sing together the Forty-third Psalm."

And, amid the rustle of the opening leaves, the minister himself
started the psalmody. There was a little air of hurry in his
movements, as if he hasted to drown all contention in singing;
but he had reached his usual grave composure before the end of
the verses, and the benediction fell like the final satisfying
chords of the melody.

Matilda was dumfounded by such a cutting short of the case, but even
she dared not interrupt functions so holy as praise and prayer. In
the kirk she was compelled to restrain her indignation, but when
she found that the resolution of Minister Campbell not to discuss
the matter or enter into any conversation about it was universally
adopted by the townspeople, her anger found words such as are not
to be met with in books; and she did not spare them.

David was singularly happy and satisfied. He had been grandly
supported both by God and man, and he was grateful for the pronounced
kindness of his friends, for their hand-shakings and greetings and
loving words and wishes. But when both the enthusiasm and the pang
of conflict were over, oh, how good it was to clasp Nanna's hand,
and in this perfect but silent companionship to walk home with
her! Then Nanna made a cup of tea, and they drank it together, and
talked over what had been said and done, finally drifting, as
they always did, to that invincible necessity that whatever is
could not but so have been. And though their words were, as all human
words about God must be, terribly inadequate, yet their longing,
their love, and their fears were all understood. And He who is so
vast and strange when

With intellect we gaze,
Close to their hearts stole in,
In a thousand tender ways.

-----
[Footnote 3: 1 Ps. xxvii.]

IX

A SACRIFICE ACCEPTED

After this the winter came on rapidly and severely. The seas were
dangerous, and the fishing precarious and poor, and the fever
still lingered, many cases being found as far north as Yell. Thus
suffering and hard poverty and death filled the short days and made
twice as long the stretched-out nights of the dark season. The old
cloud gathered round David, and when the minister preached of
"the will and purposes of God," it seemed to David that they were
altogether penal. The unfathomable inner side of his life was all
gloom and doubt; how, then, could the material side be cheerful and
confident?

The new minister, however, had c