it; and if there's truth in that Bible,
there's no forgiveness for you, for you've been the biggest blasphemer
against the Bible in Crossbourne.' Thomas, I hadn't a word to answer
him with; his words cut me to the heart, and he saw it, and went off
with a grin full of malice. And now, since I came home, Kate and I have
been looking through the Gospels, and we've come to this passage, in our
Saviour's own words,--`Verily, I say unto you, All sins shall be
forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they
shall blaspheme: but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath
never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: because they
said, He hath an unclean spirit.' Now, I'm afraid I've committed that
sin many times; and what then? Is it true that there is no forgiveness
for me?"

He gazed earnestly into Bradly's face, as one would look on a man on
whose decision hung life or death. But the other's reply brought relief
at once to both Foster and his wife.

"Ha! ha!" he exclaimed; "is that the old enemy's device? I'm not
surprised--he's a crafty old fox; but the Lord's wiser than him. I see
what he's been up to: he couldn't keep the sword of the Spirit out of
your hand any longer, so he's been trying to make you turn the point
away from him, and commit suicide with it. Set your mind at rest,
William, about these verses, and about the unpardonable sin; those who
are guilty of it never seek forgiveness, and so they never get it.
These words ain't meant for such a case as yours. This is the sort of
text for you: `God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.' Jesus said it, and he'll never go back from it.
`Whosoever' means you and me; he said, `Whosoever,' and he'll never
unsay it. If you'd committed the unpardonable sin, you wouldn't be
caring now about the Bible and about your soul. If you'd committed it,
God would never have given you the light he has done, for it has come
from him; it can't have come from nowhere else. He don't open to you
the door with one hand, and then shut it in your face with the other;
that ain't his way at all He has let you in at the gate, and you may be
sure as he'll never turn you off the road with his own hand, now that
you're on it."

"Thank God for that!" said Foster, reverently. "What you say, Thomas,
carries conviction with it, for I am sure that my