he promise of it, and the priests proclaim it,"
said the young man; "but, in the midst of all my happiness, I feel
that it would be too craving, too presumptuous, to demand another life
after this one--a happiness to be continual. Is there not so much
granted in this existence that we might and ought to be content with
it?"

"To us--yes, there has been much granted," replied the young wife;
"but to how many thousands does not this life become merely a heavy
trial? How many are not, as it were, cast into this world to be the
victims of poverty, wrangling, sickness, and misfortune? Nay, if there
were no life after this one, then everything in this globe has been
unequally dealt out; then God would not be just."

"The beggar down yonder has joys as great, to his ideas, as are those
of the monarch in his splendid palace to him," said the young man;
"and do you not think that the beasts of burden, which are beaten,
starved, and toiled to death, feel the oppressiveness of their lot?
They also might desire another life, and call it unjust that they had
not been placed amidst a higher grade of beings."

"In the kingdom of heaven there are many mansions, Christ has told
us," answered the lady. "The kingdom of heaven is infinite, as is the
love of God. The beasts of the field are also His creation; and my
belief is that no life will be extinguished, but will win that degree
of happiness which may be suitable to it, and that will be
sufficient."

"Well, this world is enough for me," said her husband, as he threw his
arms round his beautiful, amiable wife, and smoked his cigarette upon
the open balcony, where the deliciously cool air was laden with the
perfume of orange trees and beds of carnations. Music and the sound of
castanets arose from the street beneath; the stars shone brightly
above; and two eyes full of affection, the eyes of his charming wife,
looked at him with love which would live in eternity.

"Such moments as these," he exclaimed, "are they not well worth being
born for--born to enjoy them, and then to vanish into nothingness?"

He smiled; his wife lifted her hand and shook it at him with a gesture
of mild reproach, and the cloud had passed over--they were too happy.

Everything seemed to unite for their advancement in honour, in
happiness, and in prosperity. There came a change, but in place--not
in anything to affect their well-being, to damp their joy, or to
ruffle the smooth current of their lives. The