children sang by themselves, while the congregation sat
swaying to and fro to the tune. And Elisabeth's soul was uplifted within
her as she listened to the children's voices; for she felt that mystical
hush which--let us hope--comes to us all at some time or other, when we
hide our faces in our mantles and feel that a Presence is passing by,
and is passing by so near to us that we have only to stretch out our
hands in order to touch it. At sundry times and in divers manners does
that wonderful sense of a Personal Touch come to men and to women. It
may be in a wayside Bethel, it may be in one of the fairest fanes of
Christendom, or it may be not in any temple made with hands: according
to the separate natures which God has given to us, so must we choose the
separate ways that will lead us to Him; and as long as there are
different natures there must be various ways. Then let each of us take
the path at the end whereof we see Him standing, always remembering that
wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein; and never forgetting
that--come whence and how they may--whosoever shall touch but the hem of
His garment shall be made perfectly whole.

CHAPTER II

CHRISTOPHER

And when perchance of all perfection
You've seen an end,
Your thoughts may turn in my direction
To find a friend.

There are two things which are absolutely necessary to the well-being of
the normal feminine mind--namely, one romantic attachment and one
comfortable friendship. Elisabeth was perfectly normal and extremely
feminine; and consequently she provided herself early with these two
aids to happiness.

In those days the object of her romantic attachment was her cousin Anne.
Anne Farringdon was one of those graceful, elegant women who appear so
much deeper than they really are. All her life she had been inspiring
devotion which she was utterly unable to fathom; and this was still the
case with regard to herself and her adoring little worshipper.

People always wondered why Anne Farringdon had never married; and
explained the mystery to their own satisfaction by conjecturing that she
had had a disappointment in her youth, and had been incapable of loving
twice. It never struck them--which was actually the case--that she had
been incapable of loving once; and that her single-blessedness was due
to no unforgotten love-story, but to the unromantic fact that among her
score of lovers she had never found a man