sign of
anything better here?"

"Yes, today." And he spoke very slowly and hesitatingly. "If you will
excuse the personality of it. When I entered that room today, and saw
you with that sick child in your arms, and comprehended what it all
meant, I had a great wave of hope, and I knew, just then, that there is
coming virtue enough in the world to redeem it."

Ruth was confounded. Her heart seemed to stand still, and then the hot
blood flowed into her face in a crimson flood. "Ah," escaped from her
lips, and she walked on more swiftly, not daring to look up. This from
him! This recognition from the ascetic father! If one of her dispensary
comrades had said it, would she have been so moved?

And afterwards, when she had parted from him, and gone to her little
room, the hot flush again came to her neck and brow, and she saw his
pale, spiritual face, and could hear the unwonted tenderness of his
voice. Yes, Father Damon had said it of her.

XI

The question has been very much discussed whether the devil, in
temperate latitudes, is busier in the summer or in the winter. When
Congress and the various State legislatures are in session, and the
stock and grain exchanges are most active, and society is gayest,
and the churches and benevolent and reformatory associations are most
aggressive--at this season, which is the cool season, he seems to be
most animated and powerful.

But is not this because he is then most opposed? The stream may not
flow any faster because it is dammed, but it exhibits at the obstructed
points greater appearance of agitation. Many people are under the
impression that when they stop fighting there is a general truce:
There is reason to believe that the arch enemy is pleased with this
impression, that he likes a truce, and that it is his best opportunity,
just as the weeds in the garden, after a tempest, welcome the sun and
the placidity of the elements. It is well known that in summer virtue
suffers from inertia, and that it is difficult to assemble the members
of any vigilant organization, especially in cities, where the flag of
the enemy is never lowered. But wherever the devil is there is always a
quorum present for business. It is not his plan to seek an open fight,
and many observers say that he gains more ground in summer than in any
other season, and this notwithstanding people are more apt to lose their
tempers, and even become profane, in the aggravations of what is known
as spring