panion listened to all she said, with a full heart.

"By noon that day, an inaccessible cliff stared the travelers in the face.
Its mighty crags bathed their feet in a deep pool, and up, up, for hundreds
of feet, ran a smooth wall of rock in which no one might find a foothold.

"The man stared at it in silence, and it seemed to frown back inexorably.
His companion watched his face and read its mute hopelessness.

"'Have you still--_still_ no faith?' she asked.

"'I cannot see how'--stammered the man.

"'No, you cannot see how--but what does that matter?' asked the child. 'Let
us eat now,' and she sat down, and the man with her, and they ate of the
fruits and nuts she had gathered along the way and carried in her white
gown.

"While they ate, a pair of great eagles circled slowly downward out of the
blue sky, nor paused until they had alighted near the travelers.

"'Welcome, dear birds,' said Purity. 'You know well the Heavenly Country,
and we seek your help to get there, for we have no wings to fly above those
rocky steeps.'

"The eagles nestled their heads within her little hands, in token of
obedience, and when she took her seat upon one, the man obeyed her sign and
trusted himself upon the outstretched wings of the other.

"Up, up, soared the great birds, over the sullen pool, up the sheer rock.
Up, and still up, with sure and steady flight, until, circling once again,
the eagles alighted gently upon a land strewn with flowers.

"The man and his guide stood upon the green earth, and Purity kissed her
hands gratefully to the eagles as they circled away and out of sight.

"'This is a beautiful country,' said the man, and he gathered a white
flower.

"'Yes,' returned Purity, smiling on him, 'you begin to see it now.'"

* * * * *

Mrs. Evringham paused. Jewel's eyes were fixed on her unwinkingly. "Go on,
please, mother," she said.

"I think I've told enough," replied Mrs. Evringham.

"Oh, but you finish it, mother. You can tell it just beautifully."

"Thank you, dear, but I think it is your turn."

"Yes, Jewel," said her father, "it's up to you now."

"But I don't think a little girl _can_ tell stories to grown-up people."

"Oh, yes, on her birthday she can," returned her father. "Go on, we're all
listening; no one asleep except Topaz."

Jewel's grandfather had been watching her absorbed face all the time,
between his half-closed lids. "I think they've left the hardes