"Oh that I could once more have seen her!" he exclaimed, "that I might have told her how truly I pardon her for the pain which her well-meant but most mistaken effort to preserve my life has cost me. But as that cannot be, tell her, dear Naomi, that all is forgotten; and that the deep remorse she has felt for her temporary unfaithfulness to her Saviour, proves to me that she will never again forsake his fold or deny his name. She has experienced the bitter consequences of allowing any earthly object to interfere with her entire devotion to Him; and I pray that His grace may never again be taken from her, but keep her steadfast unto the end, even if she should be called to follow me by the same dark and dreadful road which I must so soon traverse." "I do not fear for her resolution and her perseverance for the future, Theophilus. It is not personal suffering that would have driven her to forget her Lord and Master, and act as she has done this day. It was her fear for you that clouded her reason, and silenced the voice of conscience. To save your life seemed to her the first object; and, alas! she forgot that if she succeeded in tempting you to comply with the blasphemous conditions of your cruel judges, the life thus purchased would be embittered for ever, both to herself and you. Her eyes are opened now; and she sees and feels that it is better to lose you here, and meet you again in that blessed world where you will soon be united to the company of apostles and saints and martyrs. But, poor girl, it is a severe trial for one so young, and whose feelings are so strong as hers. May the Lord be her strength and her consolation!" "Naomi," said Theophilus, "I love to hear you talk of her; but you must forbear, lest you make life too precious to me. Pray with me, dear cousin, and help me thus to regain the calmness and the courage which I felt until poor Claudia's letter came to disturb my soul, and revive the struggle between the flesh and the spirit. Your ardent piety and perfect trust in God have often been my example and my comfort in other days, less sorrowful than this, and now you are come as an angel to bring peace to my troubled heart. Let us kneel together."