hat
hung over her own fate.

After a time the Queen dismissed some of her attendants to ramble about
the grounds,--among them Rafaravavy, who sauntered down one of the
side-walks by herself.

She had not gone far when, on reaching a turn of the road where a small
thicket of shrubs concealed her from the more public part of the garden,
she heard her own name pronounced.

Stopping abruptly, she listened with intense anxiety expressed on her
countenance.

"Rafaravavy!" repeated the voice again, "fear not!" Next moment the
bushes were turned aside, a man stepped on the path, and Ravonino stood
before her! He seized her in his arms, and printed a fervent kiss upon
her lips.

"Oh! Samuel," she said, using her lover's Christian name, which she
naturally preferred, and speaking, of course, in her native tongue, "why
did you come here? You know that it is death if you are caught."

"I would risk more than death, if that were possible, to see you,
Rafaravavy. But I come to ask you to fly with me. Our dear Lord's
counsel is that when we are persecuted we should flee to a place of
safety."

"Impossible!" said the girl, in a tone of decision that made her lover's
heart sink. "Besides, I am not persecuted. The Queen is fond of me,
and bears much."

"Fond of you she may well be, my loved one, she cannot help that; but
she is fonder of herself, and the moment you go beyond a certain point
she will order you out to execution. Has she not done the same sort of
thing before? She is capable of doing it again. She will _surely_ do
it again. Come, dearest! let us fly now--this moment. I have a lamba
here which will conceal most of your dress. Arrangements are made with
some of our friends in the Lord to aid us. Bearers are ready. I will
guide you to the caverns in the forest where my sister Ra-Ruth is
longing to receive you, where many of your old friends are dwelling in
security, where we worship God, and pray to Jesus, and sing the sweet
old hymns in peace. Come, dear one! will you not come?"

It was evident that the intense earnestness of the lover was exerting
powerful influence over the affectionate maiden, for she began to waver.

"Oh! do not persuade me thus!" she said. "I know not what God would
have me do. But the Queen has been _very_ kind to me in spite of my
religion, and sometimes I have thought that she listens to my pleading.
Perhaps God may use me as the means of bringing her to Jesus. Think