ne of the elect, robed in white. As yet thy faith is too
weak for thee to obey meekly, but it shall not always be so. I will
pray that thou mayest see thy preordained course. Meanwhile, I will
smooth away all worldly obstacles.'

'Cousin Manasseh! Cousin Manasseh!' cried Lois after him, as he was
leaving the room, 'come back. I cannot put it in strong enough words.
Manasseh, there is no power in heaven or earth that can make me love
thee enough to marry thee, or to wed thee without such love. And this I
say solemnly, because it is better that this should end at once.'

For a moment he was staggered; then he lifted up his hands, and said,

'God forgive thee thy blasphemy! Remember Hazael, who said, "Is thy
servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?" and went straight
and did it, because his evil courses were fixed and appointed for him
from before the foundation of the world. And shall not thy paths be
laid out among the godly as it hath been foretold to me?'

He went away; and for a minute or two Lois felt as if his words must
come true, and that, struggle as she would, hate her doom as she would,
she must become his wife; and, under the circumstances, many a girl
would have succumbed to her apparent fate. Isolated from all previous
connections, hearing no word from England, living in the heavy,
monotonous routine of a family with one man for head, and this man
esteemed a hero by most of those around him, simply because he was the
only man in the family,--these facts alone would have formed strong
presumptions that most girls would have yielded to the offers of such a
one. But, besides this, there was much to tell upon the imagination in
those days, in that place, and time. It was prevalently believed that
there were manifestations of spiritual influence--of the direct
influence both of good and bad spirits--constantly to be perceived in
the course of men's lives. Lots were drawn, as guidance from the Lord;
the Bible was opened, and the leaves allowed to fall apart, and the
first text the eye fell upon was supposed to be appointed from above a
direction. Sounds were heard that could not be accounted for; they were
made by the evil spirits not yet banished from the desert places of
which they had so long held possession. Sights, inexplicable and
mysterious, were dimly seen--Satan, in some shape, seeking whom he
might devour. And at the beginning of the long winter season, such
whispered tales, such old temptat