my wife. The women of the
apostle's day were not the educated, self-reliant ones of the present
time; therefore our wives are hardly to be expected to conform
themselves strictly to the rules he lays down for them. But if husband
and wife love each other as they ought,--as you and I do, for
instance,--any friction between them will be a thing of rare
occurrence."

"And when, if ever, there is any," said Violet, "I think the wife should
be the one to give way--unless she feels that to yield to the wishes of
her husband would be a breach of the moral law; but in that case she
must remember the answer of Peter to the high priest, 'We ought to obey
God rather than men.'"

"Yes," he said; "and when a parent commands something which is plainly
contrary to God's command,--lying or stealing for instance,--it is the
child's duty to refuse to obey. There are parents, alas! who do train
their children to vice and crime, and when that is the case they, the
children, must remember and act upon the teaching of the apostle, 'We
ought to obey God rather than men.'"

"How I pity children who are placed in such circumstances," sighed
Violet. "Oh, I often think what a cause for gratitude I have in the fact
that my parents were earnest Christians, and brought me and all their
children up in the fear of God; also that my children have an earnest,
devoted Christian for their father."

"And for their mother, my sweet wife," he added with emotion.

Neither spoke again for some moments. It was Violet who broke the
silence.

"My dear," she said, "I wonder if you have noticed, as I have, that my
cousin Donald greatly admires our Lu."

"Ah! has he told you so, my love?" queried the captain, a touch of
regret and anxiety in his tone.

"Oh, no!" laughed Violet; "but he looks at her with evidently admiring
eyes, listens eagerly to anything and everything she says, and
especially to her playing and singing; which are certainly worth
hearing. He greatly admires her drawings and paintings, too, some of
which I was showing him the other day; also her evident devotion to her
father, and readiness to assist and make herself useful to him in every
possible way."

"Yes," sighed the captain, "her father would hardly know what to do
without her. Yet, of course, I should be far from willing to stand in
the way of my child's happiness. However, I hope and believe that her
father is still nearer and dearer to her than any other human creature.
She h