asons which underlie
these most unhappy events," answered the old man slowly. There was no
rebuke in his quiet voice.

"Although it is true, doctor, that the deeper we get into the heart of
primal nature, the closer we get to the heart of nature's God, it is
equally true that the nearer we also get to the primal in man.

"I cannot help feeling that the city's laws and conventions trammel the
spirit in its free exercise of self, which is ill; but yet the inbred
realization of those very laws and conventions, and the fear of
consequences if they are broken, act as a salutary check on the
primitive passions inherited by every one of us from our savage
ancestors.

"Of course, I know that, in places where men are crowded together, such
man-made laws and conventions are wise and necessary; but the life which
results is not--cannot be--full and natural as it may be in an isolated
place like this, when honest obedience is paid to the still higher laws
of God--and it is for _that_ obedience which all of us must strive
constantly.

"You failed in the test to-day; but, believe me, there are many in
these mountains who, lacking all the advantages of training and
education which are yours, meet it. Their lives are lived under nature's
higher laws in perfect sincerity, and, although they might not conform
to the standards of so-called civilization, they are surely purer in
God's sight than those of millions who pattern theirs by printed
precept."

"I reckon," murmured Smiles, "that St. Peter had to put many black marks
on three books to-day ... yes, mine too, for I was wickedly angry. It
was hate that made me run away from Doctor Mac, and if I hadn't done it,
M ... M ... Mike wouldn't have been shot." She leaned her head against
Donald's arm, and cried softly.

"'The wages of sin is death,'" said the minister. "And he paid the
penalty for you, Dr. MacDonald, sacrificing himself because of his great
love. Poor little Mike. Such faithful animals as he must have souls, and
his is now in its own paradise."

No one spoke for a little, and then Mr. Talmadge continued to muse
aloud.

"Mere repentance, such as the doctor now feels, is not enough. You
remember the parable of the woman who drove the evil spirit from her
fleshly temple, and swept it clean, but failed to fill its place with
another guest, and seven other devils came and repossessed it? So it is
always with human life, Dr. MacDonald. Nature abhors a vacuum, and so
doe