pressing the
Eldress's work-stained hands to her lips. "God speaks to you in one
voice, to me in another. Does it matter so much as long as we both hear
Him? Surely it's the hearing and the obeying that counts most! Wish me
well, dear friend, and help me to say good-by to the Elder."

The two women found Elder Gray in the office, and Abby, still
unresigned, laid Susanna's case before him.

"The Great Architect has need of many kinds of workmen in His building,"
said the Elder. "There are those who are willing to put aside the ties
of flesh for the kingdom of heaven's sake; 'he that is able to receive
it, let him receive it!'"

"There may also be those who are willing to take up the ties of the
flesh for the kingdom of heaven's sake," answered Susanna, gently, but
with a certain courage.

Her face glowed with emotion, her eyes shone, her lips were parted. It
was a new thought. Abby and Daniel gazed at her for a moment without
speaking, then Daniel said: "It's a terrible cross to some of the
Brethren and Sisters to live here outside of the world, but maybe it's
more of a cross for such as you to live in it, under such conditions as
have surrounded you of late years. To pursue good and resist evil, to
bear your cross cheerfully and to grow in grace and knowledge of truth
while you're bearing it--that's the lesson of life, I suppose. If you
find you can't learn it outside, come back to us, Susanna."

"I will," she promised, "and no words can speak my gratitude for what
you have all done for me. Many a time it will come back to me and keep
me from faltering."

She looked back at him from the open doorway, timidly.

"Don't forget us, Sue and me, altogether," she said, her eyes filling
with tears. "Come to Farnham, if you will, and see if I am a credit to
Shaker teaching! I shall never be here again, perhaps, and somehow it
seems to me as if you, Elder Gray, with your education and your gifts,
ought to be leading a larger life than this."

"I've hunted in the wild Maine forests, in my young days; I've speared
salmon in her rivers and shot rapids in a birch-bark canoe," said the
Elder, looking up from the pine table that served as a desk. "I've been
before the mast and seen strange countries; I've fought Indians; I've
faced perils on land and sea; but this Shaker life is the greatest
adventure of all!"

"Adventure?" echoed Susanna, uncomprehendingly.

"Adventure!" repeated the Elder, smiling at his own thoughts. "W