"'Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and _not a
stranger_.'

[Illustration: "Whom I shall see for myself."]

"O Kate," continued the dying girl, while unbidden tears rose to her
eyes, "if you only knew what sweetness I have found in that verse all
this morning while I have been in great bodily pain! I am in the Valley
of the Shadow--I shall soon cross the dark river; I know it: but He
will be with me, and 'not a stranger.' He is the Good Shepherd, and I
know His voice; a stranger would I not follow.

"Oh," continued Lilian, "in the glad resurrection morn, it is the Lord
Jesus whom I shall behold--my own Saviour, my own tried friend, and 'not
a stranger;' I shall at last see Him whom, not having seen, I have
loved."

Lilian closed her eyes again, and the large drops, overflowing, fell
down her pallid cheeks; she had spoken too long for her strength, but
her words had not been spoken in vain.

"Lilian has drawn more comfort and profit from one verse--nay, from
three words in the Bible, than I have drawn from the whole book,"
reflected Kate. "I have but read the Scriptures,--she has searched them.
I have been like one floating carelessly over the surface of waters
under which lie pearls; Lilian has dived deep and made the treasure her
own."