er from death unto life; and turn what threatened
to be poison into a "lively and healthful food." Then he turned to those
who came prepared and repentant, hungering and thirsting after the Bread
of Life and the Wine that the Lord had mingled; and congratulated them on
their possession of grace, and on the rich access of sanctification that
would be theirs by a faithful reception of this comfortable sacrament;
and then in half a dozen concluding sentences he preached Christ, as
"food to the hungry; a stream to the thirsty; a rest for the weary. It is
He alone, our dear Redeemer, who openeth the Kingdom of Heaven, to which
may He vouchsafe to bring us for His Name's sake."

Isabel was astonished to see that the preacher did not descend from the
pulpit after the sermon, but that as soon as he had announced that the
mayor would sit at the Town Hall with the ministers and churchwardens on
the following Thursday to inquire into the cases of all who had not
presented themselves for Communion, he turned and began to busy himself
with the great Bible that lay on the cushion. The service went on, and
the conducting of it was shared among the three ministers standing, one
at the centre of the table which was placed endways, and the others at
the two ends. As the Prayer of Consecration was begun, Isabel hid her
face as she was accustomed to do, for she believed it to be the principal
part of the service, and waited for the silence that in her experience
generally followed the Amen. But a voice immediately began from the
pulpit, and she looked up, startled and distracted.

"Then Jesus said unto them," pealed out the preacher's voice, "All ye
shall be offended by me this night, for it is written, I will smite the
shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. But after I am risen, I will
go into Galilee before you."

Ah! why would not the man stop? Isabel did not want the past Saviour but
the present now; not a dead record but a living experience; above all,
not the minister but the great High Priest Himself.

"He began to be troubled and in great heaviness, and said unto them, My
soul is very heavy, even unto the death; tarry here and watch."

The three ministers had communicated by now; and there was a rustle and
clatter of feet as the empty seats in front, hung with houselling cloths,
began to be filled. The murmur of the three voices below as the ministers
passed along with the vessels were drowned by the tale of the Passion
tha