Hildreth," answered the woman with a smile, "but
there is one glorious hope they can't take from me."

"A hope, Frau Himmel, when you are blind! What can it be?"

"This, dear Fraulein," and the look on the patient face was beautiful to
see. "'Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty; they shall behold
the land that is very far off.'"

And Evadne, walking homeward, repeated the words which she had read that
morning with but a dim perception of their meaning. 'If limitation is
power that shall be, if calamities, opposition and weights are wings and
means--we are reconciled.'

CHAPTER XXIII.

"Uncle Lawrence, with your permission, I am going to study to be a
nurse."

Judge Hildreth started. So light had been the footsteps and so deeply
had he been absorbed in thought, he had not heard his niece enter the
library and cross the room until she stood before his desk. Very fair
was the picture which his eyes rested upon. What made his brows contract
as if something hurt him in the sight?

Evadne Hildreth was in all the sweetness of her young womanhood. She was
not beautiful, not even pretty, Isabelle said, but there was a strange
fascination about her earnest face, and the wonderful grey eyes
possessed a charm that was all their own. She had graduated with honors.
Now she stood upon the threshold of the unknown, holding her life in her
hands.

Louis was traveling in Europe. Isabelle and Marion were at a fashionable
French Conservatory, for the perfecting of their Parisian accent.
Evadne was alone. She had chosen to have it so. She wanted to follow up
a special course in physiology which was her favorite study.

"A nurse, Evadne! My dear, you are beside yourself. 'Much learning hath
made you mad.'"

"'I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and
soberness.' I feel called to do this thing."

"Who has called you, pray? We do not deal in supernaturalisms in this
prosaic century."

The lovely eyes glowed. "Jesus Christ." What an exultant ring there was
in her voice, and how tenderly she lingered over the name!

"Jesus Christ!" Judge Hildreth repeated the words in an awestruck tone.
Did she see him cower in his chair? It must have been an optical
illusion. The storm outside was making the house shiver and the lights
dance.

"You must consult your aunt," he said in a changed voice. She noticed
with a pang how old and careworn he looked.

"Kate," he called, as just then he heard his wi