en Crito, as if conscious of some
departing force, suddenly opened his eyes.

"Hail! Pathema; steal not thyself away," said he smiling.

"I steal but a gem of hope--surely a lighter load," was the laughing
answer.

"And yet thou hast left it in my breast, thou absent-minded robber."

Bending down, Pathema kissed his bosom, saying, "And I am glad to leave
it there."

"And go forth hopeless?" queried he.

"Yes," said she, shaking her head in feigned solemnity, and Crito
laughed.

Leaving figures of speech, Pathema expressed her joy that there
appeared to be good ground for hope. Then they entered into an
animated conversation about the Iliad and the Odyssey, books that the
Hellenic people used as we do Robinson Crusoe, Shakespeare, and the
Bible. Before parting they conversed about the Memoirs of the
Apostles, called in our day the Gospels.

"I love the Nazarene's moral courage," said Crito.

"Yes," replied Pathema, "to be invited, for instance, to dine with a
number of the learned, and without personal provocation to feel
compelled to denounce them as hypocrites, must have been a severe trial
of his courage."

"It seems easier to face wounds and the loss of blood than the loss of
reputation," rejoined Crito.

"It is, but, of course, the full test is to face both. The applause of
his comrades, of the whole army and of his nation, fires the spirit of
the brave soldier that climbs the frowning walls of a besieged city;
but the Nazarene had not the applause of a single soul when He faced
the certainty of cruel death upon the cross; worse, there was derision,
and He himself even cried out that God had forsaken Him."

"The cross means a great deal," said Crito reflectively.

"It was endured in love for us," was the reply.

"The love was great," remarked the boy.

Pathema now rose up to go, and Crito was very sorry; but he knew that
there were many other poor and tried ones waiting to welcome her, and
he urged himself to resignation.

"Come back on the morrow," said he, "and stay with me longer; I weary
much for thee."

Having kissed her hand respectfully, the boy looked after her wistfully
as she departed like a heavenly angel.

Going next into the humble abode of an old man, whose only attendant
was a little granddaughter, Pathema with her maid proceeded at once to
put the place in thorough order, aiding the slender one with the
heaviest work, such as it was. The child had always done well, but
s