indicate her faith when the mere tone of his voice
seemed to paralyze her heart? He was indeed treating her with the cold
formality of an opponent, but never for a single instant could she
forget that he was her father the being she loved best in the whole
world.

But Erica was brave and true; she knew that this was a crisis in their
lives, and, thrusting down her own personal pain, she forced herself to
give her whole heart and mind to the searching and perplexing questions
with which her father intended to test the reality of her convictions.
Had she been unaccustomed to his mode of attack he would have hopelessly
silenced her, as far as argument goes in half an hour; but not only was
Erica's faith perfectly real, but she had, as it were, herself traversed
the whole of his objections and difficulties. Though far from imagining
that she understood everything, she had yet so firmly grasped the
innermost truth that all details as yet outside her vision were to her
no longer hindrances and bugbears, but so many new possibilities other
hopes of fresh manifestations of God.

She held her ground well, and every minute Raeburn realized more keenly
that whatever hopes he had entertained of reconvincing her were futile.
What made it all the more painful to him was that the thoroughness
of the training he had given her now only told against him, and the
argument which he carried on in a cold, metallic voice was really
piercing his very heart, for it was like arguing against another self,
the dearest part of himself gone over to the enemy's side.

At last he saw that argument was useless, and then, in his grief and
despair, he did for a time lose his self-control. Erica had often felt
sorry for the poor creatures who had to bear the brunt of her father's
scathing sarcasm. But platform irony was a trifle to the torrent which
bore down upon her today. When a strong man does lose his restraint upon
himself, the result is terrific. Raeburn had never sufficiently
cared for an adversary as to be moved beyond an anger which could be
restricted and held within due bounds; he of course cared more for the
success of his cause and his own dignity. But now his love drove him to
despair; his intolerable grief at the thought of having an opponent in
his own child burst all restraining bonds. Wounded to the quick, he who
had never in his life spoken a harsh word to his child now poured forth
such a storm of anger, and sarcasm, and bitter repr