read yore title clear to mansions in the skies."

"Omph huh, 'Liphalet, there ain't nothin' so easy as talkin' when Satin
's a-promptin' you."

"There you go, Hester, there you go ag'in, a-pattin' the devil on the
back. I 'low the Old Boy must be tickled to death with all the
compliments Christian people give him."

"A body 'd about as well be complimentin' the devil as to be
a-countenancin' his works, as you air."

The old man stopped with a piece half-way to his mouth. "Now jest listen
at that! Hester Prime, ain't you ashamed of yoreself? Me a-countenancin'
wrong! Sayin' that to me, an' me ol' enough to be--to be--well, I 'm
your husband, anyway."

In times of excitement he was apt to forget this fact for the instant
and give his wife her maiden name, as if all that was sharp in her
belonged to that prenuptial period. But this storm relieved the
atmosphere of its tension. Mrs. Hodges felt better for having spoken her
mind, and Mr. Hodges for having answered, while the young man was
relieved by the championship of his elder, and so the storm blew over.
It was several days before Brent saw Elizabeth again; but, thanks to
favouring winds, the sky had also cleared in that direction.

It was through such petty calms and storms that Fred passed the days and
weeks of his first year at the seminary. Some of them were small
annoyances, to be sure, but he felt them deeply, and the sting of them
rankled. It is not to be supposed, because there was no specific
outburst, that he was entirely at rest. Vesuvius had slumbered long
before Pompeii's direful day. His mind was often in revolt, but he kept
it to himself or confided it to only one friend. This friend was a
fellow-student at the seminary, a man older than Fred by some years. He
had first begun a literary career, but had renounced it for the
ministry. Even to him Fred would not commit himself until, near the end
of the year, Taylor declared his intention of now renouncing the study
of theology for his old pursuits. Then Brent's longing to be free
likewise drew his story from his lips.

Taylor listened to him with the air of one who had been through it all
and could sympathise. Then he surprised his friend by saying, "Don't be
a fool, Brent. It 's all very nice and easy to talk about striking out
for one's self, and all that. I 've been through it all myself. My
advice to you is, stay here, go through the academic discipline, and be
a parson. Get into a rut if you wi