ted to mount the ladder till they bend the knee only to the
Creator. It may be well, too, that their chosen object of veneration is
the only object in nature which dies but to rise again. Thus may they be
led to the comprehension of the great truth of the resurrection. But
Satan," he added with warmth, "must be wrestled with and cast down,
specially when he takes the forms of temptation which he has assumed
to-day: those of power and beauty. Prayer and fasting are sorely
needed."

For once his pupil was not altogether docile. "Thou hast taught me,
father," he replied, "the lesson of charity. This old woman is sinful,
her error is deep, but may she not be converted and saved?"

"The devils can never regain Paradise," replied the priest sternly. "Arm
thyself, Jean, against their wiles, in which I fear thou art already
entangled. The two forms we have to-day seen are but human in seeming:
demons surely lurked beneath."

Jean was now in open rebellion. "Nay, good father," he said decisively,
"the maiden was no fiend; if her companion be an imp of darkness, as
well she may, be it my task to rescue her from the evil snare into which
she has fallen!" He had indeed a vivid recollection of the soft, human
hand to which he had ventured to give a gentle pressure when he had
assisted in placing the wreath on the fair, marble, brow, and had no
doubt of the girl's womanhood. As he spoke he vanished from the side of
the priest, who, seeing the two objects of his pious aversion entering
the darkening glades of the wood, was at no loss to divine the cause of
his disappearance. The holy father shook his head, and sighed deeply. He
was accustomed to disappointments, but this day his path had to an
unusual extent been beset with thorns. His faith was unshaken, and he
humbly laid the fault on his own shoulders, promising further privations
to his already sorely afflicted body. Meanwhile he descended the hill,
directing his course to Lihou. Pausing on his way through the forest to
replace the cross on the oak, he saw Jean, walking slowly homewards, his
listless step showing that his quest had failed. The Evil One had, he
thought, for the time at least, forborne to press his advantage. Further
off he heard the scattered voices of the dispersing throng.

CHAPTER III.

DEVOTION.

"There glides a step through the foliage thick,
And her cheek grows pale and her heart beats quick,
There whispers a voice through the rustlin