But he tested the young man patiently. He let him scrape and save to pay back the money that he had stolen; he would not give him a single farthing. Every shilling of the restored sum was fairly earned in Mr. Channell's service, and paid out of a small salary. And all that time he saw that a mighty work of grace was going on in Robert's soul. When Mr. Channell lay dying, a lonely, childless man, he called Robert to his side. "All my property is yours," he said; "you are my sole heir, and you must take my name--ay, and you must make it loved and honoured in the old country." So Robert came to England, full of yearnings for the child whom he had never seen. From John Farren he learnt that Rhoda's heart was hardened against him. And yet, how could he help loving her for the love that she bare to Nelly? He knew all about Rhoda from her mother's letters. And he wanted, more than he ever acknowledged, to see this woman who could be so hard and yet so tender. The opportunity came. He bought the farm, and gave it to Farmer Farren; only stipulating that it should go to Rhoda at her father's death. And he came to dwell amongst the Farrens as Ralph Channell. This was all that the mother had to tell. Rhoda got up, when the tale was ended, and went quietly out of the house. The sun had just gone down; but there was light in the west, where rosy cloud-islands floated in a golden sea. And there was a light in Rhoda's face that gave her a new charm. She knew, by some subtle instinct, where she should find Robert Channell. She ascended the steep, winding lane, that led to the old churchyard. How did she guess that one woman's harshness would send him to the grave of another? How is it that women go straight to a conclusion which a man could only reach by a circuitous route? He neither saw nor heard her coming. His head was bent over that flowery mound, and the grass deadened the sound of her feet. She had been very brave until she found herself by his side. And then all her strength and courage suddenly fled. She had no words to plead for forgiveness; she could only touch his arm with her trembling hand, and call him by the name that she had hated all these years,-- "Robert!" There was very little said just then. The last glow was dying out of the skies, and the dews were falling on Helen's grave. But the Lord lifted up the light of His countenance upon them, and gave them peace. CHAPTER XI. NELLY CHANNELL. The little village seemed to lie asleep in the August sunshine. From the upland where she stood Nelly could see the columns of pale smoke going up from cottage chimneys, but nobody was astir in the gardens. It was noon. Scarcely a flake of cloud relieved the intense blue overhead; not a breath of wind fanned the thick leafage in the copse behind her.