Moses came down from the chamber of Mara in a tempest of contending emotions. He had all that constitutional horror of death and the spiritual world which is an attribute of some particularly strong and well-endowed physical natures, and he had all that instinctive resistance of the will which such natures offer to anything which strikes athwart their cherished hopes and plans. To be wrenched suddenly from the sphere of an earthly life and made to confront the unclosed doors of a spiritual world on the behalf of the one dearest to him, was to him a dreary horror uncheered by one filial belief in God. He felt, furthermore, that blind animal irritation which assails one under a sudden blow, whether of the body or of the soul,--an anguish of resistance, a vague blind anger. Mr. Sewell was sitting in the kitchen,--he had called to see Mara, and waited for the close of the interview above. He rose and offered his hand to Moses, who took it in gloomy silence, without a smile or word. "'My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord,'" said Mr. Sewell. "I cannot bear that sort of thing," said Moses abruptly, and almost fiercely. "I beg your pardon, sir, but it irritates me." "Do you not believe that afflictions are sent for our improvement?" said Mr. Sewell. "No! how can I? What improvement will there be to me in taking from me the angel who guided me to all good, and kept me from all evil; the one pure motive and holy influence of my life? If you call this the chastening of a loving father, I must say it looks more to me like the caprice of an evil spirit." "Had you ever thanked the God of your life for this gift, or felt your dependence on him to keep it? Have you not blindly idolized the creature and forgotten Him who gave it?" said Mr. Sewell. Moses was silent a moment. "I cannot believe there is a God," he said. "Since this fear came on me I have prayed,--yes, and humbled myself; for I know I have not always been what I ought. I promised if he would grant me this one thing, I would seek him in future; but it did no good,--it's of no use to pray. I would have been good in this way, if she might be spared, and I cannot in any other." "My son, our Lord and Master will have no such conditions from us," said Mr. Sewell. "We must submit unconditionally. _She_ has done it, and her peace is as firm as the everlasting hills. God's will is a great current that flows in spite of us; if we go with it, it carries us to endless rest,--if we resist, we only wear our lives out in useless struggles."