f God, who was ready to follow the example
of Him who redeemed man by His death, to fling herself into the waters
while she cried to Heaven with her dying breath: 'Take me and my
innocence as an offering, O Lord! Release my people from their
extremity!'--that would be a victim indeed; and perchance, the Lord
might say: 'I will accept it; but the will alone is enough. No child of
mine may cast away the life that I have lent her as the most sacred and
precious of gifts.'"

The letter ended with pious exhortations to the community.

Then a maiden who should voluntarily sacrifice herself in the river to
save the people in their need would be a victim pleasing in the sight
of the Lord--so said the Man of God, through whose mouth the Most High
spoke. And this opinion, this hint, was to Katharina like a distaff from
which she spun a lengthening thread to warp to the loom and weave from
it a tangible tissue.

She would be the maiden whom the patriarch had imagined--the real,
true Bride of the Nile, inspired to cast off her young life to save her
people in their need. In this there was expiation such as Heaven might
accept; this would release her from the burthen of life that weighed
upon her, and would reunite her to her mother; in this way she could
show her lover and the bishop and all the world the immensity of her
self-sacrifice, which was in nothing behind that of "the other"--the
much-vaunted daughter of Thomas! She would do the great deed before
Paula's eyes, in sight of all the people. But Orion must know whose
image she bore in her heart and for whose sake she made that leap from
blooming life into a watery grave.

Oh! it was wonderful, splendid! Would she not thus compel him inevitably
to remember her whenever he should think of Paula? Yes, she would force
him to allow her image to dwell in his soul, inseparable from that
"other;" and would not such an unparalleled act add such height to
her figure, that it would be equal to that of her Syrian rival in the
estimation of all men--even in his?

She now began to long for the supreme moment. Her vain little heart
laughed in anticipation of the delight of being seen, praised and
admired by all. Tomorrow she, her little self, would tower above all the
world; and the more she felt the oppressive heat of the scorching day,
the more delicious it seemed to look forward to finding rest from the
torments of life in the cool element.

She saw no difficulties in the way of h