the merciless vanity that comes to one who is fixed in
the belief that he is God's elect; the human element that demands love,
sympathy and unswerving devotion to the idols he worships, whatever the
cost to others. These were strong elements and Helen felt their power
even as Ralph and others had felt it. There was in Elijah an unshaken,
unshakable belief in himself. His work appealed to others as it had
appealed to Helen. Others selected with unclouded judgment the grains of
Elijah's enthusiasm from the chaff of his fanaticism. Others had not a
woman's heart; Helen had. She was not conscious of it, of how it was
blinding her judgment, of where it was leading her. This consciousness
was dimly suggesting itself to her, not from herself but from Elijah.
Let him arouse that consciousness to active life, then she would know,
then she would act!

Helen drew a deep, inspiring breath, looking up again. Her eyes were
fiercely questioning.

No! This zealous passion that strode sure-footed on the brink of
destruction, could not be assumed, was not assumed. Helen was quick to
judge and quick to decide when she saw clearly. She was clean of heart
and pure of mind. She could not know that a human soul, lashed to frenzy
by the stings of an outraged conscience, can yet clothe itself in robes
that might be worn by an angel of light.

"Then I saw in my dream that there was a way to hell, even from the
gates of heaven, as well as from the city of destruction."

CHAPTER TWELVE

Whether warned by intuition that one more step would be fatal, or
whether his blinded sense of right was asserting itself, the fact
remained that for several days, Elijah was hardly ever in the office and
even then for only a brief time. He seemed to Helen, absorbed if not
sullen. At first she noticed this with positive relief; later she had
misgivings which grew more insistent as time went on. She saw and she
could not see. She saw the dream of Elijah's solitary years daily taking
shape and form. She saw that his work had roots which struck deep in
solid, lasting worth; she saw Ysleta founded on drifting sand. The one
had solid business principles; the other had glittering promises as
worthless as fairy gold. Was this all? From here on, her vision was
blurred. Was this principle which one had and the other had not, after
all, rooted deep in the mysterious influence which guided Elijah's life?

It was with positive gratitude one morning that she heard