r, and I wish to repeat now what I said on the
morning of my leaving home: that Miss Helen is to consider herself in
no sense bound to me. She is perfectly free, as free as if she had not
spoken. I fully realise the possibility of mistaking one's feelings
under the stress of such emotional excitement. The sphere of work
opening out before her is one in every way suited to her, and one in
which she will find full scope for her splendid powers of heart and
mind, and I shall be glad to know that her happiness is assured. At the
same time, truth demands that I should say that my feelings toward her
have not changed, nor will they ever change; and, while I cannot ask
her to share a life such as mine, I shall never cease to love her."

In Shock's preaching, and in his visitation of his people, a new spirit
made itself felt. There was no less energy, but there was an added
sweetness, and a deeper sympathy. He had entered upon the way of the
Cross, and the bruising of his heart distilled all its tenderness in
word and deed. Isis preaching was marked by a new power, a new
intensity; and when, after the evening service, they gathered about the
organ to spend an hour in singing their favourite hymns, than most of
all they were conscious of the change in him. The closer they drew
toward him the more tender did they find his heart to be.

The loneliness of the days that followed was to Shock unspeakable.
There was no one to whom he could unburden himself. His face began to
show the marks of the suffering within. Instead of the ruddy, full,
round, almost boyish appearance, it became thin and hard, and cut with
deep lines.

The doctor, who now made his home in Loon Lake, became anxious about
his friend, but he was too experienced and too skilled a physician to
be deceived as to the cause of Shock's changed appearance.

"It is not sickness of the body," he remarked to Ike, who was talking
it over with him, "but of the mind, and that, my friend, is the most
difficult to treat."

"Well," said Ike, "when I hear him speak in meetin', and see him git on
one of them smiles of his, I come purty nigh makin' a fool of myself. I
guess I'll have to quit goin' to church."

"No, I do not think you will quit, Ike, my boy," said the doctor. "You
have become thoroughly well inoculated. You could not, if you tried."

"Well, I surmise it would be difficult, but I wish somethin' would
happen."

XVIII

THE DON'S RECOVERY

Ike had his