ion too--up to the very
end!"

"Nay, I do not say that. Have I not said that I _submit_ to whatever
punishment is due? Surely that is not rebellion. I can do nothing
_now_ to make up for a mis-spent life, so I am willing to accept the
consequences. Is not that submission to God--at least as far as lies in
my power?"

"No; it is _not_ submission. Bear with me when I say it is rebellion,
still deeper rebellion than ever. God says to you, `You have destroyed
yourself but in _me_ is your help.' He says, `Though your sins be as
scarlet they shall be white as snow.' He says, `Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and you shall be saved,' and assures you that `whoever
will' may come to Him, and that no one who comes shall be cast out--yet
in the face of all that you tell me that the love of God and the
salvation of Christ are not for you! Ralph, my friend, you think that
if you had a chance of living your life over again you would do better
and so deserve salvation. That is exactly what God tells us we cannot
do, and then He tells us that He Himself, in Jesus Christ, has provided
salvation from sin _for_ us, offers it as a free unmerited gift; and
immediately we dive to the deepest depth of sin by deliberately refusing
this deliverance from sin unless we can somehow manage to deserve it."

"I cannot see it," said the wounded man thoughtfully.

"Only God Himself, by His Holy Spirit, can enable you to see it," said
his companion; and then, in a low earnest voice, with eyes closed and
his hand on his friend's arm, he prayed that the outlaw might be "born
again."

Charlie Brooke was not one of those who make long prayers, either "for a
pretence" or otherwise. Buck Tom smiled slightly when his friend
stopped at the end of this one sentence.

"Your prayer is not long-winded, anyhow!" he said.

"True, Ralph, but it is comprehensive. It requires a good deal of
expounding and explaining to make man understand what we say or think.
The Almighty needs none of that. Indeed He does not need even the
asking but He _bids_ us ask, and that is enough for me. I have seen
enough of life to understand the value of unquestioning obedience
whether one comprehends the reason of an order or not."

"Ay," returned Buck quickly, "when he who gives the order has a right to
command."

"That is so much a matter of course," rejoined Charlie, "that I would
not think of referring to it while conversing with an intelligent man.
By the way-