not afraid--if I might but go!' And by reason of her often pleading, and
of the thought that was ever in her mind, it was at last said that one of
those who knew might instruct her, and show her by what way alone the
travellers who come from that miserable land could approach and be
admitted on high.

'I know,' she said, 'that between us and them there is a gulf fixed, and
that they who would come from thence cannot come, neither can any one--'

But here she stopped in great dismay, for it seemed that she had thus
answered her own longing and prayer.

The guide who had come for her smiled upon her and said, 'But that was
before the Lord had ended His work. And now all the paths are free
wherever there is a mountain-pass or a river-ford; the roads are all
blessed, and they are all open, and no barriers for those who will.'

'Oh,' she cried, 'dear friend, is that true for all?'

He looked away from her into the depths of the lovely air, and he
replied: 'Little sister, our faith is without bounds, but not our
knowledge. I who speak to you am no more than a man. The princes and
powers that are in high places know more than I; but if there be any
place where a heart can stir and cry out to the Father and He take no
heed,--if it be only in a groan, if it be only with a sigh,--I know not
that place, yet many depths I know.' He put out his hand and took hers
after a pause; and then he said, 'There are some who are stumbling upon
the dark mountains. Come and see.'

As they passed along, there were many who paused to look at them, for
he had the mien of a great prince, a lord among men; and his face still
bore the trace of sorrow and toil, and there was about him an awe and
wonder which was more than could be put in words. So that those who saw
him understood as he went by, not who he was, nor what he had been, but
that he had come out of great tribulation, of sorrow beyond the sorrows
of men. The sweetness of the heavenly country had soothed away his
care, and taken the cloud from his face; but he was as yet unaccustomed
to smile,--though when he remembered and looked round him and saw that
all was well, his countenance lightened like the morning sky, and his
eyes woke up in splendor like the sun rising. The little Pilgrim did
not know who her brother was, but yet gave thanks to God for him, she
knew not why.

How far they went cannot be estimated in words, for distance matters
little in that place; but at the end they ca