far-away dream to him, connected with an angelic
perfection which he always found missing in the workaday world. His wife
must be a pure, perfect creature. Marriage was a sacred thing--one of
the great events in a person's life. Not that these views had now
changed altogether, for Miss Virginia Wilton came nearer his ideal than
anyone he had yet met. Still, there was considerable of the tangible
present about her. She was educated, businesslike, and a leader, and he,
ambitious of attaining to something in the world, would need such a
woman for his wife. But that sting which Volmer Holm had given him! His
wife must be beyond suspicion. He could not afford to make a mistake,
for if he did, it would be the mistake of his life. But was it a sin for
a girl to sing in an opera? Certainly not. Anyway, he would not condemn
her unheard--and then, he was sure he loved her. It had come to him
unbidden. It was no fault of his that this girl should have come into
his common life, and, seemingly, completely change it.

The autumn days passed. With the work of harvesting and marketing there
was no time for social gatherings. The school teacher had changed her
boarding place, and her path lay no longer past the Ames farm. So Rupert
mingled his thoughts with his labors, and in time there emerged from
that fusion a fixed purpose.

That fall Rupert's time as school trustee expired. At the first meeting
of the new board, Miss Wilton's position was given to a male teacher.
The reason given for the change was that "It takes a man to govern
boys." Other reasons, however, could be heard in the undercurrent of
talk.

The first Sunday after he heard of it, Rupert found Miss Wilton, and
together they walked up the canyon road. It was a dull, cloudy day, and
not a breath moved the odorous choke-cherry bushes which lined the dusty
road. Never mind what was said and done that afternoon. 'Tis an old, old
story. Between woman's smiles and tears, the man gained hope and
courage, and when that evening they came down the back way through the
fields and orchards, Virginia Wilton was Rupert Ames' promised wife.

IV.

"O Lord, lead me in a plain path."--_Isaiah 27:11._

The scene shifts to a land afar off toward the north, Norway--away up
into one of its mountain meadows. The landscape is a mixture of grandeur
and beauty. Hills upon hills, covered with pine and fir, stretch away
from the lowlands to the distant glacier-clad mountains, and p