d face of Sister Agatha looking out at
me, more mournful than before.

As I rapidly walked homeward, I said to myself, "Now I declare myself a
full brother of the House of Martha. I shall take up their cause, and
steadfastly work for it whether they like it or not."

XLVI.

GOING BACK FOR A FRIEND.

When I reached home, I looked up my grandmother and told her everything
that had happened. My excitement was so great that it was necessary I
should talk to some one, and I felt a pang of regret when I remembered
that latterly I had given no confidences to her.

My grandmother listened eagerly and without interrupting me, but as I
spoke she shook her head again and again, and when I had finished, she
said:--

"My dear boy, if you understood the world and the people in it as well
as I do, you would know that that sort of thing could never, never work.
Before long you and Sylvia would be madly in love with each other, and
then what would happen nobody knows. It may be that Mother Anastasia has
not fully done her duty in this case, or it may be that she has done too
much, and other people may have acted improperly and without due thought
and caution; but be this as it may, it is plain enough to see that your
poor heart has been dreadfully wrung. I wish I had known before of this
brotherhood notion, and of what you intended to do, and I would have
told you, as I tell you now, that in this world we must accept
situations. That is the only way in which we can get along at all.
Sylvia Raynor has gone, soul and body, into this Martha House, which is
the same as a convent, and to all intents and purposes she is the same
as a nun. Now there is no use fighting against that sort of thing. Even
if she should consent to climb over the wall, and run away with you, I
do not believe you would like a wife who would do that, after all she
had vowed and given her solemn word to."

"My dear grandmother," I said, "all that you say may be true, but it
makes no difference to me; I shall always be faithful to Sylvia."

"Perhaps so, perhaps so," said my grandmother, "but you must remember
this: it may be all very well to be faithful, but you should be careful
how you do it. In some respects Mother Anastasia is entirely right, and
your faithfulness, if injudiciously shown, may make miserable the life
of this young woman." I sighed but said nothing. My grandmother looked
pityingly upon me.

"I think you can do nothing better than to