must pity him the more and pray God to bring him
back into the right path again. As to Jost, I think as you do, that he is
to blame for our poor boy's troubles. He led him astray and then played
him false. Jost is a poor lost sheep who has wandered far from the fold.
He has no one to care for him, no one to lead him back again. He is alone
in the world. Should not we pray that he may be shown the wickedness of
his ways, that his conscience may be awakened and that he may repent and
his soul be saved?"

Veronica had listened attentively to all that Gertrude had said. After a
silence she said thoughtfully,

"Mother, are you made happy by this faith in God?"

And without a moment's hesitation came the answer;

"I know of nothing that can make us so happy as this faith--the strong
confidence in our hearts that our Father in Heaven orders and watches over
our lives, and that everything which happens to us is for our good, if we
obey him and hold fast to him. I do not know much, Veronica; I have not
read nearly as much as lame Sabina, or as you have, and you understand
things far better than I do; but it seems to me that you would have gained
more from your reading, if you had tried to find something in the books,
which you could use to help you in your trouble, and not merely to find
out something new about what other people do and how they live."

"If you learned from these books that our Lord Jesus Christ first taught
the lesson that all men are equal in the sight of God, and that one soul
is of as much worth as another before Him, then it must have been told
there too, how our Savior brought us the glad tidings that we have a
Father in Heaven, who loves His children and who will bless them if they
put their trust in Him. Our Savior shows us the way to our Heavenly
Father, and will help us to overcome all the difficulties that stand in
our path. He speaks to us with a tenderness beyond that of any other
friend, and bids us lay our burdens upon Him and He will help us to bear
them."

"But mother," said Veronica, looking with a wonder that was almost awe
upon the peaceful countenance of the mother, "can you truly say that you
have found peace and happiness, while you have no news from him, and do
not know what dreadful tidings any minute may bring you?"

"Yes, Veronica, I can and I do say so," answered Gertrude, and her face
even without words would have borne witness to the truth of what she said.
"I know that what