stened in eager
expectancy. [Sidenote: The Truth Shall Make You Free] "The kingdom of
the Christ," the preacher said, "is the kingdom of the truth, and the
truth is to be continued and kept alive by the strength of man's belief.
Those things which have been handed down by holy men and sacred oracles
since Christ was here upon the earth, are the truths by which we live.
How can Christ live except He live in our beliefs? Why did the Father
of all intrust us with our reasons, unless it were that we should
make them the instruments of our faith and our salvation? Let us
therefore stand in our places, while we recite together the articles
of our holy faith."

These and many such words did the scholar-preacher declare. And as he
sat there with the people, Melchoir felt the weight of the solemn and
earnest words, and he said: "So at last have I come to the end of my
search. The kingdom of Christ is in the mind of man. His kingdom is
the kingdom of the truth."

[Sidenote: More Light Shall Break Forth]

Then he followed the throngs as they went forth from the church; but
the star which had tarried over the lofty spire was now before him,
and the opal light wavered and trembled, as if beckoning him on; and
the words of the preacher, "we must believe," seemed to blend with the
words of Balthazar, "we must follow the star." So, reluctantly and
slowly he followed on.

[Sidenote: Thy Sacramental Liturgies]

But Balthazar--whither went he, following the star? Over many a rugged
way, through many a tangled thicket, through valleys and over hills.
His star tarried over no cathedrals; it lingered over no Gothic
spires. It seemed capricious and restless and tireless. At times it
seemed intent on coming to a pause over the head of some human being,
but perhaps it was because these human beings themselves were so
restless and so busy that the star could not accomplish its intent.
For Balthazar saw these men and women hurrying hither and thither on
errands of mercy, or deeds of justice; he saw them ferreting out great
wrongs, laying heavy blows on the backs of men who oppressed and
defrauded their fellow men.

At length Balthazar seemed to understand the movements of the star,
and, drawing nearer, he would seem to hear these men repeating
cheering and encouraging words to one another. "Pure religion and
undefiled," he heard one exclaiming, "is to visit the fatherless and
widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from