do you mean?' she said, staring at me; but her voice trembled.
'Haven't I been telling you how wicked I am? Do you think that is a
reason for His blessing me?'

'I think His blessing has always been with you, my poor Phoebe, like the
sunlight that you try to shut out from your windows. You hide yourself
in your own darkness, and pretend that the all-embracing love is not for
you. Well may you call your present existence a tomb; but you must not
wrong your Almighty Father. Not He, but you yourself have walled yourself
up with your own sinful hands, and then you wonder at the weight that
lies upon your heart.'

'Can I forget my trouble when I am not able to move?' she said bitterly.
And it was sad to see how her hands beat upon the bedclothes. But I held
them in mine. They were icy cold. The action seemed to calm her frenzy.

'You cannot forget,' I returned quietly; 'but all this time, all these
weary years, you might have learned to forgive Robert.'

'Nay, I will have nothing to do with forgiving,' was the hard answer.

'And yet you say you love him, Phoebe. Why, the very devils would laugh
at such a notion of love.'

'Didn't I say I both loved and hated him?' very fiercely.

'Speak the truth, and say you hate him, and God forgive you your sin. But
it is a greater one than Robert has committed against you.'

'How dare you say such things to me, Miss Garston?' trying to free her
hands; but still I held them fast. 'You will make me hate you next. I am
not a pleasant-tempered woman.'

'If you do, I will promise you forgiveness beforehand. Why, you poor
creature, do you think I could ever be hard on you?'

The fierce light in her eyes softened. 'Nay, I did not mean what I said;
but you excite me with your talk. How can you know what I feel about
these things? You cannot put yourself in my place.'

'The heart knoweth its own bitterness, Phoebe; and it may be that in your
place I should fail utterly in patience; but if we will not lie still
under His hand, and learn the lesson He would fain teach us, it may be
that fresh trials may be sent to humble us.'

'Do you think things could be much worse with me?' becoming excited
again; but I stroked her hand, and begged her gently to let me finish
my speech.

'Phoebe, as you lie there on your cross, the whole Church throughout the
world is praying for you Sunday after Sunday when the prayer goes up for
those who are desolate and oppressed. And who so desolate and oppre