's ours, 'tis all we have; here we belong, and those are wise
Who make the best of it, nor vainly try above its plane to rise.

Nay, nay: I know already your reply;
I have been through the whole long years ago;
I have soared up as far as soul can fly,
I have dug down as far as mind can go;
But always found, at certain depth or height,
The bar that separates the infinite
From finite powers, against whose strength immutable we beat in vain,
Or circle round only to find ourselves at starting-point again.

If you must for yourself find out this truth,
I bid you go, proud heart, with blessings free:
'Tis the old fruitless quest of ardent youth,
And soon or late you will come back to me.
You'll learn there's naught so common as the breath
Of life, unless it be the calm of death:
You'll learn that with the Lord Omnipotent there's nothing commonplace,
And with such souls as that poor child's, humbled, abashed, you'll
hide your face.

CONSTANCE FENIMORE WOOLSON.

PROBATIONER LEONHARD;

OR, THREE NIGHTS IN THE HAPPY VALLEY.

CHAPTER IV.

THE TEST--WITH MENTAL RESERVATIONS.

Elise went out to gather willow-twigs, as her mother had said when her
father asked for her.

A little later in the afternoon, Mr. Albert Spener walked swiftly down
the street toward the house occupied by the Rev. Mr. Wenck. While
he was yet at a distance Elise saw him approaching, and possibly she
thought, "He has seen me and comes to meet me;" and many a pleasant
stroll on many an afternoon would have justified the thought.

But it was not until he had, as it were, stumbled upon Elise that he
noticed her. He carried in his hand a letter, and when suddenly he
stopped upon the sidewalk and looked at her, the changeful aspects of
his face were marvelous to behold.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I was going home," she answered, not a little surprised by the abrupt
and authoritative manner of his address.

"I want to talk with you," said he. "Is it to-day that I am to begin
to leave off loving you, Elise?"

"That you are--What do you say, Albert?" she asked.

"Have you not seen Brother Wenck's letter to your father, Elise?"

She shook her head.

"The lot--the lot--" he repeated, but his voice refused to help him
tell the tale.

"Albert, may I see the lette