He looked northward, ready, it afterward seemed, to give up that work which the men of his mother’s people had followed for many generations and become a planter in the cane-brake country; the price Captain Fairfax demanded for Dorothy. To John an insistent voice kept saying: “A planter can do almost as much good as a preacher; you can still serve God but in another way; merely dilute the stringency of your puritanism; be human, a he-man; make life more a game and less a crusade; smile and the world will smile with you; God gave Dorothy to you!” Through a sudden rift he saw the clear blue of the sky; and indistinctly as though a long way off, yet looking at him; the face, that as a boy he had seen before. His mind projected upon the black clouds in letters of gold, a portion of the gospel of Matthew, which he had learned in Jeremiah Tyler’s school: “Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, * * * the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and sayeth unto him; all these things will I give thee, IF * * *” John saw below the great forest, and above the black clouds, with rarely a rift; and from the shadow of the forest and from the face of the clouds, Dorothy’s face peeped out in the glory of its loveliness. Finding himself he answered: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve.” If the devil thought to tempt John on the Pinnacle he made a mistake; the valley was a better place. To John the path upward to the Pinnacle was a series of upward stepping stones to the heights of clearer vision and the table land of God’s glory. As John climbed he left behind the earthly and entered into the glory of God’s distant, actual presence. Such had been his belief since a little boy; as also that before he descended, angels ministered unto him. When he returned home it was twilight. They were waiting supper. After his father had asked the blessing, which the present generation would think too long and comprehensive; taking in the world as little Tim’s prayer—“God bless everybody;” they ate a meal, such as people who live in the open and earn their bread by toil, enjoy. His mother was happy because her son had found his appetite, which had departed with his peace of mind upon the receipt of Dorothy’s letter. After she had respread the table for breakfast, she went into the room where he lay on a buffalo rug reading by the firelight; and sat down beside him. In a little while her son’s head was resting in her lap and she with loving fingers arranged his hair. “John, you did not read me Dorothy’s last letter as you usually do.” “No, mother I have torn it up,” and he detailed its contents. “Are you going to Danville, John?” “I think not, mother.” “Is that fair to Dorothy?” “We cannot marry if her father will not consent. Would you have me give up being a preacher to become Dorothy’s husband?”