uperb work of nature and triumph of womanhood, notwithstanding romantic
and possibly awkward circumstances of origin and relation. All men, of
whatever time of life and for whatsoever reason, admired her--the mean
and earthy if only for her mould, the morally discerning for her
beautiful quality that pitied, caressed, encouraged, or elevated all who
came within her sphere.

"Preachers of the Gospel ought to have such wives," said the Rev. Silas
Van de Lear, looking at his son Calvin, "as Agnes Wilt. She is the most
handy churchwoman in all my ministration in Kensington, which is now
forty years. Besides being pious, and virtuous, and humble before God,
she is very comely to the eye, and possesses a house and an independent
income. A wife like that would naturally help a young minister to get a
higher call."

Young Calvin, who was expected to succeed his father in the venerable
church close by, and was studying divinity, said with much cool
maturity:

"Pa, I've taken it all in. She's the only single girl in Kensington
worth proposing to. It's true that we don't know just who she is, but
it's not that I'm so much afraid of as her, her--in short, her piety."

"Piety does not stand in the way of marriage," answered the old man, who
was both bold and prudent, wise and sincere. "In the covenant of God
nothing is denied to his saints in righteousness. The sense of wedded
pleasure, the beauty that delights the eye, love, appetite, children,
and financial independence--all are ours, no less as of the Elect than
as worldly creatures. The love of God in the heart warms men and women
toward each other."

"Oh, as to that!" exclaimed Calvin, "I've been warmed toward Miss Agnes
since I was a boy. I think she is superb. But she is a little too good
for me. She looks at me whenever I talk to her, whereas the proper way
of humility would be to look down. She has been in love with Andrew
Zane, you know!"

"That," said the preacher, "is probably off; though I never discovered
in Andrew more evil than a light heart and occasional rebellion. If she
loves him still, do not be in haste to jar her sensibility. It is
thoughtfulness which engenders love."

The young women of Kensington were divided about Agnes Wilt. The poorer
girls thought her perfect. But some marriageable and some married women,
moving in her own sphere of society, criticised her popularity, and said
she must be artful to control so many men. There are no depths to whi