the prayer it was as though she had
definitely passed through some door into a new room. Then, rising, she
was conscious that the laughing eyes of the young lady in blue were
again trying to hold her own. She refused to look--she coloured,
hanging her head so that her eyes should not be caught.

For some time she was unaware of the progress of the service. Then the
clear emphasis of his voice caught again her attention. "Our lesson for
to-day," he said, "is from the Fortieth Chapter of Isaiah." He
proceeded to read:

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of
the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be
made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places
plain:

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it
together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass,
and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:...

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall
stand for ever.

O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain;
O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with
strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah,
Behold your God!

Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule
for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with
his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that
are with young.

How many times had Maggie heard the reading of those words. They
brought instantly back to her her father's voice, the strange snuffling
hurry with which he hastened to the end, his voice hesitating a little
as his wandering eye caught the misbehaviour of some small boy in the
choir.

Now the words were charged with a conviction that was neither forced
nor adopted for dramatic effect. It was as though a herald read some
proclamation for his master who was approaching the gates of the city.
The hymns and prayers that followed seemed