They had seated themselves on the long sofa, and Macrae rose and went to them: "You have come to bid me farewell," he said, "and I am glad to see you--you have been brothers to me--it breaks my heart to part with you--and all you represent--but I must go. I know not where--nor yet what may befall me, but if I die I shall die seeking the God I have loved--and--lost." As he spoke he advanced to the man nearest him and held out his hand, and it was taken with great apparent love and emotion. An older man bent his head over it--was it not the kindly, gracious hand that had so often broken to him the Bread of Life? Thomas Reid was the last of the company. He looked into Macrae's face with brimming eyes, and when he took Ian's offered hand a great tear dropped upon the clasping fingers. Both men saw it, and Macrae said with a sad smile: "That washes all unkindness out, Elder," and with sobbing words Reid answered: "It does, sir. It does. O Minister, is it not possible for you to unsay the words you said last Sabbath Day?" "No." "The Lord is merciful to His elect." "I have denied the Lord, and He has forsaken me." "He cannot forsake those whom He has chosen. You have lived a good life." "I have not. I have run after strange gods. I have looked His Word in the face and disobeyed it. I have put scientific and philosophical religion in the place of Christ's religion, and my Bible, once full of comfort, has nothing to say to me." "Well, then, sir, you know who is the mediator between God and man." "Elder, if there is a God, I want to find Him." "Then seek Him, sir." "I am seeking Him as those who seek for life and life eternal. Through the world I will seek Him. To the last breath of this life I will call upon--perhaps--if there is a God--He may hear me." Blind with feeling, the men went away so quietly that Mrs. Caird threw down her work and said impatiently: "There! He has sent them off without a word. How could he do it? Oh, but Scots are hard-baked men. Even those proud English would have had a 'God speed' to bless the parting, and I----" Then Ian entered, and he said cheerfully: "We had a pleasant parting, Jessy. I am glad of it. I would have been sorry to have missed it." "What did you say to them?" "What I said last Sabbath--that I was going to seek Him whom my soul loveth, even if I died in the search." "There is no 'if' in such a search. God is not a 'highly probable' God. He is a fact. He is nearer to you than breathing, closer than hands and feet. Even a pagan knew that much, Ian; all that is wanted is to become conscious of the _nearness of God_, and to seek God with all your heart and all your soul, and you will find Him. Not perhaps! You _will_ find Him." And Ian was silent and troubled, and went away.