s and spoke once more; but
it was as if he spoke to others, to some one at a distance; it was in
the other language which the little Pilgrim still did not understand,
but she could make out that it sounded like a great proclamation that He
was wise as He was good, and called upon all to see that the Lord had
chosen the only way. And the sound of the poet's voice was like a great
trumpet sounding bold and sweet, as if to tell this to those who were
far away.

"For you must know," said the Lady Ama, who all the time held the
Pilgrim's hand, "that it is permitted to all to judge according to the
wisdom that has been given them. And there are some who think that our
dear Lord might have found another way, and that wait, sometimes with
trembling, lest He should fail; but not among us who have lived on
earth, for we know. And it is our work to show to all the worlds that
His way never fails, and how wonderful it is, and beautiful above all
that heart has conceived. And thus we justify the ways of God, who is
our Father. But in the other worlds there are many who will continue to
fear until the history of the earth is all ended and the chronicles are
made complete."

"And will that be long?" the little Pilgrim cried, feeling in her heart
that she would like to go to all the worlds and tell them of our Lord,
and of His love, and how the thought of Him makes you strong; and it
troubled her a little to hear her friends speak of the low skies and the
short days, and the dimness of that dear country which she had left
behind, in which there were so many still whom she loved.

Upon this Ama shook her head, and said that of that day no one knew, not
even our Lord, but only the Father: and then she smiled and answered
the little Pilgrim's thought. "When we go back," she said, "it is not as
when we lived there; for now we see all the dangers of it and the
mysteries which we did not see before. It was by the Father's dear love
that we did not see what was around us and about us while we lived
there, for then our hearts would have fainted: and that makes us wonder
now that any one endures to the end."

"You are a great deal wiser than I am," said the little Pilgrim; "but
though our hearts had fainted how could we have been overcome? for He
was on our side."

At this neither of them made any reply at first, but looked at her; and
at length the poet said that she had brought many thoughts back to his
mind, and how he had himself been