“‘Then it is a joke that some mischievous person is endeavoring to practice on you in order to have a laugh among his friends at your expense. Let us put our trust in God, and pray to Him for help, and all will be well--let us remember the instructions given by our great Redeemer in regard to prayer. He said: “When thou prayest enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Now, Edward, I have faith in that precious promise, and if we will pray earnestly in secret, we will come out unscathed in the end--will you do it? “‘Yes, I promise you I will, Heaven being my helper.’ “‘Very good; then let our unknown adversaries do their worst, we will triumph at last.’ “‘Lottie, you are a real philosopher, and I would give any consideration to be like you.’ “‘Perhaps I am; but I see our dinner coming now, and if you have no objections, we will pay our respects to it, for I am very hungry. Take your seat on the other side of the table, and help me to a plate of soup.’ “‘Lottie, I have a serious question to ask you, and I want you to reflect well and then give me a candid answer; for something tells me that some great misfortune is going to overtake me.’ “‘Let me help your plate to a slice of this venison--it looks very tempting; there, now, be so good as to pass the salad over this way; what were you about to say just now?’ “I could plainly see that she was making an effort to conceal her dreadful apprehensions by keeping up a conversation about one thing while her thoughts were on another. “‘I was about to propound a very serious question to you, but I guess I had better wait until you finish your dinner, as it is very plain that I shall not have your attention sooner.’ “‘Please hand me the oysters, and then go ahead with your question; and mind you do not turn it into a philosophical lecture.’ “‘Lottie, have you unlimited confidence in my honor?’ “‘Are you fond of stewed squirrel; try some of it--I think it is very nice; as to confidence, I would swear by you if it were not sinful. You know the good book forbids us to swear by anything--hold your goblet over here and let me give you some milk--I think your honor is first-class--won’t you have a piece of chicken--as to your integrity, it is good, middling--any other questions you wish to ask?’ “‘See here, Lottie, this may be the last dinner that you and I ever will eat together; in fact, I am afraid that it will, and we must have a serious talk before we part.’ “The goblet which she attempted to hand to me fell on the table and broke into fragments. “‘There now, Edward, see what I have done--and you are responsible for it, because you have frightened me with your evil prophecies.’