nt the great spiritual problems of existence, she might
almost as well have been the first woman who had ever done so, for she
knew nothing of the experiences of others who had encountered them, and
she had scarcely heard an echo of the great life-truths which seers have
been ages in discovering. She had to sound her way across the perilous
sea of thought without any other chart than the faded parchment of the
gypsy, and those few incomprehensible words which she had heard from the
lips of the young Quaker.

It is good for us that upon this vast and unknown sea of life, God's
winds and waves are wiser and stronger than the pilots, and often bring
our frail crafts into havens which we never sought! Perhaps the act
which Pepeeta was about to perform had more ethical and spiritual value
than the casual observer would suppose, because of the perfect sincerity
with which she undertook its performance. No priestess ever entered an
oracle, no vestal virgin a temple, nor saint a shrine with more
reverence than she felt, as she passed into the silence of this
primeval forest.

Neither David nor Pepeeta knew anything of each other's movements, but
they started upon their different errands at almost the same moment and
were pursuing parallel courses with only a low ridge of hills between
them. Each was following the brightest light that had shone upon the
pathway of life. Both were absorbed with the highest thoughts of which
they were capable. As invisible planets deflect the stars from their
orbits, these two were imperceptibly diverting each other from the way
of duty. The experiences of this beautiful morning were to color the
lives of both forever.

As soon as Pepeeta had escaped from the immediate environments of the
village, she gave herself wholly to the task of gathering those
ingredients which were to constitute the mixture she planned to offer to
her god. She first secured a cricket, a lizard and a frog, and then the
herbs and flowers which were to be mingled with them. Thrusting them all
into a little kettle which swung on her arm, she surrendered herself to
the silent and mysterious influences of the forest. At the edge of the
primeval wilderness a solemn hush stole over her. She entered its
precincts as if it were a temple and she a worshiper with a votive
offering. Threading her way through the winding aisles of the great
cathedral, she was exalted and transported. The fitful fever cooled in
her veins. She absorbe