"Then no one will over go there, for assuredly no one was ever good enough yet. You are fond of saying that you know all the prayers in the church service, Paulina. Who is it who is said, in the Communion Service, to have made by His one oblation of himself once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient satisfaction for the sins of the whole world?" "Our Lord, of course!" "Well, what was the need of His making that costly offering, if people can gain salvation and heaven by their own efforts without Him; above all, if by penance and fasting they can make atonement for their own sins? No, no, my child, you are wrong. Do you think that by lying all night weeping on the ground you can blot out the evil you have done this day, and thus make your account even with the God you have offended?" "No, oh, no!" cried Paulina, letting her head fall again. "Oh! If any penance, any pilgrimage, could make amend or restore my poor sister, how gladly would I do it!" "But if the way is already provided whereby your sin may be blotted out as if it had never been," said Winifred; "if by no action upon your part, save sorrow for your sins and faith in your Saviour, you could settle all the long account against you and receive strength for all time to come, would it not be worth while to try? O Paulina! Give up this wretched and false idea of earning the favor of God. Cast yourself just as you are—a poor, lost, dying sinner—utterly unworthy of anything save condemnation, upon the mercy of God in Jesus Christ His Son, and beg forgiveness for His sake who died and rose again for you. Then indeed you may feel yourself forgiven. Then you will know what it is to love your Father in heaven as well as to fear Him; and humbled yet encouraged, you may go on striving to please God, not because He is a hard and exacting master, but because He is a dear Father, who so loved you that He gave His own Son to die for you. I must go back to your sister now, but, Paulina, think of what I have said, and try to act upon it. And do not by thus exposing your health add to your mother's cares and anxieties. Believe me that is only another form of selfishness!" "I will do as you tell me," said Paulina, submissively, "but oh! Mrs. Winifred, do not be hard upon me! I am so very, very unhappy!" "But what is there to make you so unhappy, Paulina? Anything but what happened to-day?" "Everything!" said Paulina, abruptly. "I wish I had never been born. But there, Betty will want you. Good-night!" "I must indeed go to her!" said Winifred. "Good-night, my dear child, and may God bless you and teach you by His Holy Spirit!" "Well, and how did you find Pall?" asked Lady Corbet. "Very sad, madam, but I left her more quiet, and, I trust, in a way to be comforted. And now, let me beg you to rest, and leave our little one to my care."