burden he is, too, for his age. I can't deny
that, if he is a Hathaway. I think he's the kind of a boy that ought to
be put in a barrel and fed through the bunghole till he grows up; but of
course I'm not used to children's ways.

Be as easy with John at first as you can. I know you 'll say _I_ never
was with my husband, but he was different, he got to like a bracing
treatment, Adlai did. Many's the time he said to me, "Louisa, when you
make up our minds, I'm always contented." But John is n't made that way.
He's a changed man; now, what we've got to do is to _keep_ him changed.
He does n't bear you any grudge for leaving him, so he won't reproach
you.

Hoping to see you before long, I am,

Yours as usual,

Louisa Banks.

XI. "The Open Door"

On the Saturday evening before the yearly Day of Sacrifice the spiritual
heads of each Shaker family called upon all the Believers to enter
heartily next day into the humiliations and blessings of open
confession.

The Sabbath dawns upon an awed and solemn household. Footfalls are
hushed, the children's chatter is stilled, and all go to the morning
meal in silence. There is a strange quiet, but it is not sadness; it
is a hush, as when in Israel's camp the silver trumpets sounded and the
people stayed in their tents. "Then," Elder Gray explained to Susanna,
"a summons comes to each Believer, for all have been searching the heart
and scanning the life of the months past. Softly the one called goes
to the door of the one appointed by the Divine Spirit, the human
representative who is to receive the gift of the burdened soul. Woman
confesses to woman, man to man; it is the open door that leads to God."

Susanna lifted Eldress Abby's latch and stood in her strong, patient
presence; then all at once she knelt impulsively and looked up into her
serene eyes.

"Do you come as a Believer, Susanna?" tremblingly asked the Eldress.

"No, Eldress Abby. I come as a child of the world who wants to go back
to her duty, and hopes to do it better than she ever did before. She
ought to be able to, because you have chastened her pride, taught her
the lesson of patience, strengthened her will, purified her spirit, and
cleansed her soul from bitterness and wrath. I waited till afternoon
when all the confessions were over. May I speak now?"

Eldress Abby bowed, but she looked weak and stricken and old.

"I had something you would have called a vision last night, but I think
of it