ength. It is where we parted,
where thy lips were last on mine. Sometimes I have gone with mine
Cremona and played until mine sore heart was at peace. And to-day, I
find thee there! The dear Father has been most kind."

"Did you know me?" asked Margaret, shyly. "Have I not grown old?"

"Mine Liebchen, thou canst never grow old. Thou hast the beauty of
immortal youth. As I saw thee to-day, so have I seen thee in mine dream.
Sometimes I have felt that thou hadst taken up thy passing, and I have
hungered for mine, for it was a certainty in mine heart that the dear
Father would give thee back to me in heaven.

"I do not think of heaven as the glittering place with the streets of
gold and the walls of pearl, but more like one quiet wood, where the
grass is green and the little brook sings all day. I have thought of
heaven as the place where those who love shall be together, free from
all misunderstanding or the thought of parting.

"The great ones say that man's own need gives him his conception of the
dear God; that if he needs the avenging angel, so is God to him; that
if he needs but the friend, that will God be. And so, in mine dream of
heaven, because it was mine need, I have thought of it but as one sunny
field, where there was clover in the long grass and tall trees at one
side, with the clear, shining waters beyond, where we might quench our
thirst, and thee beside me forever, with thy little hand in mine. And
now, because I have paid mine price, I do not have to wait until I am
dead for mine heaven; the dear God gives it to me here."

"Whatever heaven may be," said Margaret, thrilled to the utmost depths
of her soul, "it can be no more than this."

"Nor different," answered the Master, drawing her closer. "I think it is
like this, without the fear of parting."

"Parting!" repeated Margaret, with a rush of tears; "oh, do not speak of
parting!"

"Mine Beloved," said the Master, and his voice was very tender, "there
is nothing perfect here--there must always be parting. If it were not
so, we should have no need of heaven. But to the end of the road thou
and I will go together.

"See! In the beginning, we were upon separate paths, and, after so long
a time, the ways met. For a little space we journeyed together, and
because of it the sun was more bright, the flowers more sweet, the road
more easy. Then comes the hard place and the ways divide. But though the
leagues lie between us and we do not see, we go alwa