e and unresting ambition,
and yet the selfishness that is the natural result of such ambition was
absent. As far as his arduous work would permit, he gave himself
lavishly to wife and child, to all the brethren, rich and poor, when
they asked for his ministrations. The motherless babies whom he had
helped Emma to nurse through their infancy had gone back to their
father's care, but there was never a time when some poor child or
destitute woman was not a member of his household. On the other hand,
many of the actions of his public life were questionable. He had
established a bank in Kirtland, of which he was the president. Even
Halsey admitted to Susannah that this was a great mistake, that the bank
ought to have been under the control of some one who understood money
matters; the prophet did not. He had also set up a cloth mill, and
undertaken to farm a large tract of land in the public interest. The
prophet showed to much better advantage when instituting new religious
ceremonies, of which there were now many and curious, or when giving
forth "revelations" which had to do with the principles of economy
rather than its practical details. Susannah thought that the voice of
the Gentiles all around them, shouting false accusations of greed and
dishonesty, would sooner or later find much apparent confirmation if no
financier could be found to lay a firm hand upon the prophet's sanguine
tendency toward business speculation.

CHAPTER VII.

In the bleak December two elders came from Zion, the holy city in
Missouri, bringing the history of dire tribulation.

It was a cold night; the first snow was falling upon the wings of a
gale. Susannah was sitting alone quietly working out problems in
algebra, in which study Smith had desired that her elder pupils should
advance. The storm beat upon the window pane, and set the bright logs of
the fireplace now flaming and now smoking, the varnished wooden walls
dimly reflecting light and shadow.

Halsey had been out to see the newcomers, who were staying at the
prophet's house. It was late when she heard his tread, muffled in the
drifted snow. He hardly paused to shake it from his clothes before he
came near. She saw that he was in a mood of strong grief and excitement.

"Angel," she spoke pityingly, "you have had a hard, hard day; you have
stayed so very late at this evening's conference." She held out her hand
to him. "Do not tell me to-night if you can rest before telling."