t end?

Mercy:--I do not come as my friend Christiana does, for I was not sent
for by the King, and I fear I am too bold. Yet if there is grace to
share, I pray Thee let me share it.

Then He took her once more by the hand and led her in, and said, All may
come in who put their trust in me, let the means be what they may that
brought them here.

Then He told those that stood by to bring her some myrrh, and in a while
she got well.

Now I saw in my dream that he spoke good words to Mercy, Christiana, and
her boys, so as to make glad their hearts. And He took them up to the
top of the gate, where He left them for a while, and Christiana said: Oh
my dear friend, how glad am I that we have all got in!

Mercy:--So you may well be; but most of all have I cause for joy.

Christiana:--I thought at one time as I stood at the gate, and none came
to me, that all our pains had been lost.

Mercy:--But my worst fears came when I saw Him who kept the gate grant
you your wish, and take no heed of me. And this brought to my mind the
two who ground at the same mill, and how I was the one who was left; and
I found it hard not to cry out, I am lost! I am lost!

Christiana:--I thought you would have come in by rude force.

Mercy:--Ah me! You saw that the door was shut on me, and that a fierce
hound was not far off. Who, with so faint a heart as mine, would not
give loud knocks with all her might? But, pray, what said my Lord at
this rude noise? Was He not wroth with me?

Christiana:--When He heard your loud thumps at the door He gave a smile;
and to my mind, what you did would seem to please Him well. But it
is hard to guess why He keeps such a dog. Had I known of it, I fear I
should not have had the wish to come. But now we are in, we are safe;
and I am glad with all my heart.

One of Christiana's boys said: Pray ask to have a chain put on the dog,
for it will bite us when we go hence.

Then He who kept the gate came down to them once more, and Mercy fell
with her face to the ground, and said, Oh, let me bless and praise the
Lord with my lips!

So He said to her, Peace be to thee; stand up.

But she would not rise till she had heard from Him why He kept so fierce
a dog in the yard. He told her He did not own the dog, but that it was
shut up in the grounds of one who dwelt near. In truth, said He, it is
kept from no good will to me or mine, but to cause those who come here
to turn back from my gate by the sound of its voice