to the test," he said to himself. "I will ask Him."

He rose from his chair and thought to fall upon his knees, but was
resisted. An unlooked for struggle arose within him.

He had said to Frothingham that he was not proud of his scepticism, but
now his independent thought arose before him, an image not willing to
be crucified. He saw the sneers of his fellow unbelievers, should he
join the ranks of the religious. Suppose God should reveal Himself?
Would he not be bound to serve Him? A vision of the Man who called
Himself the Son of God arose dim and wraith-like, sorrowful, homeless,
poor--crucified! If God revealed Himself, perhaps he must follow that
Man! Was it worth it? Was it not better to go on as he was, rich,
independent, self-governed? If he asked for light, was he ready to
follow the light?

His hands clenched themselves in the struggle. The vision of
self-abnegation was so real that it sickened him. Home, possessions,
friendships, and his own life also, seemed demanded by the vision of
that Man. But to turn back from the light that might be gained was to
fall into a darkness more damnable and more desolate than before.

"Buy the truth and sell it not," urged a voice, and some glimmer of
encouragement seemed in his imagination to smile from the face of the
Man of Sorrows. In his decision the sweat broke from his brow and the
veins stood in cords of agony. He fell upon his knees, and said aloud:

"O God, if Thou art, reveal Thyself to me, and I will serve Thee."

The solitary gas jet still flickered in the room, the moonlight shone
without, the silent household slept. No voice answered the young man's
prayer, nor sensible Presence wrapped him about; but a crisis was
marked in one life that night and the result was to be light and peace.

Hubert had not imagined what sort of a response should be made to his
request, and it was well he had not. But he felt a sense of relief at
a decision gained after he had uttered his prayer to God, and soon
retired to his bed. It was not to enjoy much sleep, however, for still
the vision of the Man of Calvary haunted him, and with it a sense that
it was in His footsteps he must tread, if the truth should really be
revealed to him. In the slow hours of the night he counted the cost of
the tower he should build, and wondered if he would be able to finish
it. To him it was granted at the outset of the way to know something
of the rugged terms of true disc