ith," she said. "Let
me entreat you, Guy, not to do so, whatever may be the consequences.
Our father is still unhappily blinded by the hope of securing worldly
advantages, or he would not think of acting as he proposes. He may thus
secure his own safety, and perhaps, for his sake, the inquisitors may
not interfere with us; but if they do, let us pray that we may be firm.
It is very, very, very sad, and will break our poor mother's heart, for
she already feels dreadfully the position in which we are placed. Oh,
what shall we do?"

"Trust in God," said Arthur, who just then came into the room, and had
overheard Marian's last remark. "My uncle is undoubtedly wrong, and had
I known before we left home the state of affairs in this island, and
what we were to encounter, I would have implored him not to come to
Trinidad; however, as we are here, we must seek for guidance how to act
should we, as I fear we shall, be questioned as to our religious
belief."

We three talked the matter over, and determined, if questioned, to
acknowledge ourselves Protestants, and refuse to attend the Roman
Catholic Church. We felt sure that Uncle Paul would agree with us, and
we proposed to get him to speak to our mother.

We were not disappointed in Uncle Paul's reply. He blamed himself
greatly for having yielded to our father's persuasions, and consented to
urge on our mother the duty of adhering firmly to her religious
convictions.

On Monday morning, Uncle Paul, Arthur, and I set off to return to the
city. On the way our uncle told us that our mother had solemnly
promised him not to change her religion, and to suffer anything rather
than be induced to do so. He had also spoken to our father, who seemed
very anxious, but who declared that, rather than abandon his estate and
the prospect of retrieving his fortunes, he would conform outwardly, if
necessary, to the religion of the country; but that he would allow us,
if we desired it, to quit the island.

We reached the town, and carried on business as usual, without any
interference from the officials of the Inquisition.

We were about to leave our place of business on Wednesday evening, when
Tim arrived with a message from my father, summoning us home on account
of the dangerous illness of my mother. We immediately ordered our
horses and rode off, accompanied by Don Antonio, a physician of great
repute, to whom our uncle, on receiving the intelligence, forthwith sent
requesting