Till every pulse beat true to airs divine."

The book dropped upon her lap, and for some time she remained in silent
thought. "Perhaps that is meant for me," she meditated. "I have been
careless and indifferent to the higher things of life, living only for
to-day. Is the Great Master allowing these things to happen, the loss
of mother, brother, home, and now----"

She was startled by a knock upon the door, and she trembled as she laid
the book upon the table and crossed the room.

Caribou Sol grasped her hand in his own strong one, and looked
searchingly into her eyes.

"Bad storm," he panted, "an' a tough climb up yon hill. I ain't as
young as I uster be."

Then Constance noticed how haggard was his face, while his hair and
beard seemed whiter than when first she saw him. A feeling of dread
entered her heart.

"Tell me, oh, tell me!" she cried, "what has happened!"

"Ye've heard somethin', then, miss?" questioned the old man.

"Yes, Joe Simkins was here this morning and told us what took place
last night. But we have heard nothing about the trial."

Sol sat down upon a bench near where Mr. Radhurst was lying, and placed
his head in his hands.

"My God!" he groaned, "it was awful!"

"What's awful?" demanded Constance. "Tell us quick!"

"They've fired 'im!"

"What?"

"Fired the parson! Druve 'im from Klassan!"

"The brutes! The wretches!" and Constance stamped her small foot upon
the floor, while her hands clinched and her eyes glowed. "Are they men
or only beasts? Did no one stand up for him?"

"Only me an' Joe," replied the miner, looking with admiration upon the
spirited woman before him. "We done what we could. But they're
divils, miss, is them miners, when they're roused."

"Did he fight hard?"

"Fight? You should have seed 'im. I never seen anything like it. He
was a match fer 'em all, but it was no use. They got turned agin 'im,
an' 'ud listen to nothin'."

"What did he have to say about the gold being found in his cabin?"
asked Mr. Radhurst.

"He couldn't explain, sir. Nor could you nor me, if we'd had sich a
cowardly trick played upon us. He jist stated the matter in words that
rung with truth, any ninny could see that. But every wan on that
committee got so excited that they jist threw questions at 'im."

"'Whar is the key,' says Pritchen.

"'Why did ye git so scart when we axed ye to open the chist?' speaks up
Perdue. An' afore he could answer, some one els