ur having come from so many and such distant lands? Do you
not wish to demonstrate by that means how your faith has penetrated
into all parts of the world? That is, after all, pride under the garb
of humility."

Sister Agatha was deeply touched, and remained silent for a moment;
then rising hastily, she said with a stern manner: "Do not confuse
trifles with grave subjects. All that we do, even the weakest, is for
the Lord's glory and praise, and not our own. What matter if the world
scorns us? If we are the Lord's, He is with us, and we care for naught
else. Search your heart, dear Sister, that you neglect not the
salvation of your soul. Accept for yourself a helper and guide, so
that your feet may not stray from the right path. There is one, whom I
know, is now ready to offer himself to you, than whom none is, more
steadfast in the faith. Brother Jonathan Fricke, the faithful friend
of your father, honors you most highly when he desires to have you for
his wife. To-day he explained to me his wishes on the subject; and the
elders, to whom I have spoken, give their cordial consent to the
alliance."

At Agatha's words Carmen grew deathly pale, and listened with wide-open
eyes. When the Sister ceased speaking, she sprang up, and turning from
the gentle eyes which sought hers, said passionately:

"But I will not have him for my husband!"

"Carmen, my dear, you will not have Jonathan for your husband? You do
not know what you are saying," cried Agatha.

"Yes, I do, Sister Agatha," answered Carmen, quickly, her large
lustrous eyes gleaming with a dangerous light. "Do you know how you
feel when you come in contact with a reptile, a snake? When I was a
little girl, on my father's plantation, I saw one day, under an
aloe-tree, what I thought was a green twig; and when I grasped it, it
was a cold, clammy snake, which, in a moment, twined itself around my
arm. I could not scream for terror; but Sarah, my mother's faithful
slave, saw it. She tore the viper from my arm, and flung it far away,
among the bushes. Sister Agatha, when Brother Jonathan comes near me,
I feel the same shiver go through, and the same feeling of horror
almost paralyzes my limbs. I could not endure to have him near me
always. I could not say to him, 'My husband'--no, not for all the
world!"

Carmen grew more and more excited as she went on.

"Perhaps not for all the world," interposed Agatha; "but for your own
salvation you must do