kind and courteous, and used all men the same, whether old or
young, great or little; adding, "That is my creed, and not the creed
of the priests--but I would not have you take it from me thus--a man
may not borrow the secret of another's heart, and wear it for his own.
All faiths are good that make a man live cleanly and lovingly and
laboriously; and just as all men like not the same music, so all men
are not suited with the same faith; we all tend to the same place, but
by different ways; and each man should find the nearest way for him."
Paul, after that, had followed his own heart in the matter; and it led
him not wholly in the way of the priests, but not against them, as it
led Mark. Paul took some delight in the ordered solemnities of the
Church, the dark coolness of the arched aisles, the holy smell--he
felt there the nearer to God. And to be near to God was what Paul
desired; but he gave up praying at formal seasons, and spoke with God
in his heart, as a man might speak to his friend, whenever he was
moved to speak; he asked His aid before the making of a song; he told
Him when he was disheartened, or when he desired what he ought not; he
spoke to Him when he had done anything of which he was ashamed; and he
told Him of his dreams and of his joys. Sometimes he would speak thus
for half a day together, and feel a quiet comfort, like a strong arm
round him; but sometimes he would be silent for a long while.

Now this night he spoke in his heart to God, and told Him of the sweet
and beautiful hope that had come to him, and asked Him to make known
to him whether it was His will that he should put forth his hand, and
gather the flower of the wood--for he could not even in his secret
heart bring himself that night to speak, even to God, directly about
the maiden; but, in a kind of soft reverence, he used gentle
similitudes. And then he leaned from his window, and strove to send
his spirit out like a bird over the sleeping wood, to light upon the
tower; and then his thought leapt further, and he seemed to see the
glimmering maiden chamber where she slept, breathing evenly. But even
in thought this seemed to him too near, as though the vision were
lacking in that awful reverence, which is the herald of love. So he
thought that his spirit should sit, like a white bird, on the
battlement, and send out a quiet song.

And then he fell asleep, and slept dreamlessly till the day came in
through the casements; when he sprang