lot," said August solemnly and humbly.

And Julia, on her part, could only bow her head in reply to the
questions, for the tears chased one another down her cheeks. And then
came the benediction. The inspired old man, full of hearty sympathy,
stretched his trembling hands with apostolic solemnity over the heads of
the two, and said slowly, with solemn pauses, as the words welled up out
of his soul: "The peace of God--that passeth all understanding" (here
his voice melted with emotion)--"keep your hearts--and minds--in the
knowledge and love of God.--And now, may grace--mercy--and peace from
God--_the Father_--and _our_ Lord Jesus Christ--be with
you--evermore--Amen!" And to the imagination of Julia the Spirit of God
descended like a dove into her heart, and the great mystery of wifely
love and the other greater mystery of love to God seemed to flow
together in her soul. And the quieter spirit of August was suffused with
a great peace.

They soon left the castle to return to the mount of ascension, but they
walked slowly, and at first silently, over the intervening hill, which
gave them a view of the Ohio River, sleeping in its indescribable beauty
and stillness in the moonlight.

Presently they heard the melodious voice of the old presiding elder,
riding up the road a little way off, singing the hopeful hymns in which
he so much delighted. The rich and earnest voice made the woods ring
with one verse of

"Oh! how happy are they
Who the Saviour obey,
And have laid up their treasure above I
Tongue can never express
The sweet comfort and peace
Of a soul in its earliest love."

And then he broke into Watts's

"When I can read my title clear
To mansions in the skies,
I'll bid farewell to every fear
And wipe my weeping eyes!"

There seemed to be some accord between the singing of the brave old man
and the peacefulness of the landscape. Soon he had reached the last
stanza, and in tones of subdued but ecstatic triumph he sang:

"There I shall bathe my weary soul
In seas of heavenly rest,
And not a wave of trouble roll
Across my peaceful breast."

And with these words he passed round the hill and out of the hearing of
the young people.

"August," said Julia slowly, as if afraid to break a silence so blessed,
"August, it seems to me that the sky and the river and the hazy hills
and my own soul are all alike, just as full of happi