h, and as he fancied of his reason also, he doubted about, as being
the Son of God. The picture thus presented to his mind had its pleasant
and its unpleasant features. Strange as it may seem, it is certain that
the young man would have loved, would have respected Mary less than he now
did, could he imagine that _she_ entertained the same notions on this very
subject as those he entertained himself! Few men relish infidelity in a
woman, whose proper sphere would seem to be in believing and in
worshipping, and not in cavilling, or in splitting straws on matters of
faith. Perhaps it is that we are apt to associate laxity of morals with
laxity of belief, and have a general distaste for releasing the other sex
from any, even the smallest of the restraints that the dogmas of the
church impose; but we hold it to be without dispute that, with very few
exceptions, every man would prefer that the woman in whom he feels an
interest should err on the side of bigotry rather than on that of what is
called liberalism in points of religious belief. Thus it is with most of
us, and thus was it with Roswell Gardiner. He could not wonder at Mary's
rigid notions, considering her education; and, on the whole, he rather
liked her the better for them, at the very moment that he felt they might
endanger his own happiness. If women thoroughly understood how much of
their real power and influence with men arises from their seeming
dependence, there would be very little tolerance in their own circles for
those among them who are for proclaiming their independence and their
right to equality in all things.

While our young mariner and his companion were working their way up to the
table-land, which lay fully three hundred feet above the level of the sea,
there was little opportunity for further discourse, so rough was the way,
and so difficult the ascent. At the summit, however, there was a short
pause, ere the two undertook the mountain proper, and they came to a halt
to take a look at the aspect of things around them. There was the boat, a
mere white speck on the water, flying away with a fresh northerly breeze
towards the volcano, while the smoke from the latter made a conspicuous
and not very distant land-mark. Nearer at home, all appeared unusually
plain for a region in which fogs were so apt to prevail. The cove lay
almost beneath them, and the schooner, just then, struck the imagination
of her commander as a fearfully small craft to come so f