or the crying of his voice no candid person who knew the result
of his labours could deny. He that had two coats had imparted to him
that had none; the extortioner had returned his unfair gains, and some
rough men had become gentle. But in the assembly from which Finney had
just come the larger numbers and the greater power of rhetoric had been
on that side which appeared to show least faith in God and least zeal
for men, and Finney had come out from the combat bruised in spirit.

Some natural comfort the weary man experienced from the sweet charm of
the summer afternoon, from anticipation of the welcome and sympathy
which would soon be his. He heard, but could not see, the Canandaigua
water as it ran under its canopy of willows, over whose foliage the
light wind passed in silver waves. On the height of the hill above the
mill-dam he turned his horse into the yard of the Croom homestead. The
stalwart deacon in overalls, his excitable, slender wife, her
cap-strings flying, came forth, the one from the barn, the other from
her bake-house.

It was not to either of these worthy souls that Finney intended first to
confide the story of his glimpse of Susannah. It said much for the
sterling truth of this man's soul that, accustomed as he was to demand
from himself and others public confession of those experiences most
private to the individual soul, he had not lost delicacy of feeling or
reverence for individual privacy in human relationships. He had not been
at this house since the month after Susannah's departure, when
excitement and wrath still raged concerning her. He judged that in the
hearts of the older members the wound had healed, leaving only the
healthy scar that such sorrows leave in busy lives. He knew, too, that
in Ephraim's heart the blade of this grief had cut deeper.

The supper over, the full moon already gilding the last hour of the
summer daylight, Ephraim donned his hat to take the solitary evening
stroll to which he had become accustomed. He thought to leave the trio
who were in complete accord of sentiment to talk longer over the
persecution which Finney endured, but on the little brick path between
the flower-beds the evangelist came up with him.

Ephraim was but half pleased. It was in this brief evening hour that he
set his thoughts free, like children at playtime. Like other students
forced to live in invalidish habits, he had established a rule of
thought more strict than men of active callings n