And as he rejoiced with a glad sense of freedom and renewed life, it struck Reuben what a dreadful thing, since the mere shadow of such evil was so hard to bear, must the sense of actual guilt be. It was bad enough to know that others regarded you as a wrong-doer, but how much sorer shame must he feel who knew himself to be a criminal, and who could never again look his fellow-man frankly in the face, feeling himself worthy of respect. "There is therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." The words flashed suddenly upon Reuben's mind with a new vivid revelation of their truth. He had known before that all men are sinners, and that Jesus Christ is the Saviour from sin, but now his recent experience gave him a keen sense of the misery that sin works. He saw sin as the most appalling fact in human life, the universal shadow clouding the beauty and joy of earth; saw how unforgiven sin inevitably involves a sense of guilt and separation from God, and how the gospel, with its glad proclamation of no condemnation through faith in the Divine Atonement, absolves the conscience of the sinner and sets his spirit free. And Reuben knew that even the best of men can be kept from sin only by the grace of God. If his long trial of unjust suspicion and undeserved scorn had bred any self-righteousness in the heart of Reuben Roy, it was all swept away now, and he knew himself a weak, sinful lad, needing every moment that Divine grace which God has promised to all who seek it, and in the strength of which alone can temptations be successfully resisted. Reuben's mother was dismayed to see her son looking so white and thin. And she questioned him so closely as to the cause of his altered looks that he soon had to tell her the whole history of the trial he had undergone. She listened with deep interest, and an emotion she could not conceal. "I was sure there was something wrong," she said; "I could tell it by your letters, lad. But you should have told your mother. I would rather have known all about it, even if it should worry me. It wouldn't have given me the worst trouble. You'd have had no word of reproach from me, Reuben. I know my lad, and if all the folks in Birmingham had called you a thief, it would have made no difference to me; I should know that you were not." Reuben was very pleased to hear his mother say that. "I am glad you can trust me, mother," he said. "I should hope I could trust my own son," she said proudly; "you've never deceived me and your father yet, and I know you never will. Ah, how I pity those parents whose children deceive them, and who find out when it is too late what their real character is." "Mother," said Reuben quickly, "have you heard anything of Owen Grant? Is he at home now?" "Yes, alas! I have heard of Owen," said Mrs. Roy gravely, "but it's no good news, Reuben." "What is wrong?" he asked. "I know that Owen has left the business he was in."