ve. It gives to life zest and colour,
sweetness and grandeur; and those who hear it say no more that they are
desolate and lonely, but feel as if their spring-time of joy has come.
Moreover, it has the power of calling forth willing responses and
precious gifts; for she who hears it, frequently chooses as her answer
the pathetic words of Ruth, "Whither thou goest I will go; thy people
shall be my people, and thy God my God."

This old new story of love was told one day in the early part of the
present century by a young lighthouse-keeper, named William Darling.
It was not likely that Miss Horsley, to whom it was told, should
immediately give the wished-for reply, for she was a farmer's daughter,
living in a comfortable home, among safe fields, where the roar of the
sea could not reach her. The life of the wife of a lighthouse-keeper
must need be isolated and monotonous; and if she consented to take upon
herself the responsibility of such a post, she must be willing to
forego many of the pleasures to which she has been accustomed, to bear
long absences from the friends of her girlhood, and to be contented
with the society of her husband alone.

But such a prospect never yet frightened the loving heart of a devoted
woman, and Miss Horsley loved William Darling. Therefore she cared
very little where her home might be, if only she could share it with
him. To be his comforter and helpmeet, to cheer him when the days were
dark, and to enjoy his companionship, and brighten his home, were
pleasures enough to tempt her. So one bright afternoon, when William
was not needed in his lighthouse-tower, but was able to walk with her
about her father's meadows, or sit by her side at her father's hearth,
she told him that which he longed to hear.

It is a graver thing than it sometimes appears to the young people to
engage in such compacts. They have much to learn and unlearn in the
years that follow their first promises. They are not unfrequently
greatly mistaken in each other, and their after discoveries are not
always pleasing ones; and yet their entire lives are greatly moulded,
being hindered or helped to a very important extent, by the choice
which they make in their youth. Happily, for the peace of the
home-circle, and the well-being of the human family, the years often
mellow and ripen that which is good, and mould the character into
excellence. It was so in this case. When Miss Horsley became Mrs.
Darling, she found