"Nobly said, madam," the minister rejoined, looking upon her with an eye that had swept over many a field of duty. "I did not believe that I should appeal to you in vain. We have but a little while here," he went on, his white head shaking. "The future has seemed far, but the past is short, and soon the time comes when we must go. They may dispute our creed and pick flaws in our doctrine, but they acknowledge the mighty truth of death. There is nothing in life worth living for--" "Except love," said the girl standing beside him. He put his tremulous hand upon her head, a withered leaf upon a flower in bloom. "Yes, my child, love which is God's spirit come down to earth." He bade them good night, and for a long time they sat in silence. "Sometimes," said the mother, "I feel a sudden strength, and I look up in surprise and see that it has come from you." "I believe that I am developing," the daughter replied. "But I shall be strong if he asks me to go with him." "What do you mean, my dear?" "I mean that if he were to ask me, I would be strong enough to go." "And leave me?" "Leave the world--everything!" "Why, my child, how can you talk so? Really, you alarm me. You scarcely know the man; you have met him but a few times, and then your talks with him were brief." "I don't attempt to explain, mother. I simply know." "But you must wait and see. It may be possible that he has no such feeling toward you; it may be that he has not permitted himself to aspire--" "Oh," she cried, moving impatiently; "it is almost sacrilege to talk that way. Who am I that he should aspire to me? What have I done? What can I do? Nothing. I haven't a single talent, hardly an accomplishment. Oh, I know that I was intoxicated with vanity, but that has worn off. I am simply a country girl, that's all." "You are a girl bewitched," said the mother, sadly. CHAPTER XX. AFRAID IN THE DARK.