lacking."
+
+"Pardon me, Miss Marsden, I cannot take it."
+
+"Not even for this needy minister with his six children?"
+
+"I cannot sacrifice my self-respect for any one," he said.  "Why
+cannot Mr. De Forrest give what he wishes without imposing a
+condition which leaves it doubtful whether he is to give at all?"
+
+"O, yes, he is to give," said Lottie, promptly. "I take your offer,
+Julian. It's delightful to have such a genuine object of charity
+as a minister living on six hundred a year."
+
+This was spoken very innocently, but was in reality a keen thrust
+at Hemstead, who had so recently stated his prospective  income at
+that sum. That the others understood it as such was shown by their
+significant glances, as they rose from the table.
+
+Hemstead could not discover from Lottie's face whether she meant
+a covert allusion to himself or not.
+
+Harcourt drove over to town, promising to be back in time. The
+other young people said that the long drive had made them drowsy,
+and retired to their rooms for a nap.  Hemstead went to the parlor and
+tried to read, but his thoughts wandered strangely. The beautiful
+face of Lottie Marsden haunted him, and the puzzling contradictions of
+her words and manner kept rising in his mind for solution.  After
+a prolonged revery, he came to the conclusion: "I have left nothing
+ambiguous about myself. If she is friendly after this she knows
+just who and what I am. It's plain the others think me no addition
+to their company, and I'm almost sorry I accepted aunt's invitation.
+However, I can shorten the visit if I choose;" and he turned
+resolutely to his book.
+
+Instead of donning her wrapper, as did Bel, Lottie sat down before
+the fire, and, as was often her custom,  commenced half-talking to
+her friend and familiar, and  half-thinking aloud to herself.
+
+"Well, he is the frankest and most transparent man I ever saw. I
+have been acquainted with him but a few hours, and I feel that I
+know him better than I do Julian, with whom I have been intimate
+so many years."
+
+"He's sincerely, honestly good, too," said Bel. "I think it's too
+bad, Lottie, that you all treat him so. It's really wicked."
+
+"Yes," said Lottie, meditatively. "It's a good deal more wicked
+than I thought it would be."
+
+"Then you will give it up."
+
+"No indeed. I haven't said that."
+
+"How can you do it, Lottie, when you know it is wrong?"
+
+"I knew it was wrong when I commenced. I only know now that it is
+a little more wrong. Why should I give up my fun on that account?
+I might as well die for an old black sheep as a speckled lamb."
+
+Bel yawned at the rather peculiar and tragic ending that Lottie
+suggested for herself, and was soon dozing on a lounge.  But
+either a restless spirit of mischief, or a disturbed  conscience,
+prevented Lottie from following her example.
+
+It would at times seem true that, when engaged in something  that
+conscience forbids, the very opposition incites and leads to
+the evil. The conflict between inclination and the sense of right
+creates a feverish unrest, in which one cannot settle down to
+ordinary pursuits and duties. If principle holds the reins, and
+the voice of conscience is clear and authoritative, the disturbed
+mental and moral state will end in the firm choice of duty, and
+consequent peace and rest.  But if, as in the case of Lottie Marsden,
+impulse rules in the place of principle, and conscience is merely
+like a  half-dreaded, reproachful face, this unrest is the very hour
+and opportunity for temptation. Some escape from self and solitude
+must be found; some immediate excitement must engross the thoughts;
+and the very phase of evil against which conscience is vainly
+protesting has at the same time the most dangerous fascination.
+
+So Lottie escaped from her own self-reproaches as a naughty child
+runs away from a scolding, and was soon at the parlor entrance with
+a noiseless tread, a grace of motion, and a motive that suggested
+the lithe panther stealing on its prey. The door was ajar, and
+a hasty glance revealed that the object of her designs was alone.
+Her stealthy manner changed instantly, and she sauntered into the
+room with quiet indifference, humming an air from Faust.
+
+"O, you are here!" she exclaimed, as if suddenly  becoming aware
+of his presence. "Why do you not take a nap like the others? I hope
+you are not troubled by a bad conscience."
+
+"What suggested a bad conscience, Miss Marsden?"
+
+"Your sleeplessness."
+
+"I am glad it was not your own. Why are you not taking a nap? I
+thought you started for one."
+
+"So I did, but found I did not want it. But you are not a Yankee
+that you must answer my question with another.  What are you reading?
+Won't you read it to me?"
+
+"I would rather not read this book to you; but I will any other
+that you wish."
+
+"You must learn human nature better, Mr. Hemstead.  Don't you know
+that you have said just enough to make me wish that book and no
+other? What is it about?"
+
+"I feel sure that it will have no interest for you. It is one of
+the latest infidel attacks upon the Bible."
+
+"O, you are afraid to have me read it."
+
+"Yes; but not for the reasons implied in your tone."
+
+"Don't you see that you are taking the very course to awaken my
+curiosity, and to make me wish to hear just that book? If you had
+said, 'Certainly, I'll read it to you, but you won't like it, for
+it's only a dry, heavy book upon a heavy subject,' I would never
+have looked into it, but would have asked for something else."
+
+"That would hardly be true, Miss Marsden. Though I regard it as an
+evil and dangerous book, it is exceedingly clever, and well written,
+and it is quite popular in some circles.  I suppose it has been
+sent up to Aunt Marchmont with other new books of note."
+
+"I must certainly read it, since you won't read it to me.  Forbid
+a child to do a thing, you know, and you have given the strongest
+motive for doing just that thing."
+
+"You are not a child, Miss Marsden."
+
+"What am I, then?"
+
+"I hardly know; but you are capable of realizing one's best ideal,
+almost."
+
+"Almost! thank you."
+
+"Perhaps my language is stronger than you realize. The woman who
+could answer to my ideal would be nearly perfect."
+
+"And do you think such a paragon would go out among the border
+ruffians with you?"
+
+"No, nor anywhere else with me. I was speaking of my ideal."
+
+"You do not expect to marry your ideal, then?"
+
+"I suppose love transfigures the one we love, and that this is the
+only way we can ever meet our ideal in this life. But sometimes we
+see one who it seems might approach even the ideal of our unbiased
+fancy."
+
+"It is well that you admire these exquisite creatures at a distance,"
+she said, dryly. "I can't see why men will always be so foolish
+as to think pretty women are good women.  But if I am not a child
+why may I not read that book?  You intimate that it will not shake
+my belief."
+
+"I do not think it would,--at least I hope it would not."
+
+"You are not sure."
+
+"I'm sure it will not shake the Bible. Every age has teemed with
+infidel books. Yet God's Word stands to-day as strong and serene
+as that mountain yonder, to which the setting sun has given a crown
+of light."
+
+"Your figure is pretty, but unfortunate. The sun is indeed  'setting,'
+and soon the mountain will lose its crown of light and vanish in
+darkness."
+
+"But does it vanish," he asked quickly, "in the transient darkness,
+like a cloud tipped with light? Such a cloud is a fit emblem of
+this brilliant book, and of multitudes like it that have preceded,
+but which, like lurid vapors, have  vanished from men's thought and
+memory. Even with my immature mind I can detect that this clever
+work is but an airy castle, soon to fall. What infidel book has
+ever gained or kept a lasting hold upon the popular heart? Let the
+darkness swallow up the mountain there. If we go where it is at
+midnight, we shall find it intact, and just as firm as when the
+sun is shining upon it. The searching light of every day, from year
+to year and age to age, will find it there just the same. The long
+night of moral darkness which culminated in the fifteenth century,
+though it hid the Bible, did not destroy it. Luther at last found
+and brought it out into the broad light of general study and
+criticism. For generations it has been assailed on every side, but
+it stands in the calm, unchanging strength that yonder mountain
+would maintain, were it surrounded by children shooting against it
+with arrows. Believe me, I do not fear for the Bible. If all the
+light of human knowledge were turned upon it in one burning focus,
+its intrinsic truth would only be revealed more clearly; and if
+superstition, as in the past, or infidelity, as was the case in
+France, creates temporary darkness, the moment that, in the light
+of returning reason, men look for the Bible, they find it like a
+great solemn mountain, that cannot be moved while the world lasts,
+just where God has placed it."
+
+"Mr. Hemstead, don't you know that young gentlemen do not talk to
+young ladies as you do to me?"
+
+"You know very well that I am not a society man."
+
+"O, I'm not complaining. I rather like to be talked to as if I
+had some brains, and was not a doll. If you are so sure about the
+Bible, why do you fear to have me read arguments against it?"
+
+"I am not so sure about you. If I should listen to a plausible story
+against you, without knowing you or giving you a fair hearing, I
+might come to be prejudiced,--to  believe you very unworthy,--when
+the reverse would be true.  So the minds of many, from reading books
+of this nature, and not giving the Bible a fair hearing, become
+poisoned and prejudiced."
+
+"Then why do you read it?"
+
+"For the same reason that would influence a physician to study a
+disease,--not that he may catch it, but that he may understand and
+know how to treat it. This book is a mental  and moral disease, and
+I do not wish you to run the risk of catching it, though I do not
+think it would prove fatal if you did. Your own heart and experience
+would probably correct the error of your head. Such books as these
+won't answer in times of illness or deep trouble. We turn from
+them as instinctively and certainly as we do from noise, glare,
+and gayety."
+
+The mountain without was now in the shadow. The early twilight of
+the December evening had darkened the wintry landscape; but the
+ruddy glow of the hickory fire revealed how beautiful Lottie's face
+could be, when composed into womanly truth and thoughtfulness.
+
+"I have never had a serious sorrow or illness, and I wonder  what
+I should do if I had?" she queried musingly, as these sombre events,
+which sooner or later must come into every life, rose up before
+her.
+
+"I know well what you will do when they come, as come they will to
+us all," said Hemstead, gently. "As surely as you would cling to
+a strong arm were you sinking in deep waters, just so surely you
+will turn to the Bible, and to Him who said, 'Let not your heart
+be troubled, neither let it be afraid.'"
+
+The truth, if given a hearing, is ever powerful,--the truths of
+our own sad experience,--the answering and remedial truth of God.
+Unexpectedly and unintentionally on her part, both these phases
+of truth had gained the ear of Lottie Marsden. The sorrowful and
+suffering days of the future threw back their shadows upon her,
+and her heart sank at their prospect; and with the certainty of
+intuition she recognized  the answering truth, and felt that she
+would indeed be glad to cling to One who had the right and power
+to utter such tender, reassuring words as Hemstead had quoted.
+
+Of all spells, that of truth is the strongest. Under it the impulsive
+girl buried her face in her hands and, with a quick sob, cried, "O
+that I were better!"
+
+Then, springing up, she gave Hemstead a strange, earnest look through
+her tears, as if she would read his soul. But she saw only honest
+sympathy.
+
+He was about to speak again, but she abruptly left the room.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+FINDING ONE'S LEVEL.
+
+
+
+
+
+Lottie met De Forrest on the stairs, and he was about to apologize
+for his long sleep, but she rushed by him like a summer gust. A
+moment later she burst into her room and startled indolent Bel out
+of her last luxurious doze by dropping into a chair by the fire
+and indulging in what girls call a "good cry."
+
+"What is the matter?" asked Bel, anxiously.
+
+Lottie's tears were the only answer.
+
+"What has happened?" cried Bel, rising hastily. "Let me call auntie
+or Julian."
+
+"If you call either you are no friend of mine," said Lottie,
+springing to the door, locking it, and taking the key.
+
+"Why, Lottie, I don't understand--"
+
+"There is no need that you should. Nothing is the matter--only
+I'm blue--I've been thinking of awful things.  I was in one of my
+moods this afternoon, now I'm in one of my tenses."
+
+"Unusually intense, I should think. I have not seen you so moved
+since Tom Wellesly threatened to blow out his brains for you."
+
+"He hadn't any to blow out," snapped Lottie, "or he wouldn't have
+thought of doing it for such a girl as I am."
+
+"Well," sighed Bel, who at times was one of Job's  comforters,
+"I've heard he has never been the same since."
+
+"I hope he has been wiser, then. How can men be such stupid owls as
+to fall in love with me! Can't they see I'm a wicked little heathen?"
+
+"That is just the kind men like," sneered Bel, misanthropically.
+"You expect to captivate (and of course you will) this sincere and
+saintly young minister. He already thinks that you are by far the
+best of our party, and has some of the first symptoms that your
+victims usually manifest."
+
+Lottie sprang up, dashed away her tears, and commenced restlessly
+pacing the room.
+
+"Bother on the men," she exclaimed. "Why will they be so silly!
+The world's a perfect jumble, and we are all lunatics and fools,
+crying for what is not good for us, and turning our backs upon
+what is. I'm disgusted with everybody,  and myself in particular.
+Now if this overgrown student  makes a fool of himself, like the
+others, I shall lose faith in mankind, and I know there is nothing
+to hope from woman-kind."
+
+"I should think you were having a mood and a tense at the same time
+this evening," said Bel, looking with some surprise at her friend.
+"What has stirred you up so? Have you and Julian had a quarrel?"
+
+"We shall have plenty more, I foresee," said Lottie, seizing  on
+the suggestion to hide the truth. Bel smiled satirically.  All these
+harsh words were but the harmless lightnings of a summer gust that
+was passing away.
+
+"It's only a lovers' tiff," she thought, "and now the billing  and
+cooing are to come."
+
+"O, well," said Bel, soothingly, "you and Julian will soon make
+up, and then you and all the world will change for the better."
+
+"We have made up," said Lottie faintly, finding, like many another
+sinner in this line, that the first fib requires the second to
+cover it up.
+
+"Well, well; get over your mood quickly, for the supper-bell  will
+ring in a moment, and you are not ready to come down."
+
+What emergency of life can obliterate from the mind of a pretty
+woman the necessity of a toilet? To Bel, Lottie seemed to come to
+her senses at once as she sped to her bureau and commenced brushing
+her rumpled hair. But the languid maiden was quite startled as
+Lottie wheeled  suddenly upon her, declaring, while she brandished
+the  hair-brush in the most tragic and impressive manner, "If that
+Hemstead makes a fool of himself he may, but he shall do it with
+his eyes open; I will not deceive him any more."
+
+Thus conscience, that had been skirmishing all day,  appeared to
+gain one point of advantage, and Lottie, having made this virtuous
+resolve, gained in mental serenity, while the mirror that reflected
+her fair face helped to bring back her complacency.
+
+"Bel," said Lottie, as they were leaving their room, "not a whisper
+of all this to any one, as you value my friendship."
+
+But before they reached the supper-room her resolution failed, as
+is often the case when one acts from impulse rather than principle.
+She found that she could not so lightly throw away Hemstead's good
+opinion. She had been  admired, loved, and flattered to her heart's
+content, but the respect, esteem, and trust of a sincere, true man
+formed a new offering, and it was so attractive that she could not
+bring herself to turn from it at once. Then her strong pride cast
+its weight into the scale, and she thought: "He talks to me and
+treats me as if I were a woman of heart and mind, and I'm going
+down to show him I'm a wicked fool. I shall not do it, at least
+not now. Little fear but that the disagreeable truth will come out
+soon enough."
+
+"But it is wrong to deceive him," whispered conscience.
+
+"Suppose it is," answered the wayward will, "I am all wrong myself
+and always have been."
+
+"You promised to show him your real self," still urged conscience.
+
+"Well, I will, some other time."
+
+With conscience thwarted and unsatisfied, serenity  vanished
+again, and instead of being reckless and trivial at the table, as
+she intended, she was rather silent, and a trifle sullen, as one
+often is even when vexed with one's self.
+
+Hemstead was expecting a subdued and thoughtful young lady to appear,
+whose pensive manner would indicate a nature softened and receptive.
+While her bearing was not what he anticipated, it was somewhat
+akin, and showed, he thought, that the truth was not without effect.
+
+De Forrest was still more puzzled; but soon concluded that Lottie
+was provoked that he had slept so long instead of devoting himself
+to her. True, she had just come from the parlor, where he found
+Hemstead standing by the  window, looking out into the gloom,
+but she had found him, no doubt, so heavy and stupid that she had
+rushed to her room in a fit of vexation. This theory was entirely
+reconcilable with his vanity, and therefore conclusive; and he tried
+to make amends by excessive gallantry, which only annoyed Lottie.
+This he ascribed to her resentment for his neglect, and only
+redoubled his unwelcome attentions.
+
+While Hemstead's heart was in a tumult of joy and  thankfulness
+that so early in his acquaintance, and so unexpectedly, he had been
+able to speak to her as he wished and with such seeming effectiveness,
+he had the good taste and tact to indicate by no words or sign that
+anything unusual had occurred between them. He sought to draw the
+others, and even De Forrest, into general conversation, so that
+Lottie might be left more to herself.
+
+With a mingled smile and frown, she recognized his purpose,  and
+with a reckless laugh in her own soul, thought; "He imagines I am
+near conversion, when I never felt so wicked before in my life."
+
+But catching a glimpse of Bel's surprised face, and seeing that
+her abstraction was noted by the others, she speedily rallied, and
+assumed the manner that she had maintained throughout the day.
+
+"It is so delightful to see his large gray eyes turn towards me
+wistfully and trustingly, that I cannot undeceive him yet"; and so
+conscience was dismissed, as history records has been often the case
+with some honest old counsellor in a foolish and reckless court.
+
+The prospective sleigh-ride and donation party were the prominent
+themes, and they hastened through the meal that they might start
+early.
+
+Upon this occasion De Forrest managed to get the seat by Lottie, in
+his eagerness to make amends, and Hemstead sat opposite with Bel.
+As far as he could gather in the uncertain moonlight, Hemstead
+thought that De Forrest's attentions were not particularly welcome,
+and, though he scarcely knew why, was glad. He would probably
+explain by saying that De Forrest was not worthy of her.
+
+Lottie's periods of depression never lasted long, and again
+the frosty air and quick motion set her blood tingling with life.
+In order to escape De Forrest's whispered  sentimentalities, she
+began to sing. Her naturally good voice had been somewhat injured
+by straining at difficult music, under superficial instruction,
+instead of thorough training for it, but within a moderate compass,
+and in simple music, was sweet and strong.
+
+De Forrest was enthusiastic in his praise of selections that were
+beyond her abilities. Though most of the airs were unfamiliar to
+Hemstead, he was satisfied that they were incorrect, and certain
+that the music was not over good.  Therefore he was silent. This
+piqued Lottie, for one of her purposes in the choice of what she
+sang was to impress him, from the barbarous West, with the idea of
+her superior  culture. At last she said, "I fear you do not like
+operatic and classical music very much, Mr. Hemstead?"
+
+"We do not often hear such music very perfectly rendered  in our part
+of the West. There are airs from the opera that are very pretty";
+and he suggested one that was simple.
+
+The truth began to dawn on the quick-witted girl, but De Forrest
+said, patronizingly, "It requires a cultivated taste to appreciate
+such music as you were singing, Miss Lottie."
+
+"It is not with the music probably, but my rendering of it, that
+Mr. Hemstead finds fault."
+
+"Two of the airs were new to me, and the other I have heard but
+seldom," said Hemstead, evasively.
+
+"How about that one?" asked De Forrest.
+
+"Well, in sincerity then, I think Miss Marsden does herself  injustice
+by attempting music that would tax the powers of a prima donna."
+
+"The boor!" whispered De Forrest to Lottie.
+
+After a moment she said firmly, "Mr. Hemstead has only said plainly
+what you thought, Julian."
+
+"O Miss Lottie--" he began to protest.
+
+"I'm not a fool," she continued, "so please don't waste your breath.
+You have heard all the star singers, and know how ridiculously far
+beneath them I fall, when I try to sing their music. I think you
+might have told me. It would have been truer kindness than your
+hollow applause. Why our teachers make us the laughing-stock of
+society, by keeping us upon these absurd attempts at music beyond
+us, to the exclusion of everything else, is something that I can't
+understand. My ear is not over nice, but I have always had a suspicion
+that I was executing, in the sense of murder, the difficult arias
+that the old weazen-faced Italian professor kept me at till brother
+Dan said, in truth, that I was turning into a screech-owl. But no
+one, save he and Mr. Hemstead, has been honest enough to tell me
+the truth. Thus, on many occasions, I have taxed the politeness of
+people to the utmost, no doubt, and been the cause of innumerable
+complimentary fibs, like those you have just been guilty of, Julian.
+Perhaps, Mr. Hemstead, you think a style of music like this more
+suited to my powers "; and she struck into a well-known plantation
+song.
+
+"No," said he, laughing, "I think you do yourself still greater
+injustice."
+
+"You probably think I cannot sing at all."
+
+"On the contrary, I think you have an unusually good voice. I wish
+you would sing that air that you were  humming when you came into
+the parlor this afternoon. I liked that, and imagine it is suited
+to your voice."
+
+"What was it? O, I remember. An arr from Faust, that Marguerite
+sings at her spinning-wheel. I think I can give that pretty decently."
+
+She sang it sweetly, with taste and some power.  Hemstead's
+appreciation was hearty, and she knew it was sincere.
+
+"Now that you have done me such good service," she said laughing,
+"and shown that mediocrity is my musical position, let us have some
+old-fashioned ballads, and all sing them together in sleigh-riding
+style."
+
+"Pardon me, Miss Marsden, I assign you to mediocrity in nothing."
+
+"O, no, not you; my own abilities place me there. But come, each
+one sing"; and she commenced a ballad, well known to the others,
+but not to him.
+
+It sounded very well indeed, only Harcourt's bass was much too
+light for the other voices.
+
+"Why don't you sing?" asked Lottie of Hemstead.
+
+"I do not know the air or words."
+
+"Shall we try Old Hundred?" asked De Forrest. "Ahem!  The long
+metre doxology.
+
+"Praise God from whom all blessings flow."
+
+Addie and Harcourt joined in laughingly. Bel began with them, but
+stopped when she saw that Lottie did not sing.
+
+"Do you believe that 'all blessings flow' from God?" asked Hemstead
+of De Forrest.
+
+"I suppose so, according to Old Hundred," he said lightly.
+
+"You don't 'suppose so' at all, Julian. You know it, as we all do,
+however we may act," said Lottie, with emphasis.
+
+"With such a belief, I--would at least treat Him with  respect,"
+said Hemstead, quietly. "I should be sorry to be under deep
+and continued obligations to One toward whom I failed in ordinary
+courtesy."
+
+"I knew it was wrong," muttered Bel, "but--"
+
+"I have no such belief," said Harcourt, "so your sharp homily does
+not apply to me."
+
+"Where do your blessings come from?" asked Hemstead.
+
+"Well, those I don't get out of my clients, from where this snow
+does,--the laws and forces of nature."
+
+"Your faith is like the snow, I think,--very cold."
+
+"If it's cold in winter, it's warm in summer," retorted he,
+flippantly; and Addie giggled approvingly, for the reason that it
+sounded flippant and smart.
+
+They had now reached the hamlet of Scrub Oaks, in the centre of
+which was a small house that seemed bursting with light and noise.
+Whenever the door opened it appeared to fly open from a pressure
+within.
+
+De Forrest acted as escort to the ladies, while Hemstead accompanied
+Harcourt in his effort to find a sheltered place for the horses.
+This pleased the young lawyer, and he said, good-naturedly, "Don't
+think, Mr. Hemstead, that I do not respect your honest convictions,
+and I meant no slur upon them. You take things too seriously."
+
+"I suppose we all ought to make more allowance for what is said in
+mere sport and repartee," said Hemstead. "But what to you is law
+and force is to me a personal Friend.  You know that there are some
+names--like those of mother and wife--that are too sacred for jest."
+
+"Thus people misjudge and misunderstand each other, simply because
+they see things from different points of view," replied Harcourt.
+"De Forrest provokes me,  however. He has no doubts worthy of the
+name, for he reads nothing save the sporting news and fashionable
+literature of the day, and yet he likes to give the impression that
+he is in with us, who read books and think."
+
+"If you will only read fairly, Mr. Harcourt, I have no fears but
+that in time you will think rightly. An honest jury must hear both
+sides and have no prejudices."
+
+The young men now sought the rest of the party, who had squeezed
+their way into the little parsonage. It was so replete with life and
+bustle that it appeared like a social bombshell, with effervescing
+human nature as an explosive material, and might burst into fragments
+at any moment.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+"THE OTHER SET."
+
+
+
+
+
+The minister and his wife were scarcely host and hostess on this
+occasion, as a self-appointed committee of ladies had taken upon
+themselves the duty; but, like all corporations, this committee had
+no soul and a very  indefinite body. No one knew just who they were,
+or where to find them, and some of the members, in the bewilderment
+of unaccustomed official position and honors, seemed to have lost
+themselves, and bustled aimlessly all over the house. The more staid
+and practical sisters of the  committee were down in the kitchen,
+breathlessly setting tables which were almost as speedily cleared
+by people whose appetites were as keen as the winter night without.
+
+"I do declare," ejaculated Mrs. Gubling, as one devastating  tableful
+rose lingeringly from the repast, and another flock began to gather
+in hungry expectancy at the door,--"I do declare, I'm near beat
+out. Is this a starvin'  community? At this rate they'll eat up
+all there is in the house, and the minister and his wife and babies
+into the bargain."
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Rhamm, conveying the last bit of corned beef,
+which had been reluctantly left upon the plate as "manners," to a
+rather capacious mouth, "if they would eat up some of the babies
+it wouldn't be so bad. I don't see why poor ministers will have so
+many babies."
+
+"The Lord takes care of 'em. We don't," suggested Mrs. Gubling.
+
+"We all do our part, I s'pose. The worst of it is that it makes it
+oncomfortable for a church to give a small salary."
+
+"I wish our church was more uncomfortable then. It's a shame we
+give Mr. Dlimm only six hundred. But come, if we don't git another
+table set they'll eat us up."
+
+"I'd like to see 'em," said Mrs. Rhamm, with a disdainful sniff.
+
+"Well, you be a bit old and tough," chuckled Mrs.  Gubling.
+
+With the solace of this sally, which seemed true, if not true wit,
+these hard-featured mothers in Israel set about their tasks with
+the deftness that long experience gives.
+
+At the time De Forrest conveyed the ladies into the hall, the
+upstairs members of the committee were buzzing around somewhere
+else, for there was no one to receive them. They were gradually
+hustled or carried into the parlor or main room, and here Hemstead
+and Harcourt found them in characteristic conditions. Addie's and
+De Forrest's elegant noses were decidedly retrousses; Bel appeared
+both  disgusted and frightened; while Lottie's face wore an expression
+of intense and amused curiosity. She was seeing "the other set" to
+her heart's content, and all was as new and strange as if she had
+visited another land.
+
+Harcourt joined Addie, and they began to whisper satirical  criticisms
+on the remarks and manners of those around.  Hemstead's interest
+mainly centred in watching Lottie, and in noting the effect of her
+contact with plain and uncultured people. He was glad he did not
+see the repulsion of a little mind and a narrow nature, as was the
+case with most of the others. Though it was evident that she had
+no sympathy with them, or for them, there was intelligent interest
+and wide-awake curiosity. While the others were incasing  themselves
+in exclusive pride, she was eager to investigate and get en rapport
+with this new phase of humanity. But trammailed  by her city ideas,
+she felt that she could not speak to any one without the formality
+of an introduction. But the ice was broken for her unexpectedly.
+Feeling her dress pulled, she turned and found a very stout old
+lady sitting near her, who asked in a loud whisper, "Been down to
+supper yet?"
+
+"No," said Lottie, "I don't wish any."
+
+"I do, but I'm afeard I won't get none. You see I'm big and clumsy
+anyway, and now I'm so lame with the rheumatiz that I kin hardly
+move."
+
+"It's too bad," said Lottie, pathetically, but with a swift comical
+glance at the others.
+
+"Yes, it's kinder orful to be so helpless," said the old woman,
+with a complacent sigh, delighted at having a  sympathetic auditor.
+"I'm dreadfully afeard I won't git no supper. I'm like the withered
+man at the pool of Bethesdy.  Whenever they are ready for another
+batch 'while I'm a-comin' another steppeth down before me.'"
+
+"Well, you're not very much withered, that's one comfort to be
+thankful for," said Lottie.
+
+"I'd like to be thankful for my supper, if I could only git a
+chance," persisted the old woman.
+
+"You shall have a chance. When is the pool troubled?  When shall
+we put you in?"
+
+"There! now is the time," said her new acquaintance, dropping her
+affected and pious tone, and speaking with sharp eagerness. "See,
+one batch is comin' up, and 'nother is going down."
+
+"Mr. Hemstead, will you assist me in escorting this old lady to
+the supper-table?"
+
+Hemstead's face was aglow with approval, and he instantly complied,
+while the others, understanding Lottie better, were convulsed with
+laughter.
+
+It was no easy thing for them unitedly to manage the hobbling
+mountain of flesh. When they came to the narrow stairway, matters
+were still more serious.
+
+"You shall go first," whispered Lottie to Hemstead, "for if she
+should fall on me, good-by, Lottie Marsden."
+
+Hemstead patiently, carefully, and with the utmost  deference,
+assisted the helpless creature down the stairs.
+
+"You're as polite to her as if she were a duchess," said Lottie,
+in a low tone.
+
+"She is more than a duchess. She is a woman," he replied.
+
+Lottie gave him a quick, pleased look, but said, "Such old-fashioned
+chivalry is out of date, Mr. Hemstead."
+
+"He's right, miss," said the old woman, sharply. "I'm not Dutch."
+
+Lottie dropped behind to hide her merriment at this speech, and
+Hemstead appeared, with his charge clinging to his arm, at the
+kitchen door, which her ample form nearly filled.
+
+"My sakes alive! Auntie Lammer, how did you get down here?" said
+Mrs. Gubling. "We hain't ready for you yet."
+
+"No matter," said Mrs. Lammer, "I thank the marcies I've got down
+safe, and I'm goin' to stay till I git my supper."
+
+"Can I help you?" asked Lottie, glancing curiously around the room.
+
+They looked with even more curiosity at her; and a strange contrast
+she made, in her rich and tasteful costume and rare beauty, with
+those plain, middle-aged, hard-working women, and the small, dingy
+room.
+
+For a moment they stared at her without reply, then gave each other
+a few suggestive nudges; and Mrs. Rhamm was about to speak rather
+slightingly, when good-natured Mrs.  Gubling said: "You are very
+kind, miss, but you don't look cut out for our work. Besides, my
+dear, it's an orful dangerous  place down here. I'm afraid we'll
+git eat up ourselves before the evening is over. I'm sure you would
+be, if you stayed. I wouldn't mind taking a bite myself"; and the
+good woman and her assistants laughed heartily over this standing
+joke of the evening, while Auntie Lammer, seeing that Mrs. Gubling
+was the leading spirit of the supper-room, quivered in all her vast
+proportions with politic and propitious mirth.
+
+All this was inexpressibly funny to Lottie, who had the keenest
+sense of the absurd, and with a sign to Hemstead she drew him away,
+saying, "This exceeds any play I ever saw. I didn't know people
+who were not acting could be so queer and comical."
+
+"Well, Miss Lottie," he said, as they ascended the stairs, "I admit
+that humanity everywhere often has its ridiculous side, but I have
+been laughed at too much myself to enjoy laughing at others."
+
+"And why should you be laughed at so much?"
+
+"I suppose it is the fate of overgrown, awkward boys, who have a
+tendency to blurt out the truth on all occasions."
+
+"Such a tendency as that will always make you trouble, I assure
+you."
+
+"It hasn't with you, yet."
+
+"Our acquaintance has been very brief."
+
+"And yet I seem to know you so well! I would not have believed it
+possible in one short day."
+
+"I think you are mistaken. But you have ceased to be n stranger
+to me. I have remarked before to-day, that I knew you better than
+some I have seen from childhood."
+
+"I am happy to say that I wish to conceal nothing."
+
+"Few can say that."
+
+"O, I don't mean that I am better than other people, only that
+it's best to appear just what we are. People should be like coin,
+worth their face--"
+
+"I was in search of you," interrupted De Forrest, as they stood
+talking a moment near the head of the stairs in the hall. "We did
+not know but that the sylph you escorted away had made a supper
+of Hemstead, with you as a relish.  Have you seen enough of this
+bear-garden yet?"
+
+"No, indeed," said Lottie; "I'm just beginning to enjoy myself."
+
+From openly staring at and criticising the party from Mrs.
+Marchmont's, the young people began to grow aggressive, and, from
+class prejudices, were inclined to be hostile.  There were whispered
+consultations, and finally one habitue of the store and tavern
+thought he could cover himself with glory by a trick, and at the
+same time secure a kiss from Lottie, the prettiest. The conspiracy
+was soon formed. A kissing game in one of the upper rooms was
+suspended for a moment, and one of the tall girls accompanied him
+down as if they were a delegation, and on the principle that in
+designs against a woman a female confederate is always helpful in
+disarming suspicion.
+
+He approached Lottie with the best manners he could assume, and
+said, "We are having some games upstairs.  Perhaps you would like
+to join us. We'd like to have you."
+
+"Do come," added the tall girl; "they are real nice."
+
+"Certainly," said Lottie, who was now ready for another adventure.
+"Come; let us all go."
+
+"The others needn't come unless they want to," said the young
+man; for he didn't relish the lawyer's presence, whom he knew by
+reputation, nor the searching look of the tall stranger whom he
+did not know.
+
+"Mr. Hemstead, you and Julian come," said Lottie, and as they
+ascended the stairs she studied this new specimen of Scrub Oaks,
+who was a loafer of the village as De Forrest was an idler of the
+town. They both belonged to the same genus, though the latter would
+have resented such a  statement as the foulest insult.
+
+The manners and the smart finery of her new acquaintance  amused
+Lottie very much. When they reached the room, they found it full
+of whispering, giggling young people.
+
+The tall girl, as instructed, said, "Now let us form a ring with
+our hands on this rope."
+
+This having been done, she said, "Now, Mr. Shabb, you must go
+inside first"; and then, with a nudge to Lottie, she explained,"
+He'll try to hit our hands with his, and if he hits your hands you
+will have to go inside the ring."
+
+What else he would do, she left to be disclosed by action.
+
+Then he of the flaming neck-tie and bulging cheek took his place
+with a twinkling eye that meant mischief. De Forrest and Hemstead
+declined to play, but the latter slipped forward and stood near
+Lottie. He was not sure, but dimly remembered seeing this game
+before, when it was not played so innocently as the tall girl had
+described.
+
+The young rustic made extravagant but purposely vain efforts
+to strike the hands of others, and Lottie watched the scene with
+laughing curiosity. Suddenly he wheeled round and struck her hands
+sharply; and to her horrified surprise it seemed but a second later
+that his repulsive face was  almost against her own. But something
+came between, and, starting back, she saw the baffled youth imprint
+a fervent kiss on the back of Hemstead's hand.
+
+There was a loud laugh at him from those who had  expected to laugh
+with him. He swaggered up to Hemstead, and said threateningly,
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"What do YOU mean?" asked Lottie, confronting him with blazing
+eyes. "It is well this gentleman interposed. If you had succeeded
+in your insult I should have had you punished in a way that you
+would not soon forget."
+
+"It's only part of the game," muttered he, abashed by her manner.
+
+"Part of the game?"
+
+"Yes," giggled the tall girl, faintly; "it's a kissing game."
+
+"Did you know it was such?" asked Lottie, indignantly, of De Forrest
+and Hemstead.
+
+"Indeed I did not," said De Forrest; "and if you say so I'll give
+this fellow the flogging, anyway."
+
+"Come right out, and do it now," was the pert response.
+
+"All I can say is, Miss Marsden," explained Hemstead, "that I
+suspected something wrong, and took means to  prevent it. How these
+nice-looking girls can allow this fellow to kiss them is more than
+I can understand."
+
+"No lady would," said Lottie, as she swept disdainfully out; and under
+the withering influence of these remarks kissing games languished
+the rest of the evening; only young children, and a few of the
+coarser-natured ones,  participating. But soon the absurdity of
+the whole scene  overcame Lottie, and she laughed till the tears
+stood in her eyes.
+
+As they were slowly descending the stairs a faded little woman
+said, "I'm glad to see you enjoying yourself, Miss Marchmont. It
+was very kind of you and your party to come so far."
+
+"I am not Miss Marchmont," said Lottie, "though I came with her."
+
+"Well, as the minister's wife, I would like her and all her party
+to know of our grateful appreciation."
+
+"You thank us beyond our deserts. But are you the minister's wife?
+I am glad to make your acquaintance"; and she held out her hand,
+which Mrs. Dlimm seemed glad to take.
+
+At this moment there came the cry of an infant from one of the
+upper rooms.
+
+"O, there goes my baby," said Mrs. Dlimm; "I thought I heard it
+before"; and she was about to hasten on.
+
+"May I not go with you and see the baby?" asked Lottie.
+
+What mother ever refused such a request? In a moment Lottie was
+in the one small room in which, on this portentous  occasion, the
+three younger children were huddled, the others being old enough
+to take part in what, to them, was the greatest excitement of their
+lives, thus far.
+
+Lottie looked curiously around, with the quick, appreciative  eye
+by which ladies seem to gather accurately at a glance the effect
+of a costume and the style and character of an apartment and its
+occupants. But she politely, and from a certain innate interest,
+gave such attention to the baby as to win the mother's heart. It
+was but an ordinary baby, although the fattest and sturdiest member
+of a rather pinched household; but Lottie wonderingly saw that to
+the faded mother it was a cherub just from heaven.
+
+Lottie could not understand it. A perfumed baby, in lace and
+muslin, might be a nice pet if the nurse were always within call;
+but the sole care of this chubby-cheeked Moloch, that would sacrifice
+its mother as unconsciously and complacently as the plant absorbs
+moisture, seemed almost as prosaic and dreadful as being devoured
+alive.
+
+"Does no one help you take care of that child?" asked she.
+
+"Well, my husband and the elder children help some."
+
+"Haven't you a nurse for all these children?"
+
+"No, indeed. It's as much as we can do to clothe and feed them."
+
+"Don't you keep any servants at all?"
+
+"Yes, we have a girl in the kitchen, but she's almost as much bother
+as she is worth."
+
+"How do you get along?"
+
+"I hardly know--somewhat as the birds do out of doors."
+
+"Are you happy?"
+
+"I've hardly time to think. I think I am, though,--happy as most
+people. Some days bright, some days cloudy, and now and then a
+storm. That's the way it is with all, I imagine. We all have our
+crosses, you know, but by and by all will come right."
+
+"I should be cross enough with all your crosses."
+
+"They might make you patient. The crossest people I know are those
+who shun all crosses."
+
+"Now I think of it, I'm inclined to believe that's true," said
+Lottie, reflectively. Then she whispered, as she walked softly to
+the mother's side, "Baby is going to sleep, isn't it?"
+
+With different expressions they both peered into the  full-moon
+face, two features of which, the eyes, were becoming obliterated
+by the white, drooping lids. Lottie looked as if she were examining
+a zoological specimen. Mrs. Dlimm gazed with a smile of deep content
+and tenderness.
+
+The undisturbed rest of the child upon her bosom was a type of her
+own mind at that moment. She was nature's child, God's child, and
+the babe was hers.
+
+To the true and simple children of nature, who, without thought of
+self or the public eye, are quietly doing their duty in their own
+little niches, these moments of peace with strange thrills of joy
+are constantly coming. If this worn mother could look down upon
+the child, and her plain, pale face grow beautiful with spiritual
+light, how must the God who inspires all love--who is the source
+of tenderness--have regarded her?
+
+The expression of this woman's face puzzled Lottie beyond measure.
+It was so incongruous, irreconcilable with the burdens, the weary
+cares, and ceaseless toil and anxiety of her lot. It was so out of
+keeping with the noisy throng and confused bustle that filled the
+house, and it dimly suggested to the proud belle a condition of
+mind before undreamt of in her philosophy.
+
+Some new and curious thoughts stole into her heart as she watched
+the mother slowly rocking backward and forward, uttering a low,
+crooning lullaby,--the gentlest sound that ever falls on mortal
+ears. For some reason there came into her soul a sudden loathing
+of her own selfishness and callousness.
+
+After the child had been laid in the cradle, she asked, "What did
+you mean when you said, 'It will all come right some day'?"
+
+"Well, I suppose I meant that God's little children often get
+sorely perplexed with their cares and troubles in this world, but
+when we get home and sit down to rest and think it all over, it
+will then seem right."
+
+"Home?"
+
+"Yes, home in our Heavenly Father's house. That's the only real
+home we have. We only 'stop,' as the Irish say, here and there for
+a little while in this world."
+
+"And do you think of heaven as a pleasant home and rest after what
+seems to me your very hard life?"
+
+"Certainly. How do you think of it?"
+
+"Well, to tell the truth, I have not thought much about it."
+
+Before Mrs. Dlimm could reply, there came anything but a heavenly
+interruption. It was as if Moses and Aaron were within the cool and
+shadowy tabernacle, feasting on spiritual manna, and there came a
+delegation from the Hebrew camp, clamoring for the "leeks and onions
+of Egypt."
+
+Though the congregation often said, "It's a pity Mrs.  Dlimm is
+such a meek and quiet little woman," and though the self-appointed
+committee of ladies was so large, and the minister himself was
+downstairs, yet when the first real  emergency of the evening arose,
+the upstairs members of the committee were helpless, and the best
+thing Mrs. Gubling, the leading spirit downstairs, could do, was to
+"slick up," as she said, and "go tell the parson's wife." But seeing
+Mr.  Dlimm on the way, she beckoned him aside with a portentous
+nod. He, poor man, heard her tidings with dismay.  He had fallen
+into the habit of taking all his difficulties either to the Lord
+or to his wife, and in this case he felt that both must come to
+his aid.
+
+With Mrs. Gubling he at once hastened to the nursery, and entered
+rather abruptly.
+
+Mrs. Dlimm raised her finger impressively, then pointed to the
+cradle.
+
+"But, my dear--" began her husband, rather impatiently.
+
+"Hush," said the wife, in a low tone; "whatever's the matter don't
+wake the baby, for then I can't do anything."
+
+"Mrs. Dlimm," said Mrs. Gubling, "they've eat up about everything
+there is downstairs, 'cept me, and there's three tables yet It's
+such a fine night, and the sleighing's so good, that lots more have
+come than we expected. I don't know how much money they brought,
+but they hain't brought  provisions enough."
+
+"What shall we do?" asked Mr. Dlimm, nervously.
+
+"If it takes the last penny we have in the world," said his wife,
+with grave dignity, "no one shall leave our house hungry. You must
+step over to the store, Mr. Dlimm, and buy enough to satisfy every
+one."
+
+"I feel just as you do, my dear," he said, with the air of one who
+sees duty clearly, though it is far from being agree-able. "Just
+give me our poor little hoard from your bureau drawer, and I'll go
+at once."
+
+Lottie witnessed the scene with mingled amusement and indignation,
+and then, her face aglow with a sudden put pose, sped away also.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+HUMAN NATURE.
+
+
+
+
+
+The dismal tidings from the lower regions, that the larder had
+been stripped and that scarcely even a pie  remained, soon became
+an open secret, about which every one was whispering and commenting.
+The supperless wore a defrauded and injured air. The eyes of many
+who had not left so important a duty to the uncertainties of the
+future, but, like Auntie Lammer, had availed themselves of the
+first opportunity, now twinkled shrewdly and  complacently. They
+had the comfortable consciousness of taking care of themselves. But
+the greater number were honestly indignant and ashamed that such
+a thing should have happened. This feeling of mortification was
+increased when the committee reported but a small sum of money
+handed in as yet. The majority were provoked at others, and a few
+at themselves, for having brought so little. As the situation became
+clearer, all began to act characteristically,  some preparing to
+slink away and escape a disagreeable  state of things, and others
+putting their heads together in the wish to remedy matters. Some
+giggled, and others looked solemn. Some tried to appear resigned,
+as if it were a dispensation of Providence, and others snarled
+about "them mean Joneses and Rhamms."
+
+Lottie hastily summoned her party together, and told them of the
+dire emergency, as Mrs. Gubling had stated it.
+
+"Now," said she, "if you gentlemen have got any wit worth the name,
+you must hit on some way of helping the parson out of his scrape,
+for I have taken a great interest in him, or rather his wife. She
+is the queerest little woman I ever saw. I shouldn't wonder if she
+were an angel in disguise."
+
+"As you are undisguised," whispered De Forrest
+
+"O, be still, Julian. That compliment is as delicate as Auntie
+Lammer's appetite. But see, some of these mean 'locusts of Egypt,'
+after eating their minister out of house and home, are preparing
+to go. We must get a collection before a soul leaves the house.
+Julian, you lock the back door, and, Mr. Hemstead, you stand by
+the front door; and now, Mr. Harcourt, you are a lawyer, and know
+how to talk sharply to people: you give these cormorants to understand
+what we expect them to do before they leave."
+
+Hemstead obeyed with alacrity; for the effort to help the overburdened
+pastor of Scrub Oaks meet the rigors of winter  seemed about to
+end in disastrous failure. He had noticed, with satisfaction, that
+many of the people shared his regret, and wished to do something,
+but through lack of leadership the gathering was about to break
+up, each one blaming some one else, and all secretly mortified at
+the result.
+
+Harcourt thought a moment, and then, stepping to a position  where
+he could be seen through open doors and heard from the upper story,
+clapped his hands loudly to secure silence and draw attention to
+himself.
+
+"Do you know where your pastor has gone?" he asked.  "He is out
+now buying provisions with his own money to feed a crowd who came
+here under the false pretence of giving a donation, but, in truth,
+seemingly to eat him out of house and home."
+
+Flushes of shame and anger flashed into nearly every face at these
+stinging words, but Harcourt continued remorselessly:  "You know
+who I am, and I thought I knew something  about you. I had heard
+that the people back in the country were large-handed, large-hearted,
+and liberal, but we must be mistaken. I think this the quintessence
+of meanness,  and if you break up to-night without a big collection
+I will publish you throughout the land. I want you to understand
+that your minister has nothing to do with what I say.  I speak on
+my own responsibility."
+
+"Capital!" whispered Lottie. "That was red-hot shot, and they
+deserved it. If that don't drain their pockets, nothing will."
+
+But she was not a little surprised and disgusted, when a Stalwart
+young farmer stepped out, and with a face aflamed with anger, said
+in harsh emphasis: "I was sorry and ashamed to have this affair end
+as it promised to, and was going to come down handsomely myself,
+and try to get some others to, but since that sprig of the law has
+tried to bully and whip us into doing something, I won't give one
+cent I want you to understand, Tom Harcourt, that whatever may be
+true of the people back in the country, you, nor no other man, can
+drive us with a horsewhip."
+
+The young man's words seemed to meet with general approval, and
+there were many confirmatory nods and  responses. They were eager
+to find some one to blame, and upon whom they could vent their
+vexation; and this aristocratic  young lawyer, whose words had cut
+like knives, was like a spark in powder. Many could go away and
+half persuade  themselves that if it had not been for him they might
+have done something handsome, and even the best-disposed present
+were indignant. It seemed that the party would break up, before
+the minister returned, in a general tumult.
+
+The young farmer stalked to the front door, and said threateningly
+to Hemstead, "Open that door."
+
+"No, don't you do it," whispered Lottie.
+
+He threw the door open wide.
+
+"O, for shame!" she said aloud; "I did not think that of you, Mr.
+Hemstead."
+
+Without heeding her he confronted the young farmer and asked, "Do
+you believe in fair play?"
+
+"Yes, and fair words, too."
+
+"All right, sir. I listened quietly and politely to you.  Will you
+now listen to me? I have not spoken yet."
+
+"O, certainly," said the young farmer, squaring himself and folding
+his arms on his ample chest. "Let every dog have his day."
+
+Hemstead then raised his powerful voice, so that it could be heard
+all through the house, and yet he spoke quietly and calmly.
+
+"The gentleman who last addressed you now in the spirit of fair play
+offers to listen to me. I ask all present, with the same spirit of
+candor and politeness, to hear me for a few moments. But the door
+is open wide, and if there are any who don't believe in fair play
+and a fair hearing all around, they are at liberty to depart at
+once."
+
+No one moved. And the young farmer said, with the sternness of his
+square face greatly relaxing, "You may shut the door, sir. We will
+all listen when spoken to in that style. But we don't want to be
+driven like cattle." Then, yielding farther to the influence of
+Hemstead's courtesy, he stepped forward and shut the door himself.
+
+"Thank you, sir," said Hemstead, heartily, and then  continued: "I
+am a stranger among you, and am here to-night very unexpectedly.
+My home is in the West, and, like  yourselves, I belong to that
+class who, when they give, give not from their abundance, but out
+of their poverty. There has been a mistake here to-night. I think
+I understand you better than my friend Mr. Harcourt. From the
+pleasantness  of the evening mote are present than you looked for.
+There are many young people here who I suspect have come from
+a distance, unexpectedly, for the sake of a ride and frolic, and
+were not as well prepared as if their households had known of it
+before. Long drives and the cold night have caused keen appetites.
+When the result became known a few moments ago, I saw that many
+felt that it was too bad, and that something ought to be done, and
+no one was more decided in the expression of this feeling than the
+gentleman who last spoke. All that was needed then, and all that is
+needed now, is to consider the matter a moment and then act unitedly.
+I ask you as Christian men and women, as humane, kind-hearted
+people, to dismiss from your minds all considerations save one,--your
+pastor's need. I understand  that he has six little children. A
+long, cold winter is before him and his. He is dependent upon you
+for the comforts of life. In return, he is serving the deepest and
+most sacred needs of your natures, and in his poverty is leading
+you to a faith that will enrich you forever. It is not charity that
+is asked. A church is a family, and you are only providing for your
+own. How could any of you be comfortable this winter if you knew
+your minister was pinched and lacking? The Bible says that the
+laborer is worthy of his hire. You have only to follow the impulse
+of your consciences, your own better natures, and I have no fears.
+A few moments ago your pastor had a painful surprise.  You can have
+a very agreeable one awaiting him by the time he returns. You can
+make his heart glad for months to come, and so make your own glad.
+Though I am a stranger, as I said, and a poor man, yet I am willing
+to give double what I proposed at first, and if some one will take
+up a collection will hand in ten dollars."
+
+"Give me your hand on that," said the young farmer, heartily; "and
+there's ten dollars more to keep it  company. When a man talks like
+that, I am with him, shoulder to shoulder. Will some one bring me
+the dominie's hat?"
+
+One was soon forthcoming.
+
+"And now," said the young man, stepping up to Lottie, "you seem to
+take a sight of interest in this matter, miss.  I think you can look
+five dollars out of most of the young chaps here. I'll go around
+with you, and see that each one comes down as he or she ought. If
+anybody ain't got what they'd like to give, I'll lend it to 'em,
+and collect it, too," he added, raising his strong, hearty voice.
+
+Thus through Hemstead's words and action the aspect of the skies
+changed, and where a desolating storm had  threatened there came
+a refreshing shower. What he had said commended itself to so many
+that the mean and crotchety found it politic to fall in with the
+prevailing spirit.
+
+Amid approving nods, whispered consultations, and the hauling out
+of all sorts of queer receptacles for money, the graceful city belle
+and the blunt, broad-shouldered farmer started on an expedition
+that, to the six little Dlimms, would be more important than one
+for the discovery of the North Pole.
+
+"No coppers now!" shouted the young man.
+
+Lottie, fairly bubbling over with fun and enjoyment, was all
+graciousness, and with smiles long remembered by some of the rustic
+youth, certainly did beguile them into generosity  at which they
+wondered ever after.
+
+The result was marvellous, and the crown of the old hat was becoming
+a crown of joy indeed to the  impoverished owner, who now had the
+promise of some royal good times.
+
+That fast-filling hat meant nourishing beef occasionally, a few
+books for the minister's famishing mind, a new dress or two for
+the wife, and a warm suit for the children all round.
+
+No one was permitted to escape, and in justice it could now be said
+that few wished to, for all began to enjoy the luxury of doing a
+good and generous deed.
+
+When they had been to nearly all, Lottie said to her now beaming
+companion, "Go and get Mrs. Dlimm, and seat her in the large
+rocking-chair in the parlor."
+
+The poor little woman, having witnessed all the earlier scenes from
+the stairs with strong and varying feelings, had, during the last
+few moments, seen Lottie pass with such a profusion of greenbacks
+in her husband's hat that in a  bewildering sense of joy and
+gratitude she had fled to the little nursery sanctuary, and when
+found by some of the ladies was crying over the baby in the odd
+contradictoriness of feminine action. She was hardly given time to
+wipe her eyes before she was escorted on the arm of the now gallant
+farmer, to the chair of state in the parlor.
+
+Then Lottie advanced to make a little speech, but could think of
+nothing but the old school-day formula; and so the stately introduction
+ended abruptly but most effectively, as follows:
+
+"As a token of our esteem and kindly feeling, and as an expression
+of--of--I--we hereby present you with--with the reward of merit";
+and she emptied the hat in the lady's lap.
+
+Instead of graceful acknowledgment, and a neatly worded speech in
+reply, Mrs. Dlimm burst into tears, and springing up threw her arms
+around Lottie's neck and kissed her, while the greenbacks were
+scattered round their feet like an emerald shower. Indeed the
+grateful little woman, in her impulse, had stepped forward and upon
+the money.
+
+The city belle, to her great surprise and vexation, found that some
+spring of her own nature had been touched, and that her eyes also
+were overflowing. As she looked around deprecatingly, and half-ashamed,
+she saw that there was a prospect of a general shower, and that many
+of the women were sniffling audibly, and the brusque young farmer
+stood near, looking as if he could more easily hold a span of
+run-away horses than he could hold in himself.
+
+At this moment Hemstead stepped forward, and said: "My friends,
+we can learn a lesson from this scene, for it is true to our best
+nature, and very suggestive. Your pastor's wife standing there
+upon your gift that she may kiss the giver (for in this instance
+Miss Marsden but represents you and your feeling and action) is
+a beautiful proof that we value more and are more blessed by the
+spirit of kindness which prompts the gift than by the gift itself.
+See, she puts her foot on the gift, but takes the giver to her heart.
+The needs of the heart--the soul--are ever greater than those of
+the body, therefore she acknowledges your kindness first, because
+with that you have supplied her chief need. She does not undervalue
+your gift, but values your kindness more. Hereafter, as you supply
+the temporal need of your pastor, as I believe you ever will, let
+all be provided with the same honest kindness and sympathy. Let
+us also all learn, from this lady's action, to think of the Divine
+Giver of all good before his best earthly gifts."
+
+Mrs. Dlimm had recovered herself sufficiently by this time to turn
+to the people around her and say, with a gentle dignity that would
+scarcely have been expected from her: "The gentleman has truly
+interpreted to you my very heart.  I do value the kindness more
+even than the money which we needed so sorely. Our Christian work
+among you will be more full of hope and faith because of this scene,
+and therefore more successful."
+
+Then, as from a sudden impulse, she turned and spoke to Hemstead
+with quaint earnestness: "You are a stranger, sir, but I perceive
+from your noble courtesy and bearing--your power to appreciate and
+bring out the best there is in us--that you belong to the royal
+family of the Great King.  Your Master will reward you."
+
+Poor Hemstead, who thus far had forgotten himself in his thought
+for others, was now suddenly and painfully made conscious of his
+own existence, and at once became the most helpless and awkward of
+mortals, as he found all eyes turned toward him. He was trying to
+escape from the room without stepping on two or three people--to
+Lottie's  infinite amusement, though the tears stood in her eyes as
+she laughed--when Mrs. Gubling, ignorant of all that had  happened,
+appeared from the kitchen, and created a diversion in his favor.
+
+The good woman looked as if pickles had been the only part of the
+donation supper in which she had indulged, and in a tone of ancient
+vinegar, said, "Them as hasn't eaten had better come and take what
+they can git now."
+
+A roar of laughter greeted this rather forbidding invitation.  But,
+before any one could reply, Mr. Dlimm, red and breathless from his
+exertions, also entered, and with a faint smile and with the best
+courtesy he could master under the trying circumstances, added:
+"I am sorry any of our friends should have been kept waiting for
+supper. If they will now be so kind as to step down, we will do
+the best we can for them."
+
+The good man was as puzzled by a louder explosion of mirth as Mrs.
+Gubling had been. The stout farmer whispered  something to Lottie,
+and then, with an extravagant flourish, offered his arm to Mrs.
+Gubling.
+
+"Go 'long with you," she said, giving him a push; but he took her
+along with him, while Lottie brought the parson to where his wife
+stood surrounded by greenbacks like fallen leaves, which in the
+hurry of events had not been picked up. The good man stared at his
+wife with her tearful eyes, and Mrs. Gubling stared at the money,
+and the people laughed and clapped their hands as only hearty
+country people can. Lottie caught the contagion, and laughed with
+them till she was ashamed of herself, while the rest of her party,
+except Hemstead, laughed at them and the "whole absurd thing," as
+they styled it, though Harcourt had a few better thoughts of his
+own.
+
+Mrs. Rhamm's lank figure and curious face now appeared from the
+kitchen in the desire to solve the mystery of the strange sounds
+she heard, and the unheard-of delay in  coming to supper. Lottie's
+coadjutor at once pounced upon her, and escorted, or rather dragged
+her to where she could see the money. She stared a moment, and
+then, being  near-sighted, got down on her knees, that she might
+look more closely.
+
+"She is going to pray to it," cried the farmer; and the simple
+people, aware of Mrs. Rhamm's devotion to this ancient god, laughed
+as if Sydney Smith had launched his wittiest sally.
+
+"Mrs. Gubling," continued the young man, "if you are not chairman
+of the committee, you ought to be, for you are the best man of the
+lot."
+
+"I'd have you know I'm no man at all. It's no compliment  to tell
+a woman she's like a man," interrupted Mrs.  Gubling, sharply.
+
+"Well, you've been a ministering angel to us all, this evening;
+you can't deny that; and I now move that you and the dominie be
+appointed a committee to count this money and report."
+
+It was carried by acclamation.
+
+"Now, while the iron is hot, I'm going to strike again.  I move
+that we raise the dominie's salary to a thousand a year. We all
+know, who know anything, that he can't  support his family decently
+on six hundred."
+
+In the enthusiasm of the hour this was carried also by those who
+at the same time were wondering at themselves and how it all came
+about. Strong popular movements are generally surprises, but the
+springs of united and generous action are ever within reach, if one
+by skill or accident can touch them. Even perverted human nature
+is capable of sweet and noble harmonies, if rightly played upon.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+A POSSIBLE TRAGEDY.
+
+
+
+
+
+While the money was being counted, Lottie led Mrs.  Dlimm into the
+hall, and introduced her to  Hemstead, saying, "This is the magician
+whose wand has  transformed us all."
+
+"You are the wand then," he said, laughing.
+
+"What is the wand without the magician?" she asked, shyly watching
+the effect of her speech.
+
+His quick flush bespoke the sensitive nature that it was becoming
+her delight to play upon, but he said: "According  to legends, magic
+power was exerted in two ways,--by a magician, as you suggested,
+and by ordinary mortals who happened to find a wand or spell or
+some potent secret by which they and any one could perform marvels.
+Now I assure you that I am the most ordinary of mortals, and without
+my wand I could not conjure at all."
+
+Lottie gave him a look at this point which heightened his color,
+but he continued: "Miss Marsden, in her generosity, shall not give
+to me the credit for events which I trust will add a little sunlight
+to your life this winter, Mrs. Dlimm.  It is to be shared chiefly
+by herself and that manly young fellow there, who is a member of
+your church, I suppose.  It was Miss Marsden who brought us the
+tidings of the evil out of which this good has come. She not only
+took up the collection with such a grace that no one could resist,
+but she suggested the collection in the first place."
+
+"What do you know about my irresistible grace? You haven't given
+me anything."
+
+"You will place me in an awkward dilemma if you ask anything, for
+I have given you all the money I have with me," he said, laughing.
+
+"Perhaps he would give himself," said simple, innocent Mrs. Dlimm,
+who, from Lottie's coquetry and the expression of Hemstead's eyes,
+imagined that an understanding or an engagement existed between
+them.
+
+Lottie laughed, till the tears came, at Hemstead's blushing  confusion,
+but said after a moment, "That would be a graceless request from
+me."
+
+"I don't think you would have to ask twice," whispered Mrs. Dlimm.
+
+"Did you ever hear of the man who was given a white elephant?"
+asked Lottie, in her ear.
+
+"No, what about him?" said Mrs. Dlimm, simply.
+
+Lottie laughed again, and putting her arm around the little lady
+said, aloud:
+
+"Mrs. Dlimm, you and your baby could go right back to the Garden
+of Eden, and I rather think Mr. Hemstead could be your escort."
+
+"I trust we are all going to a far better place," she replied,
+quickly.
+
+"I fear I'm going the other way," said Lottie, shaking her head. But
+she was surprised at the expression of honest trouble and sympathy
+that came out upon the face of the pastor's wife.
+
+"Miss Marsden does herself injustice," said Hemstead, quickly.
+"You have seen her action. All that I have seen of her accords with
+that."
+
+"But you have not known me two days yet altogether," said Lottie.
+
+"No matter. The last time I was in a picture gallery, I spent most
+o the time before one painting. I did not require weeks to learn
+its character."
+
+"I shall judge you by your action, Miss Marsden," said Mrs. Dlimm,
+gratefully. "My creed forbids me to think ill of any one, and my
+heart forbids me to think ill of you.  Those tears I saw in your
+eyes a short time since became you better than any diamonds you
+will ever wear. They were nature's ornaments, and proved that you
+were still nature's child,--that you had not in your city life
+grown proud, and cold, and false. It is a rare and precious thing
+to see outward beauty but the reflex of a more lovely spirit.  Keep
+that spirit, my dear, and you will never lose your beauty even though
+you grow old and faded as I am. I wish I could see you again, for
+your full, sunny life has done me more good than I can tell you."
+
+Again, Lottie's warm heart and impulsive nature betrayed her, and,
+before she thought, she exclaimed in sincerity: "I wish I deserved
+what you say, and I might be better if I saw more of such people
+as you and Mr. Hemstead. If he will drive me over to-morrow, I will
+come and see you. I think he will, for I haven't told you that he
+is a minister, and would, no doubt, like to talk to your husband."
+
+"I might have known it," said the little woman, stepping forward
+and shaking Hemstead's hand most cordially. "I congratulate you,
+sir. You have chosen a princely calling,--a royal one, rather,--and
+can tread directly in the steps of the Son of God. I predict for
+you success,--the success a true minister craves. You have the
+promise within you of winning many from evil."
+
+"Believe me," said he, earnestly, "I would rather have that power
+than be a king."
+
+"You may well say that, sir," she replied, with a dignity of which
+Lottie did not think her capable. "Any common man may have kingly
+power, and the meanest have cursed the world with it. But the power
+to win men from evil is godlike, and only the godlike have it."
+
+Lottie looked curiously at the object of her practical jest.  The
+words of the pastor's wife seemed to have drawn his thoughts away from
+the speaker and herself, and fixed them on his future work and its
+results. It is in such moments of abstraction--of self-forgetfulness,
+when one's mind is dwelling on life's purposes and aims--that the
+spirit shines through the face, as through a transparency, and the
+true character is seen. Lottie saw Hemstead's face grow so noble
+and manly, so free from every trace of the meanness of egotism
+and selfishness, that in the depths of her soul she respected him
+as she had never any man before.  Instinctively she placed Julian
+De Forrest, the rich and elegant idler, beside this earnest man,
+self-consecrated to the highest effort, and for the first time her
+soul revolted from her cousin with something like disgust.
+
+What she had imagined became real at that moment, and De Forrest
+appeared, looking bored and uneasy.
+
+"I have found you at last," he said. "We became so wedged in the
+parlor that there was no getting out, but now they have completed
+the laborious task of counting a sum that a bank clerk would run
+over in two minutes, and it is to be announced with a final flourish
+of trumpets. Then the stingy clodhoppers that you have inveigled
+into doing something that they will repent of with groanings that
+cannot be uttered to-morrow will go home resolving to pinch and save
+till they make good what they have given." He then added carelessly
+to Mrs. Dlimm, not waiting for an  introduction, "I am surprised
+that you and your husband are willing to stay among such a people."
+
+Before she could answer, he said to Lottie, "Are you ready to go
+home? Harcourt and Addie say we ought to start at once."
+
+Lottie was provoked at his rudeness, and furtively watched Mrs.
+Dlimm's face, to see what impression he made upon her. Indeed her
+face was a study for a moment as she measured De Forrest's proportions
+with a slow, sweeping glance, which he thought one of admiration.
+But, instead of turning contemptuously or resentfully away, her
+face was pitiful.
+
+They were now summoned to hear the result, but Lottie found
+opportunity to whisper to Mrs. Dlimm, "What do you think of him?"
+
+"I don't know what to think. It is painfully evident that he is
+not a man."
+
+Mrs. Dlimm's verdict had a weight with Lottie that she would hardly
+have believed possible a few hours before.  There was a quaint
+simplicity and sincerity about her, an unworldliness, that gave
+her words something of the authority of the other world.
+
+The abstraction that had been on Hemstead's face passed to Lottie's,
+and she heard with inattentive ear the young farmer say with hearty
+emphasis, "We present you, as an expression of our good-will, with
+two hundred and fifty dollars."
+
+She heard, but still did not heed the pastor's grateful reply. De
+Forrest whispered to her often, but her brow only contracted at
+his interruption to her busy thought.  Suddenly she noted Hemstead's
+eye resting on her with a questioning expression. Then with a
+seeming effort she came out of her revery, and tried to be her old
+self again.
+
+When Mr. Dlimm ceased, the farmer calkd out heartily: "Good for
+you, dominie. Now I call for a vote of thanks to the stranger who
+showed us a way out of our scrape. I understand that his name is
+the Rev. Mr. Hemstead. Also a vote of thanks to such a young lady
+as the city doesn't often send us, who, if she will permit a country
+compliment, is like the rose, good enough for a king, yet sweet to
+all.  I call on both for a speech."
+
+Lottie, blushing and laughing, declared that she was one who believed
+"that a woman should keep silence in meeting,"  and requested
+Hemstead to answer for both.
+
+"Miss Marsden does not need words," said Hemstead.  "She has a
+better kind of eloquence, and speaks to us through good and kindly
+deeds. My part in the happy results of this evening is slight. It
+is comparatively easy to suggest good and generous action, but it
+is harder to  perform. It is one thing to preach, and quite another
+to  practise. You have had the hard part,--the practising,--and
+yet have done it as if it were not hard, as duty seldom is when
+performed in the right spirit j and therefore deserve the greater
+credit. If what you have done from generous impulse to-night you
+will henceforth do from steady principle,  you will all have cause
+to remember this evening gratefully.  That 'it is more blessed to
+give than receive' is true, not only because the Bible declares
+it, but because human experience proves it."
+
+Loud applause followed these words, and then the farmer said, "Now,
+Mr. Harcourt, you are welcome to publish all you have seen at Scrub
+Oaks to-night"
+
+At this Harcourt stepped forward and said: "Although not called
+on for a speech, I shall make a short one. I have learned a thing
+or two this evening. When I make a blunder I am not ashamed to
+acknowledge it. Mr. Hemstead and I both wished to bring about the
+same thing, only I went about it the wrong way, and he the right.
+What I then said as a threat, I now say as a promise. I shall
+write for our country paper a report of this meeting, and it will
+be greatly to your credit. I take back my former harsh words. I
+congratulate you on your action, and commend you for it."
+
+"Give me your hand on that," cried the farmer. "Three cheers for
+Tom Harcourt. If you are ever up for office, sir, you may count on
+the vote of Scrub Oaks."
+
+Thus, with cheery laughter and mutual good feeling, the eventful
+donation party broke up, leaving a happier family in the little
+parsonage than had ever dwelt there before.
+
+In a few moments the party from Mrs. Marchmont's were on the road,
+though it proved difficult to hold the chilled and spirited horses
+long enough for them to get seated.  De Forrest again took his place
+by Lottie, but she  determined to make the conversation general.
+
+"I've had a splendid time," she exclaimed, "and am very much obliged
+to you, Addie and Mr. Harcourt, for bringing me."
+
+"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," said Addie, "and hope that you
+have now had enough of the 'other set,' as you call them. I don't
+see how you can endure them."
+
+"Nor I either," said Bel, "although I suppose we ought to mingle
+with them occasionally. But I am tired to death."
+
+"I was disgusted with them from first to last," said De Forrest,--"the
+uncouth, ill-bred crew. I couldn't endure to see you, Miss Lottie,
+going around with that clodhopper of a farmer, and, worst of all,
+how could you touch that great mountain of flesh they called Auntie
+Lammer?"
+
+"Many men of many minds," trilled out Lottie; but she thought of
+Hemstead's treatment of the poor old creature in contrast.
+
+"Whoa there, steady now," cried Harcourt to the horses; and Hemstead,
+though sitting with his back to him, noted that he was too much
+engrossed with their management to speak often, even to Addie who
+sat beside him.
+
+"Mr. Hemstead said that Auntie Lammer was more than a duchess,"
+added Lottie, laughing.
+
+"True, she's a monster. Bat what did Mr. Hemstead call her?"
+
+"He said she was a 'woman,' and was as polite is if paying homage
+to universal womanhood."
+
+"I think," said De Forrest, satirically, "that Mr.  Hemstead might
+have found a better, if not a larger type of 'universal womanhood'
+to whom he could have paid his homage. I was not aware that he
+regarded bulk as the most admirable quality in woman. Well, he does
+not take a narrow view of the sex. His ideal is large."
+
+"Come, Mr. De Forrest," said Hemstead, "your wit is as heavy as
+Mrs. Lammer herself, and she nearly broke my back going down stairs."
+
+"O, pardon me. It was your back that suffered. I thought it was
+your heart. How came you to be so  excessively polite then?"
+
+"I think Miss Marsden is indulging in a bit of fun at my expense.
+Of course a gentleman ought to be polite to any and every woman,
+because she is such. Would it be knightly or manly to bow to a
+duchess, and treat some poor obscure woman as if she were scarcely
+human? Chivalry,"  continued he, laughing, "devoted itself to woman
+in distress, and if ever a woman's soul was burdened, Aunt Lammer's
+must be. But how do you account for this, Mr. De Forrest?  It was
+Miss Marsden that took pity on the poor creature and summoned me
+to her aid. She was more polite and helpful than I."
+
+"I have just said to her that I do not understand how she can do such
+things save in the spirit of mischief," he replied, discontentedly.
+"It really pained me all the evening to see you in contact with
+such people," he added tenderly, aside to Lottie.
+
+"Well, I can understand it," said Hemstead, emphatically.
+
+"I suppose Mr. Hemstead believes in the brotherhood, and therefore
+the sisterhood of the race. I was, in his estimation, taking care
+of one of my little sisters "; and Lottie's laugh trilled out upon
+the still night.
+
+"Whoa now, steady, steady, I tell you," cried Harcourt; and all noted
+that at Lottie's shrill laugh the horses sprang into a momentary
+gallop.
+
+After a moment Hemstead replied, "You are nearer right than you
+think. In weakness, helplessness, and childish ignorance, she was
+a little sister."
+
+"Well, so be it. I have had enough of Mrs. Lammer and undeserved
+praise. Now all join in the chorus.
+
+"Three fishers--" and she sang the well-known song, and was delighted
+when Hemstead, for the first time, let out his rich, musical bass.
+
+But before they had sung through the first stanza,  Harcourt turned
+and said, "You must be still, or I can't manage the horses."
+
+In fact, they were going at a tremendous pace, and  Hemstead noted
+that Harcourt was nervous and excited. But no one apprehended any
+danger.
+
+"How cold and distant the stars seem on a winter evening!"  said
+Lottie, after a moment's silence. "It always depresses me to come
+out into the night after an evening of gayety and nonsense. There
+is a calm majesty about the heavens which makes my frivolity seem
+contemptible. The sky to-night reminds me of a serene, cold face
+looking at me in silent scorn. How fearfully far off those stars
+are; and yet you teach, do you not, Mr. Hemstead, that heaven is
+beyond them?"
+
+"But that Limbo," added De Forrest, with a satirical laugh, "is
+right at hand in the centre of the earth."
+
+"The real heaven, Miss Marsden," said Hemstead, gently, "is where
+there are happy, trusting hearts. Where the locality is I do not
+know. As to that nether world, if you know its location you know
+more than I do, Mr. De Forrest.  I don't propose to have anything
+to do with it. Prisons may be a painful necessity, but we don't
+fear them or  propose to go to them. On the same principle we need
+not trouble ourselves about God's prison house."
+
+At this moment from an adjacent farm-house, a large dog came bounding
+out with clamorous barking. The excited horses were ready at the
+slightest provocation to run, and now broke into a furious gallop.
+Harcourt sawed on the bits and shouted to them in vain. He was slight
+in build, and not very strong. Moreover, he had grown nervous and
+chilled and had lost his own self-control, and of course could not
+restrain the powerful creatures that were fast passing from mere
+excitement into the wild terror which is akin to a panic among men
+when once they give way before danger.
+
+"Good God!" exclaimed Harcourt, after a moment; "I can't hold them,
+and we are near the top of a long hill with two sharp turnings on
+the side of a steep bank, and there's a bridge at the bottom. Whoa!
+curse you, whoa!"
+
+But they tore on the more recklessly. Bel and Addie began to scream,
+and this increased the fright of the horses.  Hemstead looked
+searchingly for a moment at Lottie, and saw with a thrill that her
+white face was turned to him and not to De Forrest.
+
+"Is there danger?" she asked, in a low tone.
+
+"Good God!" exclaimed Harcourt again, "I can't hold them."
+
+Hemstead rose instantly, and turning with care in the swaying sleigh
+braced himself by planting one foot on the middle of the seat. He
+then said quietly, "Will you give me the reins, Mr. Harcourt? I
+am well braced and quite strong. Perhaps I can manage them."
+
+Harcourt relinquished the reins instantly.
+
+"Hush!" Hemstead said sternly to Addie and Bel, and they became
+quiet,--the weaker minds submitting to the roused and master mind.
+
+Fortunately the trouble had occurred where there was a straight
+and level road, and a little of this still remained.  The question
+with Hemstead was whether he could get control of the rushing steeds
+before they reached the hill.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+MISS MARSDEN ASKS SOMBRE QUESTIONS.
+
+
+
+
+
+Lottie Marsden, although greatly alarmed by their critical situation,
+was naturally too courageous to give way utterly to fear, and not
+so terrified but that she could note all Hemstead did; and for
+some reason she believed he would be equal to the emergency. His
+confidence, moreover, communicated itself to her. She saw that he
+did not jerk or saw on the reins at first, but, bracing his large
+powerful frame, drew steadily back, and that the horses yielded
+somewhat to his masterful grasp.
+
+"Pull," cried Harcourt, excitedly; "you can hold them."
+
+"Yes, jerk their cursed heads off," shouted De Forrest, in a way
+that proved his self-control was nearly gone.
+
+"Hush, I tell you!" said Hemstead, in a low tone. "I might break
+the lines if I exerted my whole strength. Then where should we be?
+I don't wish to put any more strain upon them than I must. See,
+they are giving in more and more."
+
+"But the hill is near," said Harcourt.
+
+"You must let me manage in my own way," said  Hemstead. "Not another
+sound from any one."
+
+Then in a firm tone, strong but quiet like his grasp upon the reins,
+he spoke to the horses. In three minutes more be had them prancing
+with many a nervous start, but  completely under his control, down
+the first descent of the hill.
+
+"Will you take the reins again?" he said to Harcourt.
+
+"No, hang it all. You are a better horseman than I am."
+
+"Not at all, Mr. Harcourt. I am heavier and stronger than you
+probably, and so braced that I had a great advantage.  You had no
+purchase on them, and were chilled by long driving."
+
+"Where did you learn to manage horses?" asked Lottie.
+
+"On our Western farm. We had plenty of them. A horse is almost
+human: you must be very firm and very kind."
+
+"Is that the way to treat the 'human'?" said Lottie, her bold and
+somewhat reckless spirit having so far recovered itself as to enable
+her to laugh.
+
+"Yes, for a man, if he attempts to manage at all; but I suppose the
+majority of us are managed, if we would only acknowledge it. What
+chance has a man with a coaxing, clever woman?"
+
+"Look there," said Harcourt, as they were turning the first sharp
+angle in the road to which he had referred.  "Where should we have
+been if we had gone round this point at our speed when I held the
+reins?"
+
+The steep embankment, with grim rocks protruding from the snow and
+with gnarled trunks of trees, was anything but inviting.
+
+"Come, De Forrest," continued Harcourt, "brush up your mathematics.
+At what angle, and with what degree of force, should we have swooped
+down there on a tangent, when the horses rounded this curve?"
+
+"O-o-h!" exclaimed Lottie, looking shudderingly down the steep
+bank, at the bottom of which brawled a swift stream among ice-capped
+rocks. "It's just the place for a tragedy. We were talking about
+heaven and the other place when the horses started, were we not?
+Perhaps we were nearer one or the other of them than we supposed."
+
+"O, hush, Lottie!" cried Bel, still sobbing and trembling; "I wish
+we had remained at home."
+
+"I echo that wish most decidedly," muttered De Forrest.  "The whole
+evening has been like a nightmare."
+
+"I am sorry my expedition has been a source of wretchedness to
+every one," said Lottie, coldly.
+
+"Not every one, I'm sure," said Hemstead. "Certainly not to
+me. Besides, your expedition has made a pastor and a whole parish
+happy, and I also dimly foresee a seat in Congress for Harcourt as
+a result."
+
+"Very dimly indeed," laughed Harcourt. "Still,--now that our necks
+are safe, thanks to Mr. Hemstead, I'm glad I went. Human nature lies
+on the surface out at Scrub Oaks, and one can learn much about it
+in a little while.  Come, little coz, cheer up," he said to Addie,
+drawing her closer to him. "See, we are down the hill and across
+the bridge. No danger of the horses running up the long hill before
+us, and by the time they reach the top they will be glad to go the
+rest of the way quietly."
+
+"You had better take the reins again, Mr. Harcourt," said Hemstead.
+
+"O Mr. Hemstead, please drive," cried the ladies, in chorus.
+
+"No," said he; "Mr. Harcourt is as good a driver as I am. It was
+only a question of strength before."
+
+"The majority is against me," laughed Harcourt. "I won't drive any
+more to-night. You take my place."
+
+"Well, if you all wish it; but there's no need."
+
+"Let me come over, too, and sit between you and Bel," said Addie,
+eagerly.
+
+"No, she can sit with Julian," said Lottie, "and I will go to Mr.
+Hemstead. He shall not be left alone."
+
+"O Miss Lottie! please forgive me," pleaded De  Forrest; "I did
+not mean what I said a moment since."
+
+"Well, I'll forgive you, but shall punish you a little. Stop the
+horses again, Mr. Hemstead; that is, if you don't object to my
+company."
+
+The horses stopped very suddenly.
+
+"Please don't leave me," said De Forrest.
+
+"It's only carrying out the mischief we plotted, you know," she
+whispered.
+
+"Well, I submit on that ground only," he replied  discontentedly,
+and with a shade of doubt in his mind. It seemed very strange, even
+to him, that Lottie could coolly continue to victimize one who had
+just rendered them so great a service. But the truth was, that she,
+in her desire to escape from him, had said what she thought would
+be apt to quiet his objections without much regard for the truth.
+She hardly recognized her own motive for wishing to sit by Hemstead,
+beyond that she was grateful, and found him far more interesting
+than the egotistical lover, who to-day, for some reason, had proved
+himself very wearisome.
+
+"Hemstead heard nothing of this, and was much pleased when Lottie
+stepped lightly over and took her place socially at his side.
+
+"It's very kind of you," he said.
+
+"I didn't come out of kindness," she replied, in a low tone for
+his ear alone.
+
+"Why then?"
+
+"Because I wanted to."
+
+"I like that reason better still."
+
+"And with good reason. Will you take me again over this awful road
+to see Mrs. Dlimm?"
+
+"With great pleasure."
+
+"But it's such a long drive! You will get cold driving."
+
+"O, no! not if you will talk to me so pleasantly."
+
+"I won't promise how I'll talk. In fact I never know what I'll do
+when with you. You made me act very silly this afternoon."
+
+"Is a flower silly when it blooms?"
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"You wished you were better."
+
+"O, I see; but suppose I would like to remain--for a while at
+least--a wicked, little undeveloped bud?"
+
+"You can't. The bud must either bloom or wither."
+
+"O, how dismal! Were you afraid, Mr. Hemstead, when the horses were
+running? I was."
+
+"I was anxious. It certainly was a critical moment with that hill
+before us."
+
+"How queer that we should have been talking of the future state
+just then! Suppose that, instead of sitting here cosily by you, I
+were lying on those rocks over there, or floating in that icy stream
+bleeding and dead?"
+
+He turned and gave her a surprised look, and she saw the momentary
+glitter of a tear in his eye.
+
+"Please do not call up such images," he said.
+
+She was in a strangely excited and reckless mood, and did not
+understand herself. Forces that she would be long in comprehending
+were at work in her mind.
+
+Partly for the sake of the effect upon him, and partly as the
+outgrowth of her strange mood, she continued, in a low tone which
+the others could not hear: "If that had happened, where should I
+have been now? Just think of it,--my body lying over there in this
+wild gorge, and I, myself, going away alone this wintry night.
+Where should I have gone? Where should I be now?"
+
+"In paradise, I trust," he replied, bending upon her a searching
+look. Either his imagination or her thoughts gave her face a strange
+expression as seen in the uncertain moonlight. It suggested the awed
+and trembling curiosity with which she might have gone forward to
+meet the dread realities of the unknown world. A great pity--an
+intense desire to shield and rescue her--filled his soul.
+
+"Miss Marsden," he said, in a tone that thrilled her in connection
+with the image called up, "your own words seem to portray you standing
+on the brink of a fathomless abyss into which you are looking with
+fear and dread."
+
+"You understand me perfectly," she said. "That is just where I stand;
+but it is like looking out into one of those Egyptian nights that
+swallow up everything, and there is nothing but a great blank of
+darkness."
+
+"It must be so," said Hemstead, sighing deeply. "Only the clear
+eyes of faith can see across the gulf. But you are a brave girl to
+stand and look into the gulf."
+
+"Why should I not look into it?" she asked, in a reckless  tone.
+"I've been brought face to face with it to-night, and perhaps shall
+soon be again. It's always there. If I had to go over Niagara, I
+should want to go with my eyes open."
+
+"But if you were in the rapids above the falls, would you not permit
+a strong hand to lift you out? Why should you look down into the
+gulf? Why not look up to heaven?  That is 'always there' just as
+truly."
+
+"Do you feel sure that you would have gone to heaven if you had
+been killed to-night?"
+
+"Yes, perfectly sure."
+
+"You are very good."
+
+"No; but God is."
+
+"A good God ought to prevent such awful things."
+
+"He did, in this case."
+
+"No; you prevented it."
+
+"Suppose the horses had started to run at the top of the hill
+instead of where it was level; suppose a line had broken; suppose
+the horses had taken the bits in their teeth,--I could not hold two
+such powerful animals. Do you not see that many things might have
+happened so that no human hand could do anything, and that it would
+be easy for an all-powerful Being to so arrange and shape events
+that we should either escape or suffer, as He chose, in spite
+of all that we could do. I am glad to think that I can never be
+independent of Him."
+
+"If it was God's will that they should stop, what was the use of
+your doing anything?"
+
+"It is ever God's will that we should do our best in all emergencies.
+He will help only those who try to help themselves. He calls us
+his children, not his machines.  The point I wish to make is, that
+when we do our best, which is always required of us, we are still
+dependent upon Him."
+
+"I never had it made so plain before. The fact is, Mr.  Hemstead,
+I don't know much about God, and I don't half understand myself.
+This day seems like an age. I have had so many strange experiences
+since I stood with you in the breakfast-room this morning,--and have
+been near, perhaps, still stranger experiences, for which I feel
+little prepared,--that I am excited and bewildered. I fear you
+think very poorly of me."
+
+"You do often puzzle me very greatly, Miss Marsden," he replied.
+"But I think you are prone to do yourself injustice. Still that is
+far better than hypocritical seeming.  Whatever your fault is, you
+proved to me last night, and most conclusively again this evening,
+that you have a kind, generous heart. More than all, you have shown
+yourself capable of the noblest things."
+
+Lottie made no reply, but sat silent for some time; and, having
+reached the level once more, Hemstead gave his attention to the
+horses, till satisfied that they recognized their master and would
+give no further trouble.
+
+"Won't you sing again?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, if you will sing with me."
+
+"I would rather listen, but will accept your condition when I can."
+
+She would only sing what he knew, and noted in pleased eurprise
+that his musical culture was by no means trifling.
+
+"How could you take time from your grave theological studies for
+such a comparatively trifling thing as music?" she asked.
+
+"Some practical knowledge of music is no trifling matter with me,"
+he replied. "In view of my prospective field of work, next to
+learning to preach, learning to sing is the most important. I shall
+have to start the hymns, as a general thing, and often sing them
+alone."
+
+"How can you look forward to such a life?"
+
+"I can look forward in grateful gladness. I only wish I were more
+worthy of my work."
+
+"Did I not know your sincerity I should say that was affectation."
+
+"Who was it that preached to the 'common people,' and in the obscure
+little towns of Palestine eighteen centuries ago? Am I better than
+my Master?"
+
+"You are far better than I am. No one has ever talked to me as you
+have. I might have been different if they had."
+
+"Miss Marsden," said Hemstead, tarnestly, as they were driving up
+the avenue to the Marchmont residence, "when you stood beside me
+this morning I pointed you to a world without, whose strange and
+marvellous beauty excited your wonder and delight. You seem to
+me on the border of a more beautiful world,--the spiritual world
+of love and faith in God. If I could only show you that, I should
+esteem it the greatest joy of my life."
+
+"That is a world I do not understand; nor am I worthy to enter
+it," she said in sudden bitterness, "and I fear I never shall be;
+and yet I thank you all the same."
+
+A few moments later they were sitting round the parlor fire,
+recounting the experiences of the evening.
+
+Before entering the house Lottie had said, "Let us say nothing about
+runaway horses to aunt and uncle, or they may veto future drives."
+
+To Hemstead's surprise Lottie seemed in one of her gayest  moods,
+and he was reluctantly compelled to think her sketch of the people
+at the donation a little satirical and unfeeling. But while she was
+portraying Hemstead as the hero of the occasion, she had the tact
+to make no reference to Harcourt. But he generously stated the
+whole case,  adding, with a light laugh, that he had learned once
+for all that coaxing and wheedling were better than driving.
+
+"Appealing to their better natures, you mean," said Hemstead.
+
+"Yes, that is the way you would put it."
+
+"I think it's the true way."
+
+"Perhaps it is. Human nature has its good side if one can only find
+it, but I'm satisfied that it won't drive well."
+
+"I think work among such people the most hopeless and discouraging
+thing in the world," said Mrs. Marchmont, yawning.
+
+"It doesn't seem to me so, aunt," said Hemstead. "On the contrary,
+are not people situated as they are peculiarly open to good influences?
+Next to gospel truth, I think the influence of refined, cultivated
+families could do more for the people at Scrub Oaks than anything
+else. If they did not alienate the plain people by exclusiveness
+and pride, they would soon tone them up and refine away uncouthness
+and unconscious vulgarity in manners. Let me give you a practical
+instance of this that occurred to-night. I asked a pretty young girl
+why she and the little group around her had given up the kissing
+games, and she replied that 'Miss Marsden had said that no lady
+played such games, and she wouldn't any more.' Young people are
+quick and imitative, and I noticed that they watched Miss Marsden
+as if she were a revelation to them, and many, no doubt, obtained
+ideas of lady-like bearing and manner that were entirely new to
+them, but which they will instinctively adopt. I think she would
+be surprised if she could foresee how  decided and lasting an
+influence this brief visit of one evening will have on many that
+were present."
+
+"But refined people of standing cannot meet with such a class
+socially," replied his aunt, with emphasis. "Such a mixing up would
+soon bring about social anarchy. Lottie is a little peculiar, and
+went there as a stranger upon a frolic."
+
+"Now, auntie, that designation 'peculiar' is a very doubtful
+compliment."
+
+"I didn't mean it for one, my dear, though I meant no reproach in
+it. You get too many compliments as it is.  Frank, like all young,
+inexperienced people, has many  impractical ideas, that time will
+cure. Young enthusiasts of every age are going to turn the world
+upside down, but I note that it goes on very much the same."
+
+"I think evil has turned the world upside down," said Hemstead.
+"The wrong side is up now, and it is our duty to turn the right
+side back again. We can't carry exclusiveness  beyond this brief
+life. Why, then, make it so rigid here? The One who was chief of
+all was the friend of all."
+
+"O, well," said Mrs. Marchmont, in some confusion, "we can't expect
+to be like Him. Then what is appropriate in one place and age is
+not in another."
+
+"No, indeed, Mr. Hemstead," said Lottie, with twinkling eyes. "I'd
+have you to understand that the religion  appropriate to our place
+and age is one that pleases us."
+
+"I didn't say that, Lottie," said Mrs. Marchmont, with some
+irritation.
+
+"Very true, auntie, but I did! and, as far as I can judge, it's
+true in New York, whatever may be the case in the country. But come,
+we've had supper, and have kept you and uncle up too late already.
+Kiss your saucy niece good night; perhaps I'll be better one of
+these days."
+
+"If kissing will make you better, come here to me," said Mr. Dimmerly.
+"I wouldn't mind doing a little missionary  work of that kind."
+
+"No, indeed," laughed Harcourt; "we'll all turn  missionaries on
+those terms."
+
+"Yes," said De Forrest, "I'll promise to be a devoted missionary
+all my life."
+
+"There, I said that you would have a religion you liked," retorted
+Lottie, pirouetting to the dining-room door. "But I'm too far gone
+for any such mild remedies. There's Bel, she's trying to be good.
+You may all kiss her"; and, with a look at Hemstead he did not
+understand, she vanished.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+A LOVER QUENCHED.
+
+
+
+
+
+Bel followed her friend to their room, full of irritable reproaches.
+But Lottie puzzled her again, as she had done before that day.
+Gayety vanished from the face as light from a clouded landscape,
+and with an expression that was even scowling and sullen she sat
+brooding before the fire, heeding Bel's complaining words no more
+than she would the patter of rain against the window.
+
+Then Bel changed the tune; retaining the same minor key, however.
+
+"I suppose now that you will give up your shameful plot against
+Mr. Hemstead, as a matter of course."
+
+"I don't know what I'll do," snapped Lottie.
+
+"Don't know what you'll do! Why, he about the same as saved our
+lives this evening."
+
+"He saved his own at the same time."
+
+"Well," said Bel, exasperatingly, "I wish Mr. Hemstead and all who
+heard the fine speeches about your 'kind,  generous heart' could
+hear you now."
+
+"I wish they could," said Lottie, recklessly. "They couldn't have
+a worse opinion of me than I have of myself."
+
+"But what do you intend to do about Mr. Hemstead."
+
+"I don't intend to do anything about him. I half wish I had never
+seen him."
+
+"That you can trifle with him after what has happened to-night is
+something that I did not think, even of you, Lottie Marsden."
+
+"I haven't said I was going to 'trifle with him.' He's a man you
+can't trifle with. The best thing I can do is to let him alone."
+
+"That is just what I think."
+
+"Very well then, go to sleep and be quiet."
+
+"How long are you going to sit 'mooning' there?"
+
+"Till morning, if I wish. Don't bother me."
+
+"After coming so near having your neck broken, you ought to be in
+a better frame of mind."
+
+"So had you. Neither breaking my neck nor coming near it will
+convert me."
+
+"Well, I hope you will get through your moods and tenses to-day.
+You have had more than I ever remember within so short a time."
+
+With this comforting statement Bel left her friend to  herself,
+who sat staring into the fire in the most discontented manner.
+
+"'Capable of the noblest things,' indeed," she thought.  "I would
+like to know who is capable of meaner things.  And now what do you
+intend to do, Lottie Marsden?  Going on with your foolish, childish
+jest, after the fun has all faded out of it? If you do, you will
+make a fool of yourself instead of him. He is not the man you thought
+he was, at all. He is your superior in every respect, save merely
+in the ease which comes from living in public instead of seclusion,
+and in all his diffidence there has been nothing  so rude and
+ill-bred as Julian's treatment of Mrs. Dlimm.  Julian indeed! He's
+but a well-dressed little manikin  beside this large-minded man";
+and she scowled more darkly than ever at the fire.
+
+"But what shall I do? I can't be such a Christian as Bel is. I would
+rather not be one at all. What's more, I cannot bring my mind to
+decide to be such a Christian as Mr. Hemstead is. I should have
+to change completely, and give up my old self-pleasing and wayward
+life, and that seems like giving up life itself. Religion is a
+bitter medicine  that I must take some time or other. But the idea
+of sobering down at my time of life!"
+
+"But you may not live to see age, Think what a risk you ran to-night,"
+urged conscience.
+
+"Well, I must take my chances. A plague on that  Hemstead! I can't
+be with him ten minutes but he makes me uncomfortable in doing
+wrong. All was going smoothly till he came, and life was one long
+frolic. Now he has got my conscience all stirred up so that between
+them both I shall have little comfort. I won't go with him to Mrs.
+Dlimm's to-morrow. He will talk religion to me all the time, and
+I, like a big baby, shall cry, and he will think I am on the eve of
+conversion, and perhaps will offer to take me out among the border
+ruffians as an inducement. If I want to live my old life, and have
+a good time, the less I see of Frank Hemstead the better, for,
+somehow or other, when I am with him I can't help seeing that he
+is right, and feeling mean in my wrong. I will just carry out my
+old resolution, and act as badly as I can. He will then see what
+I am, and let me alone."
+
+Having formed this resolution, Lottie slept as sweetly as innocence
+itself.
+
+To Hemstead, with his quiet and regular habits, the day had been
+long and exciting, and he was exceedingly weary; and yet thoughts
+of the brilliant and beautiful girl, who bewildered and fascinated
+him, awaking his sympathy at the same time, kept him sleepless till
+late. Every scene in which they had been together was lived over
+in all its minutiae, and his conclusions were favorable. As he had
+said to her, she seemed "capable of the noblest things."
+
+"She never has had a chance," he thought. "She never has given truth
+a fair hearing, probably having had slight opportunity to do so.
+From the little I have seen and heard, it seems to me that the
+rich and fashionable are as neglected--indeed it would appear more
+difficult to bring before them the simple and searching gospel of
+Christ, than before the very poor."
+
+Hemstead determined that he would be faithful, and would bring
+the truth to her attention in every possible way, feeling that if
+during this holiday visit he could win such a trophy for the cause
+to which he had devoted  himself, it would be an event that would
+shed a cheering light down to the very end of his life.
+
+It was a rather significant fact, which did not occur to him, however,
+that his zeal and interest were almost entirely concentrated on
+Lottie. His cousin Addie, and indeed all the others, seemed equally
+in need.
+
+It must be confessed that some sinners are much more interesting
+than others, and Hemstead had never met one half so interesting as
+Lottie.
+
+And yet his interest in her was natural. He had not reached that
+lofty plane from which he could look down with equal sympathy for
+all. Do any reach it, in this world?
+
+Lottie had seemed kind to him when others had been cold and slightly
+scornful. He had come to see clearly that she was not a Christian,
+and that she was not by any means faultless through the graces of
+nature. But she had given ample proof that she had a heart which
+could be touched, and a mind capable of appreciating and being Moused
+by the truth. That her kindness to him was only hollow acting he
+never dreamed, and it was well for her that he did not suspect her
+falseness, for with all her beauty he would have revolted from her
+at once. He could forgive anything sooner than the meanness of
+deception. If he discovered the practical joke, it would be a sorry
+jest for Lottie, for she would have lost a friend who appeared
+able to help her; and he, in his honest indignation, would have
+given her a portrait of herself that would have humiliated her
+proud spirit in a way that could never be forgotten.
+
+But with the unquenchable hope of youth in his heart, and his
+boundless faith in God, he expected that, at no distant day, Lottie's
+remarkable beauty would be the index of a truer spiritual loveliness.
+
+But, as is often the case, the morning dispelled the dreams of
+the night, to a degree that quite perplexed and disheartened him.
+Lottie's greeting in the breakfast-room was not very cordial, and
+she seemed to treat him with cool indifference throughout the whole
+meal. There was nothing  that the others would note, but something
+that he missed himself. Occasionally, she would make a remark that
+would cause him to turn toward her with a look of pained surprise,
+which both vexed and amused her; but he gave no expression to his
+feelings, save that he became grave and silent.
+
+After breakfast Lottie said nothing to him about their visit to
+Mrs. Dlimn, from which he expected so much.  Having waited some
+time in the parlor, he approached her timidly as she was passing
+through the hall, and said, "When would you like to start upon our
+proposed visit?"
+
+"O, I forgot to say to you, Mr. Hemstead," she replied rather
+carelessly, "that I've changed my mind. It's a very long drive,
+and, after all, Mrs. Dlimm is such an utter Stranger to me that I
+scarcely care to go."
+
+But, under her indifferent seeming, she was watching keenly to
+see how he would take this rebuff. He flushed deeply, but to her
+surprise only bowed acquiescence, and turned to the parlor. She
+expected that he would  remonstrate, and endeavor to persuade her
+to carry out her  agreement. She was accustomed to pleading and
+coaxing on the part of young men, to whom, however, she granted
+her favors according to her moods and wishes. While she saw that
+he was deeply hurt and disappointed, his slightly cold and silent
+brow was a different expression of his feeling from what she desired.
+She wanted to take the ride, and might have been persuaded into
+going, in spite of her  purpose to keep aloof, and she was vexed
+with him that he did not urge her as De Forrest would have done.
+
+Therefore the spoiled and capricious beauty went up to her room
+more "out of sorts" than ever, and sulkily  resolved that she would
+not appear till dinner.
+
+In the mean time Hemstead went to his aunt and  informed her that
+he would take the morning train for New York, and would not return
+till the following evening.
+
+"Very well, Frank," she replied; "act your pleasure.  Come and go
+as you like."
+
+The good lady was entertaining her nephew more from a sense of
+duty than anything else. From their difference in tastes he added
+little to her enjoyment, and was  sometimes a source of discomfort;
+and so would not be missed.
+
+Lottie had a desperately long and dismal time of it.  Either the
+book she tried to read was stupid, or there was something wrong
+with her. At last she impatiently sent it flying across the room,
+and went to the window. The  beautiful winter morning exasperated
+her still more.
+
+"Suppose he had talked religion to me," she thought, "he at least
+makes it interesting, and anything would have been better than moping
+here. What a fool I was, not to go! What a fool I am, anyway! He is
+the only one I ever did act towards as a woman might and ought,--even
+in jest. He is the only one that ever made me wish I were a true
+woman, instead of a vain flirt; and the best thing my wisdom could
+devise, after I found out his beneficent power, was to give him a
+slap in the face, and shut myself up with a stupid novel. 'Capable
+of noble things!' I imagine he has changed his mind this morning.
+
+"Well, what if he has? A plague upon him! I wish he had never come,
+or I had stayed in New York. I  foresee that I am going to have an
+awfully stupid time here in the country."
+
+Thus she irritably chafed through the long hours. She would not
+go downstairs as she wished to, because she had resolved that she
+would not. But she half purposed to try and bring about the visit
+to Mrs. Dlimm in the afternoon, if possible, and would now go
+willingly, if asked.
+
+At the first welcome sound of the dinner-bell she sped downstairs,
+and glanced into the parlor, hoping that he might be there, and
+that in some way she might still bring about the ride. But she
+found only De Forrest yawning over a newspaper, and had to endure
+his  sentimental reproaches that she had absented herself so long
+from him.
+
+"Come to dinner," was her only and rather prosaic response.
+
+But De Forrest went cheerfully, for dinner was  something that he
+could enjoy under any circumstances.
+
+To Lottie's disappointment, Mr. Dimmerly mumbled grace, and still
+Hemstead did not appear. For some reason she did not like to ask
+where he was, and was provoked at herself because of her hesitancy.
+The others, who knew of his departure, supposed she was aware of
+it also. At last her curiosity gained the mastery, and she asked
+her aunt with an indifference, not so well assumed but that her
+color heightened a little, "Where is Mr.  Hemstead?"
+
+"He went down to the city," replied Mrs. Marchmont, carelessly.
+
+The impulsive girl's face showed her disappointment and vexation,
+but she saw that quick-eyed Bel was watching her.  She wished her
+friend back in New York; and, with partial success, sought to appear
+as usual.
+
+"O dear!" she thought; "what shall I do with myself this afternoon?
+I can't endure Julian's mooning. I wish Mr. Harcourt was here, so
+we could get up some excitement."
+
+Without excitement Lottie was as dull and wretched as all victims
+of stimulants, left to their own resources.
+
+But the fates were against her. Harcourt would not be back till
+evening, and she did not know when Hemstead would return. Addie and
+Bel vanished after dinner, and De Forrest offered to read to her.
+She assented, having no better prospect.
+
+She ensconced herself luxuriously under an afghan upon the sofa,
+while the persistent lover, feeling that this would be his favored
+opportunity, determined to lay close siege to her heart, and win a
+definite promise, if possible. For this purpose he chose a romantic
+poem, which, at a certain point, had a very tender and love-infused
+character. Here he purposed to throw down the book in a melodramatic
+manner, and pass from the abstract to reality, and from the third
+person to the first. He was more familiar with stage effects than
+anything else, and had planned a pretty little scene. As Lottie
+reclined upon the sofa, he could very nicely and comfortably kneel,
+take her hand, and gracefully explain the condition of his heart;
+and she was certainly in a comfortable position to hear.
+
+A man less vain than De Forrest would not have gathered much
+encouragement from Lottie's face, for it had a very weary and bored
+expression as he commenced the rather stilted and very sentimental
+introduction to the "gush" that was to follow.
+
+She divined his purpose as she saw him summoning to his aid all
+his rather limited elocutionary powers, and noted how he gave to
+every line that verged toward love the  tenderest accent.
+
+But the satirical side-gleam from her eyes, as she watched him, was
+anything but responsive or conducive to sentiment; and finally, as
+she became satisfied of his object, the smile that flitted across
+her face would have quenched the most impetuous declaration as
+effectually as a mill-pond might quench a meteor.
+
+But Julian, oblivious of all this, was growing pathetic and emotional;
+and if she escaped the scene at all, she must act promptly.
+
+She did so, for in five minutes, to all appearance, she was asleep.
+
+At first, when he glanced up to emphasize a peculiarly touching
+line, he thought she had closed her eyes to hide her feelings; but
+at last, when he reached the particular and soul-melting climax
+that was to prepare the way for his own long-desired crisis, having
+given the final lines in a tone that he thought would move a marble
+heart, he laid the book down to prepare for action, and the dreadful
+truth dawned upon him. She was asleep!
+
+What could he do? To awaken her, and then go forward, would not
+answer. People were generally cross when disturbed in their sleep;
+and he knew Lottie was no exception. He was deeply mortified and
+disappointed.
+
+He got up and stalked tragically and frowningly to the hearth-rug,
+and stared at the apparently peaceful sleeper, and then flung
+himself out of the room, very much as he was accustomed to when a
+spoiled and petulant boy.
+
+After he was gone, Lottie quivered with laughter for a few moments;
+then stole away to her room, where she blotted out the weary hour
+with sleep unfeigned, until aroused by the supper-bell.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+LOTTIE A MYSTERIOUS PROBLEM.
+
+
+
+
+
+After a brief toilet, Lottie came down to tea looking like an
+innocent little lamb that any wolf could  beguile and devour. She
+smiled on De Forrest so sweetly that the cloud began to pass from
+his brow at once.
+
+"Why should I be angry with her?" he thought, "she did not understand
+what I was aiming at, and probably supposed that I meant to read
+her asleep, and yet I should have thought that the tones of my
+voice--Well, well, Lottie has been a little spoiled by too much
+devotion.  She has become accustomed to it, and takes it as a matter
+of course. When we are married, the devotion must be on the other
+side of the house."
+
+"I thought Mr. Hemstead would be back this evening?" she said to
+her aunt.
+
+"No, not till to-morrow evening. You seem to miss Frank very much."
+
+Then Lottie was provoked to find herself blushing like a school-girl,
+but she said, laughingly, "How penetrating you are, auntie. I do
+miss him, in a way you cannot understand."
+
+But the others understood the remark as referring to her regret
+that he had escaped from her wiles as the victim of their proposed
+jest, and Bel shot a reproachful glance at her. She could not know
+that Lottie had said this to throw dust into their eyes, and to
+account for her sudden blush, which she could not account for to
+herself.
+
+Before supper was over, Harcourt came in with great news, which threw
+Addie into a state of feverish  excitement, and greatly interested
+all the others.
+
+"Mrs. Byram, her son, and two daughters, have come up for a few days
+to take a peep at the country in winter, and enjoy some sleigh-riding.
+I met Hal Byram, and drove in with him. Their large house is open
+from top to bottom, and full of servants, and to-morrow evening
+they are going to give a grand party. There are invitations for
+you all.  They expect most of their guests from New York, however."
+
+Even languid Bel brightened at the prospect of so much gayety; and
+thoughts of Hemstead and qualms of  conscience vanished for the
+time from Lottie's mind. The evening soon passed, with cards and
+conjectures as to who would be there, and the day following, with
+the bustle of preparation.
+
+"I don't believe Frank will go to such a party," said Addie, as
+the three girls and De Forrest were together in the afternoon.
+
+"Let us make him go by all means," said Lottie. "He needn't know
+what kind of a party it is, and it will be such fun to watch him.
+I should not be surprised if he and Mrs. Byram mutually shocked
+each other. We can say merely that we have all been invited out to
+a little company, and that it would be rude in him not to accompany
+us."
+
+Mrs. Marchmont was asked not to say anything to undeceive Hemstead.
+
+"It will do him good to see a little of the world," said Lottie;
+and the lady thought so too.
+
+The others were under the impression that Lottie still purposed
+carrying out her practical joke against Hemstead.  At the time
+when he had saved them from so much danger the evening before, they
+felt that their plot ought to be abandoned, and, as it was, they
+had mainly lost their relish for it. Hemstead had not proved so
+good a subject for a practical joke as they had expected. But they
+felt that if Lottie chose to carry it on, that was her affair, and
+if there were any fun in prospect, they would be on hand to enjoy
+it. The emotions and virtuous impulses inspired by their moment
+of peril had faded almost utterly away, as is usually the case
+with this style of repentance. Even Bel was growing indifferent
+to Lottie's course. Harcourt, who with all his faults had good and
+generous traits, was absent on business, and had partially forgotten
+the design against Hemstead, and supposed that anything definite
+had been given up on account of the service rendered to them all.
+
+Lottie was drifting. She did not know what would be her action.
+The child of impulse, the slave of inclination, with no higher aim
+than to enjoy the passing hour, she could not keep a good resolve,
+if through some twinges of conscience she made one. She had proposed
+to avoid Hemstead, for, while he interested, he also disquieted
+her and filled her with self-dissatisfaction.
+
+And yet for this very reason he was fascinating. Other men admired
+and flattered her, bowing to her in unvarying and indiscriminating
+homage. Hemstead not only admired but respected her for the
+good qualities that she had  simulated, and with equal sincerity
+recognized faults and failures.  She had been admired all her life,
+but respect from a true, good man was a new offering, and, even
+though obtained by fraud, was as delightful as it was novel. She
+still wished to stand well in his estimation, though why she hardly
+knew.  She was now greatly vexed with herself that she had refused
+to visit Mrs. Dlimm. She was most anxious that he should return,
+in order that she might discover whether he had  become disgusted
+with her; for, in the knowledge of her own wrong action, she
+unconsciously gave him credit for knowing  more about her than he
+did.
+
+She had no definite purpose for the future. Instead of coolly
+carrying out a deliberate plot, she was merely  permitting herself
+to be carried along by a subtle undercurrent of interest and
+inclination, which she did not understand, or trouble herself to
+analyze. She had felt a passing interest in gentlemen before, which
+had proved but passing. This was no doubt a similar case, with
+some peculiar and piquant elements added. A few weeks in New York
+after her visit was over, and he would fade from memory, and pass
+below the horizon like other stars that had dazzled for a time.
+The honest old counsellor, conscience, recklessly snubbed and
+dismissed, had retired, with a few plain words, for the time, from
+the unequal contest.
+
+She met Hemstead at the door on his return, and held out her hand,
+saying cordially, "I'm ever so glad to see you. It seems an age
+since you left us."
+
+His face flushed deeply with pleasure at her words and manner.
+Expecting an indifferent reception, he had  purposed to be dignified
+and reserved himself. And yet her manner on the morning of his
+departure had pained him deeply, and disappointed him. It had not
+fulfilled the promise of the previous day, and he had again been
+sorely perplexed. But his conclusion was partly correct.
+
+"She is resisting the truth. She sees what changes in her gay life
+are involved by its acceptance; and therefore shuns coming under
+its influence."
+
+What a strange power God has bestowed upon us!  There is some one
+that we long to influence and change for the better. That one may
+know our wish and purpose, recognize our efforts, but quietly baffle
+us by an independent  will that we can no more coerce and control
+than by our breath soften into spring warmth a wintry morning.  We
+can look pleadingly into some dear one's eyes, clasp his hands and
+appeal with even tearful earnestness, and yet he may remain unmoved,
+or be but transiently affected.  Though by touch or caress, by
+convincing arguments and loving entreaty, we may be unable to shake
+the obdurate will, we can gently master it through the intervention
+of another. The throne of God seems a long way round to reach
+the friend at our side,--for the mother to reach her child in her
+arms,--but it usually proves the quickest and most effectual way.
+Where before were only resistance and indifference, there come,
+in answer to prayer, strange telentings, mysterious longings,
+receptivity, and sometimes, in a way that is astonishing, full
+acceptance of the truth.
+
+"The wind bloweth where it listeth," were the words of the all-powerful
+One, of the beautiful emblem of His own mysterious and transforming
+presence.
+
+Again He said, "How much more shall your Heavenly Father give the
+Holy Spirit to them that ask him."
+
+Here is a power, a force, an agency, that the materialist cannot
+calculate, weigh, or measure, or laugh scornfully out of existence.
+
+As upon a sultry night a breeze comes rustling through the leaves
+from unknown realms of space, and cools our throbbing temples, so
+the soul is often stirred and moved by impulses heavenward that
+are to their subjects as  mysterious as unexpected.
+
+To a certain extent, God gives to the prayerful control of Himself,
+as it were, and becomes their willing agent; and when all mysteries
+shall be solved, and the record of all lives be truthfully revealed,
+it will probably be seen that not those who astonished the world
+with their own powers, but those who quietly, through prayer, used
+God's power, were the ones who made the world move forward.
+
+While Hemstead would never be a Mystic or a Quietest in his faith,
+he still recognized most clearly that human effort would go but
+little way in awakening spiritual life, unless seconded by the
+Divine power. Therefore in his strong and growing wish that he
+might bring the beautiful girl, who seemed like a revelation to
+him, into sympathy with the truth that he believed and loved, he
+had based no hope on what he alone could do or say.
+
+But her manner on the previous morning had chilled him, and he had
+half purposed to be a little distant and indifferent also.
+
+It did not occur to him that he was growing sensitive in regard to
+her treatment of himself, as well as of the truth.
+
+He readily assented to Lottie's request that he should accept Mrs.
+Byram's invitation, and found a strange pleasure  in her graciousness
+and vivacity at the supper-table.
+
+His simple toilet was soon made, and he sought the parlor and a
+book to pass the time while waiting for the Others. Lottie was a
+veteran at the dressing-table, and by dint of exacting much help
+from Bel, and resting  content with nature's bountiful gifts,--that
+needed but little enhancing from art,--she, too, was ready considerably
+in advance of the others, and, in the full UNdress which society
+permits, thought to dazzle the plain Western student, as a preliminary
+to other conquests during the evening.
+
+And he was both dazzled and startled as she suddenly stood before
+him under the chandelier in all the wealth of her radiant beauty.
+
+Her hair was arranged in a style peculiarly her own, and powdered. A
+necklace of pearls sustained a diamond cross that was ablaze with
+light upon her white bosom.  Her arms were bare, and her dress
+cut as low as fashion would sanction. In momentary triumph she saw
+his eye kindle into almost wondering admiration; and yet it was
+but momentary, for almost instantly his face began to darken with
+disapproval.
+
+She at once surmised the cause; and at first it amused her very
+much, as she regarded it as an evidence of his delightful ignorance
+of society and ministerial prudishness.
+
+"I gather from your face, Mr. Hemstead, that I am not dressed to
+suit your fastidious taste."
+
+"I think you are incurring a great risk in so exposing yourself
+this cold night, Miss Marsden."
+
+"That is not all your thought, Mr. Hemstead."
+
+"You are right," he said gravely, and with heightened color.
+
+"But it's the style; and fashion, you know, is a despot with us
+ladies."
+
+"And, like all despots, very unreasonable; and wrong at times, I
+perceive."
+
+"When you have seen more of society, Mr. Hemstead," she said, a
+little patronizingly, "you will modify your views.  Ideas imported
+in the Mayflower are scarcely in vogue now."
+
+He was a little nettled by her tone, and said with a tinge of dignity,
+"My ideas on this subject were not  imported in the Mayflower. They
+are older than the world, and will survive the world."
+
+Lottie became provoked, for she was not one to take criticism of
+her personal appearance kindly, and then it was vexatious that the
+one whom she chiefly expected to dazzle should at once begin to
+find fault; and she said with some irritation, "And what are your
+long-lived ideas."
+
+"I fear they would not have much weight with you were I able to
+express them plainly. I can only suggest them, but in such a way
+that you can understand me in a sentence. I should not like a sister
+of mine to appear in company as you are dressed."
+
+Lottie flushed deeply and resentfully, but said, in a frigid tone,
+"I think we had better change the subject I consider myself a better
+judge of these matters than you are."
+
+He quietly bowed and resumed his book. She shot an angry glance at
+him and left the room.
+
+This was a new experience to her,--the very reverse of what she had
+anticipated. This was a harsh and discordant break in the honeyed
+strains of flattery to which she had always been accustomed, and
+it nettled her greatly.  Moreover, the criticism she received had
+a delicate point, and touched her to the very quick; and to her it
+seemed unjust and uncalled for. What undoubtedly is wrong in itself,
+and what to Hemstead, unfamiliar with society and its arbitrary
+customs, seemed strangely indelicate, was to her but a  prevailing
+mode among the ultra-fashionable, in which class it was her ambition
+to shine.
+
+"The great, verdant boor!" she said in her anger, as she paced
+restlessly up and down the hall. "What a fool I am to care what he
+thinks, with his backwoods ideas! Nor shall I any more. He shall
+learn to-night that I belong to a different world."
+
+De Forrest joined her soon and somewhat re-assured her by his
+profuse compliments. Not that she valued them as coming from him,
+but she felt that he as a society man was giving the verdict of
+society in distinction from Hemstead's outlandish ideas. She had
+learned from her mother--indeed it was the faith of her childhood,
+earliest taught and thoroughly accepted--that the dictum of their
+wealthy circle was final authority, from which there was no appeal.
+
+Hemstead suffered in her estimation. She tried to think of him as
+uncouth, ill-bred, and so ignorant of fashionable life--which to
+her was the only life worth naming--that she could dismiss him from
+her mind from that, time forth.  And in her resentment she thought
+she could and would.  She was very gracious to De Forrest, and he
+in consequence was in superb spirits.
+
+As they gathered in the parlor, before starting, De Forrest looked
+Hemstead over critically, and then turned to Lottie and raised his
+eye-brows significantly. The answering smile was in harmony with
+the exquisite's implied satire. Lottie gave the student another
+quick look and saw that he had observed their meaning glances, and
+that in consequence his lip had curled slightly; and she flushed
+again, partly with anger and vexation.
+
+"Why should his adverse opinion so nettle me? He is nobody," she
+thought, as she turned coldly away.
+
+Though Hemstead's manner was quiet and distant, he was conscious
+of a strange and unaccountable disappointment and sadness. It was
+as if a beautiful picture were becoming blurred before his eyes.
+It was more than that,--more than he understood. He had a sense of
+personal loss.
+
+He saw and sincerely regretted his cousin Addie's faults; but when
+Lottie failed in any respect in fulfilling the fair promise of
+their first acquaintance, there was something more than regret.
+
+At first he thought he would remain at home, and not expose himself
+to their criticism and possible ridicule; but a. moment later
+determined to go and, if possible, thoroughly solve the mystery of
+Lottie Marsden's character; for she was more of a mystery now than
+ever.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+HEMSTEAD SEES "OUR SET."
+
+
+
+
+
+They soon reached Mrs. Byram's elegant country which gleamed afar,
+ablaze with light. The obsequious footman threw open the door,
+and they entered a tropical atmosphere laden with the perfumes of
+exotics. Already the music was striking up for the chief feature
+of the evening.  Bel reluctantly accepted of Hemstead's escort, as
+sh; had no other resource.
+
+"He will be so awkward!" she had said to Lottie, in irritable
+protest.
+
+And at first she was quite right, for Hemstead found  himself
+anything but at home in the fashionable revel. Bel, in her efforts
+to get him into the presence of the lady of the house, that they
+might pay their respects, reminded one of a little steam yacht
+trying to manage a ship of the line.
+
+Not only were Lottie and De Forrest smiling at the scene, but also
+other elegant people, among whom Hemstead towered in proportions
+too vast and ill-managed to escape notice; and to Addie her cousin's
+lack of ease and grace was worse than a crime.
+
+Bel soon found some city acquaintances, and she and her escort
+parted with mutual relief. Hemstead drifted into the hall, where
+he would be out of the way of the dancers, but through the open
+doors could watch the scene.
+
+And this he did with a curious and observant eye. The party he came
+with expected him to be either dazzled and quite carried away by
+the scenes of the evening, or else shocked and very solemn over
+their dissipation. But he was rather inclined to be philosophical,
+and to study this new phase of life. He would see the creme tie la
+cremet who only would be present, as he was given to understand.
+He would discover if they were made of different clay from the
+people of Scrub Oaks. He would breathe the social atmosphere which
+to Addie, to his aunt, and even to  Lottie, he was compelled to
+fear was as the breath of life.  These were the side issues; but
+his chief purpose was to study Lottie herself. He would discover
+if she were in truth as good a girl--as full of promise--as he had
+been led to believe at first.
+
+Of course he was a predestined "wall-flower" upon such an occasion.
+Addie had said to Mrs. Byram, in a tone hard to describe but at
+once understood, "A cousin from the West, who is studying for the
+ministry"; and Hemstead was immediately classed in the lady's mind
+among those poor relations who must be tolerated for the sake of
+their connections.
+
+He was a stranger to all, save those he came with, and they soon
+completely ignored and forgot him, except Lottie, by whom he was
+watched, but so furtively that she seemed as neglectful as the
+rest.
+
+It was one of the fashions of the hour--a phase of  etiquette as
+ill-bred as the poorest social slang--not to  introduce strangers.
+Mrs. Byram and her daughters were nothing if not fashionable, and
+in this case the mode served their inclination, and beyond a few
+formal words they willingly left their awkward guest to his own
+resources.
+
+He could not understand how true courtesy permitted a hostess to
+neglect any of her guests, least of all those who from diffidence
+or any cause seemed most in need of attention.  Still, in the
+present instance, he was glad to be left alone.
+
+The scenes around him had more than the interest of novelty, and
+there was much that he enjoyed keenly. The music was good, and
+his quick ear kept as perfect time to it as did Lottie's feet. He
+thought the square dances were beautiful and perfectly unobjectionable,--a
+vast improvement  on many of the rude and often stupid games that
+he had seen at the few companies he had attended, and Lottie appeared
+the embodiment of grace, as she glided through them.
+
+But when a blast-looking fellow, in whose eye lurked all evil
+passions and appetites, whirled her away in a waltz, he again
+felt, with indignation, that here was another instance in which
+fashion--custom--insolently trampled on divine law and womanly
+modesty. He had seen enough of the world to know that Lottie, with
+all her faults, was too good to touch the fellow whose embrace she
+permitted. Could she--could the others-be ignorant of his character,
+when it was indelibly stamped upon his face?
+
+But Hemstead soon noticed that this man's attentions were everywhere
+received with marked pleasure, and that Mrs. Byram and her daughters
+made much of him as 8 favored guest. In anger he saw how sweetly
+Lottie smiled upon him as they were passing near. She caught his
+dark look, and, interpreting it to mean something like jealousy,
+became more gracious toward her roue-looking attendant, with the
+purpose of piquing Hemstead.
+
+A little later Bel came into the hall, leaning upon the arm of a
+gentleman. Having requested her escort to get her a glass of water
+she was left alone a few moments.  Hemstead immediately joined
+her and asked, "Who is that blase-looking man upon whose arm Miss
+Marsden is leaning?"
+
+"And upon whom she is also smiling so enchantingly?  He is the beau
+of the occasion, and she is the belle."
+
+"Do you know anything about him? I hope his face and manner do him
+injustice."
+
+"I fear they do not. I imagine he is even worse than he looks."
+
+"How, then, can he be such a favorite?"
+
+She gave him a quick, comical look, which intimated, "You are from
+the back country," but said, "I fear you will think less of society
+when I tell you the reasons. I admit that it is very wrong; but
+so it is. He has three great attractions:  he is brilliant; he is
+fast; he is immensely rich,--therefore society is at his feet."
+
+"O, no; not society, but a certain clique who weigh things in false
+balances," said Hemstead, quickly. "How strange it is that people
+are ever mistaking their small circle for the world!"
+
+Bel gave him a look of some surprise, and thought, "I half believe
+he is looking down upon us with better right than we upon him."
+
+After a moment Hemstead added, "That man there is more than fast.
+I should imagine that Harcourt was a little fast, and yet he has
+good and noble traits. I could trust him. But treachery is stamped
+upon that fellow's face, and the leer of a devil gleams from his
+eye. He is not only fast, he is bad. Does Miss Marsden know his
+character?"
+
+"She knows what we all do. There are hard stories about him, and,
+as you say, he does not look saintly; but however wrong it may be,
+Mr. Hemstead, it is still a fact that society will wink at almost
+everything when a man is as rich and well connected as he, that
+is, as long as a man sins in certain conventional ways and keeps
+his name out of the papers."
+
+Here her escort joined her, and they passed on; and Hemstead stood
+lowering at the man, the pitch of whose character began to stain
+the beautiful girl who, knowing him somewhat, could willingly and
+encouragingly remain at his side.
+
+True, he had seen abundant proof that she had a heart, good impulses,
+and was capable of noble things, as he had told her; but was she
+not also giving 'lira equal proof that the world enthralled her
+heart, and that senseless and soulless  fashion, rather than the
+will of God, or the instincts of a pure womanly nature, controlled
+her will?
+
+He had no small vanity in which to wrap himself while he nursed
+a spiteful resentment at slights to himself. It was a tendency of
+his nature, and a necessity of his calling, that he should forget
+himself for the sake of others. Lottie awoke his sympathy, and he
+pitied while he blamed.
+
+But he desponded as to the future, and feared that she would never
+fulfil her first beautiful promise. He realized, with a vague sense
+of pain, how far apart they were, and in what different worlds they
+dwelt. At one time it had seemed as if they might become friends,
+and be in accord on the chief questions of life. But now that she
+was smiling so approvingly upon a man whose very face proclaimed
+him villain, he saw a separation wider and more inexorable than
+Hindu caste,--that of character.
+
+And yet with his intense love of beauty it seemed like sacrilege--the
+profanation of a beautiful temple--that such a girl as Charlotte
+Marsden should permit the associations  of that evening. It was true
+that he could find no greater fault with her in respect to dress,
+manners, and attendants, than with many others,--not as much as
+with his own cousin. But for some reason that did not occur to him
+it was peculiarly a source of regret that Lottie should so fall
+short of what he believed true and right.
+
+His thoughts gave expression to his face, as in momentary  abstraction
+he paced up and down the hall. Suddenly a voice that had grown
+strangely familiar in the brief time he had heard it said at his
+side, "Why, Mr. Hemstead, you look as if at a funeral. What are
+you thinking of?"
+
+Following an impulse of his open nature, he looked directly into
+Lottie's face, and replied, "You."
+
+She blushed slight'y, but said with a laugh, "That is frank," but
+added, meaningly, "I am surprised you cannot find anything better
+to think about."
+
+"I think Mr. Hemstead shows excellent judgment," said Mr. Brently,
+the young man whose face had seemed the index of all evil. "Where
+could he find anything better to think about?"
+
+"Mr. Hemstead's compliments and yours are very different  affairs.
+He means all he says. Mr. Hemstead, permit i ne to introduce to
+you Mr. Brently of New York. I wish you could induce him to be a
+missionary."
+
+The young rake laughed so heartily at this idea that he did not
+notice that Hemstead's acknowledgment was frigidly slight; but
+Lottie did.
+
+"How absurdly jealous!" she thought; yet it pleased her that he
+was.
+
+"I shall never be good enough to eat, and so cannot be persuaded
+to visit the Cannibal Islands in the role of  missionary." Brently
+was too pleased with his own poor wit, and too indifferent to
+Hemstead, to note that the student did not even look at him.
+
+"I expect that you will lecture me well for all my folly and
+wickedness to-morrow," said Lottie, with a laugh.
+
+"You are mistaken, Miss Marsden," Hemstead answered coldly. "I have
+neither the right nor the wish to 'lecture' you"; and he turned
+away, while she passed on with an unquiet, uncomfortable feeling,
+quite unlike her usual careless  disregard of the opinions of
+others.
+
+At that moment a gentleman and lady brushed past them on their way
+to the drawing-rooms, and he heard Lottie whisper, "There are Mr.
+and Miss Martell after all. I feared they were not coming."
+
+A moment later he saw a tall and beautiful girl enter the parlors
+upon the arm of a gentleman who was evidently her father. Mrs.
+Byram received them with the utmost  deference, and was profuse in
+her expressions of pleasure that they had not failed to be present.
+Having explained their detention, they moved on through the rooms,
+receiving the cordial greetings of many who knew them, and much
+attention  from all. They were evidently people of distinction,
+and from the first Hemstead had been favorably impressed with their
+appearance and bearing.
+
+From the gentleman's erect and vigorous form it would seem that
+his hair was prematurely gray. His face indicated intellect and
+high-breeding, while the deep-set and thoughtful  eyes, and the
+firm lines around his mouth, suggested a man of decided opinions.
+
+The daughter was quite as beautiful as Lottie, only her style was
+entirely different. She was tall and willowy in form, while Lottie
+was of medium height. Miss Martell was very fair, and her large
+blue eyes seemed a trifle cold and expressionless as they rested
+on surrounding faces and scenes.  One would hardly suppose that
+her pulse was quickened by the gayety and excitement, and it might
+even be  suspected that she was not in sympathy with either the
+people or their spirit.
+
+And yet all this would only be apparent to a close  observer, for
+to the majority she was the embodiment of grace and courtesy, and
+as the Lanciers were called soon after her arrival, she permitted
+Harcourt to lead her out as his partner.  They took their stations
+near the door where Hemstead  was standing at the moment. Lottie and
+Mr. Brently stood at the head of the parlor; and Hemstead thought
+he had never seen two women more unlike, and yet so beautiful.
+
+While he in his isolation and abstraction was observing them and
+others in much the same spirit with which he was accustomed to
+haunt art galleries, Harcourt, seeing him so near, unexpectedly
+introduced him to Miss Martell, saying good-naturedly: "You have
+one topic of mutual interest to talk about, and a rather odd one
+for a clergyman and a young lady, and that is--horses. Miss Martell
+is one of the best horsewomen of this region, and you, Mr. Hemstead,
+managed a span that were beyond me,--saved my neck at the same
+time, in all probability."
+
+The young lady at first was simply polite, and greeted him as she
+naturally would a stranger casually introduced.  But from something
+either in Harcourt's words, or in  Hemstead's appearance as she
+gave him closer scrutiny, her eye kindled into interest, and she was
+about to speak to him, when the music called her into the graceful
+maze of the dance. Hemstead was as much surprised as if a portrait
+on the wall had stepped down and made his acquaintance, and in his
+embarrassment and confusion was glad that the lady was summoned
+away, and he given time to recover himself.
+
+Lottie had noted the introduction, and from her distance it had
+seemed that Miss Martell had treated him slightingly, and that she
+had not spoken, but had merely recognized him by a slight inclination;
+so, acting upon one of her  generous impulses, the moment the first
+form was over and there was a brief respite, she went to where he
+stood near Miss Martell, and said kindly, but a little patronizingly,
+"I'm sorry you do not dance, Mr. Hemstead. You must be having a
+stupid time."
+
+He recognized her kindly spirit, and said, with a smile, "A quiet
+time, but not a stupid one. As you can  understand, this scene is
+a quite novel one to me,--a glimpse into a new and different world."
+
+"And one that you do not approve of, I fear."
+
+"It has its lights and shadows."
+
+Lottie now turned to speak to Miss Martell, and evil-eyed Brently,
+her partner, had also been standing near, waiting till Harcourt
+should cease to occupy her attention so closely.
+
+The young lady was polite, but not cordial, to Lottie; she did not
+vouchsafe a glance to Brently. But he was not easily abashed.
+
+"Miss Martell," he said suavely, "will you honor me for the next
+waltz?"
+
+"You must excuse me, sir," she said coldly.
+
+"Well, then, some time during the evening, at your own pleasure,"
+he urged.
+
+"You must excuse me, sir," she repeated still more frigidly, scarcely
+glancing at him.
+
+"What do you mean?" he asked insolently, at the same time flushing
+deeply.
+
+She gave him a cold, quiet look of surprise, and, turning her back
+upon him, resumed conversation with Harcourt.  Lottie was a little
+indignant and perplexed at this scene; but noted, with a feeling
+of disgust, that her partner's face, in his anger, had the look of
+a demon.
+
+But her own reception had been too cool to be agreeable, and this,
+with the supposed slight to Hemstead, caused Miss Martell to seem
+to her, for the time, the embodiment of capricious pride.
+
+Harcourt said, "Brently does not seem to be in your good graces, Miss
+Martell; and that is strange, for he is the lion of the evening."
+
+"I can well imagine that he belongs to the cat species," she replied.
+"I have no personal grievance against Mr.  Brently, but I do not
+consider him a gentleman. My father knows that he is not one, and
+that is enough for me."
+
+Harcourt flushed with both pleasure and shame; and as the next
+form just then required that he should take his companion's hand,
+he did so with a cordial pressure, as he said, "Men would be
+better--I should be better--if all young ladies showed your spirit,
+Miss Martell."
+
+At the next pause in the dance she said, in a low tone, "Come, let
+us have no 'ifs.' Be better anyway."
+
+She detected the dejection which he tried to mask with a light laugh,
+as he replied, "I often wish I were, but the world, the flesh, and
+the devil are too much for me."'
+
+"Yes, and always will be for you. Who can fight such enemies alone?
+Besides, you are reading and thinking in the wrong direction. You
+are going out into the desert."
+
+"Well, it's kind of you to care," he said, with a look that deepened
+the faint color of her cheeks.
+
+"I am not inhuman," she replied quietly. "Is it a little thing that
+a mind should go astray?"
+
+He looked at her earnestly, but made no reply.
+
+Soon after, Lottie saw with surprise, during one of the intervals
+between the forms, that Miss Martell turned and spoke freely
+and cordially to Hemstead. Her surprise  became something akin to
+annoyance, as, at the close, she took his arm and began to walk up
+and down the wide hall, evidently becoming deeply interested in his
+conversation. She soon shook off moody Brently, who could think of
+nothing but the slight he had received, and, taking De Forrest's
+arm, also commenced promenading in the hall. She noted, with
+satisfaction, that Hemstead was not so occupied with his new and
+fascinating acquaintance as to be oblivious of her presence.
+
+Soon after Mr. Martell joined his daughter, and was introduced to
+Hemstead; and they went out to supper together.
+
+Lottie managed that she and De Forrest should find seats near them
+in a roomy angle, where, being out of the crush, Mr. Martell and
+his little party could season Mrs. Byram's sumptuous viands with
+Attic salt. And the flavor of their wit and thought was so attractive
+that they soon had a group of the most intelligent and cultivated
+of the company around them, and Lottie saw that Hemstead, who
+had been  neglected by his own party, was becoming appreciated by
+the best people present. Miss Martell, with the tact of a perfect
+lady, had the power of putting him at his ease and drawing him out.
+Hemstead's mind was no stagnant, muddy pool, but a living fountain,
+and his thought sparkled as it flowed readily on the congenial topics
+that Mr. and Miss Martell introduced. The freshness and originality
+of his views seemed to interest them and others greatly; but what
+pleased him most was that Lottie, who sat near, was neglecting
+her supper and De Forrest's compliments in her attention to the
+conversation. Her face showed a quick, discriminating mind, and as
+the discussion grew a little warm on a topic of general interest,
+he saw from her eager and intelligent face that she had an opinion,
+and he had the tact to ask her for it just at the right moment.
+Though a little embarrassed at his unexpected question, she expressed
+her thought so briefly and brightly that the others were pleased,
+and she was at once taken into the circle of their talk, which of
+course became more animated and spicy with her piquant words and
+manner added. It was evident that she was enjoying this employment
+of her brain more than she had that of her feet. The lower pleasure
+paled before the higher; and she was grateful to Hemstead for having
+drawn her within the charmed circle.
+
+De Forrest did not grieve over Lottie's absorption, as it gave him
+more time for the supper-table and champagne; and to the latter he
+and a good many others were so devoted that they were hardly their
+poor selves the rest of the evening.  In Brently's case it was most
+marked after the ladies had retired. He began to talk quite loudly
+and boisterously of his slight, and at one time was about to seek
+Miss Martell, and demand an explanation, but was prevailed upon by
+his friends to be quiet.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+HOW WOMAN MAKES OR MARS.
+
+
+
+
+
+In the changes that occurred after leaving the supper-room, Miss
+Martell took Harcourt's arm and said in a low tone, "I was glad to
+see that you did not take any wine."
+
+"And I am glad you cared to see. But how could I, after your
+gentle hint? I know my weakness. If I had indulged in one glass I
+might have taken too many, as I am sorry has been the case in more
+instances than one to-night."
+
+"You admit, then, that it is a weakness?" she said gently fixing
+her eyes, that were no longer cold and expressionless, upon him.
+
+"In truth, I must admit that I have many weaknesses, Miss Martell."
+
+"You certainly possess one element of strength, in that you recognize
+them. Knowledge of danger is often the best means of safety. But
+how is it that you are so ready to acknowledge weakness of any kind?
+I thought that men scoffed at the idea that they could be weak or
+in danger from any temptation."
+
+"If they do, they either do not know themselves, or they are not
+honest. I do know myself, to my sorrow, and it would seem like
+sacrilege to me not to be truthful and sincere with you. And yet
+it is when I am with you that I most despise myself."
+
+"How, then, can you endure my presence?" she asked, with a shy,
+half-mischievous glance.
+
+He flushed slightly, and tried to disguise a deeper meaning with
+a slight laugh, as he said, "If I were shut out of Eden, I should
+often be tempted to look over the hedge."
+
+She did not reply at once, nor lift her eyes to his, but the color
+deepened upon her cheeks; and if he had seen the expression of her
+averted face, his might have appeared more hopeful.
+
+After a moment she turned and said, with a smile, "I think the fact
+that you would like to look over the hedge a very promising sign.
+It proves that you regret our lost Eden purity, and would like to
+possess it again. If you will only let your wishes develop into
+right action, instead of looking wistfully over the hedge, you may
+be welcomed within the gate of the better Paradise."
+
+He looked at her searchingly, but she again turned away her face,
+and would not meet his eye. After a moment, he said, "I do not
+think you used the pronoun 'our,' correctly.  There is nothing akin
+between my moral state and yours."
+
+"Yes, there is," she replied earnestly. "If you struggle as hard
+to do right as I do, you are trying very hard indeed."
+
+With a quick glance of surprise he said, "It has ever seemed to me
+that you were developing as naturally and inevitably as a moss-rose."
+
+"Nonsense!" she answered, a little abruptly. "I am as human as
+you are. I have doubtless had advantages over you in being more
+sheltered and less tempted. But in a world like ours, and with
+natures like ours, every one must struggle hard who would live a
+good life. Even then we need Divine help."
+
+They had now passed into a large conservatory, where they supposed
+they were alone. He took her hand and said, with a manly sincerity
+that made his face almost as noble as hers was beautiful: "Miss
+Martell, you are holier than I am. You are as much above me as
+heaven is above the earth. And yet, because you have not said to
+me, 'Stand aside, for I am holier than thou'; because you have made
+a claim, which I can scarcely understand, of kindred weakness,--of
+like need of effort to do right,--you have given me a little hope
+that possibly at some distant day I may find a way out of my doubts
+and weaknesses. I should like to be a true and believing man."
+
+"Please do not think that I have it in my heart to say 'Stand aside'
+to any one. Such a spirit is most unchristian, and in me would be
+most unwarranted. Do not think I meant that when I repulsed Mr.
+Brently. He has forfeited every right to the title of gentleman.
+I believe he is utterly bad, and he shows no wish to be otherwise;
+and I was disgusted by the flattering attentions he received from
+those with whom he had no right to associate at all. When will
+society get beyond its vulgar worship of wealth! But, Mr.  Harcourt,
+please don't talk about a 'possible way out of your doubts and
+weaknesses at some distant day.' You paid me the highest compliment
+in your power, when you refrained from wine at supper to-night. I
+am going to ask a personal favor. Won't you let it alone altogether?
+Mr.  Harcourt," she added, her eyes filling with tears, "I cannot
+bear to think of a nature like yours becoming a slave to such an
+appetite, and it does seem to master those who are naturally the
+noblest."
+
+He turned away to hide his own feeling, while she, with clasped
+hands, stood looking at him, as his good angel might. When he turned
+to her, he spoke calmly, and almost humbly: "I will not protest
+too much, Miss Martell.  I will make no loud and absolute promises,
+but it seems to me, while I stand here in your presence, I could
+not do a mean or ignoble thing again. But in that degree that I
+revere you, I distrust myself. But I pledge you my honor, that I
+will try to do what you ask, and more."
+
+"You give me just the kind of promise I like best," she said, giving
+him her hand with a happy smile. "But I can not tell you how much
+I wish you could seek God's help, as simply, as believingly, as I
+do."
+
+"Ah, there is the trouble," he replied, in deep dejection.  "My mind
+is tossed upon a sea of doubt and uncertainty." Then, as from a
+sudden impulse, he said, "But I could worship you. You are the most
+beautiful woman here tonight, but instead of making your beauty the
+slave of contemptible vanity, and employing it, like Miss Marsden
+and others, merely to win flattery and attention, you turn from
+all, and forget yourself and your own pleasure, that you may keep
+a man that is hardly worth saving from going to the devil. If I
+go, after your kindness to-night, it will be because I ought."
+
+Here her father called her from the door. The character of the
+entertainment was becoming such that he was anxious to get away.
+As they left the conservatory, she said in a low, hasty tone, "I
+am not so unselfish as you think; for it would make me very unhappy
+if you did not become what you are capable of being."
+
+"Since you care personally what becomes of me, you have given me
+a double incentive," he answered eagerly, as they passed out.
+
+As they disappeared, Lottie Marsden stepped out from behind a large
+lemon-tree, with an expression upon her face quite as acid as the
+unripe fruit that had helped to conceal her. How she came to witness
+the scene described  requires some explanation. As they left the
+supper-room, she shook De Forrest off for a time, and when Miss
+Martell parted from Hemstead, she joined him. After the attention
+he had received, she was not in as patronizing a mood as before.
+
+"Are you willing to take a short promenade with such a guy as I
+am, Mr. Hemstead?" she asked.
+
+"Yes, if you are willing to link yourself with so much awkwardness."
+
+"I wish I had your grace of mind, Mr. Hemstead."
+
+"You have no occasion to find fault with nature's gifts to you."
+
+"I fear you think I should find much fault with myself, if not with
+nature. But I can hardly find fault with you after your kindly tact
+in the supper-room. I wanted to join your breezy, sprightly chat,
+and you gave me a chance so nicely."
+
+"Because I wished you to join it. It was not a deed of charity,
+and you well repaid me. Indeed, I saw so much thought in your face,
+that I wanted more of the same kind."
+
+"I think you see more than we give you credit for," she Said,
+looking doubtfully at him.
+
+"'We'? who are 'we'? Yes, I am seeing a good deal here to-night.
+As you went to see the 'other set' a few evenings ago, I also am
+seeing some new phases of character."
+
+"And some new phases in one that you had a pretty good opinion of
+that night. I imagine you no longer consider me 'capable of the
+noblest things.'"
+
+"I have not changed my mind on that point at all, but--" and here
+he hesitated.
+
+"But you are discovering that I am also capable of just the reverse."
+
+He flushed, but said gravely, "You put my thought too strongly,
+Miss Marsden. It would be nearer the truth, if you care for ray
+opinion at all, to say that I do not understand you."
+
+She also flushed, but said a little coldly, "I am not surprised;
+I scarcely understand myself."
+
+"I find you full of puzzling contradictions," he added.
+
+"Since I cannot contradict you, I will seek some fallible creatures
+like myself"; and she vanished, leaving him as uncomfortable and
+puzzled as ever he had been in his life.
+
+She had scarcely entered the parlor before both De Forrest and
+Brently sought her hand for a waltz. The latter had disgusted her
+before, and now he was too tipsy for even the willing blindness
+of girls like Addie Marchmont, so she escaped with De Forrest, but
+soon found that his step was out of tune with the music, or her own
+mind so preoccupied that their feet made discord with the notes.
+Therefore she led her subservient attendant into the conservatory,
+and got rid of him for a time by the following ruse.
+
+"I dropped something in the supper-room. Please find it, and look
+till you do."
+
+De Forrest's ideas were too confused for him to ask what she
+had lost; and once in the supper-room again, the champagne was so
+inviting that he, with Brently and others, finished another bottle.
+
+With thoughts dwelling on Hemstead's words, she strolled to the
+farther end of the walk, and around into another aisle, wishing
+to be alone for a few moments. It was then that Harcourt and Miss
+Martell entered, and before she was aware she heard the uncomplimentary
+reference to herself, and understood the significance of the
+unexpected scene.
+
+"That is what Mr. Hemstead thinks me capable of," she thought,
+with tingling cheeks,--"making my 'beauty the slave of contemptible
+vanity,' and employing it merely to win flattery and attention for
+myself. You put it very plainly, Mr. Harcourt. I know what is your
+opinion of me certainly. I wish I cared as little what Mr. Hemstead
+thinks; and why I should care any more I'm sure I don't know. Yes,
+I do, too. He's a true, good man, and is the first one that ever
+treated me as if I were a true, good woman. But now I have made it
+clear to him, as well as to Harcourt and Miss Martell, what I really
+am. I knew what Brently was as well as the rest, and yet I smiled
+upon him because the others did. By this time both of my most ardent
+admirers are tipsy. What is their admiration worth?"
+
+As she entered the parlors she saw at a glance what would be
+the character of the remaining hours. The sensuous spirit of wine
+would inspire the gayety and intensify the natural excitement of
+the occasion. Heretofore she could join in a fashionable revel with
+the keenest zest, but she could not to-night. Unconsciously Miss
+Martell had given her a stinging rebuke. She had been shown how a
+beautiful woman might employ the power of her fascinations to lure
+men into purer and nobler life, as Hemstead had suggested the morning
+after his arrival. As she remembered that she had used her beauty
+only to lure men to her feet, that she might enjoy a momentary
+triumph, soon to be forgotten in other conquests, she was already
+more than dissatisfied with herself,--an unusual experience with
+Lottie Marsden.
+
+She refused half a dozen invitations to dancs, and was about
+ascending to the dressing-room, when Harcourt met her in the hall
+and said, "I think I had better send De Forrest home. Hemstead will
+go with him."
+
+"What is the matter with Julian?"
+
+"Well, they say he mistook a decanter of brandy for wine. At any
+rate he is under the table, 'looking for something of yours,' he
+says; though what he does not say or does not know. What's more,
+we can't get him up, for he says you told him not to leave the
+dining-room till he found it. I fear we shall have to use force,
+unless you can manage him."
+
+Then with a. burning flush of shame she remembered how, in her wish
+to be alone, she had sent him into temptation, instead of trying
+to shield and protect, as had Miss Martell in the case of Harcourt,
+whose abstemiousness had excited the surprise of more than one.
+But without a word she went directly to the supper-room; and there
+witnessed a scene that she never forgot.
+
+The elegant De Forrest was crawling about the floor, uttering her
+name continually in connection with the most maudlin sentiment,
+and averring with many oaths that he would never rise till he had
+found what she had lost.
+
+Brently, almost equally drunk, sat near, convulsed with laughter,
+saying with silly iteration, "He's looking for Miss Marsden's
+heart."
+
+Mrs. Byram and her son stood helplessly by, their manner showing
+that their wish to be polite was almost mastered by their disgust.
+Hemstead, who was trying to get De Forrest up, had just given a
+stern rebuke to one of the giggling waiters as Lottie entered.
+
+It did not take her over a moment to comprehend all.  While her
+face was crimson, she acted decidedly and with a. certain dignity.
+Going directly to De Forrest she said, "Julian, I have found what
+I lost. Get up and come with me."
+
+His habitual deference to her wishes and words served him now. Her
+tone and manner were quiet but very firm and positive, and he at
+once sought to obey. Hemstead and Harcourt helped him to his feet.
+
+"I am going home, Julian, and wish you to go with me," she continued
+in the same tone.
+
+"Certainly (hic) my dear (hic) I'll do anything (hic) in the world
+(hic) or anywhere else for you."
+
+A look of intense disgust flitted across her face, but she turned,
+and said emphatically to the others: "I am more to blame for this
+than he. I sent him here some time since, when I knew, or ought
+to have known, that he should have been kept away from temptation.
+May I trespass so far upon your kindness as to ask all present to
+remain silent in regard to this scene."
+
+"I know little of etiquette," said Hemstead, "but surely any one
+would fail utterly in true courtesy, did they not accede to that
+request."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Hemstead," said Lottie, with a look he did not soon
+forget. "Will you order the sleigh to the door? Mr. Harcourt, will
+you get Mr. De Forrest's hat and coat?"
+
+The door leading into the parlor had been closed and locked as soon
+as the trouble commenced, and thus the guests were ignorant of the
+disgraceful scene.
+
+"Julian, I wish you to sit quietly here till I return," said Lottie,
+in the most decided manner.
+
+He had sense enough left to know that something was wrong, and that
+his safest course was to yield to her. So, muttering, maudlin, and
+dishevelled, he sat almost helplessly in the chair where he was
+placed, with not a trace of his former elegance left.
+
+Lottie looked at him a second, with a strange expression, then,
+taking Mrs. Byram aside, asked,
+
+"Will you be so kind as to have the doors of the parlors leading
+into the hall closed, as if accidentally, when we pass out?" Adding,
+"I think if Mr. Byram can get Mr. Brently to his room now, it would
+also be well."
+
+Mrs. Byram commenced many professions of regret, but Lottie merely
+said, "I cannot think about it now. I can only act," and she hastened
+away to prepare for the drive home.
+
+A moment later De Forrest was steadied through the hall and helped
+into the sleigh.
+
+"Shall I sit by him?" asked Harcourt.
+
+"No," said Lottie, in the same decided voice. "I will take care of
+him. I was the cause of his trouble, and will not leave him till
+he is safely home. You will greatly oblige me if you will remain
+with Addie and Bel, and disarm their suspicion and that of others.
+Mr. Hemstead will accompany me, and we will send the sleigh back
+immediately."
+
+"Miss Marsden," said Harcourt, "you are a noble hearted girl. I
+will do whatever you wish."
+
+"Thank you for what you have done. That is all."
+
+"The horses are restless; I will sit with the coachman," said
+Hemstead, surmising that Lottie would desire all the seclusion
+possible under the circumstances. He was not mistaken, for as
+Harcourt retired she said in a low tone, "You are right. I should
+be glad to escape now even from your eyes, that are friendly, I
+trust."
+
+"Yes," he replied, with an emphasis that did her good,--"most
+friendly"; and they drove away through the cold white moonlight and
+colder and whiter snow; and to Lottie, with her burdened conscience
+and heavy heart, the calm night seemed more than ever like a face
+regarding her with cold and silent scorn.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+MIDNIGHT VIGILS.
+
+
+
+
+
+There were indeed four strangely assorted characters in that sleigh
+as they were carried beyond the sounds of music and gayety, which,
+to Hemstead and Lottie Marsden at least, were little less than
+mockery. There was the stolid coachman, who, whatever were his
+thoughts, had been trained to appear oblivious of everything save
+his duty, and to be but an animate part of the "establishment."
+He was much like the horses he drove, living his narrow, material
+life in the passing hour, knowing little and caring less about the
+past or the future.
+
+Hemstead, in contrast, had a mind as ethereal as faith could make
+it, and a fancy enriched by wide reading.  Heretofore he had lived
+chiefly in the past and future, his studies making him at home
+in the one, and his hopes leading him forward into the other. But
+now a silent form near him had a strange power to concentrate his
+thoughts on the present. The man who had speculated and reasoned
+about sinners in the abstract, and who had classified and divided
+them up into well-defined shades and degrees, was now sorely puzzled
+over two of them, who, in a certain sense, were under his charge.
+What was also odd, his deepest sympathy and desire to help did not
+appear drawn toward the greater sinner. Indeed, for the tipsy youth
+he had hardly a sentiment other than contempt. Broad, impartial
+rules of action and feeling seemed perfectly correct in the seminary.
+He forgot that he was not carrying them out.  It did not occur to
+him that he was like a physician who stepped by the sickest patient
+to a better and more promising one. In justice it must be said that
+he would have put himself to any personal inconvenience, and have
+made any effort in his power, were the question brought to an issue,
+in order to work a transformation in De Forrest's character.  But
+for some reason it was so perfectly natural to take an absorbing
+interest in Lottie's moral state that he never asked himself why
+he had not a similar solicitude for Addie or Bel Parton.
+
+Rigid and impartial rules are very well till fallible men come to
+apply them to their most fallible fellow-creatures.
+
+Only God can mercifully apply a perfect law to imperfect humanity,
+and if He had a "beloved disciple," might not Hemstead have a
+favorite sinner?
+
+And an oddly related couple were those two young people whom all
+supposed destined for a union, that in the judgment  of friends
+would be most fitting, but that in truth would be unnatural and
+productive of wretchedness. Though Hemstead's mind dwelt unwaveringly
+upon them, he never once looked back during the drive. He would have
+seen a strange sight if he had,--a beautiful woman, with a face
+looking almost spirit-like in the pale moonlight, with her arm, for
+the first time, around a man whom she was beginning in the depths
+of her soul almost to loathe. No embrace of affection was that,
+but a mechanical act prompted by a stern and remorseful sense of
+duty. She shrank from the man whose swaying form she steadied. It
+was settled that night in her own soul, as if by a decree of fate,
+that she would never marry Julian De Forrest. And yet it was one
+of the good traits in her character, that, while she drew back in
+shuddering aversion from any dose personal relation  to him, she
+at the same time bad generous, regretful pity, and, if she could
+be kind to him at a distance, would be a very faithful friend.
+
+But why did her eyes tarn so often and so wistfully up to the tall
+great-coated form before her? She did not know.  She did not even
+ask herself.
+
+Are we ever guided by reason, will, deliberate choice?  Are there
+not often strong half-recognized instincts that sway us more
+profoundly, even as the plant unconsciously turns its leaves and
+blossoms towards the sun, and sends its roots groping unerringly
+to the moisture?
+
+So absorbed was she in looking at the square, burly form before
+her, that the sleigh suddenly stopped at Mrs.  Marchmont's door,
+and Hemstead looked around and caught her eye. What was more, he
+saw her apparently loving embrace of De Forrest. He was not versed
+in the conditions of intoxication, nor did he realize that De
+Forrest was so far gone as to make the act necessary. But he could
+see her blush, even in the moonlight.
+
+Without a word he assisted her oat, but had some difficulty with
+De Forrest, who, from the fumes of liquor and the cold air, had
+grown very drowsy. But Hemstead's grasp was so strong and masterful,
+that while he roused, he also steadied and supported him up the
+steps. Lottie said to the coachman, "Mr. De Forrest is not well,
+so we came home earlier. You may now return for the others."
+
+The man heard her with a stolid face that might have been mahogany,
+but when by himself it relaxed into a grim smile as he chuckled,
+"I've seen people have such spells afore; but if you was my darter,
+miss, I'd make you give that chap the mitten, 'cause sich bad spells
+is wonderful apt to grow on a feller."
+
+Mrs. Marchmont and Mr. Dimmerly had retired, and the rather dull
+servant who admitted them was too sleepy to note anything. Lottie
+promptly dismissed her, and told her she would wait for the others.
+
+Hemstead saw De Forrest to his room. He had become so stupid that
+he did mechanically what was urged, and the student soon left him
+sleeping heavily.
+
+But Hemstead's heart was strangely burdened. He had come to the
+conclusion that under all Lottie's coquetry and cousinly freedom
+with De Forrest she had hidden a real attachment, and that perhaps
+an engagement, or at least an understanding, existed between them.
+He did not think at the time why this relation should so depress
+him. He would probably have explained it by his natural regret that
+such a girl should be mismated to such a man. But it might well
+have been doubted whether his heart would have become suddenly like
+lead, had he discovered that his own cousin was engaged, even to
+Brently, however sincere might have been his regret. But he descended
+to the parlor with the unselfish purpose and wish to bring her
+mind again under the spell of truth, if possible, hoping that the
+events of the evening would suggest the need of a better philosophy
+than she had learned in the past.
+
+But he would have no little difficulty in maintaining his
+disinterestedness and general missionary spirit in the interview
+that awaited him.
+
+For a young man but a few years past his majority, with an
+impressible nature and a warm heart, to watch through the witching
+hour of midnight with a maiden like Lottie Marsden, and all the
+time have no other thought than her moral improvement, is perhaps
+asking too much of human nature. With the very best intentions and
+with the absolute conviction, as he supposed, that the young lady
+could only be a subject for his missionary zeal, unconsciously the
+beautiful picture she made with the firelight flickering upon her
+face, and the snowy opera-cloak thrown around her, stole into his
+heart that was large and empty, waiting for an occupant.
+
+"I have drawn a chair close up to the fire," she said, "for you
+must be cold after riding on that high seat with the coachman."
+
+"I am not cold, but I thank you all the same."
+
+"You have been kinder to me than I deserved, Mr. Hemstead."
+
+Truly Lottie's gratitude would be a dangerous thing to any man, as
+she expressed it then; and the disinterested student was conscious
+of a strange thrill at heart. But he said, with a flush of pleasure:
+"I do not know that I have.  At any rate friends should not keep
+a debit and credit account with each other."
+
+"And can you still feel friendly to me after this evening?"
+
+"Do I look savagely hostile?" he asked smilingly.
+
+"I feared you would despise me. I certainly despise myself."
+
+"From the fact that you so evidently blame yourself I am less
+disposed to blame."
+
+"But you rightly think me most worthy of blame."
+
+"Do you honestly care what I think, Miss Marsden? My opinions have
+been formed in what must seem a plain and homely world to you, quite
+devoid of the elegance and fashion to which you have been accustomed."
+
+"I begin to think it is a better world than mine, and to-night I
+am sick of elegance and fashion. Yes, I honestly do care now what
+you do think. I have been flattered and lied to all my life, and
+you are the first man who ever told me the unvarnished truth."
+
+He rose and paced thoughtfully up and down the room; then looked
+dubiously at her. She was so exquisitely beautiful, and seemed
+in such a kindly mood, that he was greatly tempted to temporize
+and say smooth things, lest he should offend and drive her away.
+But conscience whispered, "Now is your opportunity to speak the
+'unvarnished truth,' whatever be the consequences"; and conscience
+with Hemstead was an imperative martinet. She waited in curious
+and quiet expectancy. This sincere and unconventional man was
+delightfully odd and interesting to her. She saw the power and
+fascination of her beauty upon him, and at the same time perceived
+that in his crystal integrity he would give her his honest thought.
+She interpreted his hesitancy, and said, "You fear that I shall be
+offended?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I promise you to listen patiently--yes, gratefully--to the severest
+things you can say."
+
+"I may test your promise severely. I am a plain and awkward man.
+Will you permit a plain and homely illustration of my thought?"
+
+"I'm in a mood for plain words to-night. They will be in keeping
+with the former events of the evening, which were plain enough."
+
+"Well, then, were it possible that I could be the fortunate
+possessor of a statue by Phidias, I would not use it as a hat-stand.
+If I possessed a painting by Rubens, I would not turn it into a
+fire-screen."
+
+He hesitated, as he saw the hot blood mount to her face; but she
+said quietly, "Go on. I think I understand you."
+
+He continued in a tone that was as gentle as his words seemed harsh.
+"Believe me, I am speaking in kindness, and only because you are
+brave enough to give me leave.  As Phidias might embody beauty itself
+in marble, so God has bestowed it on you. When I was looking upon
+that marvellous scene--that transfigured world--the morning after
+my arrival, you appeared and seemed a part of it. Do you remember
+what I said then? I have reluctantly thought to-night that you
+could wear your coronet of beauty, not Only as a benignant queen,
+but as a petty tyrant,--that you could put it to ignoble uses, and
+make it a slave to self. It seemed at times that you only sought to
+lead men to bow in admiration to you, instead of inspiring them to
+stand erect in true manhood, with their faces heavenward. A woman
+endowed as you are can always do with a man one of two things:
+either fascinate him with her own personality, so that his thought
+is only of her; or else through her beauty and words and manner,
+that are in keeping, suggest the diviner loveliness of a noble
+life and character. I am satisfied that one could not be in Miss
+Martell's society without being better, or wishing to be better.
+You might have the same influence, and to a greater degree, because
+you naturally have more force and quicker sympathies. There is
+more magnetism in your nature, and you could understand and help,
+if you chose, a wider range of character than she.  I doubt very
+much whether Miss Martell could make herself much at home among
+the plain country folk that you quite carried by storm the other
+evening. God has given you the power and beauty. Will you let me
+ask, in the spirit of kindness, not criticism, Are you using these
+gifts for Him, or for yourself?"
+
+Lottie's eyes were moist, but her brow was contracted into
+a thoughtful frown, as she sat lowering at the fire. After a few
+moments' silence, she said, in a tone of bitterness:
+
+"As I feel and see things to-night, I should say, for neither God
+nor myself, but solely and expressly for the sake of the Evil One.
+What good, what happiness, do all the compliments, all the attention
+I ever received, secure to me to-night? I thought I was using all
+for my own benefit.  That was my only purpose and aim, but every
+flattering thing that I can remember is only a burden to think
+of now.  I am the worse for my beauty, as you regard it. I cannot
+think of any one that I have made better; but many that I have made
+worse. I seem to have been receiving all my life, and yet to-night
+I feel as if I had nothing but a burden upon my heart."
+
+Hemstead's words were not reassuring. Indeed, Lottie thought them
+a trifle harsh, though spoken so kindly.
+
+"You cannot feel otherwise, Miss Marsden. You have been seeking to
+keep and use for yourself what God meant you should use for Him.
+You feel very much as you would, did you take a large sum of money,
+left in your hands as a sacred trust, and go on a pleasure trip
+with it. He has intrusted to you the richest and rarest gifts, and
+every day that you have misappropriated them is a burden upon your
+conscience. You will feel the same after a long life of adulation,
+in which every whim has been gratified. Believe me, Miss Marsden,
+it is a very sad thing to come to the end of one's life with no
+other possession than a burdened conscience and a heavy, guilty
+heart. I long to save you from such a fate. That would be a wretchedly
+poor result of a lifetime for one endowed as you are."
+
+"Your words are very severe, Mr. Hemstead," she said in a low tone,
+burying her face in her hands.
+
+"Faithful are the wounds of a friend," he replied.
+
+"I never thought I could permit any one to speak to me as you have
+done, nor would I endure it from you, did I not recognize something
+like sympathy in the voice with which you speak such cutting words.
+But I fear they are true, after all. A burdened conscience and a
+guilty heart seem all there is of me to-night."
+
+He was about to reverse the picture, and portray in strong and
+hopeful terms what she might be, and what she could accomplish,
+when the sleigh-bells announced the return of the rest of the party.
+She sprang up and said hastily: "I do not wish to meet them to-night,
+and so will retire at once. As physician of the 'mind diseased'
+you dearly  believe in what is termed the 'heroic treatment.' Your
+scalpel is sharp, and you cut deeply. But as proof that I have kept
+my word, and am not offended, I give you my hand."
+
+He took it in both of his, but did not speak. She looked up at him
+through the tears that still lingered, and was touched to see that
+his eyes were as moist as hers. Giving his hand a cordial pressure,
+she said as she left him: "You cannot look at me in harsh criticism
+through tears of sympathy. Your face is kinder than your words. I
+am glad you do not despise me."
+
+Hemstead admitted Harcourt and the young ladies into the shadowy
+hall, and then bade them good night. He, too, was in no mood
+for Addie's gossip or Bel's satire.  They had also found Harcourt
+strangely silent and pre-occupied.
+
+The evident influence of Miss Martell over Harcourt, and their
+intimate relations require some explanation. He was an orphan,
+and his father had been a friend of Mr. Martell.  During the last
+illness of the elder Mr. Harcourt, he had asked his friend to take
+some interest in his son, and, when possible, to give him friendly
+counsel. To a man like Mr.  Martell such a request was like a sacred
+obligation; and he had sought to do more than was asked. He wrote
+the young man almost fatherly letters, and often invited him to his
+house. Thus it came about that the influence of Mr.  Martell and
+his daughter did more to restrain the wayward tendencies of young
+Harcourt than all other things combined; and it must be confessed
+that the little blue-eyed girl had more influence than the wise
+old father. She seemed to take almost a sisterly interest in him,
+and occasionally wrote such a sweet little letter that he would
+reform his college life for a week thereafter. But he seemed
+to have a dash of wild blood that would break out only too often
+into indiscretions, the rumors of which filled his kind friend Mr.
+Martell with anxiety. But Alice, his daughter ever insisted that
+he would "come out all right."
+
+"Tom has a good heart, father," she would say; and so, with woman's
+faith, she hoped where her father feared.
+
+If Harcourt could have been continually under their influence
+he would undoubtedly have developed into a far better man. But,
+between absence at college and the law-school and some travel during
+vacations, he saw less and less of them. Alice also was kept very
+steadily at school, and during the last two years of her studies
+they had missed each other in vacations, and seldom met.
+
+But something more than maidenly modesty and pride made Alice shy
+and reserved when with Harcourt. She would think more about him,
+but talk less to him than to others when in company. She was a
+peculiarly sensitive, diffident girl, and instinctively shrank from
+the man who had for her the strongest interest.
+
+On the completion of her studies her father had taken her abroad,
+and they had spent two or three years in travel.  The extraordinary
+graces of her person were but the reflex of her richly cultivated
+mind. Even abroad she had many admirers; but with tact, firmness,
+and inimitable grace, she ever sought to prevent false hopes, and
+so had fewer offers than an ordinary coquette. But many who soon
+learned that they could never establish a dearer relation became
+strong friends, and also better men; for Alice Martell seemed to
+have the power of evoking all the good there was in a man, and of
+putting him under a kind of sacred obligation to be true and manly,
+as the result of her acquaintance.  However deep and lasting regret
+may have been, no man ever left her presence in harsh and bitter
+contempt for the--very name of woman, as too often had been the
+case with Lottie Marsden. Those who knew her least said she was
+cold, and those who knew her true, womanly heart best wondered at
+her continued indifference to every suit. And sometimes she wondered
+at herself,--how it was that all the attention she received scarcely
+ever quickened her pulse.
+
+But when after long absence she returned and met the friend
+and playmate of her childhood--the wayward youth to whom she was
+accustomed to give sisterly counsel--her pulse was so strangely
+accelerated, and the blood so quick to mount to her face at his
+every word and look, that she began to understand herself somewhat.
+
+They had but recently returned to their residence on the banks of
+the Hudson; and Harcourt was made a welcome visitor.
+
+Having completed his professional studies, the young man had
+succeeded largely to the practice of his deceased father, and was
+doing well in a business point of view. He had inherited enough
+property to secure a good start in life, but not enough to rob him
+of the wholesome stimulus which comes from the need of self-exertion.
+He had an acute, active mind. Abundance of intellect and fire
+flashed from his dark eyes, and we have seen that he was not without
+good and generous traits. But in his spiritual life he had become
+materialistic and sceptical. His associates were brilliant, but fast
+men; and for him also the wine-cup was gaining dangerous fascination.
+
+Mr. Martell, in the spirit of the most friendly interest, soon
+learned these facts after his return, and also the gossip, which
+brought a sudden paleness to his daughter's cheek, that he was
+engaged, or virtually engaged, to Addie Marchmont.
+
+While Alice therefore was kind, she seemed to avoid him; and he
+found it almost impossible to be alone with her.  She had always
+dwelt in his mind, more as a cherished ideal, a revered saint,
+than as an ordinary flesh-and-blood girl with whom he was fit to
+associate, and for a time after her return her manner increased
+this impression. He explained the recognized fact that she shunned
+his society by thinking that she knew his evil tendencies, and that
+to her believing and Christian spirit his faithless and irregular
+life was utterly uncongenial. For a short time he had tried to
+ignore her opinion and society in reckless indifference; but the
+loveliness of her person and character daily grew more fascinating,
+and his evil habits lost in power as she gained. For some little
+time before Mrs. Byram's company, he had been earnestly wishing
+that he could become worthy of at least her esteem and old friendly
+regard, not daring to hope for anything more. It never occurred to
+him that gossip had coupled his name with his cousin Addie, and
+that this fact influenced Miss Martell's manner as well as his
+tendencies toward dissipation. He laid it all to the latter cause,
+and was beginning to feel that he could live the life of an ascetic,
+if this lovely saint would only permit his devotion.
+
+And Alice, so sensitive where he was concerned, thought she
+saw a change in him for the better, and in the spirit of womanly
+self-sacrifice was resolving to see more of him than was prudent
+for her peace of mind, if by so doing she could regain her old
+power to advise and restrain.
+
+With gladness she recognized her influence over him at Mrs. Byram's
+company, and, as we have seen, made the most of it. But, with
+surprise and some strange thrills at heart, she noted that he and
+Addie Marchmont did not act as an engaged couple naturally would;
+and observed, with disgust, that Miss Marchmont seemed more pleased
+with Brently's attentions than Lottie Marsden had been.
+
+That a man of Harcourt's force and mind should be captivated by
+such a girl as Miss Marchmont, had been a mystery; and she thought,
+when seeing them together in Mrs.  Byram's parlors, "They take it
+more coolly than any people I ever saw."
+
+Addle appeared engrossed with the attentions of others, and Harcourt
+not in the least jealous or annoyed. In brief, they acted like
+cousins, and not in the least like lovers.
+
+But in the sensitive delicacy of her character she would not permit
+her mind to dwell on the problem of their relations, and bent all
+her thoughts upon her effort to win Harcourt to a better life.
+
+And she had moved him that evening more deeply than she could know.
+Neither she, nor any finite power, could plant righteous principle
+within his soul and transform his character; but she had created,
+for the time at least, an utter distaste for all low and sensual
+pleasures, and an honest and absorbing wish to become a true, good
+man. He felt that he could not, in her society, and breathing the
+pure atmosphere of her life, be his old self.
+
+Never did a man return from a fashionable revel in a more serious
+and thoughtful mood, and equally with Lottie and Hemstead he was
+glad to escape, from the trifling chat and gossip of Addie and Bel
+Parton, to the solitude of his own loom.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+HEMSTEAD'S HEAVY GUN AND ITS RECOIL.
+
+
+
+
+
+The "day after the ball" has its proverbial character, and Saturday
+was so long and dismal to several of the revellers that it occurred
+to them that their pleasure had been purchased rather dearly. It
+seemed an odd coincidence, that those who had been bent on securing
+all the pleasure possible, with no other thought, suffered the
+most. Bel and Addie could scarcely endure their own company, they
+were so weary and stupid; and they yawned through the day, irritable
+and dishevelled, for it was too stormy for callers.
+
+De Forrest did not appear until dinner, and then came down moody
+and taciturn. The young ladies had heard of his illness the evening
+before, with significant glances.  Mrs. Marchmont partly surmised
+the truth, but politely ignored the matter, treating it only as a
+sudden indisposition; and so the affair was passed over, as such
+matters usually are in fashionable life until they reach a stage
+too pronounced for polite blindness.
+
+De Forrest but dimly recollected the events of the preceding evening.
+He was quite certain, however, that he had been drunk, and had made
+a fool of himself.
+
+Though his conscience was not over tender upon this subject, and
+though such occurrences were not so exceedingly rare in fashionable
+life as to be very shocking, he still had the training and instinct
+of a gentleman, to a sufficient degree to feel deep mortification.
+
+If he had become tipsy among those of his own sex, or while off on
+a fishing excursion, he would have regarded it as a light matter;
+but, even in his eyes, intoxication at an evening company, and
+before the girl in whose estimation he most wished to stand well,
+was a very serious matter.  He could not remember much after going
+a second time to the supper-room in compliance with Lottie's request,
+but had a vague impression that she and Hemstead had brought him
+home. He was left in torturing uncertainty how far he had disgraced
+himself, because it was a subject concerning which he could not bring
+himself to make inquiries.  That those he met at the dinner-table
+treated him with their usual quiet politeness proved nothing.
+Human faces mask more thoughts than are expressed. Hemstead's grave
+silence was somewhat significant; but De Forrest cared so little
+for his opinion that he scarcely heeded the student's manner.
+
+Lottie Marsden was the one he most wished, and yet most dreaded to
+see. But Lottie did not appear.
+
+Whether it was true, as she believed, or not, that she was the more
+guilty, she certainly was the greater sufferer, and that Saturday
+became the longest and dreariest period of pain that she had ever
+experienced. She awoke in the morning with a nervous headache, which
+grew so severe that she declined to leave her room during the day.
+Bel, Addie, and her aunt all offered to do anything in their power;
+but she only asked to be left alone. She was so unstrung that even
+words of kindness and solicitude jarred like discord.
+
+It was torture to think, and yet her brain was unnaturally active.
+Everything presented itself in the most painfully bare and accurate
+manner. The glamour faded out of her gay young life, and she saw
+only the hard lines of fact.  Hemstead's words repeated themselves
+over and over again, and in their light she questioned the past
+closely. It was not in keeping with her positive nature and strong
+mind to do things by halves. With fixed and steady scrutiny she
+reviewed the motives of her life, and estimated the results. They
+were so unsatisfactory as to startle her. Although the spent years
+had been filled with continuous and varied activity, what had she
+accomplished for herself or any one else? Were not all her past
+days like water spilled on barren sands, producing nothing?
+
+As she had before intimated, she had been receiving homage, flattery,
+and even love, all her life, and yet now her heart had no treasures
+to which she could turn in solid satisfaction, nor could memory
+recall efforts like that she saw Miss Martell making in behalf of
+Harcourt. The adulation received was now empty breath and forgotten
+words, and nothing substantial or comforting remained.
+
+But, if memory could recall little good accomplished, it placed in
+long and dark array many scenes that she would gladly have forgotten.
+
+What can be worse--what need we fear more--than to be left alone
+forever with a guilty and accusing conscience, and no respite, no
+solace? What perdition need a man shrink from more than to go away
+from his earthly life, to be alone with memory--a pale and silent
+spectre--who will turn the pages of his daily record, and point to
+what was, and what might have been?
+
+A shallow-minded girl would have been incapable of this searching
+self-analysis. A weak, irresolute girl like Bel Parton would have
+taken a sedative, and escaped a miserable day in sleep. But, with
+all her faults, Lottie abounded in practical common sense; and
+Hemstead's words and her own experience suggested that she might
+be doing herself a very great wrong. She felt that it was no light
+matter to make one's whole life a blunder, and to invest all one's
+years and energies in what paid no better interest than she had
+received that day. Her physical pain and mental distress acted and
+reacted upon each other, until at last, wearied out, she sobbed
+herself to sleep.
+
+Both De Forrest and Hemstead were greatly in hopes that she would
+be at the supper-table, but they did not see her that day. The
+former, with his aching head and heavy heart, learned, if never
+before, that the "way of transgressors is hard." But, though the
+latter could not be regarded as a transgressor, his way was hard
+also that long day; and he whom Lottie, in the memory of his severe
+words, regarded somewhat as her stern accuser, would have been more
+than ready to take all her pains and woes upon himself, could he
+have relieved her.
+
+He now bitterly condemned himself for having been too harsh in the
+wholesome truth he had brought home to the nattered girl. It was
+rather severe treatment; still she was vigorous, and would be all
+the better for it. But now her faithful physician, as he heard how
+ill and suffering she was, almost wished that he had but faintly
+suggested the truth in homreopathic doses.
+
+At the same time he supposed that her indisposition was caused more
+by her shame and grief at the conduct of De Forrest than by anything
+he had said. The impression that she was attached or engaged to De
+Forrest was becoming almost a conviction.
+
+Though Lottie had never, by a word, bound herself to her cousin,
+yet her aunt and all the household regarded her as virtually engaged
+to him, and expected that the marriage would eventually occur. With
+Hemstead, they regarded her illness and seclusion as the result
+of her mortificaton at his behavior, and, underneath their politic
+politeness, were very indignant at his folly. But they expected
+that the trouble would soon blow over, as a matter of course. The
+mantle of charity for young men as rich and well-connected as De
+Forrest is very large. And then this slip could be regarded somewhat
+in the light of an accident; for when it became evident that Bel
+understood the nature of De Forrest's "spell," as the coachman
+called it, Lottie had taken pains to insist that it was an accident
+for which she was chiefly to blame; and had also said as much to
+Mrs. Marchmont.  Thus they all concluded that her relations with
+De Forrest would not be disturbed.
+
+Harcourt was the happiest of the party; but it must be confessed
+that, clearer than any law points, he saw still among blooming
+exotics a being far more rare and beautiful, who stood before him
+the whole day with clasped hands and entreating eyes, whose only
+request was, "be a true man." Under the inspiration of her words and
+manner he began to hope that he might eventually grant her request.
+
+As far as Lottie's intruding image would permit, Hemstead concentrated
+all his energies on the great sermon, the elaborate effort of many
+months, that he expected to preach on the morrow. He hoped that
+Lottie, and indeed all, would be there, for it seemed that if they
+would only give him their thoughtful attention he would prove beyond
+a shadow of a doubt that they were in God's hands, and that it
+would be worse than folly not to submit to His shaping and moulding
+discipline.
+
+At last Sunday morning came. It was a cold, chilly, leaden day,
+and even a glance from the windows gave one a shivering sense of
+discomfort.
+
+The gloom of nature seemed to shadow the faces of some of the
+party as they gathered at a late breakfast; and of none was this
+more true than of Lottie Marsden, as, pale and languid, she took
+her wonted place. Her greeting of De Forrest was most kindly, and
+he seemed greatly reassured.  and brightened up instantly. But
+Lottie's face did not lose its deep dejection.
+
+To the others she appeared to take very little notice of Hemstead;
+but he thought that he observed her eyes furtively seeking his
+face, with a questioning expression. Once he answered her gknce
+with such a frank, sunny smile that her own face lighted up. As
+they were passing into the parlor he said, in a low tone, "I wished
+a hundred times yesterday that I could bear your headache for you."
+
+"That is more kind than just. It is right that I should get my
+deserts," she replied, shaking her head.
+
+"Heaven save us from our deserts," he answered quickly.
+
+Before she could speak again, De Forrest was by her side and said,
+"Let me wheel the lounge up to the fire, and I will read anything
+you wish this morning."
+
+"O, no; I'm going to church."
+
+"Miss Lottie, I beg of you do not go. You are not able."
+
+"Yes, I am; the air will do me good. It's the Sunday before Christmas,
+Julian, and we both ought to be at church."
+
+"O, certainly, I'll go if you wish it."
+
+"I hope your sermon will do me good, Mr. Hemstead.  I'm wofully
+blue," she said, as she left the room to prepare for church.
+
+"I think it will," he replied; "for I have prepared it with a great
+deal of care."
+
+The building was a small but pretty Gothic structure, and its sacred
+quiet did seem to Lottie somewhat like a refuge.  With an interest
+such as she had never felt in the elegant city temple, she waited
+for the service to begin, honestly hoping that there might be
+something that would comfort and reassure.
+
+But Hemstead went through the preliminary services with but
+indifferent grace and effect. He was embarrassed and awkward, as
+is usually the case with those who have seldom faced an audience,
+and who are naturally very diffident. But as he entered upon his
+sermon his self-consciousness began to pass away, and he spoke with
+increasing power and effect.
+
+He took as his text words from the eleventh chapter of St. John,
+wherein Jesus declares to his disciples, in regard to the death of
+Lazarus, "I am glad, for your sakes, that I was not there, to the
+intent ye may believe."
+
+The importance of faith--believing--as the source of Christian
+life, and the ground of man's acceptance with God, was his subject,
+from which he wandered somewhat,--a course often observed in the
+ministerial tyro.
+
+He presented his views strongly, however; but they were partial and
+unripe, giving but one side of the truth, and therefore calculated
+to do injury rather than good. He did not--he could not--over-estimate
+the importance of faith, but he unwittingly misrepresented God, in
+his efforts to inspire this faith, and the Christian life resulting;
+and he under-valued our earthly state and its interests.
+
+He sketched in strong outlines the experience of the little family
+at Bethany, portraying with vivid realism the suffering of the man
+whom Jesus loved; the anxiety of the sisters when Lazarus became
+ill; this anxiety passing into fear, dread, sickening certainty,
+and despair; the anguish of bereavement, the loneliness and
+heart-breaking sorrow of four days; and that most agonized wrench
+of the heart when the beloved form is left alone to corrupt in the
+dark and silent sepulchre.
+
+Having presented this picture in such true and sombre colors that
+the gloom was reflected from the faces of all his hearers, they
+being reminded that this would be their lot ere long, he passed
+suddenly from the painful scenes of Bethany to Bethabara, beyond
+Jordan, where was sojourning the mysterious Prophet of Nazareth,
+who had so often proved His power to heal every disease. He enlarged
+upon the fact that Jesus, seeing all the suffering at Bethany,
+which He could change by a word into gladness, did not interfere,
+but decreed that the terrible ordeal should be endured to the bitter
+end.
+
+From this he reasoned that the transient sorrows of the household
+at Bethany were of little moment, and that God, in the advancement
+of His own glory and the accomplishment of His great plans, would
+never turn aside because His human children in their short-sighted
+weakness would stay His heavy hand if they could. He knew all that
+was occurring at Bethany, but calmly permitted it to take place,
+and in this case it was the same as if He had willed it.
+
+He then proceeded to show that the Divine purpose had not only a
+wide and general sweep, embracing the race, and extending through
+all time, but that there was a minute providence encompassing each
+life. If there were any good in us, God would bring it out, nor
+would He spare us in the effort. The preacher, unfortunately and
+unconsciously to himself, gave the impression that God acted on
+the principle that He could accomplish far more with the rod of
+affliction than with anything else, and that when He fully set about
+the task of winning a soul from sin, His first step was to stretch
+it upon the rack of some kind of suffering. He also intensified
+this painful impression by giving the idea that God thought little
+of the processes, which might be so painful to us, but fixed His
+eye only on the result. If people became sullen, rebellious, or
+reckless under His discipline, they were like misshappen clay, that
+the potter must cast aside. The crude ore must go into the furnace,
+and if there was good metal in it the fact would appear.
+
+"Sooner or later," he said, "God will put every soul into the
+crucible of affliction. Sooner or later we shall all be passing
+through scenes like that of the family at Bethany.  We may not hope
+to escape. God means we shall not. As Christ firmly, while seeing
+all, left events at Bethany to their designed course, so He will
+as surely and steadily carry out the discipline which He, as the
+unerring physician of the soul, sees that each one of us requires.
+Does the refiner hesitate to put the crude ore into the crucible?
+Does the sculptor shrink from chiselling the shapeless block
+into beauty? Does not the surgeon, with nerves of steel and pulse
+unquickened, cut near the very vitals of his agonized patient? He
+sees that it is necessary, in order to save from greater evil, and
+therefore he is as remorseless as fate.  If to cure some transient,
+physical infirmity, man is justified in inflicting--nay, more, is
+compelled to inflict--so much suffering upon his fellow-creatures,
+how much more is God justified in His severest moral discipline,
+which has as its object our eternal health. Though we shrink from
+the sorrow, though we writhe under the pain, though our hearts
+break a thousand times, He will not waver in His calm, steadfast
+purpose. He sees eternity; the present is as nothing to Him. He
+will break our grasp from all earthly idols, even though He tear
+our bleeding hearts asunder.  If we are trusting in aught save Him,
+that upon which we are leaning will be snatched away, even though
+we fall at first into the depths of despairing sorrow. What He makes
+us suffer now is not to be considered, in view of His purpose to
+wean us from this world and prepare us for the next. Christ, as we
+learn from our text, is as inflexible as fate, and does not hesitate
+to secure the needful faith by remaining away, even though the
+message of the sisters was an entreaty in itself. Nay, more, he
+distinctly declares to his disciples, 'I am glad, for your sakes,
+that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe.'
+
+"In conclusion, we assert that we ought to rise above our human
+weakness and co-work with God. Instead of clinging so to the present,
+we ought to think of the eternal future, and welcome the harshest
+discipline which prepares us for that future. We should mortify
+ourselves, trample our earthly natures under our feet. To that
+degree that we can bring ourselves to think less of earth, we shall
+think more of heaven. Our business, our earthly hopes and plans,
+our dearest ties, may be fatal snares to our souls.  The husband
+may make an idol of his wife, the mother of her child. God jealously
+watches; we should watch more jealously. The sisters may have been
+loving their brother and trusting to his protection more than in
+Christ.  We should hold all earthly possessions in fear and trembling,
+as something not our own, but only committed for a brief time to
+our trust. We should remember that the one great object of this
+life is to secure that faith which leads to preparation for the
+life to come. The harsher our experiences are here, the better,
+if they more surely wean us from earth and all earthly things, and
+make eternity the habitation of our thoughts. We see how stern and
+resolute God is in His great purpose to stamp out unbelief from
+the world. Jesus would not save the family at Bethany that He
+loved,--the family that freely gave hospitality and love in return
+when nearly all the world was hostile. Do not think, then, that
+He will spare us. Let us therefore not spare ourselves, but with
+remorseless hands smite down every earthly object that hides from
+our view the wide ocean of eternity. As the wise men from the East
+travelled steadily across arid wastes with eyes fixed only on the
+strange bright luminary that was guiding them to Bethlehem, so we
+should regard this world as a desert across which we must hasten
+to the presence of our God."
+
+As Hemstead forgot himself, and became absorbed in his theme,
+he spoke with impressivensss and power; and everywhere throughout
+the audience was seen that thoughtful contraction of the brow and
+fixed gaze which betoken deep attention. But upon the faces of nearly
+all was the expression of one listening to something painful. This
+was especially true of Miss Martell and her father, while Harcourt's
+face grew cold and satirical. Lottie looked pale and sullen, and
+De Forrest was evidently disgusted. Mr.  Dimmerly fidgeted in his
+seat, and even complacent Mrs.  Marchmont seemed a little ruffled
+and disturbed, while her daughter Addie was in a state of irritable
+protest against both preacher and sermon. Poor Bel was merely
+frightened and conscience-stricken,--her usual condition after
+every sermon to which she listened.
+
+As, during the brief remnant of the service, Hemstead dropped into
+consciousness of the world around him, he felt at first, rather
+than saw, the chill he had caused, instead of a glow answering to
+his own feelings. As he looked more closely, he imagined he detected
+a gloomy and forbidding expression on the faces turned towards him.
+The Gospel--the message of good news that he had brought--appeared
+to shadow the audience like a passing cloud.
+
+After dismission, the people aroused themselves as from an oppressive
+dream. The few greetings and congratulations that he received
+as he passed down the aisle seemed formal and constrained, and,
+he thought, a little insincere.  He was still more puzzled as he
+overheard Miss Martell say to Harcourt at the door, "I am sorry
+you heard that sermon."
+
+"I am, too," he replied, "for it seemed true."
+
+"It's only half-truth," she said earnestly.
+
+"The Lord deliver me, then; this half is more than I can stand."
+
+Lottie scarcely spoke during the drive home, and Hemstead noted,
+with pain, that her face had a hard, defiant look. It occurred
+to him that he had not seen any who appeared to have enjoyed the
+service.
+
+There were long pauses at the dinner-table, and after one of the
+longest, Mr. Dimmerly abruptly remarked, in his sententious manner:
+"Well, nephew, I suppose you gave us a powerful sermon this morning.
+It has made us all deucedly uncomfortable, anyhow. But I've no
+doubt the old rule holds good, the worse the medicine is to take
+the more certain to cure."
+
+Lottie's response to this remark was a ringing laugh, in which the
+others, in the inevitable reaction from the morbid gloom, joined
+with a heartiness that was most annoying to the young clergyman.
+
+"You must excuse me, Mr. Hemstead," said she, after a moment, "I
+have had the blues all day, and have reached that point where I
+must either laugh or cry, and prefer the former at the dinner-table."
+
+Hemstead stiffly bowed as his only response. He was too chagrined,
+puzzled, and disappointed to venture upon a reply, and after this
+one lurid gleam of unnatural mirth the murky gloom of the day seemed
+to settle down more heavily than before.
+
+After dinner De Forrest tried to secure Lottie's society for the
+afternoon. The refusal was kind, not careless, as had been often
+the case. Indeed her whole manner towards him might be characterized
+as a grave, remorseful kindness, such as we might show towards a
+child or an inferior that we had wronged somewhat.
+
+De Forrest, finding that Lottie would persist in going to her room,
+went to his also, and took a long, comfortable nap.
+
+Bel wanted to talk about the sermon, but as Lottie would not talk
+about anything, she, too, soon forgot her spiritual anxieties in
+sleep.
+
+But Lottie sat and stared at her fire, and Hemstead, deserted by
+all, stared at the fire in the parlor; and both were sorely troubled
+and perplexed.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE PREACHER TAUGHT BY THE PAGAN
+
+
+
+
+
+We have said that Lottie Marsden was a pagan. That is not
+necessarily a reproach. Socrates was a pagan.  But Lottie, in the
+main, was a very ordinary pagan, not better than the average. Her
+only superiority over other idolaters, and many nominal Christians,
+it might be added, was her practical common sense. The more she
+thought, the more unsatisfactory Hemstead's sermon grew, and the
+more sure she became that there was a wrong somewhere: in him, or
+her, or in religion itself.
+
+Her whole nature revolted at the idea of God given that morning.
+
+In her vivid fancy, she saw an unrelenting, unimpassioned, and yet
+all-powerful Being, from whom there was no escape, calmly subjecting
+one human life after another to the severest crucial tests. If one
+could endure them, all might be well. If, in the composition of
+one's character, there existed good metal, it would come out of the
+furnace fine gold perhaps; but if, as she feared might be true of
+herself, there was only dross, then the fiery trials awaiting would
+be as useless as cruel.
+
+"Why couldn't an all-powerful God find a pleasanter and surer
+way of making us good?" she asked in bitterness.  "I know there
+is something wrong in what Mr. Hemstead preached this morning. He
+is different from his own doctrines, and to my mind a great deal
+better. He was severe upon me, but not calmly and stonily severe.
+He looked as if he felt for me deeply, and would, even at cost to
+himself, give me aid if I tried to do right. If he had shown me
+my faults in the calm, cold distance of immeasurable superiority
+which he ascribed to God, I would not have listened to a word.
+But his voice was gentleness itself, and it evidently pained him
+to give me pain; but when he came to show our relations to God,
+I seemed to come into the presence of stony-hearted, stony-faced
+fate. If this is the real God that ministers preach about, little
+wonder that they have such a hard time of it in persuading us to
+love Him. Little wonder that people forget Him as long as they can.
+But Mr. Hemstead seems to want us to think of these awful things
+nearly all the time; and what's worse, to begin torturing and
+mortifying ourselves, even before God is ready to commence. No,
+I thank you. No such religion for me. If I must go into the fiery
+furnace, I won't go till I must."
+
+She sprang up, and restlessly paced the room. "He's a very cheerful
+apostle of such a gloomy gospel," she thought.  "Gospel! I thought
+'gospel' meant 'good news.' I never heard worse than he told us
+this morning. If what he preached is true religion, he's a very
+inconsistent professor of it, and I would like to tell him so.
+
+"What's more, I will if I can find him"; and acting upon the impulse
+she left the room.
+
+The "miserable sinners," as the prayer-book has it, whom Hemstead
+had in fact made quite miserable for a time, grew more comfortable
+after dinner; and by three o'clock, so far from employing hair-cloth
+and scourgings, or even the mildest form of a crusade against
+the weaknesses of the flesh, were all dozing and digesting in the
+most luxurious manner. Lottie was the only "sinner" who remained
+"miserable"; but she was not more "out of sorts" than the one who,
+ex officio, as the world is prone to believe, Ought to have been
+calm and serene upon his theological height above the clouds.
+
+As she entered the parlor with her velvet-like tread, she paused
+a moment to observe the Boanerges of the morning.  As he sat alone
+before the fire, with his elbows upon his knees and his face buried
+in his hands, he looked more like a weak mortal than a "son of
+thunder." He did not look a bit like one who, with face as firm
+and inflexible as God's purpose, was anxious to step into the fiery
+furnace before it was ready.
+
+She drew a few steps nearer, and stood over him with a curious
+expression on her face, which could so well mask or reveal her thought
+as she chose. She had come downstairs in a state of irritable and
+defiant protest against his doctrines, and with no little vexation
+at him for being their mouth-piece. If she had found him calmly
+pacing the floor, pondering on human frailty and folly, or if he
+had been reading judicially a semi-sceptical work, that he might
+demolish the irreverent author, she would have made an onslaught
+whose vigor, if not logic, would have greatly disturbed his
+equanimity and theological poise. But when she saw his attitude
+of deep dejection, and when twice he sighed long and heavily,
+her woman's nature was disarmed, and she began to think that his
+doctrines were as hard upon him as upon the rest. Instinctively
+she took his part against God, whose formative hand appeared too
+heavy for them both.
+
+Therefore, instead of the hard, bitter words that she intended to
+speak, she said, with a little quaver in her voice.  "Mr. Hemstead,
+I almost believe that you feel as bad as I do."
+
+When he looked up she was sure he felt worse. But he seemed to try
+to forget his own trouble as he said kindly, "I'm sorry you feel
+bad."
+
+"Well," said Lottie, sitting down on the opposite side of the hearth,
+while the fire, on which Hemstead had thrown some damp green wood,
+smoked dismally between them, "I do think you are a little sorry."
+
+"Can I help you in any way? I wish you knew how gladly I would do
+so."
+
+"Yes, I believe that, too. You don't look a bit as if you would
+like to throw me into a fiery furnace, and see if I would come out
+a lump of gold or a good-for-nothing cinder."
+
+His only reply was a look of perplexed inquiry, but his gray eyes
+were so kind, and yet withal so full of dejection, that she again
+thought, "He is dreadfully inconsistent with his doctrines"; and
+she said, with a trace of archness in her tone, "I think you look
+as if you needed a little help and comfort yourself."
+
+He turned away his face, but after a moment said, "You never spoke
+truer words, Miss Marsden."
+
+Then Lottie, who before had felt in such need of cheer herself,
+forgot this need in her wish to help the great desponding man
+before her, whose mingled weakness and strength surprised her more
+and more. In a tone that would have softened flint she said, "I
+wish I were good enough to help you."
+
+Then he perplexed her by saying, with sudden energy, "And I wish
+you were bad enough."
+
+"What do you mean by that?"
+
+"Pardon me," he said hastily. "My words were figurative, and
+exaggerated by deep feeling. I meant that I wished you, or some
+one, could be human and charitable enough to understand me, and
+help me to triumph over my weakness without condemning too severely."
+
+"Well," said Lottie, with a little sigh of satisfaction, "I think
+I'm bad enough. I'm very human, anyway, and I think I'm in a mood
+to be charitable to-day; for, if my conscience tells me the truth,
+I'm awfully in need of charity myself."
+
+He looked up quickly and hopefully as he said, "Then my sermon did
+you some good after all."
+
+"Not a bit of it. I can have plenty of charity for you, but hot a
+particle for your sermon,--no more than I would for a thumb-screw
+of the Inquisition."
+
+This unmeasured condemnation of the pet child of his brain,--a part
+of himself as it were,--of which he had been so proud, cut to the
+quick, and he flushed deeply and almost resentfully at first. But
+he made no reply, and sat lowering at the smoky hearth while he
+sank into a lower depth of despondency. Preaching was his chosen
+life-work, and yet this was the verdict against his first great
+sermon.
+
+Lottie looked hopelessly at him, not knowing what to say or do
+next, and regretting that she had spoken so hastily and harshly.
+
+At last he sighed: "I don't understand it. I had spent months over
+that sermon. I fear I have mistaken my calling."
+
+"Well," said Lottie, rather brusquely, "I wouldn't feel so forlorn
+and miserable over that. I don't think it's much of a calling
+anyway."
+
+"O Miss Marsden!" he ejaculated, in a shocked tone.
+
+"I'm sincere in what I say," she continued earnestly, "Please don't
+misunderstand me. As far as I am a judge I think your sermon was
+well written, and it certainly was delivered effectively; for,
+though none of us liked it, we couldn't help listening. But its
+strongest effect was to make me wish I was an infidel and, like
+Mr. Harcourt, did not believe in anything. I honestly think that
+it will be a very poor calling to go out among the poor people on
+the frontier and preach such a gospel as you gave us this morning.
+In the name of pity, haven't they enough to contend with now?
+In addition to the scalping Indians, the border ruffians, the
+grasshoppers, and grinding poverty, are you going to give them
+a religion in which the furnace of affliction and the crucible of
+trial flame as the centre? Poor creatures!  I suppose they are in
+hard and hot places most of the time, but don't make them think
+that God puts them there, and that there is no chance to get out
+till He is through with them. I can tell you beforehand, that people
+are not going to get into the fiery furnace and commence having
+a miserable time of it before they must. Let us be as comfortable
+as we can, while we can. If you feel that you have mistaken your
+calling--and I hope you have--I'm sure that father, at my request,
+will find you a better one in New York."
+
+Poor Hemstead was as satisfied as Luther had been that this was
+a temptation of the devil; but before him was no such apparition
+as that against which the great reformer could hurl his ink-horn
+without leaving a spot.
+
+With the lurid flash of Lucifer as he fell from heaven, the thought
+passed through his disquieted mind, "And in New York I might win
+the hand and heart of this beautiful girl." But every quality of
+his soul frowned so darkly on this thought, which held out Lottie
+Marsden as a bribe, that it soon skulked away. His mind reverted
+to the main difficulty, and he said, "Surely, Miss Marsden, I did
+not preach such a religion as you suggest."
+
+"You surely did, Mr. Hemstead, as I could soon prove to you. I am
+glad you are so inconsistent a professor of your religion."
+
+"Am I an inconsistent professor?" he asked sadly.
+
+"Indeed you are," she replied; and both mischief and kindness lurked
+in her eyes. "You don't live up to your doctrines at all."
+
+"Little wonder, then," he exclaimed, in bitter self-condemnation,
+"that all turn from my teaching."
+
+She looked at him with a curious smile, as she thought, "What
+a child he is! He is but wax in my hands. If he should marry a
+cold-hearted, selfish woman, with a spice of petty, teasing malice
+in her nature, she could sit down quietly at his hearth and torture
+to death this overgrown man, with whole libraries in his brain. I
+could wring his soul now, by making him think that he had lived so
+unworthily that we could not listen to his most unworthy sermon."
+
+She led him out of his strong self-condemnation into equal perplexity,
+by saying, "Unlike most of the world, you are so much better than
+your creed as to be utterly inconsistent."
+
+He came and sat down near her, with such an appealing, helpless
+look that she laughed outright.
+
+"Please don't laugh at me," he said, with the glimmer of a smile,
+"because this to me is a more serious matter than you or any one
+can understand."
+
+"I don't laugh unfeelingly, I assure you," she said earnestly. "I
+never was more sincere in my life than I was this afternoon, but I
+am one of those ridiculous mortals who cannot take things coolly,
+and, as I said at dinner, there are times when I must either
+laugh or cry. I never passed a more miserable day in my life than
+yesterday. You, terrible magician, whom I have scarcely known for
+a week, have awakened in my heart a giant; and yesterday and to-day
+he has been shaking my soul with his mutterings and threatenings.
+I could always manage my conscience before, and snub it into
+quietness when it became unruly.  But, as I said, from a whining
+child it has suddenly grown into a threatening giant, more harsh
+even than you the other evening. I went to church this morning,
+hoping to find some comfort, some remedy; but, bad as is the disease,
+the remedy seems far worse. I came downstairs this afternoon in no
+amiable mood with you or your theology, but was disarmed by seeing
+you in as bad a plight as myself. I fear your medicine will kill
+both doctor and patient. During the past week you have been a strong,
+genial man, with a human, genuine enjoyment of our every-day life.
+If you were a little blue and puritanical, it was in a common-sense
+way that I could understand, and your criticism of myself I think
+in the main was just. Anyway, you made me wish I was a better girl,
+and I was thinking how to begin; then came this awful Sunday, and
+your awful sermon, which made me both fear and hate God, and want
+to keep away from Him as far and as long as I can."
+
+"Your words perplex and sadden me beyond measure," said Hemstead.
+"You belong to the very class that I had hoped to benefit,--those
+who admit that they are without faith, but who are not so averse
+to the truth but that they may be won by it. And yet you say that
+the whole force of my sermon is to make you wish that you could be
+an infidel. I cannot understand it. If I have mistaken my calling
+I could not make you or any one comprehend the depth of my sorrow, or
+the bitterness of my disappointment In the calling of the ministry
+it has ever seemed to me that I could work a century with enthusiasm.
+But in any other work I should be but a drudge, for my heart would
+not be in it You know how young men often feel about these things.
+One has a natural bent for the law, another for medicine, and
+another for business or science. I had fondly hoped that I was
+a predestined minister, and this hope has strengthened with years
+and become inwrought with every fibre of my soul.  I was willing
+to commence in a very humble way, and anywhere that God would set
+me to work; but if the effect of my preaching is to drive people
+away from Him, the sooner I give it all up the better."
+
+"How different our tastes and plans for life are!" said Lottie,
+musingly. "It appears strange that you should have set your heart
+so strongly on what is so dismal to me. And yet such is the evident
+depth of your regret that I do feel for you very much."
+
+Hemstead rose and took a few abrupt turns up and down the room.
+Lottie watched him with increasing interest.  He had shown her his
+weakness, and she perceived that he would also show his strength.
+After a moment he leaned on the mantel before her, and said in
+quiet, decisive tones:
+
+"Miss Marsden, I have given you the right to speak to me very plainly.
+I honestly wish light on this subject, and intend to settle this
+question at the earliest moment possible.  God knows I do not wish
+to thrust myself unbidden into the sacred office. If I am not worthy
+of the calling, then the sooner I find it out the better, and so
+try to content myself with some humbler work. Not only from what
+you have said, but from the remarks and aspect of others, I am
+satisfied that my effort this morning was worse than a failure.
+You have a mind of unusual vigor, and a good faculty in expressing
+your thought. Won't you give me a keen, truthful analysis of the
+whole service? It is to the world I am to preach; and I wish to
+know just how what I say strikes the world. I know that Christian
+doctrines have ever been unpalatable, but if there is something
+in my presentation of them that is going to make them tenfold more
+so, then I will be dumb. I would rather hide in a desert than drive
+one soul from God, as you intimated. You were brave enough to let
+me speak to you almost harshly, I fear; now see if I have not equal
+courage. Say the very worst things that you believe true, and you
+may help me very much towards coming to the most important decision
+of my life."
+
+"O dear!" said Lottie. "I'm not fit to counsel a downy chicken. I
+wish you didn't take this matter so to heart You look as if I might
+be your executioner."
+
+"You can be my faithful surgeon and do some wholesome cutting."
+
+"Well," said Lottie, dismally. "I'd rather give you ether or
+laughing-gas first."
+
+"That is more kind than wise," he replied, smiling; "in moral and
+mental surgery the patient should have all his faculties."
+
+"There!" she exclaimed with animation, "we are illustrating by
+contrast my chief complaint against your preaching. When you told
+me my faults you did so gently, and appeared pained in giving me
+pain; and now I am honestly sorry to say words that I know will hurt
+you. And I know my words will hurt and discourage you; for if the
+trouble were in you it might be remedied, but it is in what you
+teach, and of course you teach what you believe, and won't say smooth
+things, as I fear other ministers do sometimes.  You represented
+God calm and unchangeable as fate, as unrelenting and unimpassioned.
+In this spirit you portrayed Him taking up one life after another
+and putting it into the furnace of affliction, to see what He can
+make of it. You illustrated His manner of doing this by the sculptor
+with his cold, unfeeling marble, by the refiner with crude ore,
+and by the surgeon, and you forgot to say that the last stupefies
+his patients before cutting. You gave me the impression that as
+soon as God set about making us better we should find ourselves in
+trouble, and that, like certain school-masters of the old regime,
+He had faith in nothing save the rod.  You know the natural feeling
+of children towards such pedagogues. How can we help feeling hi the
+same way towards God? Then you presented God as full of inflexible
+purposes, but the oftener you told us that we could not help
+ourselves, and that there was no use in resisting, the move I felt
+like resisting. The idea of cutting and carving character out of
+quivering human hearts as if they were marble!  The idea of putting
+one, like a lump of ore, into a crucible, and then coolly sitting
+by to see what becomes of it! I'm not a lump of ore, and if I need
+harsh treatment I want it done sympathetically, feelingly, or I
+shall become a Tartar instead of a saint. The tears in your eyes
+the other night, Mr. Hemstead, did me more good than all your wise
+words."
+
+Hemstead looked as if a light were dawning upon him.
+
+"You spoke of this life," continued Lottie, "as if it were nothing,
+and as if God didn't care--indeed approved of our having a hard
+time here, that we might be more sure of a good time hereafter.
+You spoke of God as jealously watching, lest we should love earthly
+friends more than Him, and said that He was bound to be first, if
+He had to snatch away everything that we loved most. Therefore,
+even the mother must keep chilling her natural love for her child,
+or else God will make the innocent little thing suffer and die,
+just to give the mother a lesson. You said that we should hold all
+earthly possessions in fear and trembling, and that the harsher
+our experiences were, here, the better, if they only wean us from
+earth. If this is true, we had better have no possessions and form
+no ties. The monks and nuns are right. Let us shut ourselves up,
+and wear hair-cloth instead of merino, and catch our death of cold
+by moping around bare-foot at all unseasonable hours. All you said
+may be good religion, but it's mighty poor sense, and very unnatural."
+
+Hemstead shaded his burning face with his hands.
+
+"There, I knew I should hurt you. No doubt I seem very irreverent,
+but you have no idea how I am restraining myself for your sake. I'm
+just that provoked and indignant--Well, well, what's the use? As
+you said, we can't help ourselves, and into the fiery furnace Lottie
+Marsden will go before long; only there will be nothing left of me
+but a little cinder. Why couldn't the Being you call all-wise and
+all-powerful, devise some nicer way, one more in accordance with
+the nature He has given us? Suppose heaven is a grander place than
+this world, that is no good reason for hating the world. This earth
+is our present home, and it looks sensible that we should make the
+most of it, and enjoy ourselves in it. Suppose my father should
+say, 'Lottie, I want you to hate and despise your present home,
+because in five years I'm going to give you a palace; and if you
+can only fall downstairs once or twice, and have a fit of illness
+so as to get weaned from it, I shall be glad.'
+
+"How strangely and monstrously unnatural all that kind of talk is
+when you come to put it into plain English!" proceeded Lottie after
+a moment, tapping the floor impatiently with her foot. "If you must
+preach such doctrines as you did this morning, I am sorry for you;
+and, if they are true, I am sorry for the world, myself included.
+The trouble is not in you. I am sure you can make almost an orator
+in time, if you can get a theme that won't give men the shivers,
+and set their teeth on edge. I never understood religion and never
+liked it; and now that I do begin to understand it, I like it less
+than ever."
+
+Hemstead sat down in his chair,--indeed he sank into it, and the
+face he turned toward her was white and full of pain.
+
+"Miss Marsden," he said slowly, "I fear I have given you, and all
+who heard me, a very false impression of God and Christianity; and
+yet I thought I was speaking the truth."
+
+"O, I knew you were honest. There isn't a dishonest fibre in your
+nature; but I wish you were all wrong. O, how delighted I should
+be if you were a heretic without knowing it, and we could find out
+a religion that wouldn't make one's blood run cold to think of it!"
+
+"But my religion does me good, Miss Marsden. It cheers, sustains,
+and strengthens me."
+
+"Now you see how inconsistent you are. You preach one thing, and
+feel and act another."
+
+"I begin to see how I was misled in my sermon, and why what I said
+was so repugnant to you; and yet my mind is confused. It still
+appears to me that I developed the thought of the text. Christ
+said, 'I am glad I was not there, to the intent ye may believe.'
+These words would seem to show that He regarded our transient pains
+as of very secondary importance compared with the accomplishment
+of His great purposes. Why did He not go to Bethany at once, if it
+were not so?"
+
+"Well, it's an awful text, or you give it an awful interpretation.
+Let me take the thought out of the realm of theology or religion,
+and bring it down to practical life. Suppose you go to New York
+to-morrow and remain a few days, and to-morrow night the house
+burns up, and I with it. Would your first thought be, 'I am glad I
+was not there to put out the fire or to rescue that naughty girl,
+Lottie Marsden, because her sudden death, for which she was all
+unprepared, will be a warning to many, and result in great good'?
+I may be wrong, Mr. Hemstead, but I think you would get pretty well
+scorched before you would permit even such a guy as I am to become
+a warning to other naughty girls."
+
+"I can't imagine myself leaving you in danger," said Hemstead, with
+a look that brought the blood into Lottie's face.
+
+"I thought you would feel so," she continued heartily.  "You
+can preach awfully against sinners, but when you come to put your
+doctrines in practice, you say as you did to me, 'I wish I could bear
+all for you.' Heaven knows I'm selfish enough, but I can at least
+understand and appreciate generous and kindly sympathy, and could
+be won by it. But this cool and inflexible elaboration of character,
+where only the end is considered, and all our timid shrinking and
+human weakness are ignored,--this austere asceticism which despises
+the present world and life,--is to me unnatural and monstrous.
+I confess I never read the Bible very much, and have not listened
+when it was read. I have half forgotten the story of Lazarus. You
+left off where Lazarus was in his grave, and Christ was glad He
+was not there to prevent his death. But that was not all the story.
+I think, if I remember rightly, Christ raised him to life.  Come,
+get a Bible, and let us read the whole story, and see if we cannot
+find something that will not make the word 'gospel' a mockery."
+
+"Won't you read it?" asked Hemstead, humbly, handing her the Bible.
+
+"Yes, if you wish me to, though it seems very funny that I should
+be reading the Bible to you."
+
+"I begin to have a hope that you will teach me more than I ever
+learned from it before," he replied earnestly.
+
+As in sweet, unaffected, girlish tones she read the ancient story
+of human suffering and sorrow, the scenes passed in seeming reality
+before the student. He was intensely excited, though so quiet. When
+one with a strong mind recognizes that he is approaching a crisis
+in life, there is an awe that calms and controls. Lottie, with her
+intense vitality, could arouse even a sluggish nature. But to earnest
+Hemstead, with his vivid fancy, and large faith, this beautiful
+but erratic creature reading the neglected Bible, to find for him
+a sweeter and sunnier gospel than he had preached, seemed a special
+providence that presaged more than he had dared to conjecture; and
+he listened as one who expected a new revelation.
+
+Indeed his darkness was losing its opaqueness. Rays of light
+were quivering through it. Her plain and bitter words of protest
+against his sermon had already shown him, in a measure, that he had
+exaggerated, in his first crude sermonizing, one truth, and left
+out the balancing and correcting truth. Familiar with all the story
+of Lazarus, his mind travelled beyond the reader, and with mingled
+joy and self-condemnation he already began to see how he had
+misrepresented the God of Love. With intense eagerness he watched
+and waited to see the effect of the complete story on Lottie's
+mind.
+
+When she came to the words, "Jesus said unto her, _I_ am the
+resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were
+dead yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me
+shall never die,"--she stopped and said, "This is very remarkable
+language. What does it mean?"
+
+"Read on; read to the end," he urged.
+
+She caught his eager expectancy, and read, with an absorbing
+interest, the truth that now seemed stranger than any fiction.
+
+When she reached the words, "He groaned in spirit, and was troubled,"
+she raised her eyes in a quick glance of inquiry.
+
+"Read on," said Hemstead, in breathless interest.
+
+A moment later, the shortest verse in the Bible was upon her lips.
+Then she ceased reading aloud, and the student saw her eyes hastily,
+as if she were unable to endure the momentary delay of pronunciation,
+scanning the story to its end.
+
+"Mr. Hemstead," she asked excitedly, "why did Jesus weep and groan,
+when in a few moments Lazarus would be alive, and the scene of
+mourning be changed to one of joy?"
+
+With tears in his eyes, he replied, "There is One guiding you--guiding
+us both--who can answer that question better than I."
+
+"We believe that Jesus Christ is God, do we not?" she half mused,
+half questioned, her brows contracting with intense thought.
+
+"Yes," he said reverently.
+
+"Why, Mr. Hemstead, don't you see--don't you see?  This Being who
+is so keenly sympathetic, so tenderly alive to a spene of sorrow,
+that He weeps and groans, though knowing that joy is coming in a
+moment, is not the calm, passionless, inflexible God you chilled
+our hearts with this morning. Why, this is the very extravagance
+of tender-heartedness. This is a gentleness that I can scarcely
+understand. What mother, even, would first weep with her children
+over a sorrow that she was about to remove with a word! And yet this
+all-powerful Jesus, who can raise the dead to life, seems to cry
+just because the others do,--just as if He couldn't help it,--just
+as dear, good Auntie Jane's eyes moisten when she hears of any one
+in trouble. Mr.  Hemstead, there is surely a mistake somewhere.
+How do you reconcile this Christ with the one you presented this
+morning?"
+
+"I don't, and cannot."
+
+"And yet He did say to His disciples, 'I am glad I was not there,'"
+continued Lottie, in deep perplexity.
+
+Hemstead paced the room excitedly a few minutes, and then exclaimed,
+"It's growing as clear and beautiful as the light."
+
+"It seems to me flat contradiction," said Lottie, dejectedly.
+"There are the words, 'I am glad I was not there '; and there is
+the fact that He let Lazarus die; and there also are the facts of
+His weeping and raising Lazarus: and, now I think of it, He performed
+many miracles equally kind, and helped and encouraged all sorts of
+people."
+
+"Certainly He did," cried Hemstead. "Blind idiot that I was in
+developing a crude theological idea of my own, instead of simply
+presenting the God of the Bible! I can never thank you enough, Miss
+Marsden, for your strong good sense that has dissipated my fog-bank
+of words. I think I see the way into light. You have placed a clew
+in my hands which I trust will lead, not only me, but others into
+peace. I fear I did present to you a calm, unimpassioned, inflexible
+Being this morning,--a God of purposes and decrees and remorseless
+will; and I have felt before that this was the God of theology and
+religious philosophy, rather than the God of the Bible. Your words
+have shown me that I gave you a crude and one-sided view. Thoughts
+are thronging so upon my mind that I am confused, but it comes to
+me with almost the force of an inspiration that Christ's tears of
+sympathy form the key to the whole Bible."
+
+"Well," said Lottie, in a low tone, "I can see how they might become
+the key to my heart. Come, Mr. Hemstead, I have been a heathen up
+to this time; and I hope you have been a heretic. If you can explain
+the Bible in accordance with Christ's tears, as He wept, when the
+kindest man living would have smiled, in view of the change so soon
+to occur,--then preach by all means. That is the kind of gospel we
+want. If I could believe that God felt with, and for, his creatures
+as tenderly as that, it seems to me that I could go to Him as
+naturally as I ever went to Auntie Jane in my troubles."
+
+Hemstead was pacing the room, as was his custom when excited. His
+face was aglow with earnest, elevating thoughts.  His ungainliness
+had utterly vanished; and Lottie acknowledged that she had never
+seen a nobler-looking man. She felt that perhaps they were both on
+the threshold of a larger and richer life than they had ever known
+before.  She saw dimly, as through a mist, that which her heart
+longed to believe,--the truth that God does care about His earthly
+children,--that He was not to her a mere shaping force or power,
+but a tender, gentle-hearted helper. Therefore she waited eagerly
+and hopefully for Hemstead to speak.
+
+But he felt that the glad tumult in his mind rendered him unfit to
+be her guide just then, and therefore said: "Miss Marsden, I want
+to think calmly and carefully over what you have said. I want
+to take this briefest of all texts, 'Jesus wept,' as a lamp in my
+hand, and with it explore the rest of the Bible. Already it seems
+that it may be like carrying a light into a treasure vault, and
+that where before was darkness, gems and riches now will glitter."
+
+"And I, who have had the good fortune to strike the light for you,
+am in the mean time to sit outside of the 'treasure vault,' and
+perhaps neither see nor get any of the 'gems.' I don't agree at
+all to your gloating alone over what may be discovered."
+
+"And can you think I would wish to 'gloat alone'?" said Hemstead,
+reddening. "It will be my chief joy to bring back all I find to
+you."
+
+"I'm not that kind of a girl," said Lottie, with a little emphatic
+gesture. "If I wanted something from the top of a mountain, I
+would not send a man for it, but would go with him after it. This
+helpless waiting, or languid looking on, while men do everything
+for us, is as absurd in one direction as the Indian custom of making
+the squaw do all the hard work in another. I don't see why we
+can't take this genial little lamp of a text, and do some exploring
+together. I will hold the lamp, and you do the looking.  Here is the
+Bible, and there is your seat beside this dismal, smoking fire. I
+fear you have treated it as you did us this morning,--put on green
+wood."
+
+"I think you are right in both cases," he said, his telltale color
+again suddenly rising.
+
+"No matter, it was good wood in both cases, as you will see when
+it becomes ripe and dry."
+
+"It will never do for me to become dry as a preacher, Miss Marsden."
+
+"Yes, it will in my sense, for then you will kindle more easily,
+and therefore kindle others. But come, I am holding the lamp, 'Jesus
+wept.' Every thing you can find in the Bible that will confirm the
+hope of God's sympathy--that He cares for us as we are, with all
+our faults and weaknesses--will be most welcome."
+
+Lottie was so positive and determined, and her manner so irresistible,
+that Hemstead had no thought, save that of compliance. She had that
+piquant imperiousness to which men are willing slaves when it is
+manifested graciously, and by a pretty woman. He was like a ship
+caught in a gale, and there was nothing to do but scud before it.
+At the same time, it seemed that she was driving him swiftly towards
+the haven and rest of a better and broader faith.
+
+Therefore he sat down by the dismal, smoky hearth, but turned
+expectantly to her face, which, in contrast, was all aflame with
+hope and interest.
+
+"The impression grows upon me," he said, "that you are being guided,
+and therefore you shall guide me."
+
+"I want to settle the question," she replied, "whether I can love
+and trust God; or whether, as I feared this morning, I must dread
+and almost hate Him. It seems to me that the only thing religion
+does for Cousin Bel is to make her uncomfortable. If what you told
+us, and what she experiences, is true religion, then I shall ignore
+it and forget all about it as long as I can,--till God commences
+with me, and puts me by way of trial into the fiery furnace of
+affliction. I fear only a cinder would be the result. But if the
+natural explanation of these two words, 'Jesus wept,' is true,
+then God is kinder, gentler, and more sympathetic than any human
+friend. Prove to me that the One who, out of pure tender-heartedness,
+cried just because others around Him were crying, though even about
+to remove the cause of their sorrow, is the God of the Bible, and
+I will thank you, with lasting and unmeasured gratitude. Then your
+teaching will be a gospel,--good news in very truth.  You say the
+Old and New Testaments both make one Bible, do you not?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well it is the Old Testament that I most dread. It is so full
+of wars and bloodshed, and strange, stern rites. And then the old
+prophets say such awful things! Still, I admit that it's all very
+vague and dim in my mind. Can you find anything in the Old Testament
+that corresponds with the words 'Jesus wept'?"
+
+The student rapidly turned the leaves of the large Bible upon his
+lap, and read:
+
+"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them
+that fear Him.
+
+"For He knoweth our frame: He remembereth that we are dust."
+
+"That fits like light to the eye," exclaimed Lottie, with exultation.
+"What becomes of your sermon, Mr. Hemstead, in view of such texts?
+Truth is not contradictory."
+
+"You shall see in a moment, Miss Marsden what becomes of my sermon,"
+and he hastily left the room.
+
+While Lottie was wondering at his action, he returned and threw
+the manuscript on the hearth. But while the green wood had been
+smoking so dismally, it had also dried and kindled; and Hemstead's
+heavy sermon, so far from quenching the rising flame, seemed just
+the encouragement needed to develop a cheerful blaze, in the midst
+of which it perished, like a narrow, sour, but sincere, well-meaning
+old martyr of former days.
+
+In committing this unripe fruit of his brain--his heart had dictated
+but little of it--to the flames, Hemstead would have felt, a few
+hours earlier, as a Hindu mother might when casting her child to
+the crocodiles of the Ganges. Now with exultation he saw it shrivel,
+as its teachings had shrivelled within his own mind a little before.
+
+"Like as a father pitieth his children," was a better gospel than
+"like as a sculptor chisels his marble," or "like as a surgeon cuts
+remorselessly with pulse unquickened, though the patient writhes."
+
+Preacher and pagan stood together by the hearth, and saw perish the
+Gospel of Fear--of gloomy asceticism--which for so many centuries,
+in dim, damp cloisters and stony cells has chilled the heart and
+quenched the spirit.
+
+And yet, to-day, in the broad light of Bible lands, and in the
+midst of the wholesome and suggestive duties of family life, do not
+many, under false teachings like that of Hemstead's sermon, find
+spiritual paths as dark and painful as those of ascetics who made
+self-mortification the business of life? Christ spake truly when
+He said, "Men love darkness rather than light." We fill the service
+of the Author of Light with gloom. The hermit thought he could best
+serve God in the chill and dimness of a cave; and the anchorite's
+cave has been the type of our shadowy, vault-like churches, and of
+the worshippers' experience ever since.
+
+God is too wise and good to teach a religion utterly repugnant and
+contradictory to the nature He has given us.  A child's hand may
+lead a multitude; a giant's strength can drive but few.
+
+Christ's tears had fallen on the ice in Lottie's heart, and melted
+it away. It was now tender, receptive, ready for the seeds of truth.
+Hemstead's sermon had only hardened it.
+
+Like the Hebrew mothers with their little children, she had pushed
+her way through frowning doctrines and stately attributes that
+appeared to encompass God, as did the rebuking disciples of old
+their gentle Master; and there seemed One before her who, like Jesus,
+was ready to take her in His arms and lavish upon her tenderness
+without limit.
+
+The glow of the burning sermon lighted up the faces of the Preacher
+and one who could no longer be called a Pagan, for she stood before
+the altar of "the unknown God," and was strongly inclined to place
+her heart upon it. She believed, though as yet she did not trust.
+She understood but little of Bible truth, yet it was no longer a
+repellent darkness, but rather a luminous haze against which Jesus
+stood distinctly, tearful from sympathy.
+
+As the obnoxious sermon sank into ashes, Hemstead turned and took
+Lottie's hand with a pressure that made it ache for hours after, and
+said: "Now you have seen what has become of my sermon and many of
+my old beliefs.  The furnace of God's discipline shall no longer,
+as you have said, flame as the lurid centre of my Gospel; but
+Jesus Christ, as you have discovered Him, the embodiment of love
+and sympathy, shall be its centre."
+
+With a smile upon her lips, but with tears in her eyes, Lottie
+replied, "And such a gospel would win even the border ruffians.
+Yes," she added hesitatingly, "I half believe it might win even
+such a little pagan as Lottie Marsden."
+
+Just then a broad ray of light glinted into the room, and
+illuminated Lottie's face into such marvellous beauty that Hemstead
+was spell-bound. He was too intent on watching her to be aware that
+the ray rested on him also; but she exclaimed: "O Mr. Hemstead!
+you don't know how your face is lighted up by the setting sun. If
+I believed in omens, I should know that your successful work will
+be out on the frontier,--in the West, whence comes, after this dreary
+day, such a beautiful light, which suggests, I hope, the fame and
+glory you are to win there."
+
+"This light from the West falls equally upon you," he said impulsively.
+
+There was a sudden crimson in her face, deeper than that caused by
+the setting sun.
+
+She gave him a quick, shy glance, to gather his meaning, but said,
+"Omens are only half-truths, I have heard."
+
+Under a vague but strong impulse he had spoken foolishly, he thought;
+and suggested that, in seeking to change her character, his motive
+in part might be a presumptuous hope of his own. Therefore a deeper
+flush crimsoned his face; but he said quietly: "I believe that, in
+our day, omens are will-of-the-wisps of the imagination. What need
+is there of such fitful lights, when the sun of God's truth is
+shining in this Bible? Shall we explore farther?"
+
+Again they sat down and sought to reconcile the apparently conflicting
+truths of God's mercy and justice,--of His severity and unutterable
+tenderness. Proofs of both were found upon the page of inspiration
+"as thick as leaves in Vallombrosa." It was clearly evident that
+God would make no terms with sin, whatever He might do for the
+sinner.  But the Divine man, as He stands between justice and the
+erring, appeared to solve the problem. And if God's discipline was
+at times severe, and Christ was glad when faith-inspiring sorrow
+came, it was also seen that He could weep with the weak human
+children who cried under the rod, though heaven might result from
+the transient pain.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE DAWNING LIGHT.
+
+
+
+
+
+Some little time before the supper-bell rang, De Forrest sauntered
+in, and witnessed a scene that both surprised and puzzled him.
+And yet a lover would scarcely have found, in the quiet and pretty
+picture that the parlor and its occupants made, any ground for
+jealousy. Hemstead was at the centre-table, under the now-lighted
+chandelier, reading aloud from the Bible. Lottie sat by the hearth,
+the firelight playing upon an unusually grave and thoughtful face.
+
+"Well," he exclaimed, "you look for all the world like an old
+married couple keeping Sunday together."
+
+Of course Hemstead flushed. But why should Lottie's color grow richer
+than the ruddy fire-light warranted? She knew she was blushing,
+and the fact puzzled her, for it was a new experience to find the
+blood flying into her face, and her heart in a sudden flutter.
+
+She was also excessively annoyed at De Forrest's intrusion, for such
+it seemed, though he had an equal right to the parlor with herself.
+We usually judge unjustly, in proportion as we feel strongly.
+
+But the habit of her old, insincere life swayed her, and she said
+lightly, "If, instead of dozing away the whole afternoon, you would
+follow Mr. Hemstead's example and read the Bible, you would be the
+better for it."
+
+"I would have read to you all the afternoon, if you had given
+me a chance, and even from the Bible if you had asked for it," De
+Forrest replied, with an injured air.
+
+"Well, you see Mr. Hemstead is a predestined missionary, and he no
+doubt thought, and correctly too, that he would never find a truer
+object of missionary effort than myself; so I have obtained a better
+knowledge of the Bible this afternoon than ever before."
+
+They were now joined by others, and the conversation became general.
+Soon after they went out to supper.
+
+The depression of the sermon appeared to have passed from the rest,
+as well as from Lottie and Hemstead, though for different reasons.
+The latter had gone out of themselves toward God, and had found
+Him the source of light and cheer. The others had forgotten Him,
+and still remained in the dim, chill grottos of their unbelief,
+illumining their darkness by such artificial and earth-lit tapers
+as the occasion offered. Mrs. Marchmont's apartments were cosey
+and elegant, the supper was inviting, the ruddy wood-fire and easy
+chairs suggested luxurious comfort; and why should they not be
+comfortable, and quietly forget their dismal thoughts about God, and
+the self-denial of the Cross? The current of ordinary and worldly
+life, which Hemstead's sincere but mistaken words had rudely
+interrupted, now began to flow on as quietly and smoothly as before.
+
+But with Lottie it was very different, and the tides of her life
+seemed seeking new channels.
+
+Bel, and to a certain extent the others, noted peculiarities in
+her manner and that of Hemstead. Her moodiness was gone, but in
+its place was not her old levity. When Moses came down from the
+presence of God, his face shone so that he was compelled to veil
+its brightness; and it has ever seemed true that nearness to God and
+His truth gives spiritual light and attractiveness to the plainest
+features.
+
+Lottie was more than beautiful that evening. She was radiant. Like
+a sunrise in June, two forms of pure, ennobling love were dawning
+in her heart; and the first, faint, unrecognized emotions illumined
+her face strangely at times.  Her manner was unusually gentle, and
+while responding to the general conversation she had many moments
+of abstraction, and was evidently carrying on a chain of thought
+very different from that appearing upon the surface of their
+table-talk. But all remembered that Lottie abounded in moods, and
+she was what the commonplace call "an odd girl."
+
+But why Hemstead, after his gloom and chagrin at dinner, should now
+be beaming, was not so clear. Bel thought, "The poor moth! Lottie
+has been dazzling him with her dangerous smiles. It's a shame."
+
+After supper Harcourt appeared, and sacred music was in order.
+Even De Forrest and Addie joined in this with considerable zest.
+It was the proper, and about the only thing that could be done on a
+Sabbath evening. The most irreligious feel better for the occasional
+indulgence of a little religious sentimentality. When the aesthetic
+element is supreme, and thorny self-denial absent, devotion is
+quite attractive to average humanity. Moreover the dwarfed spiritual
+nature of the most materialistic often craves its natural sustenance;
+and Sabbath evening at times suggests to the worldly that which alone
+can satisfy. The "Sun of Righteousness" sheds a pale, reflected ray
+upon them; but this is better than utter darkness, and may lure
+forward where the Divine smile will beam fully upon them. Do not
+let us undervalue Sunday evening sentiment and sacred music, even
+though occurring where there was a dance yesterday, and where there
+will be a revel to-morrow. There must always be a first support on
+which the grovelling vine can begin to climb heavenward.
+
+Though sentiment, like pale moonlight, causes no ripe and wholesome
+growth, it is better than darkness, and is proof that the vivifying
+light is shining somewhere.
+
+In the case of Hemstead, however, the words of praise and prayer
+composing the hymns sung were the intelligent utterances of a
+believing heart to the natural object of its faith and devotion.
+
+Lottie was not much given to sentiment, even in religion, and the
+sacred words, a week before, would have come from her lips only,
+while she thought of other things; but now she was surprised to
+find how her heart was stirred by them, and how, from being empty
+phrases, they were becoming full of beautiful meaning.
+
+That was a memorable Sabbath evening to her. It seemed as if within
+her old, earth-born, material life, a subtile spiritual one had
+been kindled, which illumined and glorified everything.
+
+She felt as if endowed with a new sense, by means of which she was
+becoming dimly conscious of a new and different world. She was more
+than happy: she was thrilling with strange and mysterious joy, and
+was elated beyond measure, as if Christian principle and heaven
+were already won; as many a pilgrim is happier before the quickly
+coming fall into the "Slough of Despond" than ever again until
+within the gates of the Celestial City.
+
+Lottie's flame-like spirit was not prone to take anything coolly;
+and now that her soul was kindled by fire from heaven, and in
+addition her whole nature awakened by the as yet unrecognized, but
+strongest of earthly forces,--the natural love of her heart for
+the one to whom only had been given the power to inspire it, little
+wonder that her but half-suppressed excitement was surprising both
+to herself and others,--little wonder that she was more radiant
+than ever she had been upon the gayest and most brilliant occasions.
+
+There was nothing unnatural in her experience. She had looked upon
+the face of Him who is the light and life of the world. Let her
+enjoy the brief ecstasy. Never chill the soul that is thrilling with
+the first strong pulses of spiritual life by discouraging doubts.
+Remind such, if you will, that now, as with the disciples of old,
+the moments on the Mount of Transfiguration are few, and the days
+of work and self-denial on the lowly plain many. But do not fail to
+close your homily with the assurance that the work and self-denial
+are of earth, while the illumined mount is the type of an eternal
+heaven.
+
+The evening was passing. While devotion burned more brightly, sentiment
+was flickering out. The others were growing weary. Hemstead had
+the tact to see this, and he also wished to be alone that he might
+think over the bewildering experiences of the day. Therefore he
+suggested that they close with Ray Palmer's beautiful hymn, that
+from the first moment of faith, until faith's fruition, is the
+appropriate language of those who accept of God's remedy for evil.
+
+
+    "My faith looks up to Thee,
+    Thou Lamb of Calvary,
+        Saviour divine.
+    Now hear me while I pray,
+    Take all my guilt away,
+    O, let me from this day
+        Be wholly Thine."
+
+
+He hoped that with Lottie it might crown the teachings of the day,
+and fix her thoughts on the true source of help.
+
+This hope found a richer fulfilment than he expected, for to her
+awakened spirit the lines seemed inspired to express her deepest
+need. As the last words trembled from her lips the rush of feeling
+was too strong for repression, and she impetuously left the room.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+MISUNDERSTOOD.
+
+
+
+
+
+Lottie was conscious of a strange lightness of heart when she
+awoke on the morrow. It seemed as if her life had been unexpectedly
+enriched. She could not understand it, nor did she seek to, being
+contented with the fact that she was happy. She had always been
+seeking her own enjoyment, and now she was happier than ever before.
+She was not a philosopher who must analyze everything. She widely
+differed from some prudent people who must take an emotion to pieces,
+and resolve it into its original elements, and thus be sure that
+it is properly caused and wholesome before enjoying it. Many seem
+to partake of life's pleasures as did the members of the royal
+family of their feasts, in the days of the ancient Roman empire,
+when it was feared that poison lurked in every dish.
+
+We have seen, however, that Lottie was not morbidly conscientious.
+She had gathered honey everywhere, and often in spite of conscience's
+protest. But now, for a rarity, conscience appeared with, and not
+against her. She was satisfied with the fact that she felt better
+than ever before; and the majority of even somewhat experienced
+Christians ask, as their ground of confidence, not "What is truth?"
+"What has God promised?"--but, "How do I feel to-day?" Little
+wonder, then, if inexperienced Lottie, with everything to learn,
+was content with being happy.
+
+She had always looked upon religion as a painful necessity at some
+remote and desperate emergency of the future; but, after the hours
+spent with Hemstead, it seemed a source of joy beyond all the
+pleasures of her highly favored life. She was like one who had
+been living in the glare of artificial light, brilliant enough, it
+is true, but who had suddenly come out into the natural sunshine,
+and found it warmer, sweeter,--in brief, just what she craved and
+needed.
+
+The distrust of these exalted and emotional states is general, and
+often well-founded, especially when experienced by such mercurial
+temperaments as that of Lottie Marsden. And when it is remembered
+that her ideas of true religion were of the vaguest kind, the
+conservative will think, "Whatever may take place in a book, the
+morning dew would be the type of all this feeling in real life."
+
+And this would be true--alas, it is true of multitudes--had she
+been stirred by merely human causes, as sympathetic excitement,
+or appeals to her feelings or fears. But, as we have said before,
+she had looked upon the face of the Son of God. Circumstances, and
+the story of Lazarus, had concentrated her mind on Jesus Christ,
+as in that old and touching record He stands before the world in
+one of His most winning attitudes. She did not understand how she
+connected with Him the hope and happiness she felt.  She was no doubt
+like many who, eighteen centuries ago, knew little of Christ, but
+in the midst of their pain and anguish suddenly felt his healing
+touch, and exulted with great joy, forgetting that only one disease had
+been cured, or one trouble banished, and that they still remained
+in a world where pain and trouble threatened to the very end.
+But here was the ground of hope for those whom Jesus touched, as
+well as for Lottie: in curing one evil, He had proved His power
+and willingness to remove every evil, and when pain of body and
+the suffering of guilt again oppressed, the true source of help
+was known, and so Christ eventually became their Good Physician,
+intrusted with the entire care of their spiritual health.
+
+No doubt at the time of Christ many a heart was stirred and borne
+heavenward, on the wings of strong emotion, by the eloquence of
+some gifted rabbi, by a gorgeous ceremonial in the Temple, or by
+the chantings of the multitudinous priests. But the emotions passed
+away, as they do now; and men and women relapsed into their old,
+material, selfish lives.  They may have looked back with regret
+upon the ecstasy that once thrilled them, and wished that it could
+always have been maintained; but they found this impossible.  So,
+now, the emotion goes, and the combinations that once produced it
+never return, or fail to inspire it again.  Looking to themselves
+and their own feelings,--to inadequate means of help,--such persons
+are of course disappointed; and so gradually grow hard and legal,
+or apathetic and unbelieving. When in trouble, when the natural
+springs of life begin to fail, there seems no real and practical
+help.
+
+If human experience proves anything it is that every life needs
+the personal and practical help-the direct touch and word--of One
+who is Divinely powerful and Divinely patient.
+
+Many days of folly--of sin, sorrow, and deep despondency--are
+before Lottie still; but she has seen her God weeping from sympathy
+with weak humanity, and a moment later rescuing from the hopeless
+extremity of death and corruption. Here is not some vague thing
+like a half-forgotten emotion or an exalted religious experience
+in which to trust, but One who, instead of being a vanished,
+half-forgotten sensation, a philosophy, or even a sound creed and
+a logical doctrine, is a living personal and powerful Friend, who
+can put forth His hand and sustain, as He did the timid Apostle
+who was sinking in the threatening waves.
+
+The temple of Lottie's faith was yet to be built; but she had been
+so fortunate as to commence with the true "corner stone."
+
+During the morning hours she was the object of considerable and
+perplexed thought on the part of several of the household. There
+was in her face the sweet spiritual radiance of the evening before,
+and the same gentleness and considerateness of manner marked her
+action. Mrs. Marchmont and her daughter said, "It is one of Lottie's
+moods." Bel surmised that she was a little sentimental over Hemstead,
+and was indignant that she should herself indulge, and awake in the
+student, feelings that doubtless, on Lottie's part, would end with
+the visit. As for De Forrest, he was thoroughly puzzled. The idea
+that Hemstead could be anything to her was perfectly preposterous;
+and as for religion, that was a decorous thing of form and ceremonial
+pertaining to Sunday, and this was Monday. And yet, from some cause,
+Lottie seemed different from her old self.
+
+He could not complain, however, for she had never been kinder to
+him; and if her eyes did seek Hemstead's face rather often, she
+could see nothing there which for a moment could compare with his
+own handsome features. He also concluded that it was a "mood"; but
+liked the new and gentle Lottie quite as well as the piquant, and
+often rather brusque girl of other days.
+
+But to Hemstead, as with chatting and reading they whiled away
+the morning hours around the parlor fire, Lottie was the bright
+particular star. Her face, now transfigured in its spiritual light,
+captivated his beauty-loving soul; while her words and manner
+suggested the hope that she, with himself, had found her way into
+the Holy of Holies. If this could ever be true, he felt that he
+could go to his work in the Western wilds, content and grateful,
+and that a long and toilsome life would be illumined by this dear
+memory. He, too, like Lottie, was on the Mount; but both would soon
+have to come down to the plain where the "multitude" was, and some
+of them "lunatic"; and when in the plain they would be very much
+like the multitude.
+
+After dinner, in compliance with an invitation from Dr.  Beams,
+they all went over to the church, to aid in decorating it with
+evergreens. They found Miss Martell and several other ladies at
+work; also a sprinkling of gentlemen and a few young men who were
+on the border line between boys and beaux, and who were frequently
+passing from one character to the other.
+
+Miss Martell greeted Hemstead more cordially than she did any of
+the others in the party from Mrs. Marchmont's; and seemed slightly
+surprised at Lottie's gentle and hearty salutation.
+
+De Forrest remained closely at the latter's side, but Hemstead
+noted with deep and secret satisfaction that there was in her
+grave kindness nothing responsive to his constant and lover-like
+attention. Her brow often contracted, as if his sentiment annoyed
+her, and she treated him as one who, for some reason, must be borne
+with patiently.
+
+"She is probably engaged, but is ceasing to love him," he thought.
+"She never could have respected him, and now be has forfeited whatever
+affection she may have had. Still she feels that she is chained
+to him, and must endure the life-long martyrdom of an ill-mated
+marriage"; and his heart overflowed with a great pity.
+
+It did not occur to him that he was a miracle of disinterestedness
+when Lottie was concerned; and that her troubles moved him more than
+the woes of all the world beside. Like many another life-voyager,
+with hand upon the helm, he thought that he was directing his course,
+when in feet a strong and subtile current was sweeping him he not
+whither.
+
+He and Lottie did not have much to say to each but their eyes
+often met, and at times, in his frank impulsiveness, he looked at
+her so earnestly and sympathetically that she turned away to hide
+her heightened color. She was becoming conscious, with a secret
+wonder, that he, as no man ever before, had the power to cause her
+blood to ebb and flow in the most unaccountable manner.
+
+A short time after their arrival he wandered over to the side of the
+chapel where Miss Martell was working, and she seemingly fascinated
+him. They apparently became so absorbed in each other's words as
+to think of no one else, and Lottie grew pale and quiet, feeling,
+in the mean time, an unreasonable resentment towards Miss Martell.
+If Lottie has received a little grace, she is, and ever will be,
+the natural possessor of abundance of human nature.  Is this pale
+and silent girl the one whose cheeks, a little before, were aflame,
+and every nerve tingling with the most unwonted sensations, and
+for no better reason apparently than that Hemstead had seen her
+tugging at a fibrous spray of hemlock, and had severed it with his
+knife? That was all the others had seen; but there was a great deal
+more, for in the act their hands had touched, and both had seemed
+in a positive state in the power to give, and in the negative
+in readiness to receive, a subtile influence, compared with which
+electricity is a slow and material agent.  And he had lifted his
+large gray eyes to hers full of--he did not realize what, nor did
+she--but the cause was there, and the effect followed.
+
+But now, with secret uneasiness, Lottie notes that he seems oblivious
+of her in his eager talk with Miss Martell.
+
+Soon after joining the latter, Hemstead had said, in his
+straightforward manner, "You intimated to Mr. Harcourt yesterday
+that you were 'sorry he heard my sermon.'"
+
+With a little embarrassment she replied, "I do not think that Mr.
+Harcourt was in the right condition of mind to be benefited by your
+line of thought."
+
+"Do you think that any one could be benefited by it?"
+
+She was a little puzzled. Was he, like some young clergy-men she
+had known, eager for a few crumbs of praise for his first crude
+efforts? She was not one to give any faint and hollow commendation,
+and yet she did not wish to hurt his feelings. But her reply had
+a tinge of satire in it, for she had no patience with the weakness
+of vanity.
+
+"I will hardly venture an opinion. You, who have given so much time
+and thought to these subjects, ought to be a better judge than I."
+
+He felt, rather than saw, the delicate barb, and flushed slightly
+as he replied, "I admit that perhaps I ought to be, but whether
+I am or not, is quite another question. I am sure that your views
+upon the subjects treated yesterday are far truer than mine were.
+The wretched, heretical sermon that I inflicted upon you has already
+justly suffered an auto da fe. Before the day was over I saw that
+instead of preaching the gospel I had been elaborating, from a
+partial premise, a crude view of my own. I shall no longer preach,
+that is, if I preach at all, as if human nature were the raw material
+which God intended to work up without any regard to the process,
+or how much refuse there was, or what became of it. Is not Christ
+weeping from sympathy at the grave of Lazarus a true manifestation
+of God's feeling toward us?"
+
+"Mr. Hemstead," Miss Martell exclaimed, "I cannot tell you how glad
+I am to know your change of views.  Most emphatically I say yes to
+your question. God is seeking to develop my character; only He is
+more patient and gentle than my good, kind father. But why do you
+say, 'If I preach at all'?"
+
+His head bowed in honest humility, as he replied, in a low tone,
+"I often doubt whether I am worthy,--whether I am called."
+
+She now saw that she had misjudged him, and was eager to reassure
+and confirm his purpose for life; and the converse that followed
+had grown so absorbing as to cause Hemstead to forget for the time
+one, who by some right, divine or otherwise, had suddenly taken
+possession of his thoughts with a despotism as sweet as absolute.
+
+But while Miss Martell was speaking most earnestly to Hemstead,
+she saw some one enter the chapel door. Her color came and went.
+The sentence upon her lips faltered to a lame conclusion, and though
+she became deeply absorbed in the process of twining the fragrant
+cedar with the shiny laurel, she did not work as deftly as before.
+Looking round to see the cause, Hemstead caught one of Lottie's
+reproachful glances, and was soon at her side with a sense of almost
+guilty neglect.
+
+Addie Marchmont found work of any kind, even preparation for the
+Christmas festival, stupid and tiresome; therefore she welcomed
+the diversion of Harcourt's coming with double zest; and with
+extravagant exclamations of delight summoned him to her side. Miss
+Martell stood at some distance, and had turned her back towards
+them.  Harcourt did not see her at first, but the quest of his
+restless eyes indicated his hope that she was there. In the mean
+time he laughed and jested with Addie in something of his old-time
+style.
+
+Lottie Marsden, like many of her young American sisters, could be
+decidedly pronounced at times; but a certain amount of grace and
+good taste characterized her manner.  Addie had never been taught
+restraint of any kind, and to her a church was just the place for
+a little wild nonsense, and all present were compelled to feel that
+both her words and manner went beyond the limits of good taste,
+to say the least. To Harcourt, in his present state of mind, they
+were so annoying as to be almost offensive, and, thinking that
+Miss Martell was not present, he was about to leave the church in
+order to escape.
+
+But Miss Martell, with her back towards them, had no means of knowing
+that Harcourt was not encouraging Addie, and that her freedom with
+him was not warranted by their relations.
+
+"I have an engagement," said Harcourt, abruptly; and he was about
+to hasten away, when between intervening groups his eye caught a
+glimpse of a figure rising for a moment out of one of the high-backed
+pews, and suggesting to him the object of his thoughts. As he
+stepped over to speak to Lottie, his eye lingered in that direction.
+Instead of going directly out, he strolled to the farther end of
+the audience room, speaking and bowing to one and another, but not
+permitting his eyes to wander long from the bent figure of a lady
+who sat with her back towards him, apparently wholly absorbed in
+wreathing evergreens.
+
+She felt that he was coming towards her,--she heard his voice, and
+soon knew that his eyes were scanning her downcast face,--but she
+would not look up till he spoke.
+
+"Won't you deign me even a glance, Miss Martell?" he asked.
+
+The color deepened somewhat in her cheeks, but she looked him full in
+the face, and said quietly, "Why use the word 'deign,' Mr. Harcourt?"
+
+"I suppose because my conscience suggests that from you I deserve
+glances of dis-dain."
+
+"Such 'glances' are not becoming from any one, and certainly not
+from me. Besides," she added, a little bitterly, at the thought of
+such a brainless, frivolous girl as Addie Marchmont enchaining a
+man like Harcourt, "people do not get their deserts in this world."
+
+"You certainly will not."
+
+"How is that?" she asked quickly, not taking his meaning,
+
+"The world is not rich enough to give it you."
+
+Her brow contracted into a sudden frown, and she said, a trifle
+coldly, "I do not enjoy that style of compliment, Mr.  Harcourt."
+
+"Is there any that you do enjoy?"
+
+Her head bent over her work; her thoughts were swift and many,
+and in the quiet moment that Harcourt waited for an answer to his
+commonplace question, she fought and iron a battle which, if never
+known on earth, would never be forgotten in heaven. She mastered
+self and selfishness, in the very citadel of their strength. Fierce
+though brief was the struggle that took place beneath that gentle,
+calm exterior, for the human heart is ever the same,--wilful,
+passionate. With many it is often like the wild storm that will
+spend itself to the end, no matter how much of wreck and ruin is
+wrought. With such as Miss Martell, it is like the storm which, at
+its height, heard the words of the Divine Master, "Peace, be still."
+
+"Let him marry Addie Marchmont if he will," she concluded. "I will
+be kind and gentle to him all the same, and, cost me what it may,
+I will still see him, and seek to make him a true, good man."
+
+So with woman's tact she turned his question, which savored only
+of sentimental gallantry, to good account, and said quietly, "You
+know the only 'style of compliment' that I like, and you enriched
+me with it at Mrs. Byram's company,--the promise you made me."
+
+Harcourt sighed involuntarily. She seemed too angelic,--too far
+above and beyond him. As with a ministering spirit from heaven,
+her only thought was to win him from evil. Her face was pale from
+the hidden conflict which had cost her more dearly than he would ever
+know. Her eyes beamed upon him with a gentle, yet sweet, strange,
+spiritual light. She scarcely appeared flesh and blood.  But he was
+very human, and his heart craved from her human love and earthly
+solace. Though now, as at other times, this seemed as presumptuous
+to him as if some devotee had sacrilegiously fallen in love with
+his fair patron saint, still he felt a sudden and strong irritation
+that they should be so far apart.
+
+She misunderstood his sigh, and added, "Am I a hard task-mistress?"
+
+He shook his head, but there was dejection in his tone as he replied,
+"There have been many forms of idolatry in the world, but I have
+thought that those who worshipped the stars must have become a
+little discouraged at times,--they are so far off."
+
+Her face had the pained expression of one misunderstood, but who
+cannot well explain. She said only, "Idolatry is ever profitless."
+She meant to hint, he thought, that his worship of her certainly
+would be.
+
+He was chilled at heart. His quick, impetuous spirit prompted him
+towards recklessness. She saw that he was about to leave abruptly.
+As she played to win him, not for herself, but heaven, she saw that
+she had made a mistaken move, though she could not understand his
+manner. In her maidenly pride and delicacy, she would have let him
+go if she had thought only of herself; but, conscious of her other
+motive, she could seek to detain him, and asked, "What did you
+mean, Mr. Harcourt, by your fanciful allusion to star-worship?"
+
+"I meant," he replied bitterly, "that to ordinary flesh and blood,
+kneeling in the cold before a distant star, be it ever so bright,
+is rather chilling and discouraging. The Greeks were shrewder.
+They had goddesses with warm, helping hands, and with a little
+sympathetic, human imperfection."
+
+It hurt her cruelly that he so misjudged her; and in her confusion,
+she again said that which he interpreted wrongly.
+
+"It is folly, then, to worship anything so cold and distant." She
+was about to add plainly, "I am neither a star nor a goddess, but a
+sincere, human friend,--human as yourself." She was about to make
+some delicate allusion to the time when he often sought her sisterly
+advice. But he, in the blindness of strong feeling, saw in her
+words only rebuke for the presumption of his love, and he harshly
+interrupted her.
+
+"No doubt it is; but let me remind you of a fact often true
+in missionary experience. After the poor devils have been bereft
+of the objects of their fond and credulous worship, by proof that
+their deities are indifferent, they cease to have any faith at
+all"; and with a cold and rather formal bow he left her side and
+also left the church.
+
+Miss Martell's head bent lower than ever over her work, and it
+was a long time before she lifted it or spoke to any one. But the
+others were occupied with themselves, and no one had noted this
+little side scene save Addie, who pouted that Harcourt had remained,
+but not at her side, after his expressed intention of leaving. No
+one surmised that two who had been present were sorely hurt. When
+we receive our slight cuts and bruises through life, there are
+usually outcry and abundant sympathy. But when we receive our deep
+wounds, that leave scars, often only God knows; and it is best so,
+for He can heal, but the world can only probe.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+"YOU MUST WAIT AND SEE."
+
+
+
+
+
+"How can you leave Miss Martell?" asked Lottie, as Hemstead approached
+propitiatingly with a large armful of the choicest evergreens.
+
+"Well, I can," he replied with a smile.
+
+"As yet, but the next time you will stay longer, and the next longer
+still."
+
+"That depends. I would not remain at her side, nor at any one's,
+if I thought they were tiring of me a little."
+
+"O, she got tired of you."
+
+"Well, yes; a little, I think. She suddenly seemed to lose her
+interest in the conversation. Still she was very good to talk to
+me as long and as kindly as she did. She is a very superior woman.
+It has never been my good fortune to meet just such a lady before."
+
+"Make the most of your rare 'good fortune.'"
+
+"I have."
+
+"And now that she is tired of you, you come back to me as a dernier
+ressort."
+
+"Coming back to you, is like coming back home, for you have given
+me the only home-like feeling that I have had during my visit."
+
+The language of coquetry was to Lottie like her mother-tongue, and
+she fell into it as naturally as she breathed.  Only now, instead
+of suggesting the false hope that he had been missed and she had
+cared, it expressed her true feeling, for she did care.
+
+De Forrest now returned from a momentary absence, and had it not
+been for his garrulity the little group would have been a rather
+silent one. Both young men sought to supply Lottie with the sprays
+of green that she was twining. She took the evergreens chiefly from
+De Forrest's hands, but gave her thoughts and eyes to Hemstead. He,
+with man's usual penetration, thought De Forrest the favored one,
+and was inclined to reverse his half-formed opinion that she was
+destined to pathetic martyrdom, because bound by an engagement to
+a man whom she could not love.
+
+"He can't think much of me," thought Lottie, with a sigh, "or he
+couldn't speak so frankly." She, too, was losing her wonted quick
+discernment.
+
+Only lynx-eyed Bel Parton partially surmised the truth, and suspected
+that Lottie was developing a genuine, though of course a passing
+interest, in the student whom at first she had purposed to beguile
+in mere reckless sport.
+
+During the remainder of the afternoon and evening, De Forrest was
+Lottie's shadow, and she could escape him, and be with Hemstead, only
+by remaining with all the others.  She was longing for another of
+their suggestive talks, when, without the restraint of the curious
+and unsympathetic, they could continue the theme that De Forrest
+had interrupted on Sunday afternoon.
+
+She was thinking how to bring this about, when the old plan of
+visiting Mrs. Dlimm occurred to her, and she adopted it at once.
+
+Getting a moment aside with Hemstead, by being down to breakfast a
+little before the others, she said, "After my naughty behavior in
+regard to our visit to Mrs. Dlimm, will you still take me there?"
+
+"I wish you would give me a chance," he answered eagerly.
+
+"Well, I will, at ten this morning. But please say nothing about it.
+Drive to the door in the cutter, and I will be ready. If the matter
+is discussed, there may be half a dozen other projects started."
+
+Hemstead ate but an indifferent breakfast, and there was also a
+faint glow of expectant excitement in Lottie's face.
+
+Hemstead promptly sought his aunt, and asked if he might have a
+horse and the single sleigh.
+
+"I hope another time will answer," said Mrs. Marchmont, carelessly.
+"Addie wishes the horses this morning, but I believe proposes taking
+you all out."
+
+But Hemstead was not to be baffled, and acted with more energy than
+prudence perhaps. Lottie from her window saw him posting with long
+strides towards the village, and exultingly surmised his object.
+At ten he drove up to the door with a neat little turnout from the
+livery stable; and she tripped down and took a seat at his side,
+and they were off before the rest of the household realized their
+purpose.
+
+They all looked at each other questioningly, as a few moments later
+they gathered in the parlor for a general sleighride.
+
+Mr. Dimmerly, who had quietly watched proceedings, broke out into
+his cackling laugh, as he chuckled, "He shows his blood. A dozen
+seminaries could not quench him utterly."
+
+Mrs. Marchmont frowned. She rigidly applied the rules of propriety
+to all save her own children, and she justly thought that both
+Hemstead and Lottie had failed in courtesy to her and her guests,
+by stealing away, as it were, without any explanations. But people
+of one idea often fail in more than mere matters of courtesy; and
+Hemstead and Lottie were emphatically becoming people of one idea.
+And they both had misgivings and a sense of wrong-doing as they
+drove away without a word of explanation.
+
+Mrs. Marchmont was still more puzzled when Addie exclaimed petulantly,
+"I thought the agreement was that Lottie should carry out the joke
+when and where we could all enjoy it."
+
+The lady was led to suspect that there was something on foot that
+might need her investigation, and she quietly resolved to use her
+eyes and ears judiciously. She well knew that her proud and fashionable
+sister, Lottie's mother, would hold her to strict account if Lottie
+did anything foolish.
+
+Bel merely shrugged her shoulders cynically. She had a certain kind
+of loyalty to her friend, and said all her harsh things to Lottie
+herself, and not behind her back.
+
+De Forrest had no other resource than to believe that Lottie was
+carrying out the practical joke; but a sorry jest he found it that
+morning, during which he scarcely spoke to any one.
+
+They drove over to town for Harcourt, but he greatly provoked Addie
+by pleading that his business would not permit absence. During
+the rest of the drive they all might have formed part of a funeral
+procession.
+
+But the snow-crystals did not sparkle in the sunlight more brightly
+than Lottie's eyes, as she turned to her companion, and said, "I
+am so delighted that we are safely off on our drive."
+
+"O, it's the 'drive' you are thinking of. That is better than I
+hoped. I thought we were visiting Mrs. Dlimm."
+
+"So we are, and I want to see her too," said Lottie, with a sudden
+blush.
+
+"Well, I'm glad you don't dread the long, intervening miles, with
+no better company than mine."
+
+"It's a good chance to learn patient endurance," she replied, with
+a look delightfully arch. "So please drive slower."
+
+The horse instantly came to a walk.
+
+"That is the other extreme," she continued. "You always go to
+extremes, as, for instance, your quixotic purpose to go out among
+the border ruffians."
+
+"Honestly, Miss Marsden," said Hemstead, his laughing face suddenly
+becoming grave, "you do not now think, in your heart, my purpose
+to be a home missionary 'quixotic'?"
+
+"I don't know much about my heart, Mr. Hemstead, except that it
+has always been very perverse. But I now wish I had a better one.
+You have disturbed the equanimity with which I could do wrong most
+wofully. I even feel a little guilty for leaving them all this
+morning, with no explanations."
+
+"It was hardly right, now I think of it," said Hemstead, reflectively.
+
+"Have you just thought of it? How preoccupied you have been! What
+have you been thinking about? Yes, it was wrong; but as it is the
+first wicked thing I have caught you in I am quite comforted. I
+have been hoping all along that you would do something just a little
+bit encouragingly wicked."
+
+"How little you understand me! My wickedness and consequent twinges
+of conscience have been my chief sources of trouble thus far."
+
+"O, well, your conscience is like Auntie Jane. A speck of dust gives
+her the fidgets where other people would not see any dust at all.
+If your conscience had to deal with my sins there would not be
+ashes and hair-cloth enough for you."
+
+"What good can ashes, hair-cloth, or any kind of self-punishment,
+or even self-condemnation, do us?"
+
+"Well, we ought to be sorry, at least."
+
+"Certainly, but there must be more than that. Many a wrong-doer has
+been sincerely sorry, but has been punished all the same. I cannot
+tell you, Miss Marsden, how much good you did me on Sunday afternoon.
+My mind had been dwelling on the attributes of God,--upon doctrines
+as if they were things by themselves and complete in themselves.
+I almost fear that I should have become, as I fear some are,
+the disciple of a religious system, instead of a simple and loyal
+follower of Christ. But you fixed my eyes on a living personality,
+who has the right to say, 'I forgive you,' and I am forgiven; who
+has the right to say, 'I will save you,' and I am saved. If He is
+the Divine Son of God, as He claims to be, has He not the right?"
+
+"Yes. He must be able to do just what is pleasing to Him," said
+Lottie.
+
+"Then look upon Him as you saw Him at the grave of Lazarus,--the
+very embodiment of sympathy. Suppose that in sincere regret for
+all the wrong you have ever done, and with the honest wish to be
+better, you go to such a being and cry, 'Forgive.' Can you doubt
+His natural, inevitable course towards you? If pardoning love
+and mercy should encircle you at once, would it not be in perfect
+keeping with His tears of sympathy?"
+
+"And is that all I have to do to get rid of the old, dark record
+against me? O, how black it looked last Saturday!"
+
+"That is all. What more can you do? Who was it that said, 'Be of
+good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee'?"
+
+"Mr. Hemstead," said Lottie, in a low tone, "I have felt very
+strangely--differently from any time before in all my life--since
+last Sunday afternoon. I seemed to look upon Christ as if He were
+before me, and I saw the tears in His eyes, as I saw them in yours
+the evening you said such plain things to me, and I have felt a
+peculiar lightness of heart ever since. That hymn we sang on Sunday
+evening expressed so exactly what I felt that I was overpowered.
+It appeared written for me alone. Do you think that I can be a
+Christian?"
+
+Hemstead's eyes glistened, and his heart bounded at the thought;
+but he felt that he was in a grave and responsible position, and
+after a moment's thought answered wisely: 'I can base no safe and
+positive answer on your feeling. I have already learned, from my own
+experience and that of others, that religious feeling is something
+that comes and goes, and cannot be depended upon. The test question
+is, How will you treat this Jesus whom you have seen, and who has
+proved Himself both worthy to win and keep your trust?  A little
+strong feeling and sentiment in regard to Him can.  not do you much
+good. What practical relation do you intend to hold towards Him?
+No doubt many that saw Him weep, and then raise Lazarus after he
+had been four days dead, were profoundly moved, but the majority
+went on in their old ways all the same. You abound in strong common
+sense, and must see that more that even sincere, deep feeling is
+necessary. What do you propose to DO?  Are you willing to take up
+your cross and become His faithful follower?"
+
+"That involves a great deal," said Lottie, with a long breath.
+
+"It does indeed," he replied earnestly. "I would give my life to
+make you a Christian, and yet I would not seek to win you for Him
+by false pretences, or hide any part of the rugged path of self-denial.
+Count well the cost. But, believe me, Miss Marsden," he added, in
+a tone that brought a sudden paleness to her cheek, "not following
+Him involves far more that is sad and terrible."
+
+Tears stood in Lottie's eyes. She was silent a few moments, and was
+evidently thinking deeply. The young clergyman was desperately in
+earnest, and fairly trembled in the eagerness of his expectation.
+He hoped that Lottie would come to a solemn and half-heroic and
+formal decision. But he was both puzzled and disappointed by the
+sudden and brusque manner with which she turned upon him as she
+said: "Where is the heavy cross that I must take up? Show it to
+me, and I will think about it. Where is the rugged path? This one
+that leads to Mrs. Dlimm is very pleasant. I don't see anything
+very awful in being a Christian nowadays. Of course I shall have
+to give up all my old nonsense and flirt--Well, I suppose I might
+as well say it out. But there are no Inquisitions, with thumbscrews
+and racks, any longer. Come, Mr. Hemstead, you are a Christian.
+What heavy cross are you bearing? I hope you are not in the rugged
+path of self-denial this morning, while taking me to Mrs. Dlimm's.
+I don't know any one who appears to enjoy the good things of life
+more than you. I don't know what answer to give to your solemn and
+far-reaching questions. I haven't much confidence in what Lottie
+Marsden will do. All I know is that I feel as I imagine one of
+those children did whom Jesus took in his arms and blessed."
+
+"But suppose," urged her anxious spiritual guide, who felt that
+she was giving a reason for her faith that would hardly satisfy the
+grave elders of the church,--"suppose that at some future time He
+should impose a heavy cross, or ask of you painful self-denial,
+would you shrink?"
+
+She turned her dewy eyes upon him with a look of mingled archness
+and earnestness that he never forgot, and said significantly, "I
+do not remember the New Testament story very perfectly, but when
+the last, dark days came, women stood by their Lord as faithfully
+as the men,--didn't they?"
+
+Hemstead bowed his head in sudden humility, and said: "You are
+right. It was not woman who betrayed, nor did woman desert or deny
+Him. Still I treasure the suggestion of your answer beyond all
+words."
+
+The tears stood thick in Lottie's eyes, and she was provoked that
+they did. Her strong feelings were quick to find expression, and
+Hemstead seemed to have the power, as no one else ever had, to evoke
+them. But she had a morbid dislike of showing emotion or anything
+verging toward sentiment; therefore she would persist in giving a
+light and playful turn to his sombre earnestness.
+
+"I did not mean," she said, "to be so hard upon the men, nor to
+secure so rich a tribute to my sex. I imagine we all stand in need
+of charity alike. Only do not expect too much of me. I dare not
+promise anything. You must wait and see."
+
+"Though you promise so little, you inspire me with more confidence
+than many whom I have heard make great professions"; and the light
+of a great joy and a great hope shone in his eyes.
+
+"You look very happy, Mr. Hemstead," said Lottie, gratefully. "Would
+you be very glad to have me become a Christian?"
+
+He looked at her so earnestly that the rich blood mounted to her
+very brow. After a moment, he replied, in a low, trembling tone:
+"I scarcely dare trust myself to answer your question, and yet I
+do not exaggerate when I assure you that if I could feel that you
+were a Christian before I go away, it seems as if I could never
+see a dark day again.  O Miss Marsden, how I have hoped and prayed
+that you might become one!"
+
+Her head bowed low in guilty shame. She compared her purpose towards
+him with his towards her. Before she thought, the words slipped
+out, "And for all my wrong to you, you seek to give me heaven in
+return."
+
+He looked at her inquiringly, not understanding her remark; but
+after a moment said, "It would be heaven to me on earth, even in
+my lonely work in the West, if I could remember that, as a result
+of our brief acquaintance, you had become a Christian."
+
+"Well," she said emphatically, "our acquaintance does promise to
+end differently from what I expected; and it is because you are
+different. You are not the kind of a man that I expected you would
+be."
+
+"But I understood you from the first," remarked Hemstead, complacently.
+"My first impression when you gave me your warm hand, and the only
+true welcome I received, has been borne out. Though at times you
+have puzzled me, still, the proof you gave--on the evening of my
+arrival--of a true, generous, and womanly nature, has been confirmed
+again and again. It has seemed to me that your faults were due
+largely to circumstances, but that your good qualities were native."
+
+Again Lottie turned away her burning cheeks in deep embarrassment.
+Should she tell him all? She felt she could not. To lose his good
+opinion and friendship now seemed terrible. But conscience demanded
+that she should be perfectly frank and sincere with him, and her
+fears whispered, "He may learn it from the others, and that would
+be far worse than if I told him myself."
+
+But her moral strength was not yet equal to the test. The old,
+prevailing influences of her life again swayed her, and she guided
+the conversation from the topic as a pilot would shun a dangerous
+rock.
+
+"I will tell him all about it at some future time," she thought;
+"but not yet when the knowledge might drive him away in anger."
+
+She seized upon one of his words, which, when spoken, had jarred
+unpleasantly upon her feeling.
+
+"Why do you speak of our acquaintance as brief? Are we to be
+strangers again after this short visit is over?"
+
+"I most positively assure you that you can never be a stranger to
+me again," he said eagerly. "But in a few days you will go to New
+York, and I thousands of miles in another direction. If I should
+tell you how you will dwell in my thoughts like an inspiration,
+I fear you would think me sentimental. But in your absorbing city
+life I fear that I shall soon become as a stranger to you."
+
+"Well," said Lottie, averting her face, "I don't think I'll promise
+you anything this time either. You must wait and see. But is that
+dreadful frontier life of yours a foregone conclusion?"
+
+"Yes," he said, with quiet emphasis.
+
+"There are plenty of heathen in New York, Mr. Hemstead. You found
+one of them in me, and see how much good you have done; at least,
+I hope you have."
+
+"There are also plenty of Christians in New York to take care of
+them. I commend some of the heathen to you."
+
+"I fear that they will remain heathen for all that I can do."
+
+"No, indeed, Miss Marsden. Please never think that.  No one has a
+right to say, 'I can do nothing,' and you least of all. Apart from
+your other gifts, you abound in personal magnetism, and almost
+instantly gain control of those around you."
+
+"How mistaken you are! I have no control over you."
+
+"More than you think, perhaps," he said, flushing deeply.
+
+It was his heart that spoke then, and not his will, instructed by
+deliberate reason.
+
+She too blushed, but said laughingly, "What are words?  Let me test
+my power. Take a church in New York, instead of a thousand miles
+out of the world."
+
+"You are not in earnest," he said, a little sadly. "You would not
+seek to dissuade me from what I regard as a sacred duty?"
+
+"But is it 'a sacred duty'? There are plenty of others--less
+cultivated, less capable of doing good--in the refined and critical
+East."
+
+"That is not the way a soldier reasons. Some one must go to the
+front of the battle. And what excuse can such a vigorous young
+fellow as I am have for hanging back?"
+
+As he turned his glowing face upon her she caught his enthusiasm,
+and said impulsively, "And in the front of the battle I would be,
+if I were a man, as I often wish I were."
+
+"The line of God's battle with evil is very long, Miss Marsden. I
+think you can find the front in New York as truly as I in the West.
+In this fight woman can often do as much as man. Won't you try?"
+
+"I shall not promise you anything," she said. "You must wait and
+see."
+
+They were now before the parsonage in the hamlet of Scrub Oaks. The
+sound of the bells brought Mrs. Dlimm's faded face to the window,
+and on recognizing them she clapped her hands for joy, as one of
+her own children might have done; and a moment later was smiling
+upon the little porch, the very embodiment of welcome.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+A RATIONALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL.
+
+
+
+
+
+"I knew you would come," said Mrs. Dlimm, taking both of Lottie's
+hands with utter absence of formality.  "Husband said I needn't look
+for you any more, but I felt it in my bones--no, my heart--that you
+would come.  When I feel a thing is going to take place it always
+does.  So you are here. I am very glad to see your--Mr. Hemstead--too.
+This is splendid." And Mrs. Dlimm exultantly ushered Lottie into
+the room that, when last seen, was crowded with such a motley
+assembly. Hemstead meanwhile drove the horse to an adjacent shed.
+
+"But he isn't my Mr. Hemstead," said Lottie, laughing.
+
+"Well, it seems as if he were related, or belonged to you in some
+way. When I think of one, I can't help thinking of the other."
+
+"O dear!" exclaimed Lottie, still laughing, blushing, and affecting
+comic alarm; "being joined together by a minister's wife is almost
+as bad as by the minister himself."
+
+"Almost as good, you mean. You would have my congratulation rather
+than sympathy if you secured such a prince among men."
+
+"How little you know about him, Mrs. Dlimm! He is going to be a
+poor, forlorn home missionary; and your husband's increased salary
+will be royal compared with his."
+
+"He will never be forlorn; and how long will he be poor?"
+
+--"All his life possibly."
+
+"That's not very long. What will come after? What kind of a master
+is he serving?"
+
+"Do you know," said Lottie, lowering her tone, and giving her
+chair a little confidential hitch toward the simple-hearted lady
+with whom formality and circumlocution were impossible, "that I am
+beginning to think about these things a great deal?"
+
+"I don't wonder, my dear," said Mrs. Dlimm, with a little sigh of
+satisfaction. "No one could help thinking about him who saw his
+manly courtesy and tact the evening you were here."
+
+"O, no," said Lottie, blushing still more deeply; "I did not mean
+that. Please understand me. Mr. Hemstead is only a chance acquaintance
+that I have met while visiting my aunt, Mrs. Marchmont. I mean that
+when I was here last I was a very naughty girl, but I have since
+been thinking how I could be a better one. Indeed, I should like
+to be a Christian, as you are."
+
+In a moment the little lady was all tender solicitude. She was one
+who believed in conversion; and, to her, being converted was the
+greatest event of life.
+
+But just then Hemstead entered, and she had enough natural, womanly
+interest--not curiosity--to note the unconscious welcome of Lottie's
+eyes, and the quick color come and go in her face, as if a fire
+were burning in her heart and throwing its flickering light upon
+her fair features.
+
+"Chance acquaintance, indeed!" she thought. "Why, here is this
+city-bred girl blushing as I once did about Mr.  Dlimm. Whether
+she knows it or not, her blushes must tell the same story as mine."
+
+But though Mrs. Dlimm was so unconventional, she had tact, and
+turned the conversation to the subject of the donation party.
+
+"See here," she exclaimed exultantly, tugging a bulky commentary;
+"this is one of the results of your coming the other evening. Mr.
+Dlimm has been wanting this book a long time, and now he pores over
+it so much that I am getting jealous."
+
+"The opinions expressed in such a ponderous volume ought to have
+great weight, surely," said Hemstead, smiling.
+
+"And do you know," she continued, in an aside to Lottie, "that each
+of the children has had a new warm winter suit?  and, wonderful to
+tell, I have bought myself a dress right from the store, instead
+of making over something sent me by brother Abel's wife from New
+York."
+
+Lottie's eyes moistened, and she said in half soliloquy, "I didn't
+know it was so nice and easy to make others happy."
+
+"Ah! depend upon it, you are learning lots of things," said Mrs.
+Dlimm, significantly. "When God begins to teach, then we do learn,
+and something worth knowing, too."
+
+"I thought that God's lessons were very hard and painful," said
+Lottie to Hemstead, with a spice of mischief in her manner.
+
+"Mrs. Dlimm is a better authority than I was," he replied.  "Do you
+know," he continued, addressing their hostess, "that Miss Marsden
+has done more to teach me how to preach than all my years at the
+seminary?"
+
+"Surely," exclaimed Mrs. Dlimm, "that's a rather strong statement.
+I can understand how Miss Marsden can do a great deal for one. We
+have had very nice experience in that direction; but just how she
+should teach you more than all the grave professors and learned
+text-books is not clear at once."
+
+"Well, she has," he maintained stoutly. "I doubt whether your husband
+gets as much light upon the Bible from that huge commentary there
+as Miss Marsden gave me in one afternoon."
+
+Mrs. Dlimm turned her eyes inquiringly toward Lottie, who said,
+laughingly, "It would seem, last week, that I was a heathen and
+Mr. Hemstead a heretic."
+
+"And what are you now?"
+
+"O, he's all right now."
+
+"And not you?"
+
+"I fear I shall always be a little crooked; but I hope I am not
+exactly a heathen any longer."
+
+"Miss Marsden was a heathen, as Nathanael was a shrewd and dishonest
+Jew," said Hemstead.
+
+"What kind of a Jew was Nathanael?" asked Lottie, innocently.
+
+"Christ said, when he first saw him," replied Mrs. Dlimm, smiling,
+"'Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.'"
+
+Then both were puzzled at Lottie's sudden and painful flush, but
+they ascribed it to her modesty; and Hemstead, to give her time
+to recover herself, gave a brief sketch of his sermon, and how, in
+the afternoon, while reading, at Lottie's suggestion, the complete
+story of Lazarus, they both had seen the unspeakable sympathy of
+Christ for those He sought to save.
+
+"O dear!" thought Lottie, "when shall I escape the consequences of
+my foolish jest? 'Without guile,' indeed!"
+
+Mr. Dlimm now appeared, and he and Hemstead were soon discussing
+the rendering of an obscure passage, upon which the big commentary
+gave the conflicting opinions of a dozen learned doctors. Mrs.
+Dlimm carried Lottie off to her sanctum, the nursery,--the fruitful
+source of questions and mysteries the learned doctors would find
+still more difficult to solve.
+
+"And you are contented with this narrow round of life?" asked Lottie,
+curiously, as Mrs. Dlimm finished the narration of what seemed to
+her very tame experience.
+
+"Narrow!" said Mrs. Dliram, reproachfully; "my life and work are
+not narrow. I have six little immortals to train. A million years
+hence they will either bless or reproach me. What consideration in
+fashionable life is equal to that? Besides, my husband is engaged
+in the same kind of work that brought the Son of God from heaven to
+earth. It is my privilege to help him. Scrub Oaks is as much of a
+place as many of the villages in which He preached, and I am grateful
+that I can take part in so royal a calling."
+
+"Mrs. Dlimm," said Lottie, with sudden animation, "I shouldn't
+wonder if you and your husband were very great people in heaven."
+
+"Oh!" cried the little lady, laughing. "We never think of that.
+Why should we? But I know there will be a nook there for us, and
+the thought makes me very happy."
+
+"And you really and truly have been happy in all your toil and
+privations?"
+
+"Yes," said Mrs Dlimm, with a strange, far-away look coming into
+her large blue eyes; "when everything on earth has been darkest
+I have been most happy, and this has confirmed my faith. Little
+children are sources of great joy, but they also cause much pain
+and anxiety. Yet when I have been suffering most,--when the wardrobe
+has been scanty and the larder almost bare,--God has taken me to
+His heart as I clasp this child here, and comforted by assuring
+me, 'Never fear, my child, I will take care of you and yours.' See
+how He keeps His word. He sent you here, with your bright, sunny
+face. He sent Mr. Hemstead here; and between you both we shall make
+a long stage of our homeward journey most pleasantly."
+
+"I never heard any one talk like you before," said Lottie, musingly.
+"You seem to believe all the Bible says, as if it were actually
+right before you."
+
+"Believe! Why not? The idea of God not keeping His word!"
+
+"And is faith just the certainty that God will keep His word?"
+
+"That is just faith; and though this great world--for little bits
+of which people lose their souls--shall pass away, God's word shall
+stand until His least promise is fulfilled."
+
+"That is not our creed on Fifth Avenue," said Lottie sadly. "The
+world first, God last. But you sometimes, surely, wish that Mr.
+Dlimm was rich, and that you could have for him and the children
+and yourself all that heart could wish?"
+
+"I used to feel so occasionally, but I have got past that now. God
+loves my husband and children better than I do, and He will provide
+what is best for us all. I simply try to rest in His arms as this
+child does in mine."
+
+"How strange it all is!" said Lottie, thoughtfully.
+
+"Why strange? Your earthly father provides for you the best he can;
+and if our Heavenly Father provides for us in the same way, surely
+will not His be the better provision?  What an absurd, unnatural
+thing it is to suppose there is anything better than what God will
+give His own dear children.  Are not both earth and heaven His?
+and He has promised the best of both to us."
+
+"I can scarcely realize it all yet," said Lottie, with tears in
+her eyes. "I suppose it is because you are so natural and true that
+you seem so odd to me, who have been brought up among those that
+I fear look at things in false lights."
+
+"I think I understand you, my dear," said Mrs. Dlimm, hopefully.
+"A child's penny toy will hide a great mountain if held too near
+the eyes. It is thus the eyes of the worldly are blinded by trifles
+till I fear some will never see God or heaven. But He is teaching
+you better. As long as you follow His gentle leadings, and the pure
+impulses of your own heart, all will be well. But as soon as you
+begin to take counsel of the world and its self-seeking spirit, you
+will find yourself in trouble. If we wish to prosper and be happy
+in God's world, we must do His will. This is good, sound common
+sense, which the experience of every age has borne out. It often
+seems hard at first, my dear, as you will find out. The scourging
+was very hard to bear; but Paul and Silas, singing in prison, with
+their feet made fast in the stocks, were better off than their
+jailer, who was about to kill himself, and the magistrates, who,
+no doubt, were in mortal fear because of the earthquake. We, too,
+can sing, whatever happens, as long as God and conscience are upon
+our side."
+
+It will thus be seen that Mrs. Dlimm was a rationalist as well as
+a believer, though not of the new school.
+
+For some reason, her philosophy was peculiarly acceptable to Lottie,
+and, though scarcely conscious why, the exhortation to follow the
+impulses of her own heart seemed especially natural and right; but
+her fashionable mother would have been alarmed indeed, if she had
+known that her beautiful daughter was becoming the disciple of Mrs.
+Dlimm.
+
+Though their call was by no means a short one, it passed all too
+quickly. The memory of it would never fade from Lottie's mind;
+and it became another link in the chain by which God was seeking
+to bind her to a better future than her friends could dream of in
+their earthly ambition.
+
+"I am very glad I made this visit," Lottie said, as they were
+hastening home lest they should be late to dinner. "It was very
+kind of you to take me so far."
+
+He turned and lifted his eyebrows comically.
+
+"What do you mean by that?" she asked.
+
+"To hear you, one would think that I had been a martyr for your
+sake, while, in truth, I never enjoyed myself more."
+
+"Yes," said she; "but you welcome afflictions and trials of your
+patience."
+
+"Would that I might be ever thus afflicted!" he exclaimed impulsively.
+Then, suddenly becoming conscious of the natural suggestion of his
+words, he blushed deeply; but not more so than Lottie, who turned
+away her face to hide her flaming cheeks. He, misinterpreting
+the act, thought that she meant a hint that such remarks were not
+agreeable, and was thinking how to remedy what he now regarded
+as a very foolish speech, when she, with woman's tact, led the
+conversation to unembarrassing topics, and before they were aware
+the horse stopped at Mrs. Marchmont's door.
+
+Lottie disarmed both suspicion and censure to a considerable extent
+by saying, "I had promised Mrs. Dlimm to come and see her again,
+and wished to keep my word. I knew no one would care to go there
+save Mr. Hemstead, so I took him to see the parson while I visited
+the parson's wife. I enjoyed my call very much, too; and as Mr.
+Hemstead and Mr. Dlimm had a great argument over a knotty theological
+point, I suppose he feels somewhat repaid also."
+
+This put matters in quite another light. That one should go to see
+a parson's wife, and the other to discuss theology with the parson,
+was very different from stealing off for an indefinite ride with
+the purpose of being alone together. De Forrest was quite comforted,
+and was even inclined to regard Lottie as rather considerate in not
+asking him to accompany her when visiting such undesirable people
+as the Dlimms.  Though why she should wish to visit them herself
+was a mystery. But then, he thought, "Lottie is odd and full of
+queer moods and whims. Let her indulge them now, because, as my wife,
+they will scarcely be the thing." He was still more comforted by
+noting that she did not have a great deal to say to Hemstead--indeed,
+that she rather avoided him.
+
+"She has had enough, and too much, of his heavy stupid company,"
+he thought, "and finds that even the carrying out of the practical
+joke is too hard work. If I can only get another good opportunity,
+I won't wait till she goes to sleep before bringing the question
+to an issue."
+
+But Lottie gave him no opportunity, and, while kind and gentle
+toward him, adroitly managed that they should never be alone.
+
+And Hemstead also, who had found their private tete-a-tetes so
+delightful and productive of good results, was equally unable to
+be alone with her. Not that Lottie was averse, but because she saw
+that lynx-eyed Bel was watching her; and again for the hundredth
+time she wished her cynical friend back in the city.
+
+Lottie's manner and apparent reserve were so marked at one time
+that Hemstead began to grow troubled, though why he scarcely knew.
+There was no cause, save the peculiar sensitiveness of one whose
+sunshine is beginning to come, not from the skies, but from the
+changing features of a fellow-mortal.
+
+Lottie quickly saw his shadowed face, and surmised the cause. Soon
+after, when his eyes were questioningly seeking hers, she gave him
+such a sunny, genial smile as to assure him that, whatever might
+be the cause of her somewhat distant manner, it did not result from
+any estrangement from him.
+
+Heretofore, when Lottie had liked a gentleman, she had been frank
+in showing that preference within the limits of lady-like bearing.
+But, for some reason, she began to grow excessively shy in manifesting
+any interest in Hemstead that the others could note. The reason
+with which she satisfied herself explained her feeling but partially.
+
+"They will think I am still trying to carry out my wicked, foolish
+joke."
+
+But she did long for another unrestrained talk with him, and watched
+keenly to secure it without exciting remark.  De Forrest did all
+he could to prevent this, however, and Bel unconsciously became
+his ally. With woman's quick perception, she saw that Lottie was
+indulging in something more than a "mood," and felt that it was a
+duty she owed to her friend to prevent mischief.
+
+Thus Monday and Tuesday passed away, Lottie being too circumspect
+to give Bel sufficient cause for speaking plainly.
+
+Dan and Mr. Dimmerly were the only ones of the household who
+regarded the change in Lottie with unmixed satisfaction. Not giving
+a thought to the cause, they were pleased with the gentleness and
+attention which resulted.
+
+"Lottie," said her brother Dan, as she kissed him good-night,
+after telling a marvellously good story, "what has come over you?
+You make me think of Auntie Jane."
+
+"I must be growing good indeed, if I remind any one of Auntie Jane,"
+thought Lottie, exultantly.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE TERROR OF A GREAT FEAR.
+
+
+
+
+
+Long before Harcourt reached his law-office, he was satisfied that
+he had blundered foolishly, and done Miss Martell great injustice. Her
+right to refuse his unwelcome love was perfect, and her manner of
+doing so, as he understood her, had been most delicate, even in his
+estimation.  At the same time she had never given him the slightest
+ground for his implied aspersion that in her pure, Christian life
+she shone down upon him with the cold distance of a "star."
+
+He recalled her words and bearing in Mrs. Byram's conservatory, and
+the degree in which his unreasonable passion had blinded him grew
+more apparent.
+
+"Why should I expect her to love me?" he asked himself in bitterness.
+"It is a hundred-fold more than I deserve, or had a right to hope,
+that she should put out her hand to save me."
+
+He was on the point of returning twenty times, and asking her
+pardon for his folly, but that bane of our life,--that hinderance
+to more good and happiness than perhaps any other one cause,--pride,
+deterred, and Monday evening passed, an unhappy one to the object
+of his thoughts as well as to himself.
+
+On Tuesday pride was vanquished, and as soon as his business permitted
+he repaired to the Martell mansion, eager to ask forgiveness. To his
+deep disappointment, he learned that Mr. Martell and his daughter
+had driven up to town, crossed on the ferry-boat, and were paying
+some visits on the other side of the river.
+
+He now purposed to call again as soon as they returned, but was
+unexpectedly detained until quite late in the evening.  He approached
+the familiar place that now enshrined, to him, the jewel of the
+world, in both a humble and an heroic mood. He would not presume
+again, but in silence live worthily of his love for one so lovely.
+He would be more than content--yes, grateful--if she would deign
+to help him climb toward her moral height.
+
+As he stood on the piazza, after ringing the door-bell, he was in
+greater trepidation than when he had made his first plea in court,
+and was so intent in trying to frame his thoughts into appropriate
+language that he did not note for the moment that no one answered.
+Again he rang, but there was no response. There were lights in the
+house, and he knocked upon the door quite loudly. A housemaid soon
+after appeared, with a scared and anxious face.
+
+"Is Miss Martell at home?" he asked, a sudden boding of evil chilling
+his heart.
+
+"Indade an' she is not. Would to God she was!"
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Faix, an' I'm sure I'm glad ye's come, Misther Harcourt. The
+coachman is down at the shore, and he'll tell ye all."
+
+Harcourt dashed through the snow and shrubbery, over rocks and
+down steeps that gave him one or two severe falls, that he might,
+the nearest way, reach Mr. Martell's boat-house. Here he found the
+coachman peering out upon the dark waters, and occasionally uttering
+a hoarse, feeble shout, which could scarcely be heard above the
+surf that beat with increasing heaviness upon the icy beach.
+
+The man seemed nearly exhausted with cold and anxiety, and was
+overjoyed at seeing Harcourt; but he told the young man a story
+which filled him with deepest alarm.  It was to this effect:
+
+Mr. and Miss Martell had been delayed in leaving a friend's house
+on the opposite side of the river until it was too late to reach
+the boat on which it was their intention to cross. They had been
+prevailed upon by their hospitable host to send their sleigh up
+to a later boat, while they remained for an early supper, and then
+should cross in a boat rowed by an experienced oarsman, who was a
+tenant on the gentleman's place.
+
+"It was quite a bit after dark when I got back, but Mr.  Martell
+and the young lady hadn't come over yet. I first thought they was
+goin' to stay all night, and that I should go arter them in the
+mornin'; but the woman as sews says how she was sittin' at one of
+the upper winders, and how she sees, just afore night, a light push
+out from t'other side and come straight across for a long while,
+and then turn and go down stream. I'm afeard they've caught in the
+ice."
+
+"But what became of the light?" asked Harcourt, half desperate with
+fear and anxiety.
+
+"Well, the woman as sews says it went down and down as long as she
+could see."
+
+A faint scream from the house now arrested their attention, and
+hastening up the bank they heard the servants crying from the upper
+windows of the mansion, "There it comes! there it comes again!"
+
+Harcourt rushed to the second story of the house. A door leading
+into an apartment facing the river was open, and without a thought
+he entered and threw open the blinds. Away to the south, where the
+river enters the Highlands, he saw a faint light, evidently that
+of the lantern carried in the boat. Familiar with the river, the
+whole state of things flashed upon him. In the last of the ebb tide
+their boat had become entangled in the ice, but had been carried
+down no very great distance. Now that the tide had turned, it was
+coming back, with the mass of ice in which it had become wedged.
+
+And could that faint glimmer indicate the presence of the one who
+never before had been so dear? Could Miss Martell, the child of
+luxury, so beautiful and yet so frail and delicate, be out in the
+darkness and cold of this winter night, perishing perhaps, with
+the lights of this her elegant home full in view?
+
+Then, for the first time, he recognized that the room he was in
+must be Miss Martell's sleeping apartment. Though the light was
+low and soft, it revealed an exquisite casket, in keeping with the
+jewel it had once held, but might no more enshrine. On every side
+were the evidences of a refined but Christian taste, and also
+a certain dainty beauty that seemed a part of the maiden herself,
+she having given to the room something of her own individuality.
+
+It would be hard to describe Harcourt's sensation as a hasty glance
+revealed the character of the place. He felt somewhat as a devout
+Greek might, had he stumbled into the sacred grotto of his most
+revered goddess.
+
+But this thought was uppermost in his mind,--"Here is where she
+should be; yonder--terrible thought--is where she is. What can I
+do?"
+
+Again he dashed back to the shore, calling the coachman to follow
+him. When the man reached the water's edge, he found that Harcourt
+had broken open the boat-house, and was endeavoring to get out the
+boat.
+
+"Ye'll gain nothing there, wid that big boat," said the coachman.
+"The master has been away so long that it's all out o' order. The
+water can get in it as soon as yerself.  The young lady's little
+scollop--the one as is called Naughty Tillus--is sent away for the
+winter."
+
+"Stop your cursed croaking," cried Harcourt, excitedly, "and help
+me out with this boat. If I can't save her, I can at least drown
+with her."
+
+"Divil a lift will I give ye. It will do the master and young lady
+no good, and I'll not have your drownding on my conscience."
+
+Harcourt soon found that he could not manage the large boat alone,
+and the matches he struck to guide him revealed that the man had
+spoken truly, and that the craft was in no condition for the service
+he proposed.
+
+"Great God!" he cried, "is there no way to save her?"
+
+He sprang upon the boat-house, and there, away to the south, was
+the dim light coming steadily up the stream.  The moon had not yet
+risen; the sky was overcast with wildly flying clouds; the wind
+was rising, and would drive and grind the ice more fiercely. It
+was just the night for a tragedy, and he felt that if he saw that
+light disappear, as a sign that the boat had been crushed and its
+occupants swallowed up by the wintry tide, the saddest tragedy of
+the world would have taken place.
+
+He groaned and clenched his hands in his impotent anguish.
+
+"O God!" he cried, "what can I do to save her."
+
+He clasped his throbbing temples, and tried to think. It soon occurred
+to him that Mrs. Marchmont's boat might be in better condition.
+Hemstead was strong and brave, and would assuredly join him in the
+effort to rescue them. Without a word he rushed up the bank, sprang
+into his cutter, gave his spirited horse a cut from the whip, which
+caused him at once to spring into a mad gallop, and so vanished
+from the eyes of the bewilderd and terrified servants, who were
+left alone to their increasing fears.
+
+"Save her,--save her," muttered the coachman, as, stiff and numb
+with cold, he followed Harcourt more slowly to the house. "It's
+kind o' queer how he forgits about the old man."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+A TRUE KNIGHT.
+
+
+
+
+
+As the dusk deepened into night upon this memorable evening,
+Hemstead stood at the parlor window, and looked out so long and
+intently that Lottie joined him at last, and asked, "What can you
+see without, and in the darkness, so much more attractive than
+anything within?"
+
+"Do you see that faint light out there upon the river?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, I've been watching it for some time, and it troubles me.
+I noticed this afternoon that there was ice coming down with the
+tide. Is it possible that some one, in crossing with a small boat,
+has been caught in the ice and carried downward?"
+
+"Why should you think that? Nothing is more common than lights upon
+the river at night."
+
+"Yes, but not of late. Since the last severe cold I have noticed
+that the river was almost deserted, and the papers state that it
+is freezing north of us. But it is the peculiarity in the movement
+of the light that perplexes me. When I saw it first, it appeared as
+if coming across the river. Suddenly, when quite over toward this
+side, it seemed to stop a moment, then turn directly down the
+stream."
+
+"Uncle," cried Lottie, "you know all about the river.  How do you
+account for what Mr. Hemstead has seen?" and she explained.
+
+"Lights are very deceptive at night, especially upon the water,"
+said Mr. Dimmerly, sententiously. "It's probably a hardy water-rat
+of a boatman dropping down with the tide to a point opposite to
+where he wishes to land."
+
+"Yes, that is it, Mr. Hemstead, so dismiss your fears.  Your brow
+is as clouded as that murky sky there."
+
+"That comparison is quite oriental in its extravagance," he said,
+his anxious face relaxing into a sudden smile.  "But then you are
+a bit tropical yourself."
+
+"Well, you can't complain if I remind you of the tropics this
+dreary winter night; so I'll bear out your fanciful conceit. Your
+face, a moment since, was like a burst of sunshine."
+
+"Your figure now is incorrect as well as extravagant; for, whatever
+light my face has, it is but the reflection of your kindness."
+
+"I hope you do not mean to suggest that you have any tendency
+towards 'mooning'?"
+
+"'Mooning' is the indulgence of sickly sentiment, is it not,--a
+diluted moonlight kind of feeling?"
+
+"Very well defined. Does experience give you such accuracy?" said
+Lottie, laughingly.
+
+"I can honestly say no; and most surely not in your case."
+
+"I'm glad to hear it," said Lottie. "I should be sorry to think that
+cold, diluted moonlight was the type of any of my friends' regard."
+
+"You may rest assured," he replied impulsively, "there is nothing
+'cold or diluted' in my regard for you--"
+
+"There is the supper-bell," interrupted Lottie, hastily.
+
+"What are you looking at?" asked De Forrest, uneasily noting the
+fact of their standing together within the shadowy curtains. He
+had just descended from the toilet which, with him, was a necessity
+before each meal.
+
+"Mr. Hemstead has seen a light upon the river, and bodes from
+it some vague danger to some vague, indefinite people. Come, Mr.
+Hemstead, come away, or before we know it you will be off on the
+quixotic attempt to rescue what uncle calls a 'hardy water-rat,'
+that all the water of the river could not drown."
+
+"O, I see," sneered De Forrest; "Mr. Hemstead wishes to get
+cheaply, standing here within and in good company, the credit of
+being willing to attempt a perilous rescue."
+
+"You are jumping at conclusions very rapidly, Julian, and not very
+charitable ones either," said Lottie, reproachfully.
+
+"Come, Mr. De Forrest," said Hemstead, quietly, "we will test
+this question of cheapness. I will go with you to investigate that
+light."
+
+"Nonsense!" replied the exquisite. "As Miss Marsden suggested, Don
+Quixote may be your model knight, but he is not mine."
+
+"Now I didn't suggest any such thing," said Lottie, decidedly vexed.
+
+"Come, young people, tea is waiting," called Mrs. Marchmont.
+
+"Well, I did," said De Forrest to Lottie, aside; "and what's more,
+I believe it's true," and he placed her reluctant hand upon his
+arm, and drew her to the supper-room.
+
+But Hemstead lingered a moment, to watch the light, with increasing
+uneasiness. In his silent abstraction at the table it was evident
+to Lottie that his mind was dwelling upon the problem of the
+mysterious glimmer far out upon the river.  Before the meal was
+over, he abruptly excused himself, but soon returned as if relieved,
+and said, "It is no more to be seen."
+
+"I told you how it was," said Mr. Dimmerly. "The man floated down
+as far as he wished, and now has pulled ashore."
+
+The explanation fully satisfied the rest, and sounded plausible to
+Hemstead; and the evening promised to pass quietly and uneventfully
+away. Mrs. Marchmont's parlor was a picture of cosey elegance.
+Bel, and Addie with her mother and uncle, made a game of whist at
+one table; while Hemstead in subdued tones read the latest magazine at
+another. De Forrest was half-dozing in his chair, for the article
+was rather beyond him; and while Lottie's fair face was very
+thoughtful, it might be questioned whether the thought was suggested
+by the reader or by what he read.  But the article was finished,
+and for the relief of change Hemstead paced the room a few moments,
+and then half-aimlessly went to the window and looked out toward
+the river. His abrupt exclamation startled them all.
+
+"There is the light again!"
+
+A moment later he stood, bare-headed, upon the piazza, straining
+his eyes out into the darkness.
+
+"I feel impressed that there is something wrong,--that some one is
+in danger," he said to Lottie, who had followed him.
+
+"You will take cold standing here without your hat," she said.
+
+"So will you. Where is your hat, that you should talk prudence to
+me?"
+
+But the others were more thoughtful of themselves, and were well
+protected as they now also came out upon the piazza.
+
+"Well, it is a little queer," said Mr. Dimmerly.
+
+"I suppose one ought to go and see what it means," said Bel,
+hesitatingly. "But then there are those better able to go than any
+one from here."
+
+"Hush!" said Hemstead.
+
+Far and faint there seemed to come a cry for help across the
+darkness.
+
+"That is enough," he cried; "some one is in distress and danger.
+Come, Mr. De Forrest. The case has lost all its quixotic elements,
+and you may now emulate the Chevalier Bayard himself."
+
+"O, please don't go, gentlemen!" cried Lottie. "See, the night is
+very dark; the wind is rising; the water must be very rough. You
+may just throw away your own lives in the vain attempt to save
+utter strangers."
+
+"Miss Marsden is right," said De Forrest, as if greatly relieved.
+"The attempt is perfectly foolhardy, and I am not a fool. If some
+one is in a boat that is fast in the ice, he has only a few more
+miles to drift before coming opposite a large town, where there
+are many better able to help than we are."
+
+"Hush!" cried Hemstead; "do you hear that?"
+
+Faint and far away, as a response to De Forrest's words, came again
+more clearly the cry for help.
+
+"That is enough," again said Hemstead, excitedly; and he started
+for his hat.
+
+Lottie laid her hand upon his arm, and said with seeming earnestness,
+"Surely, Mr. Hemstead, you will not be guilty of the folly of going
+alone upon such a desperate attempt as this?"
+
+"I surely will; and you surprise me greatly that you seek to detain
+me," he said, almost sternly.
+
+"But you alone can do nothing."
+
+"As I am a man I will try. Where can I get the key of the boat-house?"
+
+"If the young gentleman will go, I will go with him," said a voice
+from the darkness beyond the piazza, which they recognized as that
+of Mrs. Marchmont's coachman.  "I've been to sea in my day, and am
+not afraid of a little water, salt or fresh."
+
+"Good for you, my fine fellow. I'll be with you at once," cried
+Hemstead.
+
+"I've got the key of the boat-house, a lantern, and an axe to cut
+the ice, so you have only to put on your coat and hat."
+
+"There," said Hemstead to Lottie; "a way is provided already. How
+could you wish to keep me back?" and without waiting for an answer
+he hastily seized his hat and coat from the hall rack.
+
+But before he could spring down the piazza, steps she again stopped
+him a moment, as she said, in a low, husky tone: "I did not wish
+to detain, but to test you. I wish you to go. I am proud of you,
+though my heart trembles at your peril. But you shall not go till
+you are protected and equipped. See, your hands are bare; they will
+become numb, and so useless. Where are your gloves? The wind will
+carry your hat away. Here, you shall be my knight upon this occasion,
+and, if you will, may wear my colors;" and she snatched the ribbon
+from her hair, and tied his hat firmly down.
+
+In a low, thrilling tone, meant only for her, he said: "Now you
+are the Lottie of my ideal; now you are yourself again, and your
+words have given me tenfold my former courage and strength. Good-by;"
+and ere she was aware, he had seized her hand and pressed a kiss
+upon it, in true old knightly style.
+
+"God bring you back safely," she said, with a quick sob.
+
+Heaven heard the prayer. He did not, for he was off with a bound;
+and the darkness swallowed him up as he followed the stout-hearted
+ex-sailor.
+
+Lottie stood where he left her, unconscious that the wintry wind
+was blowing her unconfined hair wildly about.
+
+"Miss Lottie," said De Forrest, approaching her humbly.
+
+She raised her hand deprecatingly.
+
+"Really, Miss Lottie," he persisted, "I would have gone if you had
+wished me to."
+
+"Hark!" she said, in a low tone. "Can you heal them?"
+
+Lynx-eyed Bel, standing unnoticed in the shadow, had witnessed and
+comprehended the scene more fully than the Others, and speedily
+brought Lottie to her senses by whispering in her ear: "Come, don't
+make a goose of yourself.  If Mr. Hemstead is your 'knight,' he
+has not gone to fight a dragon, but to row a boat, and rescue a
+fisherman in all probability. Your hair is down and blowing about
+your eyes, and you look like a guy generally."
+
+Even Lottie, in her highly-wrought state, was not proof against
+such bald prose as this; and she turned and hastened to her room.
+
+Bel followed, proposing now, at last, to open Lottie's eyes to her
+folly. Her first words of wisdom were, as Lottie, with wet eyes,
+stood binding up her hair, "What a fool you are beginning to make
+of yourself over this Western student!"
+
+"Hush!" said Lottie, imperiously.
+
+"There it is again. You haven't been yourself since he came. If
+your mother knew what was going on--"
+
+"Bel," said Lottie, in a tone that quite startled that nervous
+young lady, "do you value my friendship at all?"
+
+"Certainly; and that is why I wish to prevent you from drifting
+into trouble: and it's not right for you to get him into--"
+
+Lottie's warning gesture was so emphatic that Bel paused.
+
+"Has it ever occurred to you," Lottie continued, in a tone that Bel
+had never heard her use before, "that I am not a child, and that
+you are not my natural guardian? Not another word, please, about
+Mr. Hemstead, or we are strangers;" and she quietly finished her
+toilet and left the room.
+
+She had hardly reached the lower hall before there was a furious
+ring at the door. Before it could be Opened Mr.  Harcourt burst
+in, and called, "Where is Mr. Hemstead?"
+
+At the first sound of his voice Addie rushed out and clung to his
+arm, crying hysterically, "What is the matter?"
+
+He drew back, with an impatience akin to disgust, and repeated his
+question: "Where is Mr. Hemstead? Why don't some one speak?"
+
+"Mr. Harcourt," said Mrs. Marchmont, in offended dignity, "I think
+you might, at least, have answered Addie's question and told us
+what the trouble is."
+
+"Trouble enough, God knows. Mr. and Miss Martell have been caught
+in the ice, out in an open boat, for hours.  Do you see that light
+there? Good heavens! there is another light shooting out toward
+it--"
+
+"Yes," cried Lottie, in a sudden ecstasy of delight; "there goes
+my brave, true knight to the rescue, and he will save them, too;
+see how he gains upon them. That is Mr. Hemstead's voice. I know
+it well. He is shouting encouragement to them. Hear the feeble
+answering cry."
+
+"That's a woman's voice," Harcourt cried, after listening a moment
+as if his life depended on what he heard.  "Thank God, she has not
+perished with cold"; and he dashed away toward the river bank.
+
+Addie and her mother looked at each other. They too, like the
+coachman, had been struck with Mr. Harcourt's choice of pronouns.
+
+But the prudent lady did not forget herself or her duty a moment.
+She made them all come in from the bleak piazza, and had the light
+turned down in the parlor, so that they could see through the window
+just as well,--a more comfortable point of observation.
+
+But De Forrest quite ostentatiously muffled himself up to his eyes,
+that he might go down and "help."
+
+Approaching timidly, he said to Lottie as she stood at the window,
+"Can you not take another knight into your service this evening?"
+
+"O, yes, Julian," she replied good-naturedly; "a regiment in so good
+a cause as this. Hasten to the shore.  You may be of some possible
+help;" and, with a gesture of dismission, she turned again to her
+watch.
+
+De Forrest slowly departed, feeling that this was a very different
+farewell from that bestowed on Hemstead, of which he had caught an
+aggravating glimpse.
+
+While the others were eagerly talking and surmising, and the servants
+bustling about, preparing for those who would soon be brought in,
+chilled and wet with spray, Lottie stood at her post motionless,
+oblivious of all around, and as intent upon Hemstead's light as if
+she were to be rescued instead of Miss Martell.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+ON A CRUMBLING ICE-FLOE.
+
+
+
+
+
+The plan suggested by their host, of sending their sleigh home by
+the ferry, while they crossed in a boat, just suited Miss Martell,
+and she proposed having a good vigorous pull at the oars herself.
+She had always been fond of out-of-door sports, a taste which her
+father had judiciously encouraged; and thus had saved her, no doubt,
+from the life of an invalid, for she had inherited the delicacy
+of a feeble mother, who years before, in spite of all that wealth
+could do to prevent it, had passed away.
+
+Just at this time Miss Martell was waging that pathetic war with
+her own heart which so many women must fight out in silence; and
+she welcomed eagerly any distraction of thought,--anything that
+would so weary the body that the mind could rest. She dreaded the
+long, monotonous ride home, and so warmly seconded the new plan
+that her father yielded, though somewhat against his judgment.
+
+Through the little delays of a hospitality more cordial than kind,
+they were kept until the early December twilight was deepening into
+dusk. But the oarsman lighted his lantern, and was confident that
+he could put them across most speedily. The boat was stanch and
+well built, and they started with scarcely a misgiving, Miss Martell
+taking an oar with much zest. Their friends waved them off with
+numberless good wishes, and then from their windows watched till
+the boat seemed quite across, before drawing the curtains and
+concluding that all was well.
+
+At first they did not meet much ice, and everything promised a
+safe and speedy passage; but, when they were well past the middle
+of the river, two dark masses were seen just before them. There
+appeared to be a wide opening between them, through which they
+could see the water ripple.
+
+"I think we can shoot through," said the oarsman, standing up a
+moment; "perhaps it will be the safest course, for we don't know
+what's above."
+
+"Very well," said Mr. Martell, "I will steer you as well as I can.
+Pull strongly till we are again in clear water."
+
+Miss Martell bent her supple form to the oar, and her strokes counted
+as well as those of the strong, practised man; and the boat sped,
+all too quickly, into what afterwards seemed the very jaws of
+destruction.
+
+The opening narrowed instead of widening. The ice above, for some
+reason, appeared to gain on that below.
+
+In growing alarm, Mr. Martell saw that they were becoming shut in,
+and pointed out the fact to the oarsman.
+
+"Shall we turn around?" he asked, excitedly.
+
+The man stood up again, and instantly decided.
+
+"No, we have not time; the tide is running very swiftly.  The ice
+would close on us before we could get around.  Our best chance is
+to push through. I can see water beyond." They bent to their oars
+again with the energy which danger inspires.
+
+But there was not time. The opening closed too rapidly.  Suddenly
+the bow struck the upper cake, and, being well out of the water,
+ran up on the ice, causing the boat to take in water at the stern.
+For a second it seemed that they would be overturned and drowned
+at once.
+
+But just at this moment the upper cake struck the lower ice, and
+the boat, being well up on the first cake, was not crushed between
+the two masses, as would have been the case had the ice closed
+against its sides while they were deep in the water. For a moment
+they were saved, while the upper and lower floes crunched and ground
+together under the keel, lifting the light craft still further
+above the tide and throwing it over on one side. Without a second's
+pause, the now consolidated field of ice swept downward, carrying
+with it the wedged and stranded skiff.
+
+The lantern gleamed on the pale faces of those who realized that
+they had just passed through a moment of supreme peril, and perhaps
+had before them as great if not equally imminent dangers.
+
+The oarsman hastily examined the boat, and found that it had been
+injured, though to what extent he could not tell.  Water was oozing
+in slowly from some point near the keel, but they were too high out
+of the water to know whether more dangerous leaks had been made.
+They tried to break their way out, but found that the two cakes
+had become so joined together as to form a solid mass, upon which
+they could make no impression.
+
+They called aloud for help, and Miss Martell's plaintive cry was
+blended again and again with the hoarse, strong shoutings of the
+men. But the river was wide; the tide swept them out toward its
+centre, and then nearer the less peopled eastern shore. The evening
+was cold and bleak; few were out, and these so intent upon reaching
+warm firesides that they never thought of scanning the dark waste
+of the river; and so, to all the cries for aid there was no response,
+save the gurgling water, that sounded so cold as to chill their
+hearts, and the crunching of the ice as the rushing tide carried
+them downward, and away from the gleaming lights of their own loved
+home,--downward and past the lights from Mrs. Marchmont's mansion,
+where, even in her peril, poor Alice Martell could picture Harcourt
+at Addie's side, and she forgotten. As the imagined scene rose
+vividly before her, the wild thought passed through her mind: "Since
+it must be so, perhaps I can find more rest beneath these waters
+than in my home yonder. It may be for the best, after all, and God
+designs mercy in what at first seemed so terrible."
+
+As people saw Miss Marten's quiet and rather distant bearing
+in society, as many admired her chiselled and faultlessly refined
+features, they little imagined that, as within snowy mountains are
+volcanic fires, so within her breast was kindling as passionate a
+love as ever illumined a woman's life with happiness, or consumed
+it with a smouldering flame.
+
+But death is stern and uncompromising, and snatches away all
+disguises,--even those which hide us from ourselves.  In bitterness
+of heart the poor girl learned, while darker than the night the
+shadow of death hovered over her, how intense was her love for
+one who she believed loved another. If but a hand's breadth away,
+beneath the rushing tide, there was a remedy for the pain at her
+heart, why need she fear?
+
+"My child," said a tremulous voice.
+
+Then, with a natural and remorseful rush of love for one who had
+been as tender towards her as a mother since that mother commended
+her to his care, she put her arms around him and whispered, "I am
+not afraid, father. Mother and heaven may be nearer than we think."
+
+"Thank God, my child,--thank God you are not afraid.  I was trembling
+for you,--not myself. You are young, and I trusted that there was
+a happy life before you. But the home where mother is promises me
+far more than the one yonder, whose lights are growing so faint."
+
+"I am not afraid, dear father. I am content, if it's God's will,
+to go to that better home and be with you and mother."
+
+"God bless you, my child; and blessed be the God of mercy who has
+given you so true a faith. It would be terrible to me beyond words
+if now you were full of hopeless dread."
+
+But the poor oarsman had no such faith,--only the memory of his
+dependent wife and children, and his material life, which never
+before had seemed so sweet and precious. He kept shouting for aid
+until exhausted, and then despairingly sat down to await the result.
+
+Mr. Martell, in the true Christian spirit, sought to impart to
+his humble companion in peril some of his own confidence in God's
+mercy and goodness; but in vain. An intelligent, sustaining faith
+cannot be snatched like a life-preserver in the moment of danger;
+and the man appeared scarcely to heed what was said.
+
+Downward and past the twinkling lights of many comfortable homes
+the remorseless tide still swept them, until the huge outlines of
+the two mountains at the portal of the Highlands loomed out of the
+darkness.
+
+"If we get down among the mountains, we might as well give up,"
+said the oarsman, sullenly. "We might as well be cast away at
+sea as down in that wild gorge; though for that matter it seems,
+to-night, as if one's neighbors wouldn't step out of doors to keep
+a body from drowning. Why no one has heard us is more than I can
+understand, unless it is accordin' to the old sayin', 'None's so
+deaf as them as won't hear.'"
+
+But there was nothing strange in the fact that they had been unnoted.
+The north wind blew their voices down the river. There was a noisy
+surf upon the shore, and those who chanced to see the light supposed
+it to come from some craft hastening to its winter quarters near
+the city. So fate seemed against them, and they drifted down and
+down until the black shadow of "Storm King" swallowed them up.
+
+But now they became conscious that their motion was growing less
+steady and rapid. A little later, and the floe apparently paused
+in its downward progress, and there was only some slight movement
+caused by the increasing gale.
+
+Then came what seemed interminable hours of weary waiting under
+the sombre shadow of "Cro' Nest" mountain.  The strange and almost
+irresistible drowsiness that severe cold induces began to creep
+over Miss Martell, but her father pleaded with her to fight against
+it; and, more for his sake than her own, she tried. They took turns
+in endeavoring to break the ice around them with the boat-hook. The
+exercise kept their blood in circulation, but was of little avail
+in other respects. The ice was too heavy and solid for their feeble
+strokes.
+
+At last the tide turned, and the dreary, monotonous waiting in
+their hopeless position was exchanged for an upward movement that
+would soon bring them above the mountains again, where, from the
+thickly peopled shores, there would be a better chance of being
+seen and rescued.
+
+There was no certainty that they would be missed, and therefore
+sought for, as the coachman, not finding them on his return, might
+conclude that they had been prevailed upon to remain all night with
+the friend they were visiting.
+
+But any exchange from the black, rayless shadows that surrounded
+them would be a relief; and it was with a faint feeling of
+hopefulness--that they recognized their movement northward, which
+slowly increased in speed as the tide gained mastery of the slight
+natural current of the river.
+
+The strengthening northern gale had thrown up quite a "sea," and
+the experienced oarsman soon saw that the ice-field by which they
+were surrounded was breaking up under the influence of the waves.
+This might at last bring relief, or increase their danger. If the
+ice should all break up around them and leave their boat tight and
+sound, they could tow ashore. If the boat had been or should become
+so injured as to leak badly, it might fill with water before they
+could reach land. Thus, in any case, the trying nature of their
+peculiar position was aggravated by a terrible uncertainty and
+suspense.
+
+As they emerged from the Highlands into the broad waters of Newburgh
+Bay, their worst fears seemed about to be realized. Here, for many
+miles, the north wind had an unrestrained sweep, and the waves grew
+larger and more violent. Under their increasing force the ice-floe
+crumbled around them rapidly, until at last little was left save
+the mass of double thickness caused by the union of the two large
+cakes between which the boat had been caught. This, at last, began
+to give under the weight of the boat, and let it more deeply into
+the water. Then, to their dismay, they saw that the seams of the
+boat had been so wrenched apart that the water came in rapidly.
+
+They tried to keep it down by baling. The frosty gale tossed Mr.
+Martell's white hair, while with his hat he worked, in pathetic
+earnestness, for the sake of his daughter; but in spite of all
+that he and the oarsman could do, the water gained on them, wetting
+their feet and creeping up their legs with the icy chili of death.
+
+Every moment or two the man would pause in his work and send forth
+a cry of such terrible power and earnestness that it would seem
+some one must hear.
+
+Again Alice Martell saw the distant lights of her own home, but she
+turned from them to those that gleamed from the nearer residence
+of Mrs. Marchmont. Was he there, safe and happy, looking love into
+the eyes of Addie Marchmont, while every moment she sank lower into
+the cold river?  The thought sent a deeper chill to her heart than
+the icy tide from which she could no longer keep her feet.
+
+"God and man is agin us," said the oarsman, savagely.  "What is
+the use of trying any longer! The sooner it's over the better"; and
+he was about to give up in despair. Alice, with equal hopelessness
+of any earthly aid, was about to turn her eyes from the faint rays
+which, barbed with the thoughts suggested above, pierced her heart
+like arrows, when the throwing open of the hall-door by Hemstead
+let out such a broad streaming radiance as attracted her notice.
+By calling the attention of the others to it, she inspired in them
+a faint hope.
+
+But when, soon after, the door was closed, and the lights had
+their usual appearance, the flicker of hope sank down into a deeper
+darkness.
+
+Alice turned to her father, and in close embrace and with a oneness
+of spirit and hope that needed not outward expression, they silently
+lifted their thoughts from the dark earth to the bright heaven
+whose portals they soon expected to enter.
+
+Just then a voice from earth recalled them to earthly hope and the
+prospect of human help. It was Hemstead's shout of encouragement
+from the shore. Then they saw the glimmer of a lantern moving
+hither and thither; a moment later it became stationary, then shot
+out towards them.
+
+With cries of joy they recognized that they had been seen, and that
+an attempt to rescue them was being made.
+
+In the apathy of their despair the water had gained dangerously;
+but with the energy of hope, that is ever greater than that of fear
+or despair, they set to work anew. Again the wintry winds tossed
+Mr. Martell's white hair, as for want of something better he baled
+with his hat, and Alice's little numb hands were lifted every moment
+as if in pathetic appeal, as she dipped them in the ice-cold water
+at her feet, and threw out a tiny cupful, which the gale carried
+away in spray.
+
+"Come quick. We can't keep afloat much longer," cried the oarsman.
+
+"Ay, ay," shouted the ex-sailor in a voice as hoarse as the winds
+in the cordage of his old ship.
+
+"Courage!" cried Hemstead; and his tones, in contrast, rang out
+like a bugle, inspiring hope in the chilled hearts of those who,
+a little before, had despaired, and also sending an almost equal
+thrill of delight to the heart of Lottie Marsden, as, with the
+half-frenzied Harcourt, she stood in Mrs.  Marchmont's open door.
+
+The sailor-coachman was a good oarsman, and Hemstead pulled fairly.
+Both were very strong, and they drove the boat through the short,
+chopping waves, rather than over them, caring not how much water
+was shipped.
+
+A little later came the shout, "Quick, quick! The ice is giving
+under us, and the boat sinking."
+
+"Oh! come!--save my father!" cried Alice Martell, in a tone that
+might have moved the very ice around her to pity.
+
+"My child, my child!" came the agonized voice of the father. "Never
+think of me, if you can save her."
+
+Hemstead's nature was anthracite, and now glowed at white heat
+in his grand excitement. He was no longer a man, but a giant, and
+would have ruined everything, snapped his oars, dragged the oar-pins
+from their sockets, thus rendering his massive strength utterly
+useless, had not the cool, wary ex-sailor taken command of the little
+craft, and insisted on seamanship. Under his skilful direction the
+student was like a powerful engine, with a steady, measured stroke,
+and the boat fairly flew, until their oars struck floating ice, and
+then they had to slacken up, for to strike a mass of ice at their
+speed would be to sink at once.
+
+"Steady now," cried the ex-sailor. "You pull; I will stand and
+steer."
+
+Their boat was roughly grazed several times, but glided through
+without serious injury.
+
+"Now or never!" cried the oarsman; "we're sinking."
+
+Alice hid her face on her father's breast. Life had grown strangely
+sweet during the brief time since, at Hemstead's voice, hope had
+revived; and it seemed a bitter thing to perish almost within the
+grasp of rescuing hands.
+
+"Oh! come!" groaned the father. "Great God! this is hard."
+
+With a despairing cry she heard the water rush and gurgle around
+her, and closed her eyes, not expecting to open them again in this
+world. But strong hands grasped and lifted her drenched, helpless
+form tenderly into the boat.
+
+With mingled hope and fear she looked up, and by the lantern's
+light recognized Frank Hemstead.
+
+"My father," she gasped.
+
+"Safe, my darling, thank God," said Mr. Martell, taking her into
+his arms; "and they have pulled our stout oarsman in, too. So we
+are all safe."
+
+"Well, I hope so," said the ex-sailor, with a little depressive
+dubiousness. "We shipped a sight o' water comin' out.  There's
+a deal of ice runnin', and so chopped up one can skerce see it.
+I must be skipper and all, mind, if we are to come safe out. Here,
+Mr. Hemstead, you bale; and you, too, messmate, if yer hain't
+shipped too much water yerself.  I'll sit well up towards the bow,
+where I can see and pull around the ice. Besides, with this cargo,
+we've got to cross the waves kind o' easy and keerful, or they'll
+swamp us."
+
+Thus in this instance the ex-sailor appeared a special providence,
+and gradually took them out of the ice-strewn tide in the centre of
+the river to smoother, clearer water nearer the shore. Soon after,
+drenched and half-frozen, they reached Mrs. Marchmont's boat-house.
+
+Miss Martell's powers of endurance were nearly exhausted; and when
+the lantern, held aloft, revealed  Harcourt's pale face,--when she
+knew that it was his arms that received her in her helplessness,
+and she heard him murmur, "I now believe there's a merciful God, and
+thank Him,"--in the strong reaction of feeling she became unconscious.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+THE MEETING AND GREETING.
+
+
+
+
+
+Mr. Martell's garments were frozen upon him, and he was so stiff
+and numb with cold that with difficulty he made his way up the
+bank with the support of De Forrest and the gallant coachman, who
+had suddenly blossomed out into a hero. Harcourt and Hemstead formed
+with their hands what is termed a "chair," and bore the apparently
+lifeless form of Miss Martell swiftly towards Mrs. Marchmont's
+residence. The poor oarsman was so glad to be on solid ground once
+more that he was able to hobble along at a good pace by himself.
+
+The wind again played mad pranks with Lottie's hair as she at last
+stood impatiently on the piazza, and then dashed off through the
+snow to meet them.
+
+"O, thank God, you are safely back. But Miss Martell--she is
+not--she is not--"
+
+"Don't suggest such a thing," groaned Harcourt. "Of course she has
+only fainted."
+
+Hemstead could not speak, even to Lottie. With white face and set
+teeth he sought to keep up to the end. The effort he was now putting
+forth was less that of muscle than sheer force of will. As with
+Miss Martell, he, too, was reacting from the tremendous strain that
+the last hour had brought. He trembled with almost mortal weakness
+as he slowly mounted the piazza steps. He staggered under his share
+of their burden as he crossed the hall. Lottie, puzzled by his
+silence, now saw his deathly pallor with alarm, and instinctively
+stood at his side.
+
+"You had better take Miss Martell directly to her room," said Mrs.
+Marchmont.
+
+"In here, quick," gasped Hemstead. He tottered to the nearest sofa,
+and, a second later, lay unconscious at Miss Martell's feet.
+
+At this moment Alice again became conscious. Hemstead's condition
+did more to revive her than all restoratives; for, woman-like, she
+thought of him more than herself. She sat up and exclaimed faintly:
+"O, can't something be done for him? Quick. It looks as if he had
+given his life for us"; and she looked around, not far enough to
+see the expression of Harcourt's face as he welcomed her back to
+consciousness, but only to see Addie clinging to his arm, repeatedly
+asking to be assured that he was not hurt.
+
+"Thank heaven you are safe," he bent down and whispered.
+
+"Don't think of me. Look at Mr. Hemstead."
+
+Again he misunderstood her, and with bitterness thought, "After
+all my anguish on her account, she gives me not even a thought, and
+her first words are, 'Don't think of me';" and he felt that fate
+had been very cruel in sending Hemstead to her rescue instead of
+himself.
+
+Mrs. Marchmont now appeared upon the confused scene, and proved
+that she was equal to the occasion. It was a sad pity that she had
+not imparted to her daughter a little of her own capability. She
+bade De Forrest, and the still stout and hearty ex-sailor, carry
+Hemstead at once to his room, while she and one of the maids
+assisted Miss Martell to hers. No opportunity whatever was given
+for any romantic and affecting scenes.
+
+Lottie had stood for a second in dismay, after seeing her "true
+knight" sink on the floor, and then, like a sensible girl, instead
+of going off into hysterics, went like a flash to her aunt's
+wine-closet for brandy. But before she could find it Mrs. Marchmont
+had caused both the rescued and the rescuer to be conveyed to the
+privacy of their own rooms, where they could at once receive the
+prosaic treatment that their condition required.
+
+The room which a moment before had presented a scene which she
+would never forget was empty, Harcourt having gone for a physician.
+
+She met Mr. Dimmerly on the stairs, who took the brandy from her,
+saying: "That's sensible. We'll rub him down with it, inside and
+out, and he'll be all right in the morning.  Now you see how blood
+tells. Making a parson of him can't change the fact of his coming
+from an old family. He has been as brave to-night as the Dimmerlys
+were a thousand years ago."
+
+But Lottie was not a bit interested in the millennial Dimmerlys,
+and, putting her arms around her uncle's neck in a way that surprised
+that ancient fossil, she coaxed:
+
+"Won't you promise me, uncle, that as soon as he is safe you will
+come out and let me know?"
+
+"Safe! He's safe now. Who ever heard of even a half-blooded Dimmerly
+dying from a mere faint? Old age is the only disease that runs
+in our family, my dear. But I will let you know as soon as he
+is comfortably asleep. I am going to make my proper parson nephew
+almost drunk, for once in his life; and you needn't expect to see
+him much before ten o'clock to-morrow."
+
+Lottie, finding her services were not needed in Miss Martell's
+room, went down to the kitchen, where she found the half-frozen
+oarsman-now rigged out in the dress-coat and white vest of the
+colored waiter--and the brave coachman who had put his old sea-craft
+to such good use. They were being royally cared for by the cook
+and laundress. The poor fellow who out in the boat had thought that
+the hearts of even his neighbors were as cold and hard as the ice
+that was destroying them had now forgotten his misanthropy, and
+was making a supper that, considering the hour, would threaten to
+an ordinary mortal more peril than that from which he had escaped.
+She drew from him--and especially from the coachman--the narrative
+of their thrilling experience, and every moment Hemstead grew more
+heroic in her eyes.
+
+"Bless you, miss," said the bluff ex-sailor, his tongue a little
+loosened by the whiskey he had taken as an antidote for the cold
+and wet, "there's stuff enough in him to make a hundred such as
+t'other young gentleman as wouldn't go.  Sudden spells, like that
+he had t'other night, is all he'll ever be'stinguished for, I'm
+a-thinking. But I ax your pardon, miss."
+
+"I can forgive you anything to-night, my brave fellow," said Lottie,
+blushing. "Though you have given Mr. Hemstead so much credit, he will
+give you more to-morrow.  Take this and get something to remember
+this evening by"; and she slipped a twenty-dollar bank-note into
+his hand.
+
+"Now bless your sweet eyes!" exclaimed the man, ducking and bobbing
+with bewildering rapidity; "it's your kindness that'll make me
+remember the evening to my dying day."
+
+"How could you speak so of Mr. De Forrest, when the young leddy
+is engaged to him?" said the cook, reproachfully, after Lottie had
+gone.
+
+"No matter," said the ex-sailor, stoutly. "I've had it on my
+conscience to give her a warnin'. I hadn't the heart to see such a
+trim little craft run into shallow water, and hoist no signal. If
+she was my darter, she'd have to mitten that lubber if he was wuth
+a million."
+
+As Lottie passed through the hall with silent tread, she saw that
+De Forrest was in the parlor, and to escape him continued on up to
+her room, musing as she went: "What a strange blending of weakness
+and strength Mr. Hemstead is! Well, I should like that. I should
+like a man to be as strong as Samson generally, but often so weak
+that he would have to lean on me."
+
+Whom did Lottie mean by that indefinite word "man"?  It did not
+occur to her that there was a very definite image in her mind of
+one who was pale and exhausted, and whom it would now be a dear
+privilege to nurse back into strength and vigor.
+
+She met her uncle and the physician in the upper hall, and the latter
+said: "Mr. and Miss Martell are doing as well as could be expected,
+when we consider the fearful ordeal they have passed through. As
+far as I can foresee, a few days' rest and quiet will quite restore
+them."
+
+"And Mr.--Mr. Hemstead?" faltered Lottie, the color mounting into
+her face, that anxiety had made unwontedly pale.
+
+"The brave fellow who rescued them? Now he is the right kind of
+a dominie,--not all white choker and starch.  No fear about him,
+Miss Marsden. He's made of good stuff, well put together. A night's
+rest and a warm breakfast, and he will be himself again"; and the
+old doctor bustled away.
+
+"What delightful prose!" thought Lottie, and she tripped lightly
+to her room and kissed the sullen and offended Bel good night; and,
+very grateful and at peace with all the world, soon fell asleep.
+
+But she had a disagreeable dream. Again she saw Hemstead at Miss
+Martell's feet; but now, instead of being pale and unconscious,
+his face was flushed and eager, and he was pleading for that which
+the king cannot buy. She awoke sobbing, called herself a "little
+fool," and went to sleep again.
+
+But in the morning the dream lingered in her mind in a vague,
+uncomfortable way.
+
+She was early down to breakfast, for she was eager to speak to
+Hemstead, and tell him how she appreciated his heroism. But either
+his exhaustion was greater than the physician had believed, or his
+uncle's sedatives were very powerful, for he did not appear.
+
+There was nothing better for her than to endure De Forrest's
+explanations why he had not gone, and his assurances that if he had
+"only known, etc."; to which she gave an impatient hearing, quite
+unlike her gentleness of the two preceding days. There were little
+things in her manner Which indicated a falling barometer, and
+suggested that the day might not pass serenely.
+
+She learned from her aunt and uncle that Mr. and Miss Martell were
+feeling better than might have been expected, and that Hemstead
+was still sleeping.
+
+"Sleep was all he wanted," said Mr. Dimmerly; "and I made it my
+business he should get it."
+
+Quite early in the forenoon, Mr. Martell and his daughter felt
+equal to coming down to the parlor, and after dinner it was their
+intention to return home. A luxurious lounge was wheeled near the
+blazing wood fire, and on this Miss Mar-tell was tenderly placed
+by her father, who, in joyful gratitude, could scarcely take his
+eyes from her pale face. Beyond the natural languor which would
+follow so terrible a strain, she seemed quite well.
+
+Both father and daughter appreciated Mrs. Marchmont's courtesy
+greatly; and Miss Martell's effort to be cordial, even to Addie,
+was quite pathetic, when it is remembered that she felt that her
+supposed rival would harm her more than could the cold river.
+
+Lottie made frequent errands to her room, and lingered in the hall
+as much as she could without attracting notice, in the hope of
+seeing Hemstead a moment alone. The impulsive girl's warm heart
+was so full of admiration for what he had done that she longed to
+show him her appreciation without the chilling restraint of observant
+eyes and critical ears. But he was so blind to his interests as to
+blunder into the parlor when she was there and every one else also.
+
+Though it cost her great effort, Alice Martell rose instantly, and
+greeted him so cordially as to bring the deepest crimson into his
+pale face. Mr. Martell also pressed to his side, speaking words
+which only a grateful father could utter.
+
+When, for any cause, Hemstead was the object of general attention,
+the occasion became the very hour and opportunity for his awkward
+diffidence to assert itself, and now he stood in the centre of the
+floor, the most angular and helpless of mortals.
+
+De Forrest looked at him with disdain, and thought, "I would like
+to show him how a gentleman ought to act under the circumstances."
+
+De Forrest would have been equal to receiving all the praise, and
+as it was, in view of his readiness to have saved Miss Martell if
+he "had only known," could have accepted, with graceful complacency,
+a gratitude that quite overwhelmed the man of deeds.
+
+Hemstead's confusion was so great as even to embarrass Miss Martell
+for a moment, and her face, from reminding one of a lily, suddenly
+suggested an exquisite pink rose.  But before he was aware she
+had ensconced him in an easy chair at her side, and with a tact
+peculiarly her own had rallied his panic-stricken faculties into
+such order that he could again take command of them.
+
+But as Lottie saw them grasping each other's hands and blushing,
+her dream recurred to her with the force of an ominous prophecy.
+Hemstead, in his severe attack of diffidence, had not greeted any.
+one on his entrance, but had fallen helplessly into Miss Kartell's
+hands, and had been led to his chair like a lamb to the slaughter.
+But Lottie took it as much to heart as if he had purposely neglected
+to speak to her. And when, a little later, Mr. Dimmerly commenced
+a formal eulogy, Hemstead with an expression of intense annoyance
+raised his hand deprecatingly, and pleaded that no one would speak
+again of what he had done, she feared that all the glowing words
+she meant to say would be unwelcome after all.
+
+Everything had turned out so differently from what she had
+anticipated that she was disappointed above measure, and before he
+could collect his scattered wits she left the room.
+
+"And so it all ends," she thought bitterly, as she chafed up and
+down the hall. "I sent him out last night as my own 'true knight,'
+wearing my colors, and he rescues another woman. When I see him again
+he brushes past me to speak to the one who, owing him so much, of
+course will be grateful. With eyes for her alone he wears my colors
+in his face, and she raises the same blood-red signal. I was looking
+forward to the pleasure of giving him a welcome that he might value
+on his return, and he has not even spoken to me. After our parting
+last night could anything have turned out more flat and prosaic?"
+
+Just at this moment Harcourt, who was another victim of circumstances,
+entered, and Lottie, too annoyed to meet any one, fled to her own
+room.
+
+He had already called early in the morning, to inquire aftei the
+invalids; but Miss Martell did not know this, and his coming now
+seemed a little dilatory, considering all they had passed through.
+Deep in her heart there was disappointment that he had not come to
+her rescue instead of Hemstead. Was he one to stand safely on the
+shore while others took risks from which true manhood would not
+have shrunk? Could he have dreamt that she was in peril, and still
+have let Hemstead go without him to her aid? These were thoughts
+that had distressed her during part of a sleepless night and all
+the morning.
+
+Moreover, when he entered, Addie had pounced upon him in her usual
+style, as if she had in him certain rights of possession.
+
+Addie's manner, together with her own thoughts, gave an involuntary
+tinge of coldness to Miss Martell's greeting, which he was quick
+to recognize, while her cordiality to Hemstead suggested to him,
+as to Lottie, that she might be very grateful.
+
+Mr. Martell was more than slightly distant: he was stiff and formal.
+As circumstances then appeared to him, he thought that Harcourt had
+acted a very unworthy part.  Mr. Martell naturally supposed that
+both Harcourt and De Forrest were at Mrs. Marchmont's, but that
+only Hemstead had been willing to venture to their assistance. To
+De Forrest he gave scarcely a thought, having accurately estimated
+that superficial youth's light weight. But that Harcourt, the son
+of his old and dear friend, should have so failed in manly duty,
+was a bitter trial. As he saw him and Addie together, he thought
+contemptuously, "They are well mated, after all. How strange that
+my peerless daughter can have such a regard for him!"
+
+He had become aware of his daughter's preference, though, out of
+delicate regard for her feelings, he had feigned blindness.
+
+Even had Harcourt known how greatly they misjudged him, in his
+sensitive pride he would have made no explanations; and he was the
+last one in the world to tell them, as would De Forrest, how he
+meant to go to their aid, etc.
+
+His manner puzzled Alice. She could not help noting with a
+secret satisfaction that, while polite, he was annoyed at Addie's
+demonstrativeness; and at times she thought his eyes sought her
+face almost as if in appeal. But her own and her father's manner
+had evidently chilled him, and he soon took his leave. His face, in
+which pride and dejection contended for mastery, haunted her like
+a reproach.
+
+"If Mr. Harcourt had only arrived a little earlier last evening,
+Miss Martell," said De Forrest, complacently, "you would have had
+three to thank instead of one. I'm sure if I had known that you
+and your father--"
+
+"How is that?" asked Mr. Martell, quickly. "Was not Mr. Harcourt
+spending the evening here?"
+
+"O, no. It was from him we first learned of your peril.  He came
+tearing over like mad, a few moments after the coachman and Mr.
+Hemstead had gone; then he dashed off to the shore, where I soon
+joined him. I thought at one time," continued De Forrest, glad to
+say anything that would dim the glory of Hemstead's achievements,
+"that he would start out into the river with no better support than
+a plank, so eager was he to go to your aid. If we could only have
+found another boat we would have both gone. As it was, it was well
+I was there to restrain him, for he seemed beside himself."
+
+The rich color mounted to Miss Martell's face as she gave her father
+a swift glance of glad intelligence, and he drew a long breath of
+relief, as if some heavy burden had been lifted.
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Marchmont, quietly, but at the same time fixing
+an observant eye on the young lady; "I never gaw Mr. Harcourt so
+moved before."
+
+Conscious of Mrs. Marchmont's object, Alice mastered herself at
+once, and with equal quietness answered: "It would be strange if
+it were otherwise. We have been acquainted from childhood."
+
+Nevertheless, the experienced matron surmised danger to the
+match which she would gladly bring about between her daughter and
+Harcourt; and instead of fearing, as was the case with the latter
+and Lottie, she hoped that Miss Martell would be very grateful to
+Hemstead.
+
+And so she appeared to be, for she talked to him so enchantingly,
+and for a time absorbed him so completely, that Lottie entered
+unobserved, and remained so a few moments.  Then his eyes, that from
+the moment he gained composure had seemed in quest of something,
+lighted on her as she sat a little back of him, apparently absorbed
+in her fancy-work.  He wanted to speak to her, and yet what could
+he say before them all?
+
+The telltale color was again in his face, and his wretched diffidence
+returned. Neither courtesy nor his heart would permit him to ignore
+her and continue his conversation with Miss Martell. And yet it
+had seemed easier to go in a boat out among the ice than to think
+of any proper way to recognize the presence of one in whose eyes
+he had a morbid anxiety to appear well.
+
+Lottie saw his dilemma, and, while she too began to blush absurdly,
+would not help him, and her head bent lower than ever over her
+work.
+
+"Serves him right," she thought. "If he had only met me in the
+hall, I might--well, I wouldn't have been an icicle."
+
+At last Hemstead concluded that he could safely say "good morning";
+and he did so in a very awkward manner over his shoulder.
+
+"Did you speak to me?" asked Lottie, as if suddenly aroused.
+
+"Yes," he replied, under the painful necessity of repeating something
+that had sounded very flat in the first place, "I said good morning."
+
+"O, excuse me. As it is so late I bid you good afternoon."
+
+Her manner as well as her words so quenched poor Hemstead that he
+did not venture another syllable; and thus Lottie and her "true
+knight" had the meeting to which, in remembrance of their parting,
+both had looked forward with strange thrills of expectation.
+
+But in the light of their flaming cheeks Miss Martell caught a
+glimpse of their hearts; and Mrs. Marchmont was again led to fear
+that more was going on than should be permitted by so good a manager
+as herself.
+
+The dinner-bell soon brought welcome relief to all, breaking the
+spell of awkward constraint.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+THE TRAIL OF LOVE.
+
+
+
+
+
+Miss Martell improved visibly, for a most depressing fear had been
+removed. Though Harcourt might not return her love, he had not
+proved himself unworthy of it, by actual cowardice, or even by
+unmanly regard for personal ease. It also appeared that more than
+general philanthropy must have spurred him on, or he could not have
+acted as if "beside himself."
+
+The hungry heart will take even the crumbs of regard that fall from
+the hand which alone can satisfy. The thought that her old friend
+and playmate had been far from indifferent to her fate was like a
+subtile, exhilarating wine to Miss Martell.
+
+Her rising spirits, and her wish to show appreciation of Mrs.
+Marchmont's courtesy, made her as brilliant as beautiful at the
+dinner-table, while Lottie, in contrast, was silent and depressed.
+The new-fledged little saint soon became conscious that for some
+reason she was very jealous and very envious,--emotions which she
+seldom had even imaginary cause to cherish towards any of her sex.
+
+Nor were Mrs. Marchmont and her daughter disposed to be very friendly
+and responsive to Miss Martell's genial mood; but the young lady
+was possessed of that strength of mind and high-bred courtesy which
+enabled her to ignore the weaknesses and infelicities of those around
+her, and to shine with her own pure light on all objects alike.
+
+Hemstead again was charmed with her,--a fact that his frankness
+made plainly evident. Her bright thoughts elicited corresponding
+ones from him, and Lottie was reluctantly compelled to admit to
+herself that she had never before known Mrs. Marchmont's viands
+to be seasoned with Attic salt of such high flavor. For the first
+time the proud and flattered belle felt, in the presence of another
+woman, a humiliating sense of her own inferiority. She clearly
+recognized that Miss Martell was far in advance of her. How could
+the student fail to be fascinated? Her mind was the equal of his
+in force, and as highly cultivated. They were congenial in their
+views and feelings, and of course she would be very grateful.
+
+Lottie's manner had puzzled Hemstead greatly. He was even more
+disappointed than she had been over their prosaic meeting. In
+his honest modesty, broad eulogy from the others was exceedingly
+distasteful; and yet one of his chief incentives the evening before
+had been the hope of a welcome back from Lottie, in which her eyes,
+if not her tongue, would suggest the reward his heart craved. But
+he had said "good morning," and she a little coldly had responded
+"good afternoon." Moreover, she was strangely silent and depressed.
+What could it mean? and what the cause?  That it was himself never
+entered his mind.
+
+Her bearing towards De Forrest, which was anything but genial,
+finally led him to believe that she was again deeply mortified by
+her lover's lack of manhood, and that she was depressed because of
+her relation to one who had failed so signally, the evening before,
+in those qualities that women most admire.
+
+While lingering over the dessert, Mr. Martell's sleigh was announced.
+
+"It as my purpose to send you home," exclaimed Mrs.  Marchmont.
+"Indeed, I had ordered my horses to be at the door within half an
+hour."
+
+"I appreciate your kindness," said Mr. Martell, "but after the
+heroic efforts of your amphibious coachman last night, I should
+feel guilty if we broke in upon his rest to-day."
+
+"I'm glad you recognize his merit," said Hemstead, quickly. "You
+owe far more to him than to me"; and he launched out into the most
+hearty eulogy of the ex-sailor.
+
+Then, for the first time, Lottie's old, mirthful laugh was heard,
+as she said: "Well, in one respect, Mr. Hemstead, you and the
+coachman are birds of a feather, and rare birds at that. He gives
+you all the credit of the rescue, and you insist that you had nothing
+to do with it, but only went along for company, as it were. But I
+think we all surmised the truth, when you fainted from exhaustion
+at Miss Martell's feet. That was a very happy chance, and so it
+all turned out as well as any knight of old could have desired."
+
+This sudden speech from Lottie bewildered Hemstead more than ever.
+What could she mean? But Miss Martell understood her better, and
+gave a keen thrust in return as she smilingly answered, "With the
+only exception that Mr.  Hemstead fainted at the feet of the wrong
+lady."
+
+This unexpected retort threw both Hemstead and Lottie into disastrous
+confusion, which Mrs, Marchmont was not slow to observe, and which
+was not allayed by Mr. Dimmerly's cackling laugh, as he chuckled,
+"A well-flown arrow."
+
+"Well," said Hemstead, trying to laugh it off, "all I can say in
+self-defence is, that in either case my faint could not be spelled
+with an e. It was the first, and I hope it will be the last time
+I ever do anything so melodramatic."
+
+"Mr. Hemstead must be an ideal knight, as we learn from his phrase
+'in either case,'" said Lottie. "He would have us believe that he
+is entirely impartial in his homage to our sex. And, now I think of
+it, he was more polite to old Auntie Lammer than ever he has been
+to me."
+
+"Now, Miss Marsden," said Hemstead, reproachfully, "you are again
+indulging in orientalism."
+
+"Certainly," chimed in De Forrest; "that sylph so filled his eye
+that she became his ideal, as you told us, Miss Lottie."
+
+"I told you?" she answered in sudden annoyance; "your memory is
+better than mine."
+
+Soon after, Mr. Martell and his daughter took their departure, with
+many sincere and graceful acknowledgments of the kindness they had
+received.
+
+Many were the words of force and wisdom that Miss Martell had read
+and heard, but never had any made so profound an impression upon
+her as the vain vaporings of De Forrest, as he insisted on claiming
+all the credit he could for his action the evening before.
+
+"Did he exaggerate," she asked herself a hundred times, "when he
+said, 'It was well I was there; for Mr. Harcourt was beside himself,
+and was ready to venture out upon a plank to your aid'? I fear he
+did."
+
+Her father surmised something of her thoughts and said gently, "I
+fear we have done Mr. Harcourt injustice."
+
+"Yes, father," she answered, "I think we have."
+
+"Well," he said, after a moment, "I never had a pleasanter duty
+than the amends I purpose making. It cut me to the heart to think
+the son of my old friend had permitted a stranger to come to our
+rescue."
+
+"I feel sure that Mr. Harcourt would have come also, had it been
+in his power," she said, with quiet emphasis.
+
+"You always stood up for Tom," said her father, gently.
+
+But she made no answer.
+
+Mr. Martell then questioned his coachman somewhat.
+
+"Indade, sir, we was all putty nigh crazy when Mr. Harcourt druv
+in late last night and said you were safe. He told me to come-over
+this morning and get your orders, and to have the house ready for
+yez."
+
+"Now that was considerate. I feel, my daughter, that we owe
+Mr. Harcourt an apology. Do you feel equal to entertaining him at
+supper?"
+
+"I will try, father."
+
+"Drive right on up to town," said Mr. Martell, a little later, from
+the steps of his piazza, "and present my compliments to Mr. Harcourt,
+and ask him if he will favor us with his company at supper."
+
+Alice gave him a shy, grateful glance, and then sought her room.
+
+As she was unwrapping herself before her mirror, she noted that a
+pane of glass in the window near was badly cracked, and that the
+lace curtain above was torn partially from its fastening.
+
+As her maid entered she asked how it happened.
+
+The woman in evident confusion answered: "Indeed, miss, I meant to
+mend the curtain this morning, but I've not had me head straight
+since last evening."
+
+"But how did it happen?" persisted Alice. "Who could have been so
+rough and careless?"
+
+"Well," said the maid, hesitatingly, "it must have been Mr. Harcourt."
+
+"Mr. Harcourt!"
+
+"Well, you see, miss, he came last night to see you, for one of the
+girls said he asked for you, and when he found you was out on the
+river he just seemed beside himself.  We was a-lookin' out upstairs,
+and we first saw the light a-coming up after the tide turned,
+and we screamed to him and the coachman, and Mr. Harcourt he came
+upstairs like a gust o' wind. Your door stood open, and in he rushed
+in a way that I thought he'd break everything."
+
+"There, that will do. I understand. You need not mend the curtain.
+You must be tired after all your fright, and can rest awhile this
+afternoon, as I shall."
+
+A beautiful color dawned in Alice's face. She was recovering from
+her languor and weakness with marvellous rapidity.  It was not
+strange, for no elixir was ever distilled so potent as that which
+now infused its subtile spirit into heart and brain.
+
+But a few hours before, the wayward but good-hearted companion of
+her childhood, the manly friend of the present and future,--she
+would permit herself to think of him in no other light,--had seemed
+lost to her forever; to have had in fact no real existence; for
+if Harcourt had been content to act De Forrest's part the evening
+before, Alice Martell would have soon shaken off even his acquaintance.
+But De Forrest's words had suggested that the Harcourt of her dreams
+still existed. She had seen another trace of manly, considerate
+feeling in his thoughtfulness of the servants' fears, and of their
+comfort. And now the torn curtain and broken glass suggested the
+impetuous action of one who thought of her peril rather than of
+the trifles around him.
+
+Twice now she had been told that Harcourt was "beside himself,"
+and yet never had madness seemed so rational; and her eyes dwelt
+on the marks of his frenzy before her with unmixed satisfaction.
+If he had been cool then, her heart now would be cold.
+
+She could not rest, and at last thought that the frosty air would
+cool the fever in her cheeks, and so wrapped herself for a walk
+upon the broad \ piazza. Moreover, she felt, as Lottie had, that
+she would be glad to have no eyes, not even her father's, witness
+their meeting. She felt that she could act more naturally and
+composedly if alone with him, and at the same time show the almost
+sisterly regard through which she hoped to win him to his better
+self.
+
+As she paced up and down the piazza, in the early twilight, her
+attention was attracted to a spot where some one, instead of going
+deliberately down the steps, had plunged off into the piled-up snow,
+and then just opposite and beyond the broad path were tracks wide
+apart, as if some one had bounded rather than run towards the river.
+
+She ceased her walk, and stood as one who had discovered a treasure.
+Did these footprints and the torn curtain belong together? She felt
+that it could not be otherwise. There was, then, no cold-blooded,
+cowardly Harcourt, and traces of the real man grew clearer.
+
+"But how could he reach the river in that direction without risking
+his neck?" and she indulged hi quite a panic as she remembered the
+intervening steeps. She longed yet dreaded to see him, that she
+might ask an explanation of the traces she had found; for, having
+done him injustice, she generously meant to make him full amends.
+
+But to her great disapointment the sleigh now returned without him.
+
+"I left the message, miss," said the coachman, "but they told me
+that Mr. Harcourt had a sudden business call to New York."
+
+Alice sought to draw the man out a little, and it was also her
+habit to speak kindly to those in her employ; so she said: "I fear,
+Burtis, you will be a little jealous of Mrs.  Marchmont's coachman.
+If it had not been for him we could not have escaped, I think."
+
+"Well, thank God, I'm not much behind him. If he stopped two
+funerals, I stopped one."
+
+"Why, how is that, Burtis?"
+
+"Faix, miss, an' do ye see thim tracks there? They go straight to
+the river, and it was Misther Harcourt as made them. He was jist
+one second on the way after he saw the light, and by rinnin' an'
+rollin' an' tumblin' he was at the boat-house in a wink. When I gets
+there, a-puffin' an' a-blowin', he's unlocked the door by taeakin'
+it in, and is a-haulin' at the ould boat; and because I wouldn't
+lend a band in gettin' out the crazy ould craft that wouldn't float
+a hundred foot, he swears at me in the most onchristian manner,
+and tries to get it out alone. But ye know, miss, how he couldn't
+do that, and soon he gives it up and falls to gnawin' his nails
+like one beside himself, an' a-mutterin' how he must either'save
+her or drown with her.' Then he dashed up the bank ag'in, and he
+and his black hoss was off like a whirlwind. If the Naughty Tillus,
+or any other thing as would float was here, ye'd had no need of Mrs.
+Marchmont's coachman. But I thought he'd off wid me head because
+I wouldn't help out wid the ould boat."
+
+Not a word or sign did Alice place in the way of the man's garrulity,
+but rather manifested breathless interest, as with parted lips she
+bent forward, encouraging him to go on.
+
+Was he not reciting an epic poem of which she was the heroine and
+Harcourt the hero? The true epics of the world are generally told
+in the baldest prose.
+
+"There was one thing I didn't like," continued the man, gathering
+up his reins, "and I've thought I ought to speak of it to ye or ye's
+father. All his talk was about savin' yerself, and not a whisper
+of the ould gentleman, who has been so kind to him all his life.
+It sounded kinder onnatteral like."
+
+"Very well, Burtis; you have done your duty in speaking to me, and
+so need not say anything to Mr. Martell about it.  I rather think
+you have prevented a funeral, and perhaps I owe you as many thanks
+as Mrs. Marchmont's coachman.  At any rate you will find on Christmas
+that you have not been forgotten."
+
+So the man drove to the stable with the complacent consciousness
+of having done his duty and warned his mistress against a "very
+onnatteral feelin'" in the young man.
+
+The moment he disappeared around the corner, Alice stood undecided
+a moment, like a startled deer, and then sped down the path to
+the boat-house. The snow was tramped somewhat by the big lumbering
+feet of the coach-man, but had it not been, Alice now had wings.
+The twilight was deepening, and she could not wait till the morrow
+before following up this trail that led to the idol of her heart.
+
+She paused in the winding path when half-way down the bank, that
+she might gloat over the mad plunges by which Harcourt had crossed
+it, straight to the river. She followed his steps to the brink
+of a precipice, and saw with a thrill of mingled fear and delight
+where he had slid and fallen twenty feet or more.
+
+"How cruelly I have misjudged him!" she thought.  "When he was here
+eager to risk his life for me, my false fancy pictured him at Addie
+Marchmont's side. And yet it was well I did not know the truth,
+for it would have been so much harder to look death in the face so
+long, with this knowledge of his friendship. How strangely he and
+Addie act when together! But come, that is no affair of mine. Let
+me be thankful that I have not lost the friend of my childhood."
+
+A little later she stood at the boat-house. The door hung by one
+hinge only, and the large stone lay near with which he had crashed
+it in. She entered the dusky place as if it had been a temple. Had
+it not been consecrated by a service of love,--by the costliest
+offering that can be made,--life?  Here he had said he would save
+her or perish with her; here he had sought to make good his words.
+
+She picked up one of the matches he had dropped, and struck it,
+that she might look into the neglected boat.  Never was the utter
+unseaworthiness of a craft noted with such satisfaction before.
+
+"While I vilely thought he would not venture to our aid at all, he
+strained every nerve to launch this old shell.  Thanks to obstinate
+Burtis, who would not help him."
+
+She struck another match, that she might look more closely; then
+uttered a pitiful cry.
+
+"Merciful heaven! is this blood on this rope? It surely is. Now
+I think of it, he kept his right hand gloved this morning, and
+offered his left to Mr. Hemstead in salutation.  Father and I, in
+our cruel wrong, did not offer to take his hand. And yet it would
+seem that he tugged with bleeding hands at these ropes, that he
+might almost the same as throw away his life for us.
+
+"I can scarcely understand it. No brother could do more. He was
+braver than Mr. Hemstead, for he had a stanch boat, and experienced
+help, while my old playmate was eager to go alone in this wretched
+thing that would only have floated him out to deep water where he
+would drown.
+
+"Ah, well, let the future be what it may, one cannot be utterly
+unhappy who has loved such a man. If he is willing to give his
+life up for me, I surely can get him to give up his evil, wayward
+tendencies, and then I must be content."
+
+She now began to experience reaction from her strong excitement,
+and wearily made her way back to the house.
+
+Her father met her at the door, and exclaimed, "Why, Alice, where
+have you been? You look ready to sink!"
+
+"I have been to the boat-house, father," she replied, in a low,
+quick tone; "and I wish you would go there to-morrow, for you will
+there learn how cruelly we have misjudged Mr. Harcourt."
+
+"But, my child, I am troubled about you. You need quiet and rest
+after all you have passed through"; and he hastily brought her a
+glass of wine.
+
+"I needed more the assurance that my old friend and playmate was
+not what we thought this morning," she said, with drooping eyes.
+
+"Well, my darling, we will make amends right royally. He will
+be here to-morrow evening, and you shall have no occasion to find
+fault with me. But please take care of yourself.  You do not realize
+what you have passed through, and I fear you are yet to suffer the
+consequences."
+
+But more exhilarating than the wine which her father placed to her
+lips was the nfemory of what she had seen.  Hers was one of those
+spiritual natures that suffer more through the mind than through the
+body. She encountered her greatest peril in the fear of Harcourt's
+unworthiness.
+
+Letters in the evening mail summoned her father to the city on the
+morrow, and he left her with many injunctions to be very quiet. It
+was evident that his heart and life were bound up in her.
+
+But as the day grew bright and mild she again found her way to the
+boat-house. With greater accuracy she marked his every hasty step
+from the house to the shore. Harcourt little thought in his wild
+alarm that he was leaving such mute but eloquent advocates.
+
+Poor fellow! he was groaning over their harsh judgment, but vowing
+in his pride that he would never undeceive them.  He did not remember
+that he had left a trail clear to dullest eyes, and conclusive as
+a demonstration to the unerring instinct of a loving heart.
+
+He had gone to the city and accomplished his business in a mechanical
+way. He returned with the first train, though why he scarcely knew.
+He felt no inclination to visit at Mrs. Marchmont's any more, for
+since he had come more fully under Miss Martell's influence Addie
+had lost her slight hold upon him, and now her manner was growing
+unendurable. He also felt that after Mr. Martell's coldness he
+could not visit there again, and he doggedly purposed to give his
+whole time to his business till events righted him, if they ever
+did.
+
+But his stoical philosophy was put to immediate rout by Mr. Martell's
+message, which he received on his return.  Five minutes later he
+was urging his black horse towards the familiar place at a pace but
+a little more decorous than when seeking Hemstead's assistance on
+the memorable even ing of the accident.
+
+"Miss Martell is out," stolidly said the woman who answered his
+summons.
+
+As he was turning away in deep disappointment, Burtis appeared on
+the scene, and with a complacent grin, remarked, "She's only down
+by the boat-house, a-seein' howl saved ye from drownding."
+
+Harcourt slipped a bank-note into his hand, and said, "There's for
+your good services now if not then," and was off for the water's
+edge with as much speed as he dared use before observant eyes.
+
+"They must have found out from the old coachman that I was not
+the coward they deemed me," he thought. "If so, I'll see he has a
+merry Christmas."
+
+He saw Alice standing with her back towards him, looking out upon
+the river, that now rippled and sparkled in the sunlight as if a
+dark, stormy night had never brooded over an icy, pitiless tide.
+
+The soft snow muffled his steps, until at last he said, hesitatingly,
+"Miss Martell."
+
+She started violently, and trembled as if shaken by the wind.
+
+"Pardon me," he said hastily. "It was very stupid in me to thus
+startle you, but you seemed so intent on something upon the river
+that I thought you would never see me."
+
+"I--I was not expecting you," she faltered.
+
+"Then I have done wrong--have been mistaken in coming."
+
+"O, no; I did not mean that. I thought you were in New York. We
+expected you this evening."
+
+"Shall I go away then, and come back this evening?"
+
+"Yes; come back this evening, but do not go now,--that is, just
+yet. I have something to say to you. Please forgive my confusion.
+I fear my nerves have been shaken by what I have passed through."
+
+And yet such "confusion" in one usually so composed did puzzle
+him, but he said hastily, feeling that it would be better to break
+the ice at once, "I came here not to 'forgive,' but to seek your
+forgiveness."
+
+"You seeking my forgiveness!" she said in unfeigned surprise.
+
+"Yes," he replied, humbly bowing his head. "Heaven knows that I
+am weak and faulty enough, but when I have wronged any one, I am
+willing to make acknowledgment and reparation. I cannot tell you
+how eager I have been to make such acknowledgment to you, whom
+I revere as my good angel. I acted like a fool in the chapel last
+Monday afternoon, and did you great injustice. You have never shone
+on me 'coldly and distantly like a star,' but again and again have
+stooped from the height of your heavenly character that you might
+lift me out of the mire. It's a mystery to me how you can do it.
+But believe me, when I am myself, I am grateful; and," he continued
+slowly, his square jaw growing firm and rigid, and a sombre, resolute
+light coming into his large dark eyes, "if you will have patience
+with me, I will yet do credit to the good advice, written in a
+school-girl's hand, which I keep treasured in my room.  Weak and
+foolish as I have been, I should have been far worse were it not
+for those letters, and--and your kindness since. But I am offending
+you," he said sadly, as Alice averted her face. "However the future
+may separate us, I wanted you to know that I gratefully appreciate
+all the kindness  of the past. I sincerely crave your forgiveness
+for my folly last Monday. For some reason I was not myself. I was
+blinded with--I said what I knew to be untrue.  Though you might
+with justice have shone on me as 'coldly and distantly as a star,'
+you have treated me almost as a sister might. Please say that I am
+forgiven, and I will go at once."
+
+Imagine his surprise when, as her only response, she said abruptly,
+"Mr. Harcourt, come with me."
+
+His wonder increased as he saw that her eyes were moist with tears.
+
+She took him to the bluff, behind the boat-house, where in the
+snow were the traces of one who had slid and fallen from a perilous
+height.
+
+"What do these marks mean?" she asked,
+
+"It didn't hurt me any," he replied with rising color.
+
+"Did you stop to think at the time whether it would or not? Have
+you thought what a chain of circumstantial evidence you left against
+you on that dreadful night? Now come with me into the boat-house,
+and let me tell you in the mean time that a lace curtain in my room
+is sadly torn, and one of my window-panes broken."
+
+While he yet scarcely understood her, every fibre of his being was
+beginning to thrill with hope and gladness; but he said deprecatingly:
+"Please forgive my intrusion. In my haste that night I blundered
+into a place where I had no right to be. No doubt I was very rough
+and careless, but I was thinking of the pain of cold and fear which
+you were suffering. I would gladly have broken that to fragments."
+
+"O, I am not complaining. The abundant proof that you were not
+deliberate delights me. But come into the boat-house, and I will
+convict both you and myself, and then we shall see who is the
+proper one to ask forgiveness. What is this upon these ropes, Mr.
+Harcourt? and how did it come here?"
+
+"O, that is nothing; I only bruised my hand a little breaking in
+the door."
+
+"Is it nothing that you tugged with bleeding hands at these ropes,
+that you might go alone in this wretched shell of a boat to our aid?
+Why, Mr. Harcourt, it would not have floated you a hundred yards,
+and Burtis told you so.  Was it mere vaporing when you said, 'If
+I cannot save them, I can at least drown with them'?"
+
+"No," he said impetuously, the blood growing dark in his face; "it
+was not vaporing. Can you believe me capable of hollow acting on
+the eve, as I feared, of the most awful tragedy that ever threatened?"
+
+"O, not the 'most awful'!"
+
+"The most awful to me."
+
+"No, I cannot. As I said before, I have too much circumstantial
+evidence against you. Mr. Harcourt, true justice looks at the intent
+of the heart. You unconsciously left abundant proof here of what
+you intended, and I feel that I owe my life to you as truly as to
+Mr. Hemstead.  And yet I was so cruelly unjust yesterday morning as
+to treat you coldly, because I thought my old friend and playfellow
+had let strangers go to our help. With far better reason I wish to
+ask your forgive--"
+
+"No, no," said Harcourt, eagerly; "circumstances appeared against
+me that evening, and you only judged naturally. You have no
+forgiveness to ask, for you have made amends a thousand-fold in
+this your generous acknowledgment. And yet, Miss Martell, you will
+never know how hard it was that I could not go to your rescue that
+night.  I never came so near cursing my destiny before."
+
+"I cannot understand it," said Alice, turning away her face.
+
+"It's all painfully plain to me," he said with a spice of bitterness.
+"Miss Martell, I am as grateful to Hemstead as you are, for when
+he saved you he also saved me. If you had perished, I feel that I
+should have taken the counsel of an ancient fool, who said, 'Curse
+God and die.'"
+
+She gave him a quick look of surprise, but said only, "That would
+be folly indeed."
+
+He took her hand, and earnestly, indeed almost passionately
+continued: "Miss Alice, I pray you teach me how to be a true man.
+Have patience with me, and I will try to be worthy of your esteem.
+You have made me loathe my old, vile self. You have made true
+manhood seem so noble and attractive that I am willing to make
+every effort, and suffer any pain,--even that of seeing you shine
+upon me in the unapproachable distance of a star. Make me feel
+that you do care what I become. Speak to me sometimes as you did
+the other evening among the flowers. Give me the same advice that
+I find in the old yellow letters which have been my Bible, and,
+believe me, you will not regret it."
+
+Alice's hand trembled like a frightened bird as he held it in both
+of his, and she faltered, "I never had a brother, but I scarcely
+think I could feel towards one differently--" and then the truthful
+girl stopped in painful confusion. Her love for Harcourt was not
+sisterly at all, and how could she say that it was?
+
+But he, only too grateful, filled out the sentence for her, and in
+a deep, thrilling tone answered, "And if my love for you is warmer
+than a brother's,--more full of the deep, absorbing passion that
+comes to us but once,--I will try to school it into patience, and
+live worthily of my love for her who inspired it."
+
+Again she gave him a quick look of startled surprise, and said hastily,
+"You forget yourself, sir. Such language belongs to another."
+
+"To another?"
+
+"Yes; to Miss Marchmont."
+
+"Miss Marchmont can claim nothing from me, save a slight cousinly
+regard."
+
+"It is reported that you are engaged."
+
+"It's false," he said passionately. "It is true, that before you
+returned, and while I was reckless because I believed you despised
+me, I trifled away more time there than I should. But Miss Marchmont,
+in reality, is as indifferent towards me as I towards her. I am
+not bound to her by even a gossamer thread."
+
+Alice turned away her face, and was speechless.
+
+"And did you think," he asked reproachfully, "that I could love
+her after knowing you?"
+
+"Love is blind," she faltered after a moment, "and is often guilty
+of strange freaks. It does not weigh and estimate."
+
+"But my love for you is all that there is good in me. My love is
+the most rational thing of my life."
+
+She withdrew her hand from his, and, snatching the rope that was
+stained with his blood, she kissed it and said, "So is mine."
+
+"O Alice! what do you mean?" and he trembled as violently as she
+had done when he startled her on the beach.
+
+She shyly lifted her blue eyes to his, and said, "Foolish Tom,
+surely your love is blind."
+
+Then to Harcourt the door of heaven opened.
+
+When Mr. Martell returned, he saw by the firelight in his dusky
+study that his daughter had made such ample amends that but little
+was left for him to do; but he did that right heartily.
+
+Then the Christian man said, "Alice, compare this with the shadow
+of 'Storm King,' and the grinding ice. Let us thank God."
+
+She gently replied, "I have, father."
+
+"But I have more reason to thank Him than either of you," said
+Harcourt, brokenly, "for had you perished I should have been lost,
+body and soul."
+
+"Then serve Him faithfully, my son,--serve Him as my old friend
+your father did."
+
+"With His help I will."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+HEMSTEAD'S ADVICE, AND LOTTIE'S COLORS.
+
+
+
+
+
+Soon after the departure of Mr. Martell and his daughter, Hemstead
+pleaded headache, and retired to his room. Lottie, to escape De
+Forrest, had also gone to hers, but soon after, at her brother's
+solicitation, had accompanied him to a neighboring pond to make
+sure that the ice was safe for him. But, though she yielded to Dan's
+teasing, her compliance was so ungracious, and her manner so short
+and unamiable, that with a boy's frankness he had said: "What is
+the matter with you, Lottie? You are not a bit like Auntie Jane
+to-day. I wish you could stay one thing two days together."
+
+As may be imagined, these remarks did not conduce to Lottie's serenity.
+She did not understand herself; nor why she felt so miserable and
+out of sorts. She had fallen into the "Slough of Despond," and
+was experiencing that depression which usually follows overwrought
+emotional states, and--her knight had disappointed her.
+
+Having learned that the ice was firm, and assisted her little
+brother in putting on his skates, instead of returning at once to
+the house, she sat down in a little screening clump of hemlocks,
+and gave way to her feelings in a manner not uncommon with girls
+of her mercurial temperament.
+
+Now it so happened that Hemstead, gazing listlessly from his window,
+saw their departure, and soon afterward it occurred to him that
+the fresh air would do his headache more good than moping in his
+room. By a not unnatural coincidence, his steps tended in the same
+direction as theirs, and soon he found Dan sprawling about the pond
+in great glee over his partial success in skating; but Lottie was
+nowhere to be seen. A sound from the clump of evergreens soon gained
+his attention, and a moment later he stood at the entrance of her
+wintry bower, the very embodiment of sympathy, and wondering greatly
+at her distress.
+
+A stick snapped under his tread, and Lottie looked up hastily,
+dashing the tears right and left.
+
+"What did you come for?" she asked brusquely.
+
+"Well, I suppose I must say in truth--I wanted to. I hope you won't
+send me away."
+
+"You ought to have given me a little warning, and not caught me
+crying like a great baby as I am."
+
+"I wish I were your friend," he said humbly.
+
+"Why so?"
+
+"Because you would then tell me your trouble, and let me try to
+comfort you."
+
+"I haven't any trouble worth naming. I've just been crying like
+a foolish child because I was out of sorts. There, don't look at
+me so with your great, kind eyes, or I shall cry again, and I am
+ashamed of myself now."
+
+"Something is troubling you, Miss Marsden, and I shall be very
+unhappy if you send me away without letting me help you."
+
+"You would think me a fool if I told you," she faltered.
+
+"No one will ever charge you with being that."
+
+She gave him another of her quick, strange looks, like the one she
+fixed upon him when he first moved her to tears by weaving about
+her the 'spell of truth.' It was a look akin to that of a child who
+learns by an intuitive glance whom it may trust. After a moment,
+she said: "If you were less kind, less simple and sincere, I would
+indeed send you away, and not very amiably either, I fear. And
+yet I should like a few crumbs of comfort. I scarcely understand
+myself.  Monday and yesterday I was so strangely happy that
+I seemed to have entered on a new life, and to-day I am as wicked
+and miserable a little sinner as ever breathed. The idea of my
+being a Christian!--never was farther from it.  I've had nothing
+but mean and hateful thoughts since I awoke."
+
+"And is this not a 'trouble worth naming'? In my judgment it is a
+most serious one."
+
+"Do you think so?" she said gratefully. "But then I'm provoked
+that I can be so changeable. Dan just said, 'I wish you could be
+the same two days together,' and so do I."
+
+"Let us look into this matter," he said, sympathetically, sitting
+down in a companionable way on the fallen tree beside her. "Let us
+try to disentangle this web of complex and changing feeling. As the
+physician treats the disordered body, you know it is my cherished
+calling to minister to the disquieted mind. The first step is to
+discover the cause of trouble, if possible, and remove that. Can
+you not think of some cause of your present feelings?"
+
+Lottie averted her face in dismay, and thought, "What shall I do?
+I can't tell him the cause."
+
+"Because you see," continued Hemstead, in the most philosophical
+spirit, "when anything unpleasant and depressing occurs, one of
+your temperament is apt to take a gloomy, morbid view of everything
+for a time."
+
+"I think you are right," she said faintly.
+
+"Now, I see no proof," he continued, with reassuring heartiness,
+"that you are not a Christian because you are unhappy, or even
+because you have had 'hateful thoughts,' as you call them. You
+evidently do not welcome these 'hateful thoughts.' The question
+as to whether you are a Christian is to be settled on entirely
+different grounds.  Have you thrown off allegiance to that most
+merciful and sympathetic of friends that you led me to see last
+Sunday as vividly as I now see you?"
+
+Lottie shook her head, but said remorsefully, "But I have scarcely
+thought of Him to-day."
+
+"Rest assured He has thought of you. I now understand how He has
+sympathy for the least grief of the least of His children."
+
+"If I am one, I am the very least one of all," she said humbly.
+
+"I like that," he replied with a smile. "Paul said he was the 'chief
+of sinners,' and he meant it too. That was an excellent symptom."
+
+A glimmer of a smile dawned on Lottie's face.
+
+"And now," he continued hesitatingly, as if approaching a delicate
+subject, "I think I know the cause of your trouble and depression.
+Will you permit me to speak of it?"
+
+Again she averted her face in confusion, but said faintly: "As my
+spiritual physician I suppose you must."
+
+"I think you naturally felt greatly disappointed that Mr.  De
+Forrest acted the part he did last evening."
+
+This speech put Lottie at ease at once, and she turned to him in
+apparent frankness, but with something of her old insincerity, and
+said, "I confess that I was."
+
+"You could not be otherwise," he said, in a low tone.
+
+"What would you advise me to do?" she asked demurely.
+
+It was now his turn to be embarrassed, and he found that he had
+got himself into a dilemma. The color deepened in his face as he
+hesitated how to answer. She watched him furtively but searchingly. At
+last he said, with sudden impetuosity, as if he could not restrain
+himself: "I would either make a man of him or break with him forever.
+It's horrible that a girl like you should be irrevocably bound to
+such--pardon me."
+
+Again Lottie averted her face, while a dozen rainbows danced in
+her moist eyes.
+
+But she managed to say, "Which do you think I had better do?"
+
+He tried to catch her eye, but she would not permit him.  After a
+moment he sprang up and said, with something of her own brusqueness,
+"You had better follow your own heart."
+
+"That is what Mrs. Dlimm said," she exclaimed, struck by the
+coincidence. "You and Mrs. Dlimm are alike in many respects, but
+I fear the world would not regard either of you as the best of
+counsellors."
+
+"Whenever I have taken counsel of the world, I have got into trouble,
+Miss Marsden."
+
+"There, that is just what she said again. Are you two in collusion."
+
+"Only as all truth agrees with itself," he answered, laughing.
+
+"Well, perhaps it would be best to follow the advice of two such
+sincere counsellors, who are richly gifted with the wisdom of the
+other world, if not of this. Your talk has done me more good than
+I could have believed. How is it that it always turns out so? I'm
+inclined to think that your pastoral visits will do more good than
+your sermons."
+
+"Now have pity on me, in regard to that wretched sermon. But I
+know of something that will do you more good than either, in your
+present depression. Will you wait for me ten minutes?"
+
+"Yes; longer than that," she said, with an emphatic little nod.
+
+He at once started for the house with great strides.
+
+"My 'depression' is not very great at the present moment," she
+chirped, and giving a spring she alighted on the fallen tree with
+the ease of a bird. "I had 'better follow my own heart,' had I?
+Was there ever more delightful doctrine than that? But, bless me,
+whither is it leading?  I dare not think, and I won't think."
+
+And so, to keep herself warm while waiting, she balanced up and
+down on the fallen tree, trilling snatches of song as a robin might
+twitter on its spray.
+
+Soon she saw her ghostly adviser speeding towards her in another
+guise. A stout rocking-chair was on his shoulder, and skates were
+dangling from his hand, and she ran to meet him with anticipating
+delight. A little later, Dan, who had been oblivious of proceedings
+thus far, was startled by seeing Lottie rush by him, comfortably
+ensconced in a rocking-chair and propelled by Hemstead's powerful
+strokes. This was a great change for the better, in his estimation,
+and he hailed it vociferously. Hemstead good-naturedly put the boy
+in his sister's lap, and then sent them whirling about the pond with
+a rapidity that almost took away their breaths.  But he carefully
+shielded them from accidents.
+
+"It's strange how you can be so strong, and yet so gentle," said
+Lottie, gratefully looking up at him over her shoulder.
+
+"I haven't the faintest wish to harm you," he replied, smiling.
+
+"That I should ever have wished to harm him!" she thought, with a
+twinge of remorse.
+
+After a half-hour of grand sport, the setting sun reminded them
+that it was time to return.
+
+"How do you feel now?" he asked.
+
+"My face must be your answer," she said, turning to him features
+glowing with exercise and happiness.
+
+"A beautiful answer," he said impulsively. "In color and brightness
+it is the reflection of the sunset there."
+
+"I admit," she answered shyly, "that its brightness has a western
+cause. But speaking of color reminds me of something;" and her
+eyes twinkled most mirthfully as she caught a glimpse of something
+around his neck. "What have you done with my 'colors,' that I gave
+you last night?  I know you wore them figuratively in your face
+this morning, when Miss Martell so enchanted you; but where are
+they, literally? Now a knight is supposed to be very careful of a
+lady's colors if he accepts them."
+
+"I have been; and Miss Martell has never seen your colors."
+
+"O, those so manifest this morning were hers. I understand now.
+But where are mine?"
+
+"I cannot tell you. But they are safe."
+
+"You threw them away."
+
+"Never."
+
+"Why, then, can't you tell me where they are?"
+
+"Because--because--Well--I can't; so you need not ask me."
+
+"If you don't tell me, I'll find out for myself."
+
+"You cannot," he said confidently.
+
+"Mr. Hemstead, what is that queer crimson fringe rising above your
+collar?"
+
+He put his hand hastily to his neck, and felt the ribbon that his
+stooping posture and violent exercise had forced into a prominence
+that defied further concealment; then turned away laughing, and,
+with his face now vying with the Sunset, said, "You have caught an
+ostrich hiding with its head in the sand."
+
+Her merry laugh trilled like the song of a bird, as she exclaimed.
+"O guilt, guilt! the western sky is pale compared with thy cheeks."
+
+Then, taking his arm in a way that would have won an Michorite, she
+added with a dainty blending of mischief and meaning, "I, too, am
+an ostrich to-night,--that is, in my appetite. I am ravenous for
+supper."
+
+"' I, too, am an ostrich '! What did she mean by that?" and Hemstead
+pondered over this ornithological problem for hours after.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+AROUND THE YULE-LOG.
+
+
+
+
+
+Lottie's radiant face at supper, in contrast with her clouded one
+at dinner, again puzzled certain members of the household; and De
+Forrest, to his disgust, learned that while he slept she had again
+been with Hemstead. He resolved on sleepless vigilance till the
+prize was secured, and mentally cursed the ill-starred visit to
+the country over and over again.
+
+Bel was cool and cynical outwardly, but was really perplexed as
+to what ought to be done. With all her faults she had a sincere
+affection for her friend, and was shrewd enough to perceive that
+this affair with Hemstead promised to be more serious than Lottie's
+passing penchants had been previously. But with her usual weakness
+and irresolution she hesitated and waited, Micawber-like, to see
+what would "turn up."
+
+The impression grew on Mrs. Marchmont that Lottie was fascinating
+her nephew; and yet just how to interfere she did not see. It was
+rather delicate business to speak, with nothing more tangible than
+what she had yet seen. That Lottie herself was becoming sincerely
+attached to a young man of Frank's calling and prospects, could
+not occur to a lady of Mrs. Marchmont's ideas of propriety and the
+fitness of things. It was only Lottie's "inveterate disposition
+to flirt." As to Lottie's "moods and emotions," she smiled at them
+with cool indifference, as far as she noticed them at all. "Young
+people pass through such phases as through the measles," she was
+accustomed to say.
+
+Addie was too much wrapped up in herself to think particularly
+about others.
+
+Save by queer little chuckling laughs, which no one understood, Mr.
+Dimmerly gave no sign that he noted any thing unusual going on.
+
+Besides, Lottie was very circumspect when in the presence of others,
+and Hemstead unconsciously followed the suggestion of her manner.
+Thus even lynx-eyed Bel could seldom lay her finger on any thing
+and say, "Here is something conclusive."
+
+But if ever there was an earthly elysium, Hemstead and Lottie
+dwelt in it during the remainder of that week. Not that they were
+much together, or had much to say to each other by word of mouth.
+Scarcely another opportunity occurred for one of their momentous
+private talks, for De Forrest's vigilance had become sleepless
+indeed.
+
+Besides, Hemstead was shut up in his room most of the time, engaged
+on another sermon. For Dr. Beams was ill, and the student had been
+asked to preach again. He gladly complied with the request, for he
+was most anxious to correct the dreary impression he had made on
+the previous Sabbath. Lottie, too, was much in her room, at work
+on something which no one was permitted to see. But little was
+thought of this, for the house was full of the mystery that always
+prevails just before Christmas. Every one was cherishing innocent,
+and often transparent, little secrets, which were soon to be proclaimed,
+if not on the "house-top," on the tree-top of the fragrant cedar
+that had already been selected and arranged in the back parlor,
+suggesting to all the blessedness of both giving and receiving.
+
+Yet, while seemingly separated, what moment passed when they were
+not together? How vain was De Forrest's vigilance!--how futile
+were Mrs. Marchmont's precautions!  Lottie was the muse that sat at
+Hemstead's side; and every time he lifted his eyes from the paper
+his vivid fancy saw her face glowing like the sunset, and beaming upon
+him.  She inspired his sermon. Unconsciously, he wrote it for her
+alone, letting her need and spiritual state color the line of thought
+which his text naturally suggested; and a fresh, hope-imparting
+Christmas sermon it promised to be,--a veritable gospel. He
+was unconsciously learning the priceless advantage to a clergyman
+of pastoral visitation; for, in discovering and meeting the needs
+of one heart, nearly all are touched,--so near a kinship exists
+throughout humanity.
+
+As Lottie stitched away at an odd bit of fancy-work--very different
+from any thing that had ever taxed her dainty skill before--strange
+gleams flitted across her face. At times her eyes would sparkle
+with mirth as she lived over scenes in which the student was ever
+the chief actor; and again she would grow pale, and her breath come
+quick and short, as her fancy portrayed him--when in the darkness
+he could not have been seen by human eyes--far out amid the ice
+upon the river. Then again her face would grow comically pitiful,
+as she murmured: "I could have brought him to quicker than uncle.
+I could have given him a stimulant more potent than the forty-year-old
+brandy of which uncle is so proud. I've found out my power over
+him."
+
+Then her face would light up with exultation as she exclaimed, "O,
+it's grand to have such power over a strong, richly-endowed man,--to
+be able to move and play upon him at your will by some mystic
+influence too subtile for prying eyes to see. I can lift him into
+the skies by a smile.  I can cast him into the depths by a frown.
+If I but touch his hand, the giant trembles. He would be a Hercules
+in my service, and yet I've got him just there"; and she depressed
+her little thumb with the confidence of a Roman empress desiring
+to show favor to some gladiatorial slave.
+
+Then her face would change in quick and piquant transition to the
+expression of equally comic distress, as she sighed, "But, alas!
+where am I? Right under his big thumb, whether he knows it or not.
+How it all will end I dare not think."
+
+When her jewelled watch indicated that the time for dinner or supper
+was near, she would make the most bewitching of toilets, and laugh
+at herself for doing so, querying, "What is the use of conquering
+one over and over again who is already helpless at your feet?"
+
+And yet the admiration of Hemstead's beauty-loving eyes was sweeter
+incense than all the flattery she had ever received before.
+
+And what hours of dainty, ethereal banqueting were those prosaic
+meals in Mrs. Marchmont's dining-room! The corpulent colored waiter
+served the others, but airy-winged love attended these two, bearing
+from one to the other glances, tones, accents, of the divinest
+flavor.
+
+De Forrest noted and chafed over this subtile interchange.  Bel
+and Mrs. Marchmont saw it also, and Mr. Dimmerly's queer chuckling
+laugh was heard with increasing frequency.  But what could be
+done? Lottie's and Hemstead's actions were propriety itself. Mrs.
+Marchmont could not say, "You must not look at or speak to each
+other." As well seek to prevent two clouds in a summer sky from
+exchanging their lightnings!
+
+Hemstead was in a maze. The past and the future had lost their
+existence to him, and he was living in the glorified present. He
+no more coolly realized the situation than would one in an ecstatic
+trance. In one sense he verified the popular superstition, and was
+bewitched; and, with the charming witch ever near to weave a new
+spell a dozen times a day, how could he disentangle himself? He was
+too innocent, too unhackneyed, to understand what was going on in
+his own heart.
+
+The days and the hours fled away until Saturday--the day before
+Christmas--came. By noon Hemstead had finished his sermon, and
+Lottie had completed her mysterious fancy-work; and both were ready
+for the festivities of Christmas eve.
+
+Mr. Dimmerly was a great stickler for the old English customs, and
+always had the yule-log brought in with great ceremony. With his
+own hands he suspended the mistletoe from the chandelier in the
+hall, which he always obtained from Dimmerly Manor in England.
+Lottie, without thinking, stood beneath, watching him, when, with
+a spryness not in keeping with his years, he sprang down and gave
+her a sounding smack in honor of the ancient custom.
+
+"There," said he, "that pays me for all my trouble and expense. But
+you will get another kiss here, that you will like better, before
+I take the mistletoe down."
+
+"Well, uncle," said Lottie, laughing and rubbing her tingling
+cheek, "I hope it won't be such an explosion as yours was, or it
+will alarm the household."
+
+"Be careful, or it may attract more attention than mine"; and he
+departed with his queer chuckling laugh.
+
+Lottie looked after him with sudden intelligence, and asked herself,
+"Now what does he mean by that? Does he suspect anything?"
+
+At the dinner-table Mr. Dimmerly indulged in a long homily on
+the importance of keeping up old customs, and ended with a sly,
+significant glance at Lottie, which brought the color into her face.
+But during the afternoon she foiled all the devices of De Forrest
+to get her under the mistletoe bough, and yet with such grace that,
+however disappointed, he could not become angry. As for Hemstead,
+he was fat too diffident to attempt any such strategy, much as he
+would have liked to solemnize the venerable rite.
+
+And so at last Christmas eve came; and with it a fevr guests.
+Harcourt and Miss Martell had been specially invited; for the fact
+of their engagement had become known at once, and Mrs. Marchmont
+hastened to assure them, by this invitation, that she had no regrets
+or resentment. Not for the world would she have Miss Martell imagine
+that any maternal projects had been frustrated.
+
+Harcourt, grateful for all the kindness he had received at Mrs.
+Marchmont's, induced Alice to accept; and so their illumined faces
+were added to the circle that gathered around the yule-log in the
+large dining-room, that had been cleared for games and dancing.
+
+In spite of the incongruous elements composing that circle, it
+made, with the crackling fire playing on happy faces and Christmas
+decorations, a pretty picture,--one that might convert a pagan into
+willingness to honor the chief Christian festival.
+
+After some old-fashioned country dances--through which even Hemstead
+had been induced to blunder, to Lottie's infinite delight--they sat
+down to nuts, apples, and cider.  Billets of hickory were piled
+higher than ever against the great yule-log; and never did the
+sacred flame light up fairer and happier faces than those of Alice
+Martell and Lottie Marsden. And yet they were as different as could
+be. One was the lily, and the other the rose. Harcourt and Hemstead
+also looked as if some angelic messenger had brought them "tidings
+of great joy."
+
+Harcourt and Alice sat together; but Lottie, with seeming
+perverseness, got as far away as possible. But it was only seeming,
+for she sat where she could look Hemstead full in the face, and,
+with her brilliant eyes, indulge in love's mystic telegraphy without
+restraint.
+
+Now was the time for Mr. Dimmerly to shine out; and be proposed that
+some one should begin a story, and carry it forward to a certain
+point, then stop abruptly, while some one else took it up for a
+brief time, when, in like manner, it would again be dropped that
+another might continue it, so that each one who was willing might
+have a chance to contribute.
+
+"You commence, Mr. Harcourt," said Mr. Dimmerly.
+
+After a preface of hemming, the young man said: "Once upon a time,
+in a village in the south of France, it was arranged that there
+should be a general fete and dance on the village green the afternoon
+before Christmas. Little Ninon was a peasant's daughter, and she
+was only fourteen.  If she were petite, she was also piquant and
+pretty--"
+
+"Very good, very good," cried a chorus of voices; and a round of
+applause stimulated the narrator.
+
+"Until this occasion, Ninon had always been kept at home as a
+child; but, after interminable coaxings, she obtained her mother's
+permission to go to the fete. Now her mother was a widow, and
+it so happened that she could not go with her daughter, and after
+she had given her consent had not one whom she could send with her
+child as a protector. But Ninon was in such glee that her mother
+had not the heart to take back her promise.
+
+"'Now, mother, tell me what shall I say when the boys, and perhaps
+some of the very young men, ask me to dance with them?'
+
+"'Say, I'm only a little child who have come to see. Go thy ways.'
+
+"'But suppose they don't go their ways,' pouted Ninon.
+
+"'Go thine then, and come home.'
+
+"'Now, mother dear, am I not almost old enough to have a lover?'
+
+"'Lover indeed! Silly child, but yesterday I rocked thee in the
+cradle there. I'm a fool to let thee go.'
+
+"Then Ninon, in fear, kept still, lest her mother should change
+her mind, a thing which women sometimes do, even in France--"
+
+"Now I protest against innuendoes," cried Lottie. "It is the
+Frenchman, as it is man all over the world, who changes his mind.
+Adam first said he wouldn't eat the apple, and then he did!"
+
+"Where's your authority for that?" said Harcourt.
+
+"It's in the Bible," answered Lottie, stoutly; at which there was
+a great explosion.
+
+"Miss Marsden equals modern commentators in amplifying the text,"
+laughed Hemstead.
+
+"Well," persisted Lottie, "if it isn't just so written, I know
+enough of human nature to be sure that that was just how it happened."
+
+"On with the story!" cried Mr. Dimmerly. "Come, Miss Martell."
+
+"The afternoon of the fete came," said Alice, "and Ninon's mother
+was depressed with a boding of evil.
+
+"'Whom shall I send with thee, my child? My heart fails me in
+sending thee alone.'
+
+"'Little brother Pierre shall go with me,' said Ninon.  'He's an
+odd child, and talks to the saints and angels more than to us. If
+he goes with me, the saints will take care of us both.'
+
+"This seemed to strike the mother as true, and she was comforted;
+and the pale little boy, with large, spiritual eyes that appeared
+to look into the other world, took his sister's hand without even a
+smile flitting across his sad face; and they started for the fete.
+
+"Now, Miss Marchmont," said Miss Martell, with a graceful inclination
+to Addie.
+
+"And the pale little boy, with big, owl-like eyes," continued Addie,
+flippantly, "stalked along as if going to a  funeral, while Ninon
+tripped and danced at his side. But soon the young girl's steps
+grew slower and slower, and her face thoughtful, and she began to
+question her mother's words,--that she was too much of a child
+to have a lover; and by the time she reached the village green she
+gave her pretty head a toss as she said, 'We'll see about this.
+Mother doesn't know everything.'"
+
+"Now, Bel."
+
+"But poor little Ninon," said Bel, "soon became sadly bewildered,
+for there were so many people all talking at once, and they pushed
+against and jostled her as if she were very small and insignificant
+indeed, and she began to think that her mother was right, and that
+she was only a child; and she grew frightened and wished herself
+at home again.  But she kept fast hold of the hand of her brother
+whom the saints loved, and felt that as long as he was with her she
+was safe. Finally they were pushed and jostled to a quiet nook on
+the edge of the green, under a tree, and here they sat down. Soon
+the dancing commenced, and Ninon amused herself by criticising
+the people and making remarks to her brother about their dress and
+manner. But he did not seem to hear her, and his eyes were fixed on
+the sky, as if he saw more that was wonderful there than she upon
+the village green."
+
+"Mr. De Forrest, you next."
+
+"But as Ninon sat there smiling and talking more to herself than
+to her queer little brother, who didn't listen, the young men began
+to notice her, and to nudge each other and ask who she was; for in
+truth she reminded every one of a half-blown rose. But no one knew
+who she was, and no one had ever seen her before. Then the handsomest
+young man in the village--indeed he was the one at whom all the
+girls were setting their caps--stepped forward and took a deliberate
+survey, and soon was convinced that, among all the village maidens,
+there was not a face as fair as Ninon's. And while he looked at her
+Ninon from under her long lashes as intently watched him. At last
+the young man made up his mind, and said to himself, 'I will be
+her lover for this afternoon,' and in a manner that was the very
+embodiment of grace, he stepped up to her and said, 'My pretty
+maiden, wilt dance with me?'"
+
+And De Forrest bowed to Lottie to continue. It was strange how the
+foolish little story was gaining the breathless interest of all
+present--all the more because each one was unconsciously coloring
+his bit of the mosaic with his own individuality. Lottie's manner
+by no means tended to allay this interest as she began her part
+of the impromptu tale.  She was a natural actress, and, for the
+moment, became little Ninon. The scene had grown actual to her vivid
+fancy, and by some process that cannot be explained she impressed
+it upon the minds of the others as real. They saw the crowded
+village green, the petite maiden and her weird brother sitting upon
+its edge, as she began.
+
+"And Ninon shyly raised her dark eyes to the face of the handsomest
+young man of all the village, at whom the girls were setting their
+caps, and said, a trifle coldly, 'I am only a little child who has
+come to see. Go thy ways.'
+
+"And the handsome young man stalked away, haughty and offended; and
+the youth of the village nudged each other and smiled and wondered
+and said, 'She must be a princess in disguise, or she would dance
+with him whom all the girls covet.' So no one else would venture
+to speak to her. But Ninon for a while was content to be left alone
+to watch all the funny people and their funny ways. She didn't see
+any one with whom she wanted to dance.
+
+"At last she became conscious that one who seemed a stranger like
+herself was watching her, and she began to look curiously at him.
+At first she did not like his looks at all, His dress was very
+plain,--not a bit smart and gay like that of the other young men.
+Besides, he was so tall and grave; and once, when some one said a
+rude word to him, his eyes were so fiery that Ninon was afraid of
+him. But a moment later, when his eyes rested on her, they became
+so kind and gentle that she wondered how it could be. Then she began
+to grow sorry for him because, like herself, he was a stranger and
+had no one to talk to. But he seemed in quest of some one, for he
+would look all around among the people; but soon his eyes would
+come back and rest wistfully upon her face, as if she were the one
+he was looking for after all.  This puzzled Ninon greatly, and she
+asked herself, 'Now can it be that I am the one he's looking for?'
+At last it seemed that the stranger wished to speak to her, but
+hadn't the courage, and this amused Ninon vastly. Twice he advanced,
+faltered, and then retreated. Ninon was convulsed with laughter and
+whispered, 'O Pierre, isn't this the funniest thing that ever was
+in this great world? That big man there is afraid of me,--little
+Ninon.'
+
+"Then she saw that he thought she was laughing at him, and that he
+had straightened himself up stiff and haughty and had looked the
+other way. But he couldn't keep looking the other way very long,"
+Lottie said, with an indescribable air that brought out a round of
+applause; "and when he timidly glanced towards her again she gave
+him such an encouraging smile that he came at once to her side and
+said, 'Little sister, wilt walk with me?'
+
+"A happy thought struck Ninon. Her mother had said she was too young
+to have a lover, but nothing had been said against her having another
+brother. So, with conscience clear, she whispered, 'Sit still here
+till I come back '; and the little boy sat still, looking up into
+the sky, while Ninon let the tall stranger take her hand and lead
+her away. But his eyes were so gentle and true that she lost all
+fear and asked, 'Why do you call me sister?'
+
+"'Perhaps you can tell me,' he said. 'I came here an utter stranger,
+and I looked all around among the people, and their faces were
+strange, and it seemed to me that they ever would be strange; but
+when I saw your face you appeared to belong to me. I think we must
+be related.'
+
+"'I never saw you before,' said Ninon, shaking her head.
+
+"'I've seen you in my dreams all my life,' he replied, looking at
+her so earnestly that the color deepened on her cheek.
+
+"'I never heard anything so queer in all my life,' said Ninon.
+
+"'You have much to learn,' said the stranger.
+
+"'Yes,' said Ninon, humbly; 'as mother says, I'm only a little
+child.'
+
+"'You are not a little child; you are a beautiful maiden, Ninon,'
+said the stranger, earnestly.
+
+"'Nonsense!' she said blushingly. 'I'll never be that.' But she
+liked to hear him say it, nevertheless," Lottie added with an accent
+that again brought out a round of applause.
+
+"I'm taking too much time," Lottie said, deprecatingly.
+
+"Go on, go on," was the unanimous cry; and her little brother Dan,
+who had dropped nuts and apples and was leaning open-mouthed on her
+knees, said, "Lottie, if you don't go on, I'll do something dreadful."
+
+So Lottie continued: "And the tall stranger smiled down upon her
+and said, 'Violets are my favorite flower, and you are a modest
+little violet.'
+
+"'Now you are wrong again,' said Ninon; 'violets are a pale blue
+flower, and my cheeks are burning so oddly--I never had them do so
+before. I know I look like the peonies in the cure's garden.'
+
+"'You look like the sweetest rose in the cure's garden.'
+
+"'Is that the way big brothers talk to their little sisters?'
+
+"'That is the way I talk to you, and I'm in earnest.'
+
+"'How do little sisters treat a brother as big as you are?'
+
+"'Well, for one thing, they kiss them.'
+
+"'That's queer,' said Ninon, innocently. 'I should think it would
+be just the other way.'
+
+"'Now I think of it, you are right,' and the stranger gave her a
+kiss that set every nerve tingling.
+
+"'How odd!' she exclaimed, half-frightened, half-delighted. 'Pierre
+sometimes kisses me, but I never felt that way before.'
+
+"'And big brothers take their little sisters in their arms and lift
+them over the rough places, as I do.'
+
+"And he carried her over a low stone wall that separated them from
+a shadowy grove.
+
+"'O, how nice!' sighed Ninon, complacently; 'I've always had to
+get over the rough places by myself before.'
+
+"'You will no longer,' said the youth, as they passed under the low
+branches of a sheltering tree. 'O Ninon, as innocent as beautiful,
+can you not see that I am not your brother, but your lover?' and
+he threw himself at her feet.
+
+"But Ninon clasped her hands in the deepest distress, and cried,
+'O, why did you say that? You might have been my brother as long
+as you chose. But mother says I can have no lover,--that I am only
+a child'; and like a startled fawn she fled from him, and, a few
+moments later, panting and breathless, was sitting again beside
+her strange little brother, who was still looking into the sky as
+if he saw a vision.
+
+"The young stranger followed sadly, thinking how he might still
+win her, and teach her that she was no longer a child. Ninon soon
+became more composed, and looked around as if she would like to
+see him again. As at a distance he watched her from under his bent
+eyebrows, a happy thought struck him, and he said, 'I'll teach
+her that she is a woman'; and, stepping forward, he singled out a
+neglected village maiden, who seemed ready for a little attention
+from anybody, and whirled her into the dance. Ninon, to her dismay,
+saw the arm of her whilom brother and lover encircling another girl,
+while she, apparently, was forgotten. She could scarcely believe
+her eyes. She looked at him fixedly, the picture of reproach, but
+he never seemed to look towards her. Surprise, resentment, grief,
+followed each other upon her fair face, like clouds passing over a
+sunny landscape.  At last she buried her face upon little Pierre's
+shoulder, and sobbed, 'He may be my lover, or anything else, if he
+will only leave that hateful minx and come to me once more.'
+
+"The tall stranger saw her drooping head, and quickly led his partner
+out of the dance and bowed himself away, leaving her bewildered,--so
+quickly had he come and gone.
+
+"Ninon looked up, but he was nowhere to be seen, and the 'hateful
+minx' stood alone. Suddenly a voice that had grown strangely familiar
+said at her side, 'May I be thy lover now?'
+
+"'Thou art false,' she said faintly.
+
+"'Never to thee, Ninon. My thoughts were with thee every moment
+since thou so cruelly left me. Do you not see why I sought another
+maiden? I wished to teach you that you were no longer a child, but
+a woman. I am your lover. Your heart has already claimed me, and
+these jealous tears prove it.'
+
+"'Well, then,' said Ninon, shyly smiling again, 'if my heart has
+gone to you, and I half believe it has, I must follow my heart';
+and she put her hand in his."
+
+Loud and long was the applause that greeted Lottie's conclusion.
+Dan executed a miniature breakdown as an expression of his feelings,
+and it seemed as if Mr. Dimmerly's chuckling laugh would never
+cease. De Forrest looked uneasy, and Hemstead was in a trance
+of bewildered delight. Alice and Harcourt exchanged significant
+glances.  but upon the faces of Mrs. Marchmont and Bel were traces
+of disapproval.
+
+"Now, uncle," cried Lottie, "it's your turn. I have given you
+COMEDY; we shall expect from you high tragedy."
+
+The word "comedy," as Lottie here used it, jarred unpleasantly on
+Hemstead's ear, and the thought crossed Harcourt's mind, "Can she
+be leading Hemstead on in heartless jest, as we proposed at first?
+How I have changed since that day! and I was in hopes that she had,
+too, somewhat."
+
+But Mr. Dimmerly had taken up the thread of the narrative where
+Lottie had dropped it.
+
+"Ninon," he said, "lived a long while ago, and did not properly
+refer the tall stranger to her mamma. A trysting place and time were
+agreed upon, and the mysterious stranger in green, who was apparently
+a forester, said that he had a deer to kill before nightfall; and,
+raising her hand to his lips, departed. Ninon sat a long time,
+lost in a maze of thought, and then, in the twilight, roused the
+rapt child from his visions, and they started for their home. But
+villainous faces had hovered on the outskirts of the village green,
+and ill-omened eyes had marked the beauty of Ninon and the spiritual
+face of her brother. At that time there was in France a terrible
+monster, known as Giles de Laval, whose emissaries were ever on
+the alert for such victims. It was this cruel man who suggested
+to Perrault his world-renowned story of Barbe-bleu, the Blue-Beard
+that Dan there knows all about. Well, when Ninon and her little
+brother were passing a thicket but half-way home, two masked men
+sprang out upon them, and, stifling their terror-stricken cries,
+carried them to a distance from the highway. They then bound
+bandages firmly over their mouths, and lifted them on their horses
+and galloped away and away, till poor Ninon felt that she could
+never find her way home again, even if she had a chance. Soon the
+shadowy walls of a great castle rose before them, with a single
+light in a lofty tower. The feet of the iron-shod horses rang on
+the draw-bridge, which rose after them, and then Ninon knew they
+were prisoners.  At first they were shut up in a dungeon that was
+perfectly dark, for their cruel jailer knew the overpowering effect
+of such rayless gloom. But strange little Pierre said that the place
+was brighter than the sun, and that lovely faces were smiling at
+him. Ninon, however, saw nothing, and it was dark indeed to her,
+and she sobbed bitterly, and called on her mother and lover for
+help. But only stony-hearted Laval and his accomplices heard her
+girlish voice. A bell in one of the towers slowly tolled out eleven
+o'clock. A little later the door of their cell opened, and light
+streamed in.  Two men in hideous masks seized them, and carried
+them up and up, till Ninon, in horror, thought that they were to
+be thrown from the top of the tower. But worse than that awaited
+them; for soon they entered a large circular room, in which, on a
+sort of throne, sat a dreadful-looking man, clad in sable. He had
+human form and features, but reminded one of the more disgusting
+kind of wild beasts. His eyes were small, piercing, and malignant,
+but his face was large, sensual, devilish, and poor Ninon lost
+hope from the moment she saw him. She instinctively felt that to
+sue for mercy from such a monster would be worse than vain. She
+had lost hope utterly. She and her mother had been mistaken. The
+saints cared for neither little Pierre nor herself, and had left
+them to fall into the clutches of this demon.  She glanced slowly
+around the room in the faint hope of escape, or even for the chance
+of throwing herself from a window, if it were needful, in order to
+escape from that horrible man. But the walls were thick. No light
+came from without, but only from a great furnace, that was Strangely
+constructed and made her shudder. For a long time there was perfect
+silence in the dreadful place. The two masked men, grotesque and
+horrible, stood near the furnace, motionless as statues. The sable
+monster on his black throne watched them without moving a muscle
+in his great, coarse face, only his small eyes seemed like two
+scintillating sparks of infernal fire, as with a fiendish kind
+of pleasure he marked the agony of Ninon. Although the young girl
+instinctively gave up all hope of life, yet never had life seemed
+so sweet. Its homeliest details now appeared precious, and their
+poor little cottage, heaven, compared with this den of infamy. She
+had just tasted the exquisite happiness of a new and before unknown
+love, and now she was to die. She thought of her mother growing gray
+in loneliness and grief. She thought of her lover coming eagerly
+to their trysting-place; but when he should come on the morrow,
+Christmas day, what would she be?--where would she be? and in her
+anguish she cried aloud, and, kneeling, stretched out her hands
+towards the sable throne.
+
+"Then for the first time the coarse, thick lips of the monster
+distorted themselves into a hideous grin, but otherwise he did not
+move, and the awful silence continued in that chamber of death.
+
+"Ninon put her hands to her face, to hide his ugly visage, and then
+sank down in the apathy of despair.
+
+"There was nothing in Ninon's agony that disturbed Laval.
+Scarcely a night passed but some victim like herself writhed under
+his remorseless eyes. Their mortal fear and sufferings were his
+recreation before the sterner business of sorcery that followed;
+and the more demonstrative they were in their pain, the more highly
+spiced was his pleasure.  At first Ninon's beautiful and expressive
+face kept his whole attention; but after a time he began to note
+the strange-appearing little boy who accompanied her. There was
+no fear in his calm, pale face. There was no dread in his large,
+spiritual eyes, that seemed to look past the monster and his thick
+walls to some rare vision beyond.
+
+"'What does the little wretch see?' he queried, for Laval, like
+his age, was very superstitious.
+
+"But Ninon must be goaded out of her apathy, or the night would
+be dull; so at last the thick lips open, and the awful silence is
+broken by more awful words:
+
+"'Girl, thou who art to lose body and soul, look at me.'
+
+"Slowly Ninon lifted her eyes to his brutal face, and gazed fixedly
+as some poor little bird might look into the envenomed jaws of a
+serpent. The fascination of fear was upon her. In a thick, guttural,
+monotonous voice, the human beast continued: 'The devil has shown
+me that there is a potent charm in thy young innocent heart, that
+there are powerful spells in thy warm young blood, and that with
+them I may discover untold wealth. When the bell tolls out the hour
+of midnight, I shall take your bleeding heart out of your living
+body, and the heart of your brother out of his body, that with them
+I may decoct an essence in yonder furnace that will transmute the
+basest metal into gold. Midnight is the hour, and at midnight you
+shall die. Only the spell will be far more potent if you first give
+yourself to the foul fiend. Therefore, repeat after me: 'I give my
+soul and body to Satan.'
+
+"Mechanically the terror-stricken girl began: 'I give--' but little
+Pierre put his hand over her mouth. 'The saints forbid,' he said
+quietly.
+
+"'Seize the child; tear out his staring eyes,' shouted the monster,
+savagely."
+
+Mr. Dimmerly stopped, took off his spectacles, and coolly wiped
+them as he said: "I'm through, and my part of the story is true.
+This Giles de Laval, or, as he is better known in French history,
+the Marshal de Retz, destroyed hundreds of children, at ages
+varying from eight to eighteen, and in ways far worse than I have
+described. So, Lottie, have you had enough of high tragedy?"
+
+"O uncle!" she exclaimed, with a little impatient stamp of the foot,
+"you have told us a horrible story. It must not break off in this
+way, or we sha'n't sleep a wink to-night.  Mr. Hemstead, you take
+up the story where uncle left off, and, if possible, complete it
+in a way that won't make our blood run cold."
+
+Thus Hemstead was put upon his mettle, and soon all present were
+hanging with breathless interest on his rich, well-modulated tones.
+
+"When the monster from his sable throne uttered his merciless
+mandate to tear out the eyes of little Pierre, the two grotesque
+and statue-like apparitions sprang into life, and, snatching hot
+irons from the furnace, rushed towards the child. Ninon gave a shriek
+of terror, and sought to shelter the boy in her arms, crying,'Do
+what you will with me, but spare him.' Thus again, more truly than
+before by jealous tears, Ninon proved that she had become a woman."
+
+At this sentence he was interrupted by a perfect storm of applause,
+in which Harcourt led off again and again. But Hemstead drew his
+inspiration from Lottie's face, and noted with a thrill of joy that
+tears stood in her eyes. This was a richer tribute than he received
+from all the others, and with deeper and more effective tones he
+continued: "But just then the great bell began to toll out the hour
+of twelve, and the demon, from his sable throne, made a restraining
+gesture.
+
+"'Naught,' he said, 'must now interfere with our high magic and
+solemn sorcery. At the last stroke of the bell take their hearts
+out of their living bodies.'
+
+"Ninon sank on the floor, murmuring like a dying zephyr among the
+chords of an AEolian harp, 'Farewell, mother dear. Farewell, my
+lover true. I cannot meet you to-mortarn  at the FALLEN TREE' (here
+Hemstead glanced at Lottie, whose face was instantly suffused); and
+she bowed her bead upon her brother's shoulder, and sobbed aloud.
+
+"Slowly and solemnly upon the silent night the iron tongue tolled
+out the fatal moments.
+
+"With increasing uneasiness the monster upon his sable throne watched
+little Pierre, who, from first to last, had not shown a trace of
+fear or trouble. Among all his victims he had never seen a child
+like this, and his guilty heart began to fail him wofully.
+
+"'He surely sees something,' he muttered, as the boy's large eyes
+dilated with a wondrous awe, and his face grew luminous with a
+great joy.
+
+"The heavy vibrations of the last stroke of the bell resounded
+through the silent night.
+
+"Suddenly, with a shrill, piercing voice that went like an arrow
+to the guilty heart of Laval, little Pierre exclaimed, 'It is
+Christmas morn! O Ninon, look! there is Jesu, the Christ-Child, and
+the Lord of all the saints. See, He is coming towards us, bearing
+His cross--He is here--He is placing His pierced hands upon our
+heads--we are saved'; and the child knelt reverently on the pavement,
+and his sister knelt beside him.
+
+"The monster tumbled off his sable throne and lay grovelling and
+groaning upon the floor, while his terror-stricken accomplices ran
+clattering down the stairs.
+
+"Far above the tower even, Ninon thought she heard a burst of
+heavenly song, while little Pierre in rapt ecstasy cried,' Listen.'
+
+"Suddenly a clarion voice that Ninon heard most plainly, and that
+thrilled her to the heart, rang up from the earth beneath.
+
+"' Harm but a hair of their heads, and I will make you suffer the
+tortures of the damned.'
+
+"Even at their height they could hear the sound of galloping steeds.
+
+"A dozen brave fellows swam the moat, and a moment later the
+draw-bridge fell heavily, and the clangor of a hundred hoofs rang
+upon it.
+
+"Up the winding stair came the tramp of armed men. A thud and a groan
+followed when any resisted. The dethroned monster lay grovelling
+on the floor, not daring to move.
+
+"Little Pierre still looked heavenward. Ninon looked towards the
+door. A moment later her lover rushed in with drawn sword; and
+Ninon, unharmed, with a cry of joy sprang to his heart.
+
+"But the fire of a terrible anger burned in the young man's cheek,
+and he raised his gleaming sword against Laval, who now pleaded
+piteously for mercy.
+
+"'What mercy would you have shown these children?' thundered the
+youth. 'What mercy have you shown to your other innocent victims?'
+and he was about to run him through when Ninon caught his arm and
+cried, 'Stay, kill him not this Christmas morn in his terrible guilt.
+It was Jesu who saved us; and does He not ever say, Forgive--even
+our enemies?'
+
+"Slowly she drew down the raised arm of human vengeance. She took
+from his reluctant hand the gleaming sword, and returned it in its
+sheath.
+
+"And now Ninon has become more than a woman,--she is a Christian."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+UNDER THE MISTLETOE.
+
+
+
+
+
+Instead of applause, there was the truer and more appropriate tribute
+of silence when Hemstead finished the mosaic of a story which, by
+the various narratives, had been developed so differently and yet
+characteristically.  The eyes of more than one were moist, and
+Lottie hastily left the room.
+
+Mr. Dimmerly was the first to recover himself, and, after blowing
+his nose most vociferously, managed to say: "Well, nephew, it was
+hardly the thing to get a sermon off on us before Sunday, but,
+since it was rather well done, I don't think we will complain.
+I now suggest that you young people have some games that will set
+your blood in motion. The last hours of Christmas eve should ever
+be the merriest. I will send Lottie back,--the tender-hearted little
+minx, who must take everything in earnest."
+
+His advice was followed, and Lottie soon returned, becoming, as
+usual, the life of the company. A breezy sound of voices and many
+a ringing laugh took the place of the former hush, as games and
+jests followed in quick succession.
+
+Harcourt was good-naturedly on the alert to serve Hemstead, and,
+in a game that required the absence of two of the company from the
+room a few moments, suggested the names of the student and Lottie
+Marsden. They, nothing loath, went out together into the empty
+hall.
+
+"Do you know," said Hemstead, "I think it a little strange I have
+not had a chance to speak to you alone since we were at the fallen
+tree in the clump of hemlocks?"
+
+"I did not know," said Lottie, laughing and blushing, "that the
+'fallen tree' was a trysting place."
+
+"Well," said he, eagerly, "I met a young lady there once, whom I
+would gladly meet there or anywhere else again."
+
+"To see whether she had taken your advice?"
+
+"That depends. I doubt whether she can 'make a man' of a certain
+individual, and I fear she will not take the other alternative."
+
+"She will probably do as Ninon did,--follow her heart." "If one could
+only know whither your heart would lead you!" he said, looking at
+her so wistfully that she, seeing through his thin disguise, had
+it on her tongue to tell him.  But, instead, she took a few dancing
+steps away, and, with no such intention whatever, stood just under
+the mistletoe as she laughingly said, "That reminds me of what
+father often says: How nice it would be to speculate, if one only
+knew every time how it would turn out!"
+
+"Miss Marsden!" he exclaimed, hurriedly, "you are right under the
+mistletoe."
+
+She tried to spring away, but he snatched her hand and detained
+her, while he stood hesitatingly at her side, looking at her lips
+as if they were the gates of Paradise.
+
+"Well," said she, laughing and blushing, "I have nothing to do in
+the matter."
+
+"But I dare not take it unless you give it."
+
+"And I dare not give it unless you take it."
+
+If Hemstead did not emulate Mr. Dimmerly's "explosion," the ancient
+rite was nevertheless honored in a way that Lottie would not soon
+forget. Never did a kiss mean more, express more, or impart more,
+upon any occasion of the observance of the ceremony by her ancestors,
+back to the times of the Druids.
+
+But this moment of bliss was of short duration, for Mrs.  Marchmont
+unexpectedly entered the hall, and threw them both into disastrous
+confusion by exclaiming, in unfeigned astonishment, "Well, well!
+what does this mean?"
+
+Of course Lottie was the first to recover herself, and managed to
+falter: "You see, auntie, by some accident--I assure you it was
+an accident; I didn't mean to do it at all--I got under that pesky
+mistletoe of uncle's, and Mr.  Hemstead, it would seem, had taken
+to heart uncle's homily on the duty of keeping up old customs. Mr.
+Hemstead, you know, is so conscientious, and I suppose he felt that
+he must, poor man; and so--and thus"--
+
+At this moment Harcourt's expedients of delay failed, and they were
+loudly summoned back to the dining-room.
+
+"I hope there will be no more such nonsense," said Mrs.  Marchmont,
+severely.
+
+"O, no, indeed, auntie; it will never happen again.  Only the
+strongest sense of duty could have impelled Mr.  Hemstead to do such
+a thing"; and they escaped to the dining-room only to be subjected
+to a fire from another quarter. Their color was so high, and they
+had such an air of general confusion, that Harcourt cried, laughingly,
+"I more than half believe that you have been under the mistletoe."
+
+"Nonsense!" said Lottie; "with auntie in the hall? If you think
+Mr. Hemstead is brave enough for that, you greatly misjudge him."
+
+But De Forrest was wofully suspicious, and had many uneasy thoughts
+about the "jest" which Lottie must be carrying out; for surely it
+could not be possible that she was becoming in earnest.
+
+Hemstead and Lottie made wretched work in guessing the word required
+of them from the nature of the game; for Mr. Dimmerly's prolonged
+chuckling laugh, which could be heard from the parlor, did not tend
+to allay their confusion.
+
+When Mrs. Marchmont entered that apartment she found her brother
+apparently in a convulsion; but he was only vainly endeavoring to
+prevent his merriment from developing into an outrageous chuckle,
+for he too had seen Lottie under the mistletoe.
+
+"This thing must be stopped," said Mrs. Marchmont, most emphatically;
+at which her brother chuckled louder than ever, and said, "Stopped,
+indeed! As if it could be, or ever had been 'stopped,' since Adam
+and Eve first cast sheep's eyes at each other in the Garden of
+Eden."
+
+His sister left the room with a gesture of annoyance.
+
+Suddenly the little man's queer, cackling laugh ceased, and his
+wrinkled face grew sad and thoughtful as he sighed: "I'm the only
+Dimmerly who was ever 'stopped,'--fool that I was. His mother,
+sister Celia, would marry a poor man; and her life, in spite of all
+her toil and privation, has been happier than mine"; and he shook
+his head pathetically over "what might have been."
+
+The marble clock on the mantel chimed out the hour of twelve,
+and the young people came flocking in from the dining-room, their
+noisy mirth hushed as they remembered that the sacred hours of the
+Christmas Sabbath had begun.
+
+"I have induced Miss Martell to give us a Christmas hymn before
+parting," said Harcourt; and he led Alice to the piano, as if there
+had been some preconcerted arrangement.
+
+Lottie went to her uncle's side, and took his arm in a sort of
+wheedling, affectionate way. She was beginning instinctively to
+recognize that she had an ally and sympathizer in him. As he looked
+down upon her fair face in its dewy freshness and bloom, he vowed
+that, as far as it was in his power, she should have her own way.
+Time and the inevitable ills of our lot might dim that face, but
+it should not become withered by a lifetime of vain regret.
+
+"What were you laughing at so, uncle?" she whispered.
+
+"At my nephew's painful conscientiousness and stern performance of
+duty. What a martyr he made of himself, to be sure!"
+
+"Now, uncle, I half believe you think I stepped under your old
+mistletoe on purpose. It's no such thing."
+
+"O, no, my dear. The mistletoe is haunted, and has been for a thousand
+years or more, and viewless elves draw under it those who are to
+receive kisses,--prophetic of many others from the same lips."
+
+But here he found Lottie's hand upon his lips for a second, and then
+she stood at Miss Martell's side, who was now playing a prelude.
+In some surprise, Lottie noticed that, instead of there being a
+printed sheet upon the piano-rack, both the words and music were
+written by hand. As Miss Martell sang, in a sweet but unfamiliar
+air, the following words, her surprise and interest deepened:
+
+
+    At midnight, in Judean skies,
+        There dawned a light whose holy rays
+    Not only cheered the shepherds' eyes,
+        But filled with hope all coming days.
+
+    At midnight, o'er Judea's plain
+        Was heard a song unknown before;
+    The echoes of that sweet refrain
+        Are reaching earth's remotest shore.
+
+    'Twas not the sun o'er Eastern hills,
+        That shed a transient radiance round;
+    Nor a feeble heir of earthly ills
+        The shepherds in the manger found.
+
+    Upon the darker midnight sky
+        Of human sorrow, care, and sin--
+    A night that broods at noontide high;
+        A dreary gloom all hearts within--
+
+    There rose a gentle, human face,
+        Whose light was love and sympathy--
+    The God of heaven, yet of our race--
+        The humblest of humanity.
+
+    The night of sorrow, sin, and care
+        Still shadows many hapless hearts;
+    But all who will this light may share,--
+        This hope which Christmas morn imparts.
+
+
+Lottie's eyes were suffused with tears when the simple hymn was
+finished, but they did not prevent her from following Miss Kartell's
+finger as she turned to the title-page and pointed to the inscription:
+
+"Music by Alice Martell.
+
+"Words by Frank Hemstead.
+
+"Dedicated to Miss Lottie Marsden.
+
+"We wish you more than a 'merry'--the happy Christmas, rather, of
+the Christian."
+
+Her first response was an impulsive kiss to Alice. But when she
+looked around to thank Hemstead he had gone.
+
+A little later, as he came stamping up the piazza, out of the
+snow, after assisting Harcourt and Miss Martell away, the hall-door
+opened, and some one darted out, and took his hand in a quick,
+thrilling pressure. A voice that had grown as dear as familiar said,
+"Before we parted to-night I wanted to tell you that I think Lottie
+Marsden, like Ninon, has become more than a woman,--a Christian."
+
+And she vanished, but left the night so luminous about him that he
+could not, for a long time, enter the house.
+
+He felt, like the shepherds who kept watch centuries ago, that an
+angel had brought him "tidings of great joy."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+THE CHRISTMAS SUNDAY.
+
+
+
+
+
+This Christmas Sabbath, though marked by no unusual event, was
+destined to be a memorable day in the lives of Frank Hemstead and
+Charlotte Marsden. A chain of unforeseen circumstances and experiences,
+and a sequence of emotions still less understood, had lifted them
+higher and higher, until this culminating day was scarcely one of
+earthly existence.
+
+Lottie, in her previous life, had been frivolous and selfish;
+but her evil resulted from thoughtlessness, rather than from the
+deliberate purpose to do wrong. She was the type of multitudes of
+her fair sisters, who, with sparkling eyes, look out upon life in
+its morning to see only what it offers to them, and not the tasks
+it furnishes them for others. Only by experience--only by God's
+logic of events--do they find that their happiness is in these
+tasks; in unselfish giving and doing.
+
+The world had been at Lottie's feet. It had offered her all that
+it has to give to a girl in her station; but when, withdrawn from
+it by a day of suffering, she had summed up her treasures, she had
+found that she had nothing but remorse.  She had been receiving
+all her life, and yet had nothing.  She would then gladly have
+remembered that she had given even one an impulse towards a truer
+and happier life. But she could not. Apart from natural impulses of
+affection towards kindred and friends, her only thought in regard
+to all had been,--How can I make them minister to me and my pleasure?
+With tact and skill, enhanced by exceeding beauty, she had exacted
+an unstinted revenue of flattery, attention, and even love; and
+yet, when, in weakness and pain, she wished the solace of some
+consoling memory, she found only an accusing conscience.
+
+This experience conveyed to the practical girl a startling lesson.
+With all her faults, she did not belong to the class that is hopeless,
+because so weak and shallow. Though her handsome face might often
+express much that was unlovely and unwomanly, it ever expressed
+mind.
+
+When she, in her turn, like hosts of others, came to realize the
+limitations of her being, her weakness and need, she looked around,
+instinctively, for help and support. Human teaching presented a
+God from whom she shrank in fear and dislike. The Bible revealed
+Jesus. When she most felt her need, the Bible presented One whose
+eyes overflowed with sympathy, and whose hand was omnipotent. She
+instinctively felt, like Mary of old, that, at "His feet," there
+were rest and hope.
+
+The feeling was not reached as a mathematician solves an equation,
+or a theologian comes to a conclusion, but more after the manner in
+which some women and most children will look at a person and say,
+"I like him; I'll trust him."
+
+There was nothing incongruous or unnatural in the contemporary love
+growing up in her heart for Hemstead, though it is possible that
+some may so think. In some minds the ideas of love and passion seem
+inseparable, and they regard religion as something far removed.
+These are but the right wing of that sinister class who jumble their
+passions and religion together, and, in pious jargon and spiritual
+double entendre, half conceal and half convey the base meaning of
+their hearts. In others, love, or what with them goes by the name,
+is equally inseparable from management  and match-making, trousseaux
+and settlements,--concerns pertaining to earth, and very earthy,
+it must be admitted. No doubt many excellent, solid people would
+regard Lottie's spiritual condition with grave suspicion, and ask,
+disapprovingly, "What business have two such DIFFERENT loves to
+be originating in her heart at the same time?" But, in the term
+"different," they beg the question. Where is the antagonism? Where
+is even the dissimilarity? Are not these two impulses of the heart
+near akin, rather? and does not a truer and deeper philosophy of
+life teach that love for a human object may be as certainly God's
+will as love towards Himself? Have these solid, excellent people
+aught to say against the faithful devotion of a wife, or the patient
+tenderness of a mother, which are corner-stones of the family, as
+the family is the corner-stone of all true civilization? But what
+is the origin of the wife's devotion and the mother's tenderness?
+These people, surely, are as wist as they are solid. They would
+have the day without the dawn.
+
+At any rate, it would appear that Heaven was making the match
+between Hemstead and Lottie,--making it as the spring comes on in
+northern latitudes, subtilely, imperceptibly, and yet speedily.
+Just how or when it came about, they did not know; but when they
+met on that Christmas morning, the peace and gladness of an assured
+and reciprocal love smiled from each other's eyes. They needed
+no explanations. Frank Hemstead's face had ever been as easily
+interpreted as his honest words; and he now had taught Lottie's
+face to tell the truth. A blessed truth it revealed to him that
+Christmas day.
+
+As he entered the pulpit that morning his face was radiant with
+the purest human love, as well as love to God. So far from being
+incongruous, the one seemed to kindle and intensify the other.
+Though his sermon was simplicity itself he spoke as one inspired.
+His message now was a gospel, and came to his hearers as the angel's
+announcement (which was his text) to the shepherds.
+
+But his closing words were searching, and sent many of his hearers
+home thoughtful and conscience-smitten, as well as cheered by the
+great hope which Christmas day should ever bring to the world.
+
+"I would gladly correct," he said, "the impression which I fear
+was made on some minds last Sabbath. Christ is the embodiment of
+Christianity, and His coming to the world was 'tidings of great
+joy'; His coming to every sinful heart should be 'tidings of great
+joy.' But I fear that I led some to dread His coming, as they would
+purgatorial fires. How did the All-powerful One come? As a little,
+helpless child, that he might disarm our fears and enlist our
+sympathy.  How did He live? The humblest among the humble, that no
+one on earth should be too lowly to go straight to His side with
+his griefs. How did He act? He took little children in His arms,
+and blessed them. He laid His hand on the loathsome leper from
+whom all shrank. He looked into the glare of the demoniac's eyes:
+the demons fled. Then, in meekness, He would offer to enter the
+poor wretch's heart, and dwell in what had been the foul abode of
+the foulest fiends. When men wept, He, from sympathy, wept with
+them, though his next breath changed their mourning into joy. When
+man dishonored God, or wronged his fellow-men,--as did the Pharisees,
+with their unhallowed traffic in the Temple, their robbery of the
+widow and fatherless, their blocking up of the way of life with
+their senseless ceremonies, puerile traditions,--no knight in all
+the heroic past ever breathed out a more fiery indignation. How
+did He die? In such a way that even the thief might be redeemed
+and live eternally. He was an ideal man, as well as perfect God.
+He was the servant of all, as well as King of kings. Not from his
+throne did He stoop to us. He stood at our side, and sustained
+fainting humanity with His encircling arm, as a brother. Little
+wonder, then, that the angel called the announcement that God had
+thus visited His creatures 'good tidings of great joy.'
+
+"But there is a brief word of pointed and searching significance
+in this message. The angel said, 'Unto YOU is born a Saviour.'
+Is that true of each one of us? Is this Christmas day a mockery,
+reminding us of a hope that is not ours,--of a heaven in which
+we have no right or part?  Does conscience tell us to-day that we
+have looked upon the light that shone at Bethlehem with apathetic
+eyes, and heard the angel's message with unbelieving hearts, so
+that practically no Saviour has been born unto us? Why do you keep
+this day as a festival, my hearer? I can tell you why you may. If
+you will receive it, the angel's message is to you personally; unto
+you is born a Saviour who will forgive your past sin, and shield
+you from its consequences,--who will ennoble your future life, and
+sustain and comfort you under the inevitable sorrow and suffering
+awaiting,--and who will receive you into an eternal and a happy
+home at the end of your brief sojourn here. May not this Christmas
+pass until each one has received the abiding peace and joy of the
+angel's message into the depths of his heart."
+
+After the service, Miss Martell, with glistening eyes, said to
+Harcourt, "I am glad you heard that sermon."
+
+"I admit," he replied, with bowed head, "that it is better than my
+old philosophy. I think Hemstead must have written it for me."
+
+As the young clergyman helped Lottie into the sleigh, she whispered,
+"You wrote that sermon for me."
+
+Both were right. Hemstead had preached Christ, who is God's embodied
+truth, meant alike for every human hearty and alike adapted to all.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+THE END OF THE "JEST."
+
+
+
+
+
+It is a common impression that impending disasters cast their
+shadows before; and especially in the realm of fiction do we find
+that much is made of presentiments, which are usually fulfilled
+in a very dramatic way. But the close observer of real life, to a
+large degree, loses faith in these bodings of ill. He learns that
+sombre impressions result more often from a defective digestion
+and a disquieted conscience than from any other cause; and that,
+after the gloomiest forebodings, the days pass in unusual serenity.
+Not that this is always true, but it would almost seem the rule.
+Perhaps more distress is caused by those troubles which never come,
+but which are feared and worried over, than by those which do come,
+teaching us, often, patience and faith.
+
+Does not experience show that disasters and trials more often visit
+us, like the "thief in the night," unexpectedly?
+
+At any rate, it so occurred to Hemstead and Lottie on the dreary
+Monday that followed their glorified Sunday. And yet, never did a
+day open with fairer promise. A cloudless sky bent over a crystal
+earth. The mystic peace of Christmas seemed to have been breathed
+even into bleak December; for the air was mild and still, and the
+shadow of many a slender tree crept across the snow as steadily as
+that made by the sun-dial on the lawn.
+
+Within doors all appeared equally serene. The fire burned cheerily
+upon the hearth when Hemstead came down to breakfast. What was of
+far more importance, the light of love glowed as brightly in Lottie's
+eyes, as she beamed upon him across the table; and the spell which
+kept him, unthinking, unfearing, in the beatified present remained
+unbroken.
+
+But the darkest shadows were creeping towards both.
+
+To any situated as they were, and in their condition of mind and
+heart, a mere awakening would have been a rude shock. Some one had
+only to show them, with the remorseless logic of this world, what
+all their heavenly emotions involved, in order to cause perplexity
+and almost consternation. They could not long dwell, like the immortal
+gods, on the Mount Olympus of their exalted feeling, subsisting on
+the nectar and ambrosia of tones and glances.
+
+Lottie was the fashionable daughter of an ultra-fashionable mother
+and a worldly father, in whose eyes sins against the beau monde
+were the most irrational and unpardonable.
+
+Hemstead was a predestined home missionary, upon whom the Christian
+Church proposed to inflict the slow martyrdom of five or six hundred
+a year. Mrs. Marchmont but reflected the judgment of the world when
+she thought that for two young people, thus situated, to fall in
+love with each other, would be the greatest possible misfortune.
+Therefore, with the sincerest sense of duty, and the very best
+intentions, she set about preventing it, after all the mischief
+had been done.
+
+Like a prudent lady, as she was, she first sought to get sufficient
+information to justify her in speaking plainly to both nephew and
+niece. For this purpose she drew Addie out on Sunday afternoon,
+asking her if she had noticed anything peculiar in the manner of
+Hemstead and Lottie towards each other. Then, for the first time,
+and with just indignation, to her credit be it said, she learned
+of the practical  joke of which her nephew was to have been the
+victim.  She skilfully drew from her daughter all the details of
+its inception and the mode in which it had been carried out; for,
+to Addie's superficial observation, Lottie was only indulging
+in one of her old flirtations, She neither saw, nor was she able
+to understand, the change in Lottie's feelings and character. She
+also wronged Lottie by giving the impression that she herself had
+had nothing to do with the plot, with the exception that she had
+promised not to interfere.
+
+Mrs. Marchmont could scarcely believe what she heard, but Addie
+referred her to Bel, who confirmed her words and admitted that from
+the first she had "known it was very wrong, but had not believed
+that anything would come of it, until it seemed too late."
+
+"Besides," she said, "Lottie told me that if I said a word, or interfered
+in any way, she would from that time treat me as a stranger, and
+she said it in a way that proved she meant it. Therefore, whatever
+you do, please let it appear that I have no part in it."
+
+"You surprise and shock me greatly," said Mrs. Marchmont. "With all
+Lottie's wild nonsense and fondness for flirting, I would not have
+thought that she could be guilty of such deliberate and persistent
+effort to trifle with one so sincere and good as Frank. The most
+heartless coquette would scarcely call him fair game. She puzzles
+me too, for she does not seem like one who is acting, but more like
+one in earnest. Besides, look at the interest she is beginning to
+take in religion. She surely could not employ such sacred things
+for the purposes of mere flirtation."
+
+But Bell soon converted Mrs. Marchmont to her way of thinking.
+Lottie had found Hemstead more interesting than she had expected,
+and had foolishly and recklessly permitted a mere sentiment for
+him to develop, which, in her case, would end with the visit, and
+soon be forgotten in the mad whirl of New York gayety. "But with
+Mr. Hemstead," concluded Bel, "it will be a very different affair.
+He is one of the kind that will brood over such a disappointment
+and wrong to the end of life."
+
+So it was settled that Mrs. Marchmont should "speak plainly" to her
+nephew, and warn him against "Lottie's wiles," as soon as possible.
+
+But no opportunity occurred before Monday morning, and then not
+until Hemstead had received some of the most blissful experiences
+that he had yet enjoyed. For, immediately after breakfast, all
+had flocked into the back parlor, where the laden Christmas tree
+revealed the secrets that had filled the air with mystery during
+the preceding days.
+
+All had been remembered, and Mr. Martell's munificence towards the
+gallant coachman quite took away his breath.
+
+But Hemstead was overwhelmed and troubled at first, when he opened
+an envelope, and found a check for a thousand dollars, with the
+words:
+
+"We send you this, not in any sense as compensation,--for we know
+enough of your character to recognize that you would have taken
+equal risks in behalf of the penniless,--but because we wish to be
+remembered by you, whom we can never forget. And we only request
+tint you invest this sum towards your library, so that, in coming
+years, the thoughts of your favorite authors may remind you of
+those whose best wishes, sincerest gratitude, and highest esteem
+Will ever be yours.
+
+"(Signed) HERBERT MARTELL, ALICE MARTELL."
+
+"Now, Frank, what is the use of putting on such airs?" said Addie.
+"You surely expected a handsome present from Mr. Martell."
+
+"I assure you, I expected nothing of the kind," he replied, a
+trifle indignantly. "Why should I? As it is, I am doubtful whether
+I ought to accept it."
+
+"Why should I?" Lottie echoed with a merry laugh.  "That's like you.
+But, unless you wish to hurt and wrong sincere friends very much,
+I advise you to keep it and do as they say. You are so exceedingly
+proud or humble--which shall I call it?--that I fear you neither
+expect, nor will take anything from me."
+
+"Here is a queer-looking parcel for Frank Hemstead," said Mr.
+Dimmerly, with his chuckling laugh.
+
+With intense delight Lottie saw the student hesitate, and his hand
+tremble as he slowly began to open it.
+
+"It's not a torpedo, or an infernal machine, that you need be in
+such trepidation," she whispered. "It won't go off."
+
+"Is it from you?"
+
+"Look and see."
+
+It was a sermon holder, of rich, plain morocco without, but within,
+most elaborately embroidered. Most prominent among the rare and
+dainty devices was a single oar.
+
+The expression of his face repaid her, as he examined it with
+a comical blending of reverence and affection, such as a devout
+Catholic would manifest towards a relic. In the blade of the oar
+were worked, with the most exquisite fineness, the words, "A True
+Knight." Within an inner pocket, where they could not be readily
+seen, were the words,
+
+"With the thanks of Lottie Marsden."
+
+But his quick scrutiny soon discovered them, and he turned and
+said, with an emphasis that did her good, "I value this more than
+the check."
+
+"What folly!" she said, blushing with pleasure; "it isn't worth
+five dollars."
+
+"I can prove that it is worth more than the check," he said, in a
+low tone.
+
+"How?"
+
+"We value that gift most which we receive from the friend we value
+most. There; it is proved in a sentence; but I can prove it over
+again."
+
+"What delightful lessons in logic! But you surely cannot prove it
+again."
+
+"Yes. If the gift from the friend we value most contains evidence
+that thought and time have been expended upon it, that gift, however
+slight its market value, has a worth to us beyond price, because
+showing that the friend we love supremely thinks of us in our
+absence."
+
+"I did put a great deal of time and thought in that little gift,
+but you have repaid me," Lottie answered.
+
+Their brief but significant tete-a-tete was now interrupted by De
+Forrest, who came forward to thank Lottie for her costly gift to
+him,--a gift bought on Broadway. He had uneasily marked the fact
+that she had given something to Hemstead, but when he saw that it
+was only a sermon-cover, he was quite relieved.
+
+"Come here, Frank, and show me your present," said Mr. Dimmerly,
+a little later.
+
+Hemstead good-naturedly complied, and the old gentleman looked at
+the single embroidered oar, with a comical twinkle in his eye, and
+called again, "Lottie, come here."
+
+She approached rather shyly and reluctantly, not knowing what to
+expect.
+
+"Now, Lottie," said her uncle, reproachfully, pointing to the oar,
+"I did not expect that from so sensible a girl as you are. What
+is a man going to do with one oar, unless he is to take a lonely
+scull through life as I have? Did you mean to suggest that to Mr.
+Hemstead?"
+
+"Mr. Hemstead found out another meaning than that," she said,
+laughing, "and I'm not going to stay here to be teased by you";
+and she ran out of the room, the picture of blushing happiness.
+
+When Hemstead again saw her it was with a great dread in his heart,
+and his tones were grave and almost stern.
+
+"O--h--h, you found out another meaning, did you?" said Mr.
+Dimmerly, looking both kindly and quizzically over his spectacles
+at his nephew.
+
+"Well, uncle, to tell you the truth I hardly understand myself.
+My visit here is a great contrast to my quiet seminary life, and I
+have been getting deeper and deeper into a maze of happy bewilderment
+every day. So much has happened, and I am so changed, that, like
+many in tales of enchantment, I scarcely know whether I am myself."
+
+"I have seen the spell working," said Mr. Dimmerly, dryly, "and am
+thankful that the transformation has not been of the nature that
+Shakespeare portrayed in his Midsummer Night Fantasy. Your head
+might have become turned by the wrong girl, and you have reached
+the period when it is bound to be turned by some one."
+
+"Uncle," he said, fervently, "she is the noblest and most beautiful
+being in existence."
+
+"Frank, I wish to see you," said his aunt, quietly; and he followed
+her to her own private sitting-room.
+
+Mr. Dimmerly indulged in his chuckling laugh as he looked after
+them.
+
+"Now she's going to 'stop' it, he--he--In the mean time I'll go
+out and stop the brook from running down hill."
+
+"The time has come," said Mrs. Marchmont to her perplexed nephew,
+with the complacent superiority with which the wise of this world
+enlighten those whose "heads are often in the clouds,"--"the time
+has come when I must speak plainly to you of a matter as important
+as it is delicate. You are my own sister's child, and I cannot see
+you wronged or going blindly into trouble without warning you.  Are
+you not permitting yourself to become interested in Miss Marsden
+to a degree that is not wise?"
+
+"Why not wise?" he answered with burning cheeks.
+
+"Have you not realized that she is one of the most fashionable young
+ladies in New York, and belongs to one of the wealthiest and most
+fashionable families? If you could but once see her mother you
+would understand me."
+
+"But she herself has changed," he urged, eagerly.
+
+Mrs. Marchmont smiled incredulously and pityingly.  "How little
+you know the world!" she said. "In what do you expect all your
+sentiment to end? Only sentiment?  You say you purpose being a home
+missionary. Can you imagine for a moment that one situated as she
+is would contemplate such a life? Her parents would as soon bury
+her."
+
+Hemstead groaned under his aunt's remorseless words, but said in
+a sort of blind desperation: "Her parents! Is this Hindostan, that
+parents can treat their daughters as merchandise? A girl of Miss
+Marsden's force and nobility of character--"
+
+"O Frank, hush! It absolutely makes me sick to see one so easily
+deceived. 'Nobility of character,' indeed!  Well, I didn't wish
+to speak of it. I could not believe it even of Lottie, but nothing
+less than the whole truth will convince you"; and she told him of
+the plot in which Lottie purposed to make him the ridiculous subject
+of a practical joke, and intimated that all her action since had
+been but the carrying out of that plot.
+
+At first Hemstead grew deathly pale, and his aunt, thinking he was
+going to faint, began fumbling for her salts. But a moment later
+the blood suffused even his neck and brow, and he said passionately,
+"I don't believe a word of this; Miss Marsden is not capable of
+such falsehood."
+
+"Whether in your unreasoning passion you will believe it or not
+makes no difference," said Mrs. Marchmont, quietly.  "It is true,
+as I can prove by Addie and Miss Parton."
+
+He took a few hasty strides up and down the room and muttered,
+"I will take her word against all the world. She shall answer for
+herself"; and he rang the bell.
+
+When the servant appeared he said, "Please ask Miss Marsden to come
+here at once."
+
+Mrs. Marchmont regretted Hemstead's action very much, but it was
+too firm and decided to be prevented. She had planned that after
+his "eyes had been opened to his folly," and Lottie's frivolity,
+to say the least, her nephew would, with quiet dignity, cease his
+attentions, and perhaps shorten his visit. She had a horror of
+scenes, but feared that one was coming now.
+
+Hemstead admitted Lottie with a silent bow and gave her a chair.
+
+When she saw his grave, pale face, her heart misgave her strangely,
+and she trembled so that even he noticed it, and also another
+fact,--she did not meet his eyes. He fastened his upon her, as if
+he would read her soul, for he now felt that more than life was at
+stake.
+
+"Miss Marsden," he said, in a low, deep tone, "my aunt has made
+a strange charge against you, but I said to her, and I now say to
+you, that I will take your word against all the world. She asserts,
+and she gives the names of her witnesses, that your action--your
+kindness towards me from the first--has been but the carrying out
+of a deliberate and heartless jest. Is it true?"
+
+Lottie's wonted quickness failed her. She had been so happy, she
+had seemed to have got so far beyond her old, false self, and so
+established in his affection, that such a reverse did not appear
+possible. But the evil that at one time she had feared had now
+come in a form so unexpected and serious that, for a moment, she
+was stunned and bewildered, and fell into helpless confusion. The
+nature of the case aggravated her distress. How could she explain?
+What could she say? In response to his question she only trembled
+more violently and buried her burning face in her hands.
+
+He saw in this action confirmation of fears that he at first
+would scarcely entertain, and regarded her a moment with a strange
+expression upon his face,--anger and pity blended,--and then
+silently left the room.
+
+The sleigh stood at the door, and the coachman was just starting
+on an errand to Newburgh.
+
+Mr. Dimmerly looked with surprise at his nephew's pale face,--a
+surprise that was greatly increased as the young man seized his
+hat and coat, and said in a husky tone, "I am going to New York
+for some days," and sprang into the sleigh and was driven away.
+
+"Well," said the old man, testily, "if she 'stopped' him as easily
+as that, he deserves to lose her."
+
+And Mrs. Marchmont, seeing Hemstead depart so silently, congratulated
+herself that she had escaped a scene after all, and complacently
+thought, "These things can be 'stopped' if taken in time,
+notwithstanding brother's sentimental nonsense."
+
+As poor Lottie's mind emerged from its chaos into connected
+thought, she speedily came to the conclusion to tell Hemstead the
+whole truth, to condemn herself more severely than even he could
+in his anger, and to ask his forgiveness.
+
+But when she raised her tearful face to speak, he was gone.
+
+She heard the sound of bells. A sudden fear chilled her, and she
+sprang to the window and saw a vanishing form that she dreaded
+might be his. Without a word to Mrs. Marchmont, she rushed down to
+the lower hall, where she found Mr. Dimmerly fuming about.
+
+"Where is Mr. Hemstead?" she asked, eagerly.
+
+"What the deuce is the matter? What have you sister been saying
+that Frank should come down here white as a sheet?"
+
+"But where is he?" she asked again, in a tone that her uncle had
+never heard her use before.
+
+"Gone to New York for several days," he said.
+
+Lottie tottered a moment as if she had received a blow.  With one
+hand she steadied herself on the balustrade of the stairs, while she
+passed the other across her brow, then turned and wearily climbed
+to her room.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+LOYAL.
+
+
+
+
+
+Bel was startled at the pallor of Lottie's face as she entered the
+room, and rose hastily to offer assistance, but Lottie motioned her
+away. Without a word she threw herself upon the bed and signified
+her grief and despair by an act as old as the oldest records of
+humanity,--she "turned her face to the wall."
+
+Bel knew that Mrs. Marchmont had "spoken plainly," and she had seen
+Hemstead drive away. She expected Lottie to come to her room in a
+towering passion, and was prepared to weather the storm in cynical
+endurance, assured that her friend would eventually thank her for
+having had a hand in breaking up the "whole absurd thing."
+
+But when Lottie entered, with the expression of one who had received
+a mortal wound,--when in silence and despair she had turned her
+face from all the world as if there were nothing left in it for
+which she cared,--the nervous young lady began to fear that this
+affair might not pass away like an ordinary "mood."
+
+She reasoned and remonstrated, but Lottie did not heed, and scarcely
+heard her. Then she went to Mrs. Marchmont, and disturbed even
+that lady's complacency by her account of Lottie's appearance and
+manner. But with approving consciences they both said, "It was time
+something was done."
+
+The dinner hour came, but Lottie silently shook her head to all urging
+to come down. It was the same at supper.  Entreaty, remonstrance,
+the assumption of hurt and injured tones, were alike unavailing.
+She lay motionless, like one stunned and under partial paralysis.
+
+Mrs. Marchmont lost her complacency utterly, and Mr.  Dimmerly
+proved but a Job's comforter, as he snarled, "You have stopped it
+with a vengeance. It's always the way when people meddle."
+
+Nervous Bel was in a perfect tremor of anxiety, perplexity, and
+weak remorse; and she kept flitting in and out of the room as pale
+and restless as a disquieted ghost.
+
+De Forrest thought he ought to be "chief mourner," but no one seemed
+to pay much attention to him.
+
+As for Lottie, one ever-present thought seemed scorching her brain
+and withering heart and hope.
+
+"He thinks me false,--false in everything,--false in every glance
+and word to him,--false even when I spoke of sacred things; and he
+will despise me forever."
+
+Little wonder that she was so drearily apathetic to all that could
+be said or done to rouse her. The fall from the pinnacle of her
+religious hope and earthly happiness was too far and great to permit
+speedy recovery.
+
+At last she rose, and mechanically disrobed for the night: but no
+sleep blessed her eyes, for, on every side, she saw, in flaming
+letters, the word false. With increasing vividness her fancy
+portrayed a pale, stern, averted face.
+
+The next morning she was really ill, and her aunt, in alarm, was
+about sending for the physician, but Lottie prevented her by saying,
+somewhat coldly, "What drug has the doctor for rny trouble? If you
+really wish me to get better, give Bel another room, and leave me
+to myself. I must fight this battle out alone."
+
+"Now, Lottie, how can you take a little thing so greatly to heart?"
+
+"Is it a little thing that the one whom I most honor and respect
+in all the world regards me as a false coquette?"
+
+"You surely cannot apply such language to my nephew?"
+
+"I do; and on the best grounds. If I am young, I am somewhat capable
+of judging. He is not the first man I have seen. You do not know,
+and have never appreciated Mr. Hemstead."
+
+"But, Lottie, compare your station and prospects with his."
+
+"There is scarcely any one with whom I would not exchange prospects.
+I am sick of society's artificial distinctions, in which true worth
+and manhood--all that Heaven cares for--count for nothing. What
+does Mr. Hemstead care about my wealth, name, and position in New
+York?  He looks at me; and you, or, rather, my own senseless folly,
+have made me appear a weak, false thing, that, from the very laws
+of his being, he cannot help despising. But it was cruelly hard in
+you and Bel, when you saw that I was trying to be a different--a
+better girl, to show him only what I was, and give me no chance
+to explain. He will never trust,--never even look at me again."
+And, for the first time, the unhappy girl burst into a passion of
+tears, and sobbed so long and violently that Mrs. Marchmont had a
+distressing consciousness that her worldly wisdom was not equal to
+this case at all. She would have telegraphed Hemstead to return,
+if she had known where to address him.  She was often tempted to
+write to Lottie's mother, but dreaded the reproaches of Mrs. Marsden
+for permitting matters to reach such a crisis before "stopping"
+them. And so, in anxiety and perplexity, the day dragged slowly on,
+until, at last, Lottie, wearied out, fell into the heavy sleep of
+utter exhaustion, from which she did not wake till the following
+morning.
+
+But the respite from that most depressing of all suffering; mental
+trouble, had given her a chance, and her healthful nature began to
+recover.
+
+She was a girl of too much force and character to succumb long to
+any misfortune; and, as she said to her aunt, she meant to fight
+this battle out to some kind of solution.
+
+To the surprise of every one, she appeared at the breakfast table,
+very pale, but quiet, and perfectly self-possessed.  Her bearing,
+however, had a dignity and a decision which would make even Mrs.
+Marchmont hesitate before she "meddled" again. De Forrest was half
+afraid of her, and began to realize that she was not the girl he
+had brought to the country but a few weeks since.
+
+After breakfast, she dismissed Bel by saying plainly that she wished
+to be alone, and then sat down, and, for the first time, tried to
+clearly understand the situation. It grew more and more evident
+how desperately against her were appearances. She had been false
+at first, and, in a certain sense, must appear false to the last,
+in that she had not told him the truth. Besides, just when and how
+she had become in earnest she could not remember. The poor girl was
+greatly discouraged, and again gave way to tears, as if her heart
+would break.
+
+But in the midst of her sore trouble, like a flash of genial light
+came the thought, "If Mr. Hemstead will never look at me again,
+there is One who will"; and she sprang up, and, having found a Bible,
+turned again to its shortest text, remembering, with a quick sob,
+how she had first discovered it. With almost the distinctness and
+reality of actual presence, there rose up before her mind One who,
+with bowed head, wept with men for men. Every tear of sympathy
+appeared to fall on her bruised heart; and hope, that she believed
+dead, began to revive. She just clung to one simple thought: "He
+feels sorry for me"; and it comforted her.
+
+Then she began to turn the leaves back and forth to find places
+where Jesus showed kindness and forgave, and she soon found that
+this was His life,--His work in which He never wearied,--kindness
+to all, forgiveness for all. Then the thought stole into her heart,
+like the dove bringing the "olive leaf" from across a dreary waste,
+"If Mr. Hemstead is like his Master he will forgive me." Hope now
+grew strong and steadily, and the impulsive, demonstrative girl
+kissed the little Book, pressed it to her heart, and caressed it
+as if it were a thing of life.  She got out her portfolio and wrote:
+
+"Mr. Hemstead, I sincerely ask your forgiveness for my folly, which
+you cannot condemn as severely as I do. Though unworthy, indeed, of
+your friendship and esteem, can you believe that I am not now the
+weak, wicked creature that I was when we first met? But I have
+not the courage to plead my own cause. I know that both facts
+and appearances are against me. I can only ask you, Who told His
+disciples to forgive each other, 'seventy times seven'?
+
+"Yours, in sorrow and regret,
+
+"LOTTIE MARSDEN."
+
+"I have now done the best I can," she said. "The issue is in God's
+hands."
+
+At the dinner-table she again perplexed the mystified household.
+They, in their narrow worldliness, had no key to such a problem as
+Lottie Marsden had become. She was gentleness itself. The mystic
+tears falling from Divine eyes had melted away all coldness and
+hardness, and the touch of her words and manner, if we may so speak,
+had in it a kindliness and a regard for others to which even the
+most callous respond. Patient self-forgetfulness is the most God-like
+and the most winning of all the graces.
+
+After dinner, Mr. Dimmerly shuffled away by himself, with a sound
+between a sniffle and his old chuckle, muttering, "I don't believe
+it's 'stopped,' after all. Anyway, I wish she were going to be a
+home missionary in my home."
+
+Lottie went with Dan again to the pond, and then to the "fallen
+tree"; but she found no other tryst there than memories, that, in
+view of what had happened, were very painful.
+
+After her return, she no longer shunned the others, but sat down
+and talked quietly with them, as multitudes of men and women are
+doing daily, giving no sign that in the mean time they are patiently
+watching at the sepulchre of a buried hope, which may, or may not,
+rise again.
+
+As with Lottie at first, so with Hemstead, the word false seemed
+to have the malignant power to quench hope and happiness. If it is
+faith that saves, it would seem that it is its opposite--distrust--that
+most quickly destroys. In no way can we deal more fatal and ruinous
+blows than to deceive those who trust us.
+
+And Hemstead felt, at first, that he had been deceived and trifled
+with in all that was sacred. For hours both faith and reason reeled
+in passion, that grew and raged in the strong man's breast like
+a tropical storm. He plunged into the streets, crowded with his
+unknowing, uncaring fellow-creatures, as he would lose himself in
+the depths of a lonely forest, and walked hour after hour, he knew
+not and cared not whither.
+
+Two thoughts pursued him like goading phantoms,--she was false--he
+was deceived.
+
+At last, when the frenzy left him, weak and exhausted, he found
+himself near a large hotel, and he went in and slept almost as the
+dead sleep.
+
+In his case also sleep proved "nature's sweet restorer." In the morning
+faith and reason sat together on their throne, and he recognized
+his duty to act the part of a man and a Christian, whatever the
+truth might be.
+
+He sat down at last and calmly tried to disentangle the web. Second
+thoughts brought wiser judgment, for, after  going over every day
+and hour of his acquaintance with Lottie, he could scarcely resist
+the conclusion that if she had begun in falsehood she was ending in
+truth. If she, in all her words and manner, had been only acting,
+he could never trust his senses again, or be able to distinguish
+between the hollow and the real.
+
+Hour after hour he sat and thought. He held a solemn assize within
+his own breast, and marshalled all he could remember as witnesses
+for and against her. Much in her conduct that at first had puzzled
+him now grew clear in view of her purpose to victimize him, and,
+even as late as Christmas eve, he remembered how her use of the
+word "comedy" had jarred unpleasantly upon his ear. But on the
+other hand there seemed even more conclusive evidence that she had
+gradually grown sincere, and come to mean all she said and did. Could
+the color that came and went like light from an inner flame,--could
+tears that seemed to come more from her heart than from her
+eyes,--could words that had sounded so true and womanly, and that
+had often dwelt on the most sacred themes, be only simulated?
+
+"If so," he groaned, "then there are only two in the wide universe
+that I can ever trust,--God and mother."
+
+Moreover, in her trial, Lottie had an eloquent advocate to whom
+even deliberate reason appeared only too ready to lend an attentive
+ear,--the student's heart.
+
+Therefore she finally received a better vindication than the Scotch
+verdict "not proven," and the young man began to condemn himself
+bitterly for having left so hastily, and before Lottie had time to
+explain and defend herself.
+
+His first impulse was to go back at once and give her another
+hearing. But, almost before he was aware, he found a new culprit
+brought to the bar for judgment,--himself.
+
+If the trial, just completed, had failed to prove Lottie's guilt,
+it had most conclusively shown him his love. He saw how it had
+developed while he was blind to its existence.  He saw that his wild
+agony of the preceding day was not over falsehood and deception in
+the abstract, but over the supposed falsehood of a woman whom he
+had come to love as his own soul. And even now he was exulting in
+the hope that she might have passed, as unconsciously as himself,
+into like sweet thraldom. In the belief of her truthfulness,
+how else could he interpret her glances, tones, actions, and even
+plainly-spoken words?
+
+But the flame of hope, that had burned higher and brighter,
+gradually sank again as he recalled his aunt's words, "How is all
+this sentiment to end?--in only sentiment?"
+
+He remembered his chosen calling. Could he ask this child of luxury
+to go with him to the far West and share his life of toilsome
+privation? He had long felt that the work of a missionary was
+his vocation. She had never had any such feeling. He recalled her
+words, spoken but yesterday, it seemed: "Do you imagine that any
+nice girl will go out with you among the border ruffians?"
+
+That is the way it appeared to her then. If such a thing were
+possible, that she had become attached to him, would it not be an
+unfair and almost a mean thing to take advantage of her affection,
+and, by means of it, commit her to a life for which she was unfitted,
+and which might become almost a martyrdom? The change from her
+luxurious home to frontier-life would be too great. If she had
+felt called of God to such a work,--if she had laid herself as
+a sacrifice upon the Divine Altar, that would be very different,
+for the Master would give no task without imparting strength and
+patience for its fulfilment. Besides, He had Heaven to give in
+return.
+
+But Frank Hemstead's unselfish manhood told him plainly that he
+had no right to ask any such sacrifice.
+
+Incidentally, Lottie had mentioned the number of her residence,
+and he hastily went up Fifth Avenue, and saw her palace of a home.
+Every stone in the stately abode seemed part of the barrier between
+them.
+
+An elegant carriage with liveried coachman and footman came around
+to the entrance, and a lady who had Lottie's features, except that
+they had grown rigid with pride and age, entered it, and was driven
+away. As he saw her stately bearing, and the pomp and show of her
+life, he could almost believe his aunt,--that this proud woman of
+the world would rather bury the daughter of whom she expected so
+much than marry her to an obscure home missionary.
+
+His heart grew heavy as lead, and he groaned, "Even if she loves
+me I have lost her."
+
+Then came the supreme temptation of his life. Why must he be a home
+missionary? Who was there to compel such a sacrifice of himself? He
+might come to this city, and win a place as high as hers, as many
+poorer and more friendless than himself had done. He might even
+seek some well-situated Eastern church. He might aim to be one of
+the great popular preachers of the day; and so be able to come to
+the door of that proud home and ask what it would be no condescension
+to grant.
+
+Again he was out in the storm; again he was in the thick of the
+battle;--passionate longings and love on one hand; stern, steady
+conscience on the other. In painful pre-occupation he again walked
+unknown distances. His aimless steps took him away from the mansions
+of the rich down among the abodes of the poor. As he was crossing
+a street his troubled eyes rested upon a plain cross over a lowly
+chapel door. He stopped before it like a superstitious Romanist,--not
+reverencing the emblem, however, but in vivid remembrance of Him
+who suffered thereon. He recalled His self-sacrifice and His words,
+"Whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me, cannot be my
+disciple."
+
+He bowed his head a moment, then turned quietly, and went back to
+his hotel.
+
+The conflict was over,--the temptation passed,--and he was loyal.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+MR. DIMMERLY CONCLUDES TO "MEDDLE."
+
+
+
+
+
+Hemstead found some solace, during the next two days, in the
+selection of books for his library. He did not expect to visit the
+East again for many years, and made all his arrangements accordingly.
+He wrote Mr. and Miss Martell a letter, which they regarded as a
+model in its expression of delicate appreciation and manly modesty.
+
+Towards the end of the week he returned to Mrs. Marchmont's, by
+no means sure whether he would find Lottie there or not, and quite
+certain that the less he saw of her the better.
+
+He walked from the depot, and went around by the way of the pond.
+His resolution almost failed him, as he looked at the "fallen
+tree," especially as he believed he saw evidence, from traces in
+the snow, that Lottie had visited the place in his absence.
+
+Lottie looked forward with a strange blending of hope and fear to
+the meeting with him, and had portrayed to herself every possible
+way in which she imagined it could take place. But it happened, as
+such things usually do, after the most prosaic fashion possible.
+They were all sitting in the parlor, after dinner, and Hemstead
+opened the door and walked in.
+
+Her face became scarlet, but his was so pale as to remind her of
+the time when he had carried Miss Martell into that room. It was,
+indeed, the pallor of one who was making a desperate moral effort.
+But he was successful, and spoke to her, giving his hand, in almost
+the same manner as to his aunt. His bearing towards even De Forrest
+was most courteous. He then sat down composedly, and began to talk
+on ordinary topics.
+
+Lottie's heart failed her. This was entirely different from what
+she had expected. His manner was not in the least cold or resentful,
+but his words seemed to come from a great distance, and his eyes
+no longer sought her face, as if she only had for him the true
+sunlight. Their old, quick, subtile interchange of sympathy and
+thought appeared lost as completely as if a thick wall rose between
+them. The warm-hearted girl could not act his part. She was silent,
+and her head bent low over her work.
+
+Mrs. Marchmont and Bel were greatly pleased, and gave Hemstead
+credit for being a "very sensible young man, who, having been shown
+his folly, could act like a gentleman and not make a fuss."
+
+Even De Forrest looked at the student approvingly, especially as
+he had been to a city tailor and was clothed in taste and harmony
+with his manly proportions. No amount of grace and virtue could
+find recognition in De Forrest's eyes, unless dressed in the latest
+mode.
+
+Mr. Dimmerly, from behind his newspaper, stared for a long time
+at Lottie and his nephew, and then snarled abruptly: "It's getting
+deuced cold. The brook will stop running down hill to-night, I'm
+a-thinking,--freeze up"; and he stirred the fire as if he had a
+spite against it.
+
+Lottie's head bent lower. She was beginning to understand her
+crotchety uncle. She, too, thought that it was getting very "cold."
+
+After a while Hemstead quietly left them, went to his room, and
+did not appear again till they were all at supper.  He then, with
+a simple, yet quiet, high-bred ease,--the bearing of a natural
+gentleman,--gave sketches of what he had seen in New York, and the
+latest literary gossip. His manner towards Lottie was, as nearly as
+possible, the same as towards Bel and his cousin. He so completely
+ignored all that had happened--all that had passed between them--that
+Lottie almost feared to give him the note she had written. She
+could not rally, but grew more and more depressed and silent, a
+fact which De Forrest and her aunt marked uneasily.
+
+After supper he remarked that he would go over and say good-by to
+Mr. and Miss Martell and Harcourt.
+
+With what a foreboding chill Lottie heard that word "good-by"!
+Would he, indeed, go away without giving her a chance to say one
+word of explanation? She could endure it no longer. In accordance
+with her impulsive nature, she went straight to him, and said in
+a low tone, "Mr. Hemstead, will you please read that?"
+
+He trembled, but took the note, and said, after a moment, "Certainly,"
+and was gone.
+
+An hour passed, and another; still he did not return.  Lottie's
+head bent lower and lower over her work. Mr.  Dimmerly never played
+a more wretched game of whist.  At last he quite startled them
+all by throwing down the cards and saying, in the most snappish of
+tones, "I wish the blockhead would come home."
+
+"Why, brother, what is the matter?" asked Mrs. Marchmont, in a tone
+of surprise.
+
+"I want to lock up," said the old gentleman, in some confusion.
+
+"It's not late, yet."
+
+"Well, it ought to be. I never knew such an eternally long evening.
+The clocks are all wrong, and everything is wrong."
+
+"There, there, you have had bad luck over your whist."
+
+Lottie, however, knew what was the matter, and she gave him a shy,
+grateful look. But the old man was still more incensed when he saw
+that there were tears in her eyes, and he shuffled away, muttering
+something that sounded a little profane.
+
+Lottie, soon after, left the room also, but as she was passing
+through the hall she met Hemstead, who had come in at a side door.
+He took her hand in both of his, and said, gently, "I do forgive
+you, fully and completely, and I have your forgiveness to ask for
+my hasty judgment."
+
+"And will you be my friend again?" she asked, timidly, and in a
+way that taxed his resolution sorely.
+
+"You have no truer friend," he said, after a moment.
+
+"I think it was a little cruel, in so true a friend, to leave me
+all this desperately long evening."
+
+"You are mistaken," he said, abruptly, and passed hastily up to
+his room. She did not see him again that night.
+
+What could he mean? Had he recognized her love, and, not being
+able to return it fully, did he thus avoid her and hasten through
+his visit? The bare thought crimsoned her cheek. But she felt that
+this could not be true. She knew he had loved her, and he could not
+have changed so soon.  It was more probable that he believed her
+to be totally unfit to share in his sacred work,--that he feared
+she would be a hindrance,--and, therefore, he was shunning, and
+seeking to escape from one who might dim the lustre of his spiritual
+life and work. In some respects she had grown very humble of late,
+and feared that he might be correct, and that she was indeed utterly
+unfit to share in his high calling.
+
+"But if he only knew how hard I would try!" she said, with a touch
+of pathos in her tone which would have settled matters if he had
+heard it.
+
+That he was sacrificing himself rather than ask her to share in
+his life's privation, did not occur to her.
+
+Restless and unhappy, she wandered into the dining-room, where she
+found Mr. Dimmerly standing on the hearth-rug, and staring at the
+fire in a fit of the deepest abstraction. Lottie was so depressed
+as to feel that even a little comfort from him would be welcome;
+so she stole to his side and took his arm. He stroked her head with
+a gentleness quite unusual with him. Finally he said, in a voice
+that he meant to be very harsh and matter of fact, "Hasn't that
+nephew of mine got home yet? I feel as if I could break his head."
+
+"And I feel," said Lottie, hiding her face on his shoulder, "as
+if he would break my heart, and you are the only one in the house
+who understands me or cares."
+
+"Well, well," said the old gentleman, after a little, "others have
+been meddling; I think I will meddle a little."
+
+Lottie started up in a way that surprised him, and with eyes flashing
+through her tears said, "Not a word to him, as you value my love."
+
+"Hold on," said the little man, half breathlessly. "What's the
+matter? You go off like a keg of powder."
+
+"I wouldn't sue for the hand of a king," said Lottie, heroically.
+
+"Bless you, child, he isn't a king. He's only Frank Hemstead, my
+nephew,--bound to be a forlorn home missionary, he says."
+
+"Well, then," she said, drawing a long breath, "if he can't see for
+himself, let him marry a pious Western giantess, who will go with
+him for the sake of the cause instead of himself."
+
+"In the mean time," suggested Mr. Dimmerly, "we will go back to
+New York and have a good time as before."
+
+This speech brought to the warm-hearted girl another revulsion of
+feeling, and, again hiding her face on her uncle's shoulder, she
+sobbed, "I would rather be his slave on a desert island than marry
+the richest man in New York."
+
+"And my wise and prudent sister thought it could be 'stopped,'"
+chuckled Mr. Dimmerly.
+
+"But remember, uncle, not a word of this to him, or I will refuse
+him though my heart break a thousand times. If he does not love me
+well enough to ask me of his own accord, or if he does not think I
+am fit to go with him, I would rather die than thrust myself upon
+him."
+
+"Bless me, what a queer compound a woman is! It won't do for you
+to go West. You will set the prairies on fire. There, there, now
+don't be afraid. If you think I can say anything to my nephew--the
+thick-headed blunderbuss--which will prevent his getting down on
+his knees to ask for what he'll never deserve, you don't know the
+Dimmerly blood.  Trust to the wisdom of my gray hairs and go to
+bed."
+
+"But, uncle, I would rather you wouldn't say anything at all,"
+persisted Lottie.
+
+"Well, I won't, about you," said her uncle, in assumed irritability.
+"I can get the big ostrich to pull his head out of the sand and
+speak for himself, I suppose. He's my nephew, and I'm going to
+have a talk with him before he leaves for the West. So be off; I'm
+getting cross."
+
+But Lottie gave him a kiss that stirred even his withered old heart.
+
+"O, good gracious!" he groaned after she was gone, "why was I ever
+'stopped'?"
+
+The next morning Hemstead appeared at breakfast as calm, pale, and
+resolute as ever. His manner seemed to say plainly to Lottie, "Our
+old folly is at an end. I have remembered the nature of my calling,
+and I know only too well that you are unfitted to share in it."
+
+She was all the more desponding as she remembered how conscientious
+he was.
+
+"If he thinks it's wrong, there's no hope," she thought, drearily.
+
+After breakfast Mr. Dimmerly said, "Nephew, I wish you would do a
+little writing for me; my hand isn't as steady as it was"; and he
+took the student off to his private study.
+
+After the writing was finished, Mr. Dimmerly gave a few awkward
+preliminary ahems, and then said, "So you go West next Monday?"
+
+"Yes. I wish to get off on the first train."
+
+"You seem very anxious to get away."
+
+"I am sorry, now, I ever came," the young man said, in tones of
+the deepest sadness.
+
+"Thank you."
+
+"O, it's no fault of yours. You and aunt have been very kind, but--"
+
+"But you are thinking of the 'noblest and most beautiful being in
+existence,' as you once said, referring to my pretty little niece.
+You have evidently changed your mind. Did you see some one in New
+York you liked better?"
+
+"I have not changed my mind. I have only learned too well what my
+mind is. I wish that I had learned it sooner.  There is one thing
+that troubles me greatly, uncle. I cannot speak of it to aunt,
+because--Well, I can't. Do you think that Miss Marsden cares much
+for me? She will surely forget me, will she not, in the excitement
+of her city life? I do hope she has no such feeling as I have."
+
+Mr. Dimmerly stared at his nephew as if he thought him demented.
+
+"Well," said he, "I think you have been 'enchanted, and are no
+longer yourself.' You now out-Bottom old Bottom himself. Do you
+mean to say that you love such a gem of a girl as Lottie, and yet
+hope she does not love you, and will soon forget you?"
+
+"Certainly I do. If I had my will, she would not have another
+unhappy hour in her life."
+
+"Well, if you have the faintest notion that she has any regard for
+you, why don't you get down on your marrow-bones and plead for a
+chance to make her happy? If I were in your place, and there was
+half a chance to win a Lottie Marsden, I would sigh like a dozen
+furnaces, and swear more oaths than were heard in Flanders, if it
+would help matters along any."
+
+"But would you ask her to leave a home of luxury, her kindred, and
+every surrounding of culture and refinement, to go out on a rude
+frontier, and to share in the sternest poverty and the most wearing
+of work?"
+
+"O--h--h, that is the hitch, is it?"
+
+"Yes. Before I was aware, I had learned to love her. I trust she
+will never know how deeply; for if she had half a woman's heart,
+she would be sad from very pity. If, unconsciously to herself,
+some regard for me has grown during our visit, it would be a mean
+and unmanly thing to take advantage of it to inveigle her into
+a life that would be a painful contrast to all that she had known
+before. It would be like a soldier asking a woman to share all the
+hardships and dangers of a campaign."
+
+Mr. Dimmerly stroked his chin thoughtfully, while he regarded his
+nephew with a shrewd, sidelong glance. "Well," said he, suggestively,
+"there is force in what you say. But is there any necessity of your
+being a home missionary, and living out among the 'border ruffians,'
+as Lottie used to call them? There are plenty of churches at the
+East. Dr.  Beams is old and sick: there may be a vacancy here before
+long."
+
+"No, uncle," said Hemstead, firmly, "I fought that fight out in New
+York, and it was a hard one. I have felt for years that I must be
+a missionary, and shall be true to my vocation. It's duty"; and he
+brought his clenched hand down heavily on the table.
+
+"My good gracious!" ejaculated Mr. Dimmerly, giving a nervous hop
+in the air. "Between the two, what will become of me? Yes, yes; I
+see. You are like your mother. If she took it into her head that
+anything was 'duty,' all the world couldn't change her. So, rather
+than give up being a missionary, you will sacrifice yourself and
+Lottie too?"
+
+"I should have no hesitation in making the sacrifice myself, but
+it would more than double my pain if I knew she suffered. And it is
+this that troubles me. But I must obey my orders, whatever happens."
+
+"Well," said Mr. Dimmerly, dryly, and with a queer little twinkle in
+his eyes, "I cannot give you much aid and comfort. I never meddle
+in such matters. A third party never can. Of course you can sacrifice
+yourself and your own happiness if you choose. That is your own
+affair. But when it comes to sacrificing another, that is very
+different.  Lottie is a warm-hearted girl with all her faults, and
+if she ever does love, it will be no half-way business with her.
+So be careful what you do. Sacrificing her happiness is a very
+different thing from sacrificing your own."
+
+"But do you think there is any danger of such a thing?" asked
+Hemstead, in a tone of the deepest distress.
+
+"Bless me, boy! how should I know?" said his uncle, in seeming
+irritability. "Do you think that I am a go-between for you two?
+Why don't you go and ask her, like a man? How do you know but she
+has a vocation to be a missionary as well as yourself?"
+
+Hemstead strode up and down the room, the picture of perplexity.
+"Was ever a man placed in so cruel a position?" he groaned. But
+after a moment he became quiet and said, "When a thing is settled,
+let it stay settled; my course is the only right and manly one";
+and he left the room saying he would be out for a walk till dinner.
+
+But as he entered the hall Addie cried, "Frank, you must go; we
+won't take no for an answer."
+
+"Go where?"
+
+"To West Point. It's a glorious day. We want one more sleigh-ride
+before we break up,--one that shall exceed all the others. There
+is going to be a cadet hop over there this afternoon, in the
+dancing-hall, and a friend has sent for us to come. I've set my
+heart on going, and so have Bel and Lottie. Mother says that we
+can go, if you will go with us and drive, for the coachman is ill.
+You will see lots of grand scenery, and all that kind of thing,
+which you like so much."
+
+"And have you set your heart on the 'cadet hop' also?" asked Hemstead
+of Lottie.
+
+"I think I should appreciate scenery more at present," she said,
+with a quick blush.
+
+"You'll go; say you'll go. He'll go, mother. It's all settled.
+Let us have some lunch, and we'll start at once;" and the spoiled
+little beauty already anticipated the conquest of a cadet or two
+as a holiday episode.
+
+So, in a single breezy moment, it was arranged, Hemstead scarcely
+having a voice in the matter. As he mounted to his room, reason told
+him that this long drive in the society of the one whom he believed
+he should avoid, for her sake as well as his own, was anything but
+wise. But he tried to satisfy himself with the thought that at no
+time would he be alone with her; and his heart craved this one more
+day of companionship, before a lifetime of separation.
+
+As Lottie was about to ascend the stairs, she heard, for the first
+time since that wretched Monday, Mr. Dimmerly's odd, chuckling
+laugh. She looked into the parlor, and, seeing that he was alone,
+went straight to him, and said, "Now! what do you mean by that
+queer little laugh of yours?"
+
+"Why do you think I mean anything?" he said, staring at the ceiling.
+
+"Because I haven't heard it since that dreadful Monday, and before
+I always heard it when something nice had happened between me
+and--and--"
+
+"Some one told me last night to mind my own business."
+
+"Now, uncle, you know something."
+
+"I should hope so, at my years,--enough not to meddle." And he
+still stared high over her head.
+
+"There," said Lottie with tears in her eyes, "everybody in the
+house is against me now."
+
+The old man's eyes dropped to her flushed, disappointed face, and
+his features became almost noble in their expression of tender
+sympathy. In a grave, gentle tone, such as she never had heard him
+use before, he said, "Lottie, come to my private study, before you
+go."
+
+While the others were at lunch, she glided, unseen, to the little
+study, that she might receive some comfort to sustain her fainting
+heart. Her uncle's first words, however, seemed prosaic, indeed,
+and very different from what she had expected.
+
+"How old are you, Lottie?"
+
+"I was twenty-one last June," she said, a little proudly.
+
+"So you are a June blossom, eh? Well, you look like it." But he
+puzzled her by his long, searching glance into her face.
+
+"Why do you ask?" she said.
+
+"I want to be sure that you are old and mature enough to decide a
+very important question."
+
+"Well," said Lottie, her breath coming quick, "I intend to decide
+all questions which relate to my own life and well-being."
+
+"Be careful, young woman. You had better follow the advice of old
+and wise heads like your aunt's and mother's."
+
+"Uncle, what do you mean?" said she, impatiently.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Dimmerly, deliberately, looking searchingly into
+her face all the time, "I have sounded that thick-headed nephew of
+mine--there, you needn't start so: do you suppose a Dimmerly would
+betray a woman's secret?--and what do you think he most dreads to
+discover as true?--that you love him a little."
+
+"It's something he never shall discover," said Lottie, almost
+harshly, springing up with flashing eyes and scarlet face. "I will
+not go on this ride, and he shall have no trouble in escaping my
+society."
+
+"Hold on, now," expostulated Mr. Dimmerly. "Nitroglycerine doesn't
+go off half so quick as you of late. I haven't told you why he is
+afraid you love him."
+
+"What other reason can he have save that he doesn't love me, or
+thinks I am unfit to be a clergyman's wife?"
+
+"He has another reason,--one that will devolve upon you the necessity
+of deciding some very important questions.  Are you old and mature
+enough?"
+
+"O uncle!" exclaimed Lottie, impatiently tapping the floor with
+her foot. "You ought to be made Grand Inquisitor General. You have
+kept me upon the rack of suspense--it seems an hour."
+
+"Hold on, little firebrand. Questions concerning a lifetime should
+not be decided in a moment. You had better take a few years--certainly,
+a few months--to think over what I am going to tell you. Frank
+worships the ground you tread on. He does not give you the little
+remnant of a heart that has been left after dozens of flirtations
+with other girls. You have the whole of his big, unworldly heart,
+and from what I know of him, or, rather, his mother, you always
+will; but he is so unselfish--so unlike the rest of us--that he
+won't ask you to exchange your life of wealth and luxury for his
+life of toil, poverty, and comparative exile. So, while I believe
+he will idolize your memory all his days, he is hoping that you
+won't suffer any, but will soon be able to forget him.  Of course
+I feigned profound ignorance as to your feelings, and left him in
+a pitiable state of distress. But he finally concluded that, even
+if you did love him a little, it would be very unmanly to take
+advantage of your feelings to get you into the awful scrape of a
+home missionary's life."
+
+As Mr. Dimmerly proceeded in this last speech, joy came into Lottie's
+face like the dawn of a June morning. Tears gathered slowly in her
+eyes, but their source was happiness, not sorrow. By the time he
+concluded, she had buried her burning face in her hands.
+
+"Well," said her uncle, after a moment, "what's to be done I hardly
+know. He is just like his mother. If he thinks it isn't right to
+speak, tortures could not wring a word out of him. I don't see but
+you will have to propose yourself--"
+
+"Propose myself! Never," said she, springing to her feet.
+
+"What will you do, then?--sit and look at each other, and fade away
+like two dying swans?"
+
+"No, indeed," said Lottie, dancing about the room, and brushing
+the tears from her face, like spray. "He shall propose to me, and
+very humbly, too. I have the key to the problem, now. My hand is
+now on the helm of this big ship of war, and you shall see how I
+will manage. He shall do just what I want him to, without knowing
+it. He shall--"
+
+"But, hold on," said Mr. Dimmerly, breathlessly. "You look like a
+rainbow run wild. Listen to reason. O my good gracious! the idea
+of her being a home missionary!"
+
+"That is just what I am going to be,--a home missionary, in his home;
+and all the principalities and powers of earth shall not prevent
+it. And now, you dear, precious, old meddler, good-by. You shall,
+one day, sit in the snuggest corner of as cosy a little home in
+the West as was ever made in the East;" and she vanished, leaving
+the old gentleman chuckling to himself, "It doesn't look as if it
+would be 'stopped' after all. Perhaps sister will find out that I
+know how to meddle a trifle better than she does."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+A NIGHT IN THE SNOW.
+
+
+
+
+
+"Where have you been?" exclaimed Addie, as Lottie came down dressed
+warmly, but plainly. "We are all through lunch, and ready to start."
+
+"I will not detain you, but will wrap up some lunch and take it with
+me. May I sit with you?" she said to Hemstead, a little later, as
+she came out where he was standing on the piazza,
+
+"You will be very much exposed to the cold on the driver's seat,
+Miss Marsden," he said, hesitatingly; but she saw well enough what
+he wished, though conscience was condemning him all the time.
+
+"So will you," she answered.
+
+"Yes, but I am a man."
+
+"And I am a woman," she said, with something of her old piquant
+style. "I do not like your implied assertion of superiority, sir.
+I have as good a right to expose myself to the cold as a man."
+
+"I was not disputing your right, Miss Marsden, but--"
+
+"O, I understand. You are of those who think so poorly of women
+as to regard them merely as men's pets,--the weaker sex, you would
+call us,--who prefer to wait till everything is made nice and
+comfortable, and then languidly step forward. In your reading of
+history, I think you must have skipped several chapters."
+
+"You do me injustice," said Hemstead, warmly, and falling  blindly
+into her trap. "If I had skipped all the chapters which treat of
+woman's heroism, in doing and suffering, I should, indeed, know
+little of history. She has proved herself the equal, and at times
+the superior of man."
+
+"Pardon me," said Lottie, in a hurt and injured tone; "I shall
+reach the unwelcome truth at last: it is not woman in general who
+is weak, but Lottie Marsden in particular. I am very sorry that
+you have so poor an opinion of me, and I shall try to change it
+somewhat by enduring, on this drive, all the exposure and cold that
+you can."
+
+As the sleigh just then came up, she settled the question by
+springing in and taking her place on the driver's seat.
+
+Hemstead was perfectly nonplussed, and Mr. Dimmerly, who had stood
+in the door and heard what had been said, retreated rapidly, as he
+broke out into the most irrepressible chuckle in which he had yet
+indulged.
+
+"Now, Miss Lottie," whined De Forrest, coming out muffled to his
+eyes, "are you going to sit there?"
+
+"Certainly. You have Addie and Bel to talk to. Did you suppose that
+Mr. Hemstead was to be treated like a coachman because he kindly
+consented to drive us over?"
+
+"Let me drive, then."
+
+"No, indeed," cried Bel and Addie in chorus; "we won't trust to
+your driving." So De Forrest, with very poor grace, took his seat
+with them, and with his back to those whom he would gladly have
+watched most suspiciously. He had grown desperately jealous of
+Hemstead, and yet his vanity would not permit him to believe it
+possible that Lottie Marsden, of all others, could be won to such
+a life as the predestined missionary would lead. Like the narrow
+rationalists of this world, he was ever underrating the power of
+that kind of truth with which Hemstead was identified. To all of
+his class, the apparent self-sacrifice caused by love to God, and
+its kindred flame, love (not a passion) for some human object, has
+ever appeared both stupid and irrational. He did not understand
+Lottie, and could only curse the wretched visit, and wish it over
+every moment. When she returned to her accustomed life in New York,
+she would, he believed, soon be her old self.
+
+Since he could not watch Lottie and Hemstead, he tried to use his
+ears as far as possible, but the noisy bells drowned their voices,
+so that he could catch but few words. He was somewhat comforted
+in the fact that at first they did not appear to have very much to
+say to each other.
+
+Hemstead tried to introduce various topics remote from the thoughts
+that were weighing upon both their hearts, but Lottie did not
+sustain his effort. She maintained her hurt and injured air, until
+at last he could no longer endure her grieved, sad face, and said,
+in a low tone, "And could you imagine that I regard you, of all
+others, as weak and un-womanly?"
+
+"What else could I think from your words? I admit I have given you
+cause to think very poorly of me indeed.  Still it's anything but
+pleasant to be so regarded by those whose esteem we value."
+
+"But I do not think poorly of you, at all," said Hemstead, half
+desperately. "How little you understand me!"
+
+"I understand you better than you do me. You are a man.  You have
+high aims, and have chosen a noble calling. But you have virtually
+said that I am only a woman, and a very ordinary one at that, not
+capable of emulating the lives of my heroic sisters. I must be
+shielded from the rough wind, while you, in your superiority, can
+face it as a matter of Course. And your later words intimate that
+so, figuratively, it will always be, in MY CASE,--weak, womanly,
+shrinking, and cowering, ever shielded by something or somebody.
+History, to be sure, records what women MAY do, but that is a very
+different thing from what Miss Marsden WILL do."
+
+"You go to extremes, Miss Marsden, and infer far more than the
+occasion warrants," Hemstead replied, in great perplexity. "Was it
+unnatural that I wished you to be shielded from the cold?"
+
+"And was it unnatural," she answered, "that since one of our party
+must be exposed to the cold, I should be willing to share in the
+exposure? But it is to your later words that I refer, and not the
+trifling incident that led to them. They, with your manner, revealed,
+perhaps, more than you intended.  You once said I was 'capable
+of the noblest things.' I knew that was not true then, and to my
+lasting regret, and I proved the fact to you. But I think I have
+changed somewhat since that time. At least, I hope I am no longer
+capable of the meanest things."
+
+"Miss Marsden," he said, impetuously, "you now give me credit for
+knowing you better than at that time--"
+
+"Yes; and you have evidently revised your opinion very materially.
+But, as I said before, I can scarcely complain, when I remember my
+own action. But you will never know how bitterly I have repented
+of my folly. When that terrible charge was made against me last
+Monday--it came, when I was so happy and hopeful, like a sudden
+thunderbolt--I thought I should lose my reason. I felt that you had
+gone away believing I was utterly false and had been insincere in
+everything from first to last. I was like one who had fallen from
+a great height, and I scarcely spoke or moved for two days. I was
+not like some girls, who imagine they can find a remedy for their
+troubles in wealth and luxury and attention from others. I have had
+these things all my life, and know how little they are worth--how
+little they can do for one at such times. No one will ever know what
+I suffered. At first, when you thought so well of me, I deserved
+your harshest condemnation. But it did seem cruel, hard, when I
+was honestly trying to be better--when, at last, my life had become
+real and true--to be cast aside as a false thing, that must, of
+necessity, be despised. I dreaded, last night, that you were going
+away without giving me any chance to explain and correct my folly.
+I did mean that Monday to tell you the truth, and should have done
+so, if you had given me a chance. I should have condemned myself
+then, and I do now, more severely than even you could, who had
+such just cause for anger. But, Mr.  Hemstead, I have changed. In
+all sincerity I say it, I wish to become a good, Christian girl,
+and would do so, if I only knew how. I was not deceiving you when
+I said last Christmas eve that I hoped I had become a Christian.
+I still think I have, though for two days I was in thick darkness.
+At any rate, I love my Saviour, and He has helped and comforted
+me in this greatest trial and sorrow of my life. I was ted to hope
+that you would forgive me, because He seemed so ready to forgive.
+There! I have now done what I have been most anxious to do--I
+have told you the truth. I have said all that I can, justly, in
+self-defence. If I have not raised your opinion of me very greatly,
+I cannot help it, for henceforth I intend to be honest, whatever
+happens."
+
+Lottie had said the words she so wished to speak in a low tone, but
+with almost passionate earnestness, and no one could have doubted
+their truth a moment. The horses had been trotting briskly over
+the level ground at the foot of the steep mountain slope, and the
+noisy bells that made musical accompaniment to her words, as heard
+by Hemstead, disguised them from De Forrest and the others. The
+student received each one as if it were a pearl of great price.
+
+But now the horses, mounting the steep ascent, had come to a walk,
+and the chime of the bells was not sufficient to drown his words.
+If he had answered as his feelings dictated, the attention of the
+others would have been gained in a most embarrassing way. He could
+only say in a very low voice, "I believe and trust you fully."
+
+But Lottie heard and welcomed the assurance.
+
+The light of the sun, that had been too brilliant upon the snow, was
+now becoming softened by an increasing haze.  The air was growing
+milder, and the branches of bowed evergreens by the wayside suddenly
+lifted themselves as the hold of the fleecy burdens was loosened,
+and the miniature avalanches dropped away. At times they reached
+points from which the magnificent and broadening landscape could
+be seen to the best advantage, and as Hemstead stopped the horses
+at such places to rest, even Bel and Addie abounded in exclamations
+of delight. The river had become a vast, white plain, and stretched
+far away to the north. The scene was one that would have filled
+Hemstead with delight upon any other occasion, but Lottie was now
+well pleased to note that he gave to it hurried glances and little
+thought.
+
+His face was a study, and, more clearly than he realized, betrayed
+the perplexity and trouble of his mind. How could he give up
+the lovely girl at his side, whose very imperfection and need won
+more upon him than any display of conscious strength and advanced
+spirituality? Her frankness, her humility and severe self-condemnation,
+appealed to every generous trait of his large, charitable nature.
+He now believed, as never before, that she was "capable of the
+noblest things," and he began to suffer from the torturing thought
+that his course was a mistaken one, and that he wronged her by
+acting upon the supposition that her old surroundings of luxury
+and culture were essential to her happiness. Might it not be true
+that, in a nature like hers, something far more profound was needed
+to create and sustain true serenity of heart? Had she not in effect
+plainly said that she had fathomed the shallow depths of luxury,
+wealth, and general flattering attention? Had she not unconsciously
+given him a severe rebuke? What right had he to assume that he
+was any more capable of heroic self-sacrifice than she? Only the
+certainty that he was sacrificing himself for her happiness enabled
+him to make the sacrifice at all, and now he began to think that
+his course might be a wretched blunder which would blight them both.
+The very possibility of making such a mistake was agony.  To have
+come so near happiness, and then to miss it by as great a wrong
+to her as to himself, would be more than fortitude itself could
+endure. His uncle's words were ever present: "If Lottie loved, it
+would be no half-way business.  He had no right to sacrifice her
+happiness." It was her happiness that he was thinking of, and if
+he could secure it best by consummating his own at the same time,
+it seemed to him that heaven would begin at once.
+
+A trivial circumstance had enabled Lottie to intimate plainly to
+him that he had virtually asserted, "I am a man, and can do that
+of which only the noblest and most unselfish natures are capable.
+You are not only a woman, but you cannot rise to the level of many
+of your sisters, who have left on history's page the heroic record
+of their triumphs over the supposed weakness of their sex." What
+he had not meant, but still had appeared to hint from his language,
+was he not, in fact, practically acting upon as true? While he had
+taken his course in the spirit of the most generous self-sacrifice,
+might he not, at the same time, be ignoring the fact that she was
+as capable of self-sacrifice and noble consecration to a sacred
+cause as himself?
+
+If she had been sincere in her religious experiences, and in all
+her words and actions in that direction, how could he help believing
+that she was equally sincere in the language of tone and eye, which
+had revealed her heart so plainly that even he, who was the last
+in the world to presume, had come to think that she loved him? And
+yet he was about to make his life, and perhaps hers also, one long
+regret, because he had quietly assumed that she was one of those
+women whose life depends on surroundings, and to whose souls mere
+things can minister more than love and the consciousness of an
+heroic devotion to a sacred cause. Lottie had skilfully and clearly
+given the impression she sought to convey; and this impression,
+uniting with the student's love, formed a combination whose assaults
+caused his supposed inflexible purpose to waver.
+
+Lottie's quick intuition enabled her to see that she had led him
+far enough at present, while they were in such close proximity
+to jealous, observant eyes and attentive ears, and so, with equal
+tact, she led his thoughts to more tranquillizing topics. She was
+employing all the skill and finesse of which she had been mistress
+in the days of her insincerity and heartless coquetry. These gifts
+were still hers, as much as ever. But now they were under the
+control of conscience, and would henceforth be used to secure and
+promote happiness, not to destroy it.
+
+And she felt that she had need of tact and skill. The situation was
+not so very peculiar. Many had passed through just such experiences
+before, but have all passed on to lives of consummated happiness?
+She loved the man at her side devotedly, and was perfectly aware of
+his love for her, and yet woman's silence was upon her lips. They
+were soon to separate, not to meet again for many years, if ever.
+She could not speak. If from any motive, even the noblest, he did
+not speak, how could she meet the long, lonely future, in which
+every day would make more clear the dreary truth that she had missed
+her true life and happiness?--missed it through no necessity that
+might in the end bring resignation, but through a mistake,--the
+unselfish blundering of a man who wrongly supposed she could be
+happier without than with him. It was her delicate task to show
+him, without abating one jot of woman's jealous reserve, that she
+was capable of all the self-sacrifice to which he looked forward,
+and that, as his uncle had told him, he had no right to sacrifice
+her happiness.
+
+He was one of those single-hearted, resolute fellows, who have the
+greatest faculty for persistently blundering under an honest but
+wrong impression. But, in this case, his impression was natural,
+and he was wrong, only because Lottie was "capable of noble
+things,"--only because she did belong to that class of women to
+whom the love of their heart counts for infinitely more than all
+externals. If he had fallen in love with a very goodish sort of
+girl of the Bel Parton type, the course he had marked out would
+have been the wisest and best, eventually, for both, even though
+it involved, at first, a good deal of suffering.
+
+When a wife assures her husband, by word or manner, "You took
+advantage of my love and inexperience to commit me to a life and
+condition that are distasteful or revolting, and you have thereby
+inflicted an irreparable injury," the man, if he be fine-fibred and
+sensitive, can only look forward to a painful and aggravated form
+of martyrdom.  One had better live alone as long as Methuselah than
+induce a small-souled woman to enter with him on a life involving
+continual sacrifice. With such women, some men can be tolerably happy,
+if they have the means to carry out the "gilded cage" principle;
+but woe to them both if the gilded cage is broken or lost, and they
+have to go out into the great world and build their nest wherever
+they can.
+
+Providence had given to Lottie the chance to live the life of ideal
+womanhood,--the life of love and devotion,--and she did not mean
+to lose it. While her high spirit would often chafe with a little
+wholesome friction, it would yet grow sweeter and more patient
+under the trials of the hardest lot, if they could only be endured
+at his side to whom, by some mystic necessity of her being, she
+had given her heart.
+
+Therefore, with unmingled satisfaction she saw that she was sapping
+the student's ctern resolution not to speak.  She would, by a
+witchery as innocent as subtile, beguile him into just the opposite
+of what he had proposed. As she had declared to her uncle, he should
+ask her, in a very humble manner, to become a home missionary,
+and she, under the circumstances, was more ready to comply than to
+become Empress of all the Russias.
+
+But, during the remainder of the ride, she made the time pass all
+too quickly, as she led him to speak of his student life, his Western
+home, and especially of his mother; and Lottie smiled appreciatively
+over the enthusiasm and affection which he manifested for one
+concerning whom she had ever heard Mrs. Marchmont speak a little
+slightingly. The genuine interest which she took in all that
+related to Mrs.  Hemstead touched the young man very closely, and
+his whole nature was getting under arms against what his heart was
+beginning to characterize as a most unnatural and stupid resolution.
+
+De Forrest was greatly relieved as he heard Hemstead describing
+his humble, farm-house home and toiling mother; for the student
+softened none of the hard outlines of their comparative poverty.
+
+"The great fool!" thought the exquisite. "Even if Lottie were inclined
+to care for him somewhat, he has repelled her now by revealing his
+common and poverty-stricken surroundings."
+
+But as Lottie became satisfied that Hemstead would not be able to
+go away in silence, a new cause of trouble and perplexity claimed
+her attention. Not that she had not thought of it often since she
+had realized how irrevocably she had given her love, but other and more
+immediate questions had occupied her mind. How was she to reconcile
+her fashionable mother and worldly father to her choice?  She
+clearly recognized that what to her seemed the most natural--indeed,
+the only thing in life left for her--would appear to one simply
+monstrous, and to the other the baldest folly.
+
+She loved her parents sincerely, for, with all her faults, she had
+never been cold-hearted; and, while she proposed to be resolute,
+it was with the deepest anxiety and regret that she foresaw the
+inevitable conflict.
+
+But when she was at a loss to think of anything that could be said
+to soften the blow, or make her course appear right or reasonable,
+as they would look at it, a circumstance occurred which led, as
+she then believed, to the solution of the problem.
+
+After driving between two and three hours, they reached West
+Point in safety, and, as they were passing along by the officers'
+quarters, Lottie recognized a young lady who was one of her most
+intimate city friends, and who, she soon learned, was making a
+visit in the country, like herself.  Lottie told Bel and Addie to
+go on to the dancing-hall, while she called on her friend, adding,
+"I will soon join you."
+
+The relations between Lottie and her friend were rather confidential,
+and the latter soon bubbled over with her secret. She was engaged
+to a cadet, who would graduate in the following June.
+
+"But he is away down towards the end of his class, and so, of course,
+will have to go out upon the Plains," she said, with a little sigh.
+
+"What will you do then?" asked Lottie, quickly, a bright thought
+striking her. "You surely will not exchange your elegant city home
+for barracks in some remote fort, where you may be scalped any
+night?"
+
+"I surely will," said the vivacious young lady; "and if you ever
+become half as much in love as I am, it won't seem a bit strange."
+
+"But what do your parents say to all this?"
+
+"O, well, of course they would much prefer that I should marry and
+settle in New York. But then, you know, mother always had a great
+admiration for the army, and it's quite the thing, in fashionable
+life, to marry into the army and navy. Why, bless you, Lottie, nearly
+all the ladies on the post have seen the roughest times imaginable
+on the frontier, and they come from as good families, and very many
+of them have left as good homes as mine."
+
+"But how are you going to live on a lieutenant's pay?  I have known
+you to spend more than that on your own dress in a single year."
+
+"What are dresses compared with Lieutenant Ransom?  I can learn to
+economize as well as the rest of them. You can't have everything,
+Lottie. You know what an officer's rank is. It gives him the entree
+into the best society of the land, and often opens the way for the
+most brilliant career.  These things reconcile father and mother
+to it, but I look at the man himself. He's just splendid! Come,
+we'll go over to the hall, and I will introduce you, and let you
+dance with him once,--only once, you incorrigible flirt, or you
+will steal him away from me after all. By the way, who was that
+handsome man who drove? I fear you bewitched him coming over the
+mountain, from the way his eyes followed you."
+
+"How does he compare with your Lieutenant Ransom?" asked Lottie.
+
+"No one can compare with him. But why do you ask?  Is there anything
+serious?"
+
+"Will you think so when I tell you that he enters, next summer, on
+the life of a home missionary on the Western frontier?"
+
+"O, how dismal!" exclaimed the young lady. "No, indeed! no danger
+of your giving him serious thoughts. But you ought not to flirt
+with such a man, Lottie."
+
+"I do not intend to, nor with any one else, any more.  But why do
+you say 'How dismal'? Your lieutenant will have as rough a frontier
+life as Mr. Hemstead, and, surely, the calling of the ministry is
+second to none."
+
+"Well, it seems very different. Nobody thinks much of a home missionary.
+Why, Lottie, none of our set ever married a home missionary, while
+several have married into the army and navy. So, for heaven's sake,
+don't let your head become turned by one who looks forward to such
+a forlorn life.  But here we are, and I will make you envious in
+a moment."
+
+"Miss Marsden," said Hemstead, stepping forward as they were entering,
+"I do not like to hasten you, but there is every appearance of
+a storm, and the wind is rising. I wish you could induce Addie to
+start soon. I will go to the Trophy room for a little while, and
+then will drive around."
+
+"You may rest assured I will do my best," said Lottie.  "I am ready
+to start now."
+
+"Beware of that man," said her friend; "his eyes tell the same
+story that I see in Lieutenant Ransom's."
+
+"You have become a little lady of one idea," said Lottie, laughing
+and blushing, "and all the world is in love, in your estimation."
+
+When Hemstead drove to the door, the snow-flakes were beginning to
+fly, and the wind had increased in force. But Bel was not ready,
+and Addie would not hear of their going till the hours set apart
+for dancing were over. Even then she permitted her cadet friends
+to detain her several minutes longer.
+
+As the others were, in a certain sense, her guests, they were
+delicate about urging her departure. Thus it happened that the
+early December twilight was coming on, and the air was full of
+wildly-flying snow, as the last words were said, and the horses
+dashed off for the mountains.
+
+But the storm increased in violence every moment, and the air was
+so filled with flakes that the young people could not see twenty
+feet before them. What caused Hemstead uneasiness was the fact that
+the sheltered road that led from the Point along the southern base
+of the mountains, for a long distance before coming to any great
+ascent, was already somewhat clogged with drifts. Above, on the
+mountain's crest, he heard a sound as if the north wind were blowing
+strongly.
+
+He grew very anxious, and finally said, as they reached the point
+where the road began to rise rapidly, that he thought the attempt
+to cross that night involved much risk.  But Addie would not hear
+of their returning. Her mother would go wild about them, and would
+never let her come again.
+
+"It has not snowed very much yet, and if we wait till to-morrow it
+may be very deep."
+
+"The drifts are what I fear," said Hemstead.
+
+"There were no bad drifts this afternoon," said Addie, "and surely
+they cannot be deep yet."
+
+Since the following day was Sunday, and New Year's also, it
+was agreed that they should push on. To return would involve much
+that was disagreeable to the party, and create great alarm at Mrs.
+Marchmont's.
+
+"It will just result in their sending after us, this dreadful
+night," said Addie. "I don't see why it must storm just when one
+most wishes it wouldn't."
+
+"We ought to have started sooner," said Bel. "I knew the delay was
+very wrong, but we were having such a good time."
+
+De Forrest, having vainly sought to get Lottie to sit with him,
+had sulkily taken his seat just behind her and Hemstead, where he
+was the most sheltered of the party, and, not supposing there was
+any real danger, had muffled himself up so that he was almost past
+speaking or hearing. He had nearly resolved with some sullenness
+to let matters take their course until the "cursed visit was over."
+New York, and not the barbarous, dreary country, was the place
+where he shone; and when there once more, he would soon regain his
+old ascendency over Lottie, and she, of course, would forget this
+Western monster. He noticed, during the first mile, that Hemstead
+and Lottie scarcely spoke to each other; and, as the storm increased,
+he concluded there was no danger of their making love when, if they
+opened their mouths to speak, the wind would fill them with snow.
+
+But Hemstead and Lottie scarcely needed language. The old, subtile
+interchange of thought and sympathy had been regained. Every moment
+she bravely sat with him facing the storm that wild night seemed
+an assurance that she was both able and willing to face every storm
+of life at his side.
+
+But as the wind grew more violent, and drove the sharp crystals
+into their faces with stinging force, he, out of regard for her
+comfort, said: "Miss Marsden, it is both brave and kind of you to
+sit here so patiently, but really the wind is growing too severe.
+Even if I had had the impression which you were so mistaken as to
+charge me with, long before this it would have been banished forever
+by your words and action. If you will take the next seat, and sit
+with your back to the wind, you will not feel it half so much."
+
+"Will you do the same?" she asked.
+
+"I cannot."
+
+"Then neither can I. I shall keep my word, Mr.  Hemstead."
+
+"You are a brave girl, Miss Marsden."
+
+"Well, that is nothing. Why have I not as good a right to be a
+brave girl as you to be a brave man?"
+
+"You also appear to have the ability."
+
+"O, I don't deserve any credit. I'm not a bit afraid.  Indeed, I
+rather enjoy it. I've plenty of warm blood, and can make as good a
+fight against the north wind as yourself. This isn't half as hard
+as facing evil and unhappy thoughts before a blazing fire, and I
+have had too much of that to do of late to complain of this."
+
+"But it seems a miracle to me that one with your antecedents can
+regard the situation in any way save with unqualified disgust."
+
+"Do you regard the situation with 'unqualified disgust'?"
+
+"Well, to tell the truth, were it not for my anxiety about getting
+you all home safely, I was never in a situation to enjoy myself
+more."
+
+"What precious fools we two must be, in the world's estimation! We
+both have admitted that we are enjoying ourselves under circumstances
+in which only Mark Tapley, I think, could be 'jolly';" and the gale
+bore away her mirthful laugh like a shred from a silver flag.
+
+"O dear!" whined Bel and Addie; "it's perfectly awful."
+
+And awful, indeed, it became, a few minutes later; for, having
+passed over a steep but sheltered section of the road, they came
+to a point where the north-east wind struck them strongly. At the
+same moment the storm appeared to develop into tenfold intensity,
+and to equal those terrible tempests on the prairies in which
+Hemstead remembered, with a shudder, that strong men and horses
+had perished within a few yards of shelter. They, alas! were now a
+long way from any house, and in the midst of the lonely mountains.
+It had also become so dark that he had to leave the choice of the
+road mainly to the horses.
+
+At first these sagacious animals stopped, and refused to go any
+farther. Hemstead waited a few moments, in hope that the gust or
+gale would expend itself, and, in the mean time, instinctively put
+his arm around Lottie, to keep her from being blown off the seat.
+
+"Miss Marsden," he said, close to her ear, "pardon me, but I fear
+this tempest will carry you away. The horrible thought crossed my
+mind that you might be caught in a sort of whirlwind and spirited
+off in this thick darkness where I could not find you."
+
+"Would it trouble you very much if you could not find me?"
+
+"O, don't speak of it! I would give years of my life if you were
+safe at home."
+
+"Don't be so reckless with your years. I am very well content to
+be where I am."
+
+"But there is danger."
+
+"There is no more danger for me than for you."
+
+"Are you not afraid?"
+
+"I am just about as much afraid as you are"; and, to his amazement,
+he found her laughing.
+
+"Well," he exclaimed, "if you can laugh under these circumstances,
+you exceed any woman I ever read or heard of.  We are in twice as
+much danger as when I went out in the boat the other night."
+
+"Are you now satisfied that Lottie Marsden, in particular, is not
+weak and cowardly, as compared with her braver sisters?"
+
+Before he could answer, De Forrest growled, "Why don't you go on?"
+
+Addie and Bel were cowering in the bottom of the sleigh, and supposed
+he was merely giving the horses a rest.
+
+Just then there appeared a momentary lull in the gale; so he merely
+said: "Forgive me for even seeming to hint to the contrary," and
+then urged the horses forward.
+
+The road now presented its side to the wind, and so was filled with
+drifts, while its lower side was a precipitous bank that shelved
+off into unknown depths. The horses plunged with difficulty through
+one drift, and the sleigh tipped dangerously. Addie and Bel screamed,
+and De Forrest began, in trepidation, to realize their situation.
+
+The poor beasts were soon floundering through another drift. Suddenly
+there came a sharp crack, as if something had broken, and one of
+the horses appeared to have fallen.  Worse still, the lower runner
+of the sleigh seemed sinking in the snow to that degree that a
+moment later they would be overturned into the darkness that yawned
+in the direction of the steep mountain slope.
+
+Hemstead instantly sprang out on the lower side, with the purpose
+of preventing the accident. Lottie as quickly sprang out on the upper
+side, and cried: "You push, and I will hold"; and so it happened
+that she did quite as much as he in saving the party from disaster.
+Indeed, if the sleigh had gone over, it would have carried him who
+was on the lower side down with it.
+
+The horses, in their wise instinct, keeping still, Hemstead first
+came round to where Lottie stood.
+
+"Why, Miss Marsden!" he exclaimed, "you are up to your waist in
+the snow."
+
+"Well, it won't drown me. This is a great deal better than rolling
+down the mountain."
+
+"I could kneel at your feet," said the student, fervently.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha," laughed Lottie. "You couldn't find them."
+
+"This is no laughing matter," said De Forrest, at last aroused to
+their danger, and standing up for the first time.
+
+"Then get out and do something, like Miss Marsden," said Hemstead.
+"Come, right up the sleigh while I look after the horses."
+
+A little later he came back to Lottie, and said: "Miss Marsden, I
+scarcely dare tell you the truth. The tongue of the sleigh and some
+of the most important parts of the harness are broken. Besides, I
+have been up the road a short distance, and there are drifts that
+are up to the horses' necks. I fear we can go no farther. O God!"
+he added in agony, "what can I do for you? The idea of your perishing
+with cold in this horrible place to-night!"
+
+Lottie laid her hand upon his arm, and said earnestly; "Mr. Hemstead,
+please let there be no more such talk. It's no worse for me than
+for you. Besides, if we will trust God and use our wits, there
+is no need of any one's perishing.  If we were out of the wind it
+would not be so very cold.  Why, there is enough warmth in the big
+bodies of those horses to keep us from freezing, if it comes to
+the worst."
+
+"There!" he exclaimed, "you have given me hope and courage, and
+in a sentence. The coachman was captain on my former occasion of
+danger, and you shall be captain now.  You have the clearest and
+best head of the party. I am at your service."
+
+"Will you do as I bid you?"
+
+"Yes"
+
+"Take care of yourself somewhat, then."
+
+"I can best do that by taking care of you."
+
+"You can do nothing pleasing to me that will bring harm to
+yourself," she said. "We must get out of the wind, and if nothing
+better offers, must bury ourselves in the snow be-side the horses.
+I remember reading of such things. The sleigh robes and the warmth
+of their bodies would keep us from freezing; I'm not so very cold."
+
+Addie and Bel were crying bitterly, while De Forrest was groaning
+and cursing from where he stood, behind the sleigh.
+
+"Come," he shouted, "what's to be done?"
+
+"I will go straight up the bank. I may find a ledge, or some rocks,
+under which we may cower," said Hemstead.
+
+"Don't go far," said Lottie, eagerly. "I should, indeed, lose hope,
+if you became separated from us."
+
+He soon returned with the joyful news that a little way up the bank
+was a high ledge, where they would be completely sheltered from
+the wind.
+
+Soon he had them all under it, and the respite from the driving
+gale was welcomed by none more than by Lottie, who, in spite of her
+courage and sustaining excitement, was beginning to suffer greatly.
+
+De Forrest, being a smoker, had matches; but, in his impatience to
+light a fire, destroyed most of them.
+
+"Here, Julian, give them to me," said Lottie, most decisively.
+
+Then, after all the dry material which could be collected, by groping
+round in the dark, was gathered in the most sheltered nook, she
+took from her pocket a delicate lace handkerchief, and, by means of
+that, lighted the sticks and leaves. Soon they were warming their
+numb hands and chilled bodies beside a cheerful blaze.
+
+Hemstead watched Lottie with wondering and increasing admiration.
+In securing a fire, they escaped all immediate danger, and she
+became as cheery as if the disaster, which had threatened even
+a fatal termination, were only an episode, and the long, wintry
+bivouac, in that desolate place, but a picnic in the woods.
+
+"You are the queerest girl I ever knew, Lottie," said Bel.
+
+"She means by that, you are the best," Hemstead added.
+
+"Come, this is no time for compliments, but for work," said Lottie,
+energetically, and she set De Forrest at it also.
+
+The robes were brought from the sleigh, and after the snow had been
+trampled down and cleared away between the fire and the ledge, here
+they were spread. Addie and Bel were, at first, terror-stricken at
+the thought of spending the night in the mountains, but were made
+so comfortable that, at last, their tears ceased.
+
+"Our best hope is this brandy," said De Forrest, drawing a flask
+from his pocket.
+
+"Nonsense!" said Lottie. "Our best hope is keeping our senses and
+a good fire."
+
+But Bel and Addie were ready enough to take the brandy, and were
+soon sleeping heavily from its effects, combined with their exposure
+to the cold wind. Lottie could not be prevailed upon to take any.
+
+"I want the use of my senses to-night, if ever," she said.  "We must
+take turns in keeping awake, and you shall have the first watch,
+Julian."
+
+Hemstead, at this time, was down getting the horses out of the drift,
+that he might tie them near the fire and also under the ledge. De
+Forrest set to work very zealously under the stimulus of Lottie's
+words and the brandy combined, and gathered the brush-wood that
+lay near, and piled it on the fire. Everything seemed to promise
+well, and the wearied girl laid herself down by the side of Bel and
+Addie, and was soon sleeping as naturally and peacefully as if in
+her luxurious apartment at home.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+IN EARNEST.
+
+
+
+
+
+When Lottie awoke the storm had passed away. The moon, in her last
+quarter, was rising in pale, unclouded light over eastern mountains,
+and bringing into dusky outline many intervening hills.
+
+At first, bewildered, and not knowing where she was, she rose up
+hastily, but after a moment the events of the preceding evening
+came to her, and she remembered, with gratitude, how they had found
+partial shelter from the storm.
+
+With something of a child's wonder and pleasure, she looked around
+upon a scene more wild and strange than any she had ever seen, even
+in pictures of gypsy encampments.  Bel and Addie were sleeping by
+her side as soundly as if such a nightly bivouac were an ordinary
+experience. In like heavy stupor De Forrest lay near the fire,
+though the music of his dreams was by no means sweet. He had made
+his watch a very brief one, and, having piled the fire high with
+light brush-wood that would soon be consumed, and leaving no supply
+on hand, he had succumbed to the combined influence of the cold
+and the brandy; and now, with the flames lighting up his face, he
+looked like a handsome bandit.
+
+The patient horses stood motionless and shadowy, a little at one
+side. Above her head rose high, rocky crags, from whose crevices
+clung bushes and stunted trees with their crest of snow. And snow,
+bright and gleaming near the fire, but growing pale and ghostly,
+dull and leaden, in the distance, stretched away before her, as
+far as she could see, while from this white surface rose shrubs,
+evergreens, and the gaunt outline of trees, in the hap-hazard
+grouping of the wilderness. Where, before, the storm had rushed,
+with moan and shriek, now brooded a quiet which only the crackling
+of the flames and De Forrest's resonant nasal organ disturbed.
+
+But Hemstead was nowhere to be seen. She was becoming very solicitous,
+fearing that he had straggled off alone, in order to bring them
+relief, when a sound caught her attention, and she saw him coming
+with a load of cord-wood upon his shoulder.
+
+She reclined again, that she might watch him a few moments unperceived.
+He threw his burden down, and put a stick or two of the heavy wood
+on the fire. Then Lottie noticed that the genial heat no longer
+came from the quickly-consumed brush, but from solid wood, of which
+there was a goodly store on hand.
+
+The student stood a few moments looking at the fire; then his eyes
+drooped, and he swayed back and forth as if nearly overpowered by
+sleep and weariness. Then he would straighten himself up in a way
+that made Lottie feel like laughing and crying at the same time,
+so great was his effort to patiently maintain his watch. At last he
+tried the expedient of going to the horses and petting them, but,
+before he knew it, he was leaning on the neck of one of them half
+asleep. Then Lottie saw him come directly toward her, and half
+closed her eyes. The student looked long and fixedly at her face,
+as the firelight shone upon it; then drew himself up straight as
+a soldier, and marched back and forth like a sentinel on duty. But
+after a little while his steps grew irregular, and he was evidently
+almost asleep, even while he walked. Then she saw him turn off
+abruptly and disappear in the shadowy forest.
+
+She sprang up, and, secreting herself behind an adjacent evergreen,
+waited for his return. Soon she saw him staggering back under
+another great load of cord-wood.
+
+He at once noticed her absence, and was wide awake instantly. He
+seized a heavy stick for a club, as if he would pursue an enemy
+who might have carried her off, when her low laugh brought him to
+her side.
+
+"Don't you hit me with that," she said, advancing to the fire.
+
+"I thank you very cordially for waking me up so thoroughly,"
+he said, delighted at finding her so bright and well, and in such
+good spirits, after all her exposure. "I admit, to my shame, that
+I was almost asleep two or three times."
+
+"Here is another assertion of your masculine superiority," she
+replied, in mock severity. "I may sleep, as a matter of course;
+but you, as a man, are to rise superior, even to nature herself,
+and remain awake as long as your imperious will dictates."
+
+"I am much afraid," he said, ruefully, "if you had not spoken to
+me, my imperious will would soon have tumbled helplessly off its
+throne, and you would have found your watchman and protector little
+better than one of these logs here."
+
+"Who has decreed that you must watch all night, while the rest of
+us sleep? Come, it's my turn now, and I will watch and protect you
+for a little while."
+
+"Do you mean for me to sleep while you sit here alone and watch?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"I'll put my hand in the fire first, if in no other way I can keep
+awake."
+
+"Didn't you call me 'captain'? You will have to obey your orders."
+
+"I'll mutiny in this case, rest assured. Besides, I'm not sleepy
+any more."
+
+"Why, what's the matter?"
+
+"Do you think I could sleep while you were awake and willing to
+talk to me?"
+
+"I slept a long time while you were awake." She pulled out her
+watch, and exclaimed: "Mr. Hemstead! in ten minutes more we enter
+on a new year."
+
+"How much may happen within a year, and even a few days of a year,"
+he said, musingly. "It seems an age since I tossed my books aside,
+and yet, it was within this month.  The whole world has changed to
+me since that day."
+
+"I hope for the better," said Lottie, gently.
+
+"Yes, for the better, whatever may be the future. That Sabbath
+afternoon, when you led me to the One whom I was misrepresenting
+and wronging, cannot fail to make me, and that little bit of the
+world which I can reach, the better.  I feel that I shall owe to
+you my best Christian experience and usefulness."
+
+"And I feel that I should never have been a Christian at all if I
+had not met you," she said, looking gratefully up.  "Whatever may
+be the future, as you cay, I trust God will never permit me to be
+again the false, selfish creature that I was when I first took your
+hand in seeming kindness."
+
+"I trust that God has been leading us both," said Hemstead, gravely
+and thoughtfully.
+
+Lottie again took out her watch, and said, in the low tone which
+we use in the presence of the dying, "Mr. Hemstead, the old year
+is passing; there is but a moment left."
+
+He uncovered his head, and, bowing reverently, said, "May God
+forgive us all the folly and evil of the past year, for the sake
+of His dear Son."
+
+Lottie's head bowed as low and reverently as his and for several
+moments neither spoke.
+
+Then he turned, and took her hand as he said: "Many have wished
+you a 'happy new year' before, but I can scarcely think that any
+one ever meant the words as I do.  Miss Lottie, I would do anything,
+suffer anything, and give up anything, save honor and duty, to
+make you happy. You have often laughed at me because I carried my
+thoughts and feelings in my face. Therefore, you know well that
+I love you with all the truth and strength of which I am capable.
+But I have had a great dread lest my love might eventually make you
+unhappy. You know what my life will be, and duty will never permit
+me to change."
+
+Her answer was very different from what he expected.  Almost
+reproachfully she asked, "Mr. Hemstead, is earthly happiness the
+end and aim of your life?"
+
+"No," he said, after a moment.
+
+"What then?"
+
+"Usefulness, I trust,--the doing faithfully the work that God gives
+me."
+
+"And must I of necessity differ from you in this respect?"
+
+"Miss Lottie, forgive me. I am not worthy of you. But can it be
+possible that you are willing to share in my humble, toilsome life?
+I fear you have no idea of the hardships and privations involved."
+
+"I stood by you faithfully last night in the storm, did I not?"
+she said, with a shy, half-mischievous glance.
+
+"It seems too good to be true," he said, in a low tone.
+
+"Was there ever such a diffident, modest creature!" she said,
+brusquely. "Mr. Hemstead, you will never ENTER Heaven. The angels
+will have to pull you in."
+
+"One angel has made a heaven of this dreary place already," he
+answered, seeking to draw her to him.
+
+"Wait a moment; what do you mean, sir? I have made you no promises
+and given you no rights."
+
+"But I have made you no end of promises, and given you absolute
+right over me. My every glance has said, 'Lottie Marsden, I am
+yours, body and soul, so far as a man with a conscience can be.'"
+
+"All this counts for nothing," said Lottie, with a little impatient
+stamp of her foot. "I promised that dear old meddler, Uncle Dimmerly,
+that you, in deep humility and penitence for having arrogantly
+assumed that you could be a missionary and I couldn't, should ask
+me to be a home missionary; and you have wasted lots of precious
+time."
+
+He caught her quaint humor, and, taking her hand and dropping on
+one knee, said: "Lottie Marsden, child of luxury, the prize which
+the proudest covet, will you leave your elegant home,--will you
+turn your back upon the world which is at your feet,--and go with
+me away to the far West, that you may become a poor, forlorn home
+missionary?"
+
+"Yes, Frank, in your home; but never forlorn while I have you to
+laugh at, and never poor while I possess your big, unworldly heart."
+
+"Have I any rights now?" he exclaimed; and, springing up, he
+exercised them to a degree that almost took away her breath.
+
+"Here, behave yourself," she said. "The idea of one who had plumed
+himself on his heroic self-sacrifice acting so like an ordinary
+mortal! You have had more kisses now than you ought in a week. If
+we are to be so poor, we ought to begin practising economy at once."
+
+"You are the most beautiful and spicy compound that nature ever
+fashioned," he exultingly replied, holding her off, devouring her
+with his eyes. "I plainly foresee that you can fill the poorest
+little home with light and music."
+
+"Yes, I warn you, before it's too late, that I can never become a
+solemn, ghostly sort of a missionary."
+
+"O, it's too late now, I assure you," he said: "my mind is made
+up."
+
+"So is mine,--that you shall take a long nap, while I mount guard."
+
+"Nap, indeed!" he said, indignantly. "When the gates of pearl bang
+after one with their musical clangor, and shut out forever the misery
+of earth, will one's first impulse on the threshold of heaven be
+to take a nap?"
+
+"What extravagant language! You ministers talk much too familiarly
+of heaven, and such things."
+
+"No, indeed, Lottie, dear! the more familiar the thought of heaven
+is to us, the better. You shall have a good home there, if a very
+humble one here. But do you realize how much you are giving up?"
+
+"Yes," she said, ruefully, "the worst heartache I ever had.  I
+don't believe you felt half so badly as I did."
+
+"But when the hard and prosaic life comes, with its daily cares
+and weary burdens, are you sure that you will not regret your
+action?--are you sure that you will not wish yourself again the
+queenly belle, with the world at your feet?"
+
+"Who with right claims the higher rank," Lottie answered, her
+lovely face growing noble with her thought,--"a queenly belle with
+a false, selfish heart, or a Christian woman? And what is that
+world which you say is at my feet? Where is it to-night? Where was
+it when the tempest made it doubtful whether we should ever see this
+new year? Here I am in the solemn midnight, and upon this desolate
+mountain. It is not the softness of a summer night to which we are
+exposed; it is midwinter. And yet I am certain that there is not a
+queen on the earth as happy as I am. But what part has that world
+to which you refer had in making me happy? I knew there was danger
+last night. I had read of people perishing in the snow almost at
+their own doors. I think I realized that death might be near, but
+my heart was so light and happy in the consciousness of your love
+and God's love, that I could look at the grim old fellow, and
+laugh in his face. But suppose that I had had nothing better then
+to think of than this vague world, about which you are making so
+much ado? Once before, when the world was at my feet, as you term
+it, I faced a sudden danger in your company. Thanks to God's mercy
+and your skill and strength, we were not dashed down into that ravine
+when the horses ran away. What did the world do for me then?  Did
+it throw a ray of light into that black gulf of death, which yawned
+on every side? Oh, thank God," she said with passionate earnestness,
+"that I was not sent out of life that night, a shivering ghost, a
+homeless wanderer forever!  But what could the world do to prevent
+it? I know all about that glittering world, Frank, to gain which
+so many are staking their all, and I know it's more of a phantom
+than a reality. It flattered me, excited and intoxicated me, but
+it never made me one-hundredth part as happy as I am tonight. And
+when I thought I had lost your respect and your love, I no more
+thought of turning to the world for solace and happiness, than I
+would look in a coal-bin for diamonds. I knew all about the world,
+and in the depths of my soul realized that it was a sham. How far
+away it is to-night, with these solemn mountains rising all around
+us; and yet how near seem God and heaven, and how sweet and satisfying
+the hopes they impart! I have thought it all out, Frank. The time
+is coming when illness or age, mortal pain and weakness, will shut
+me away, like these dark, wintry hills, even from your love,--much
+more from the uncaring, heartless world; but something in my heart
+tells me that my Saviour, who wept for sympathy when no one else
+would weep, will be my strong, faithful friend through it all, and
+not for all the worlds glittering there in yonder sky, much less
+for ray poor little gilt and tinsel world in New York, will I give
+up this assurance."
+
+"I am satisfied," said Hemstead, in a tone of deep content; "God
+wills it."
+
+They sat for a long time without speaking, in the unison of feeling
+that needed no words.
+
+At last, in sudden transition to one of her mirthful, piquant
+expressions, Lottie turned to her companion and said: "Frank, you
+are on the mountain-top of exalted thought and sentiment: Your face
+is as rapt as if you saw a vision."
+
+"Can you wonder?"
+
+"Well, I'm going to give you an awful tumble,--worse than the one
+you feared last night when the sleigh tipped.  I'm hungry as any
+wolf that ever howled in these mountains."
+
+"What a comparison!" said the student, laughing heartily. Then,
+his face becoming all solicitude, he queried, "What shall I do?"
+and he was about to rise with the impression that he ought to do
+something.
+
+"Do as I bid you, of course; sit still while I tell you what I shall
+do. I shall patiently endure this aching void, as I trust I shall
+the other inevitable ills of our lot. What could be more appropriate
+than this prelude of hunger in one proposing to marry a home
+missionary?"
+
+With an odd blending of delight and sympathy in his face, Hemstead
+exclaimed: "Lottie! You have received more compliments than you
+could count in a year, but I am going to give you one different
+from any that you ever had before.  There's not even a trace of
+morbidness in your nature."
+
+Thus, in playful and serious talk, they passed the hours until
+the snow-clad mountains were sparkling in the rising sun. Hemstead
+placed upon Lottie's hand a plain seal-ring that had been his
+father's, but she covered it with her glove, not wishing the fact
+of her engagement to transpire until they should reach home.
+
+At last the others awoke, and what they had passed through seemed
+like a grotesque, horrible dream. De Forrest looked suspiciously
+at Hemstead and Lottie, but could gather nothing from their quiet
+bearing towards each other.
+
+Early in the day relief reached them, and by the middle of the
+forenoon they were doing ample justice to Mrs. Marchmont's sumptuous
+breakfast.
+
+Then the telltale ring on Lottie's finger revealed the secret, and
+there was consternation. But poor De Forrest was so outrageously
+hungry that he had to eat even in this most trying emergency. And
+yet he had a painful sense that it was not the proper thing to do
+under the circumstances, and so was exceedingly awkward, for once
+in his life.
+
+Mr. Dimmerly chuckled all that Sunday with "unbecoming levity,"
+his sister said.
+
+She, poor woman, had lost all confidence in herself as a good manager.
+In her bosom indignation at her nephew and Lottie contended with
+the dread of Mrs. Marsden's reproaches.
+
+Bel tried to think that it was not her fault, and Addie did not
+much care.
+
+The holiday visit came to an end. The months sped away. Lottie's
+purpose was severely tested. Every possible motive, reason, and
+argument was brought to bear upon the brave girl. Worse than all,
+she had to endure the cold, averted looks of those she fondly
+loved. She pleaded her own cause eloquently. She frequently quoted
+her friend's example, who was about to marry the army officer.
+
+"But that is very different," they said.
+
+Only once she lost her temper. There was a sort of family  conclave
+of aunts and relatives, and they had beset her sorely. At last she
+turned upon them suddenly, and asked:
+
+"Are you Christians? Do you believe there is a God?"
+
+"Why, certainly. Do you think we are heathen?"
+
+"Why talk, then, like heathen, and act like infidels? If it's the
+thing in the fashionable world to marry a trusted servant of a human
+government, how much better must it be to marry a servant of the
+King of All! I honor my friend because she marries the man she
+loves, and I shall marry the one I love. I am of age--I have chosen
+my lot. Mark my words! you will yet be proud of the one whom you
+now so despise; while the one you wish me to marry will cover his
+own and the names of all connected with him with shame"; and she
+left them to recover from this bombshell of truth, as best they
+might.
+
+But the patient gentleness which she usually manifested at length
+won even their obdurate hearts. Her father was the first to relent,
+and was finally brought, by Lottie's irresistible witchery, quite
+over on her side. But, in her mother's case, there was only partial
+resignation to a great but inevitable misfortune. Mrs. Marsden was
+a sincere idolater of the world for which she lived.
+
+In Aunt Jane, Lottie had a stanch ally, and a sympathizing and
+comforting helper.
+
+But the postman, who brought, with increasing frequency, letters
+that were big and heavy, like the writer, was the man whom Lottie
+most doted on in all the city.
+
+With the whole energy of her forceful, practical nature, she trained
+herself for her work, as Hemstead was training himself for his. And
+when, a year later, she gave him her hand at the sacred altar, it
+was not a helpless hand.
+
+Years have passed. Mr. and Mrs. Hemstead are the chief social,
+refining, and Christianizing influences of a growing Western town.
+They have the confidence and sympathy of the entire community, and
+are people of such force that they make themselves felt in every
+department of life. They are shaping and ennobling many characters,
+and few days pass in which Lottie does not lay up in memory some
+good deed, though she never stops to count her hoard. But, in
+gladness, she will learn in God's good time that such deeds are
+the riches that have no wings.
+
+She made good her warning, and never became a "solemn, ghostly sort
+of a missionary." She was usually as wholesome as the sunshine, or if
+the occasion required, as a stiff north wind, and had a pronounced
+little way of her own, when things went wrong at home or in
+the church, of giving all concerned the benefit of some practical
+common sense.  But she also, in the main, kept her pledge to endure
+patiently, as she had borne her hunger on the mountain, and many
+privations and trials of their lot.
+
+While she sustained her husband's hands and doubled his usefulness
+abroad, he generally found at home a sunny philosopher who laughed
+him out of half his troubles.
+
+With increasing frequency he said, "Lottie, you are so wholesome;
+there is not a morbid, unnatural trait in you."
+
+And she inspired him to preach such a wholesome, sunny Gospel that
+it won even the most prejudiced.
+
+One evening, a feeble, aged man stepped down from the train, and
+was borne off in triumph by Hemstead to the warmest corner of his
+hearth.
+
+Lottie gave him such a welcome that the old gentleman cried out:
+"Hold on. My goodness gracious! haven't you sobered down yet?"
+
+Then, while Frank stood near, with his hand upon her shoulder,
+looking as proud of her as a man could be, and with just such a
+black-eyed cherub in her arms as she must have been herself twenty
+odd years before, her face aglow with health, happiness, and content,
+she asked, "Well, uncle, what do you think of your meddling now?"
+
+Mr. Dimmerly went off into one of his old-time chuckles, as he said,
+"This is one of the things which the world never can 'stop.'"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of From Jest to Earnest, by E. P. Roe
+
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+express permission.]
+
+*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END*
+
diff --git a/old/fmjst10.zip b/old/fmjst10.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f6e979b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/fmjst10.zip