the red flame rays were fainter as
they came into this back portion where Susannah stood in dull distress a
few paces from the stricken intruder.

This man had always the power at close quarters of producing strange
disturbance in the emotions of his friends. Susannah was trembling, her
heart heaving, if not with pure compassion, at least with wild
excitement on his account.

With an effort Smith held himself still, but gave again the
heart-broken laugh that appealed more than all else to her woman's
heart. "'Tain't all that neither, that makes me the most 'sorry,' as ye
call it. I tried to go in and out before this people, Mrs. Halsey,
loving and serving all alike as a prophet should, but I wouldn't be
human man, no, nor fit to be chosen by God for the honour he's put upon
me, if I didn't know who amongst us was most worth care and respect, and
it's come to my soul this night, now that I can't no longer stand
between you and all the dangers that beset our people in the wilderness,
that I wasn't right, maybe, to egg on Halsey to take ye away from your
happy home, or to make a point as I did, first off, of getting ye
converted--for I was more set on it than I showed at the time. It's
because 'twas my doing you married, that I've come to say this; and I
see well enough that 'tain't love that is between you and Halsey, though
you are too tender of him to let him see."

She made a movement of the head, an effort to show reproving dignity,
while in fact taken by surprise, her nerves in distressful panic, she
had scarce the power to control herself, none to control him.

He answered her impulse, although he had not looked up to see the
gesture. "Ye haven't got any call to-night to be offended with me, for
I'm worth no more, unless the Lord see fit to lift me up agen, than the
paper our bank-notes is written on; and I have just got one more thing
to say, then I'm gone. If there's any grit in Joseph Smith, and if it
pleases God that he's not going now to his death, he'll not make another
home for himself without providing as good a place for you and the young
one. Ye may depend on it."

He rose up now. "'Tain't no use disguising facts; I'm running away, and
I'm leaving ye to dangers and privations. Your money and Halsey's is
gone the way of all the rest, and without me to stop him Halsey will fly
in the face of the first persecution that's within his reach. If I
hadn't known that there was no chance at all of your coming