before my father in heaven;' and rather than that,
I would jump from the top of the castle. Why, Davie! would a man deny
his own father or mother?"

"I don't know," answered Davie; "I don't remember my mother."

"I'll tell you what," said Donal, with sudden inspiration: "I will
promise not to speak about God at any other time, if she will promise
to sit by when I do speak of him--say once a week.--Perhaps we shall do
what he tells us all the better that we don't talk so much about him!"

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Grant!--I will tell her," cried Davie, jumping up
relieved. "Oh, thank you, Mr. Grant!" he repeated; "I could not bear
you to go away. I should never stop crying if you did. And you won't
say any wicked things, will you? for Arkie reads her Bible every day."

"So do I, Davie."

"Do you?" returned Davie, "I'll tell her that too, and then she will
see she must have been mistaken."

He hurried to his cousin with Donal's suggestion.

It threw her into no small perplexity--first from doubt as to the
propriety of the thing proposed, next because of the awkwardness of it,
then from a sudden fear lest his specious tongue should lead herself
into the bypaths of doubt, and to the castle of Giant Despair--at
which, indeed, it was a gracious wonder she had not arrived ere now.
What if she should be persuaded of things which it was impossible to
believe and be saved! She did not see that such belief as she desired
to have was in itself essential damnation. For what can there be in
heaven or earth for a soul that believes in an unjust God? To rejoice
in such a belief would be to be a devil, and to believe what cannot be
rejoiced in, is misery. No doubt a man may not see the true nature of
the things he thinks she believes, but that cannot save him from the
loss of not knowing God, whom to know is alone eternal life; for who
can know him that believes evil things of him? That many a good man
does believe such things, only argues his heart not yet one towards
him. To make his belief possible he must dwell on the good things he
has learned about God, and not think about the bad things.

And what would Sophia say? Lady Arctura would have sped to her friend
for counsel before giving any answer to the audacious proposal, but she
was just then from home for a fortnight, and she must resolve without
her! She reflected also that she had not yet anything sufficiently
definite to say to her uncle about the young man's false