my faith that the God to whom I had given him, would not let my Dieterich
be lost. If the hard lessons of life have begun for Dietrich, he must
learn them thoroughly; and if his sins are to be purged away, he must
suffer in the process. And though I suffer too, it is God's will; I have
had much schooling in my life, and have learned much and gained much from
it. Do not feel so hardly against Dietrich because he has not written to
us. Perhaps he has written, and the letter has gone astray. I look for a
letter every day, but if he does not write, we may be sure that he is in
great trouble, poor boy! He knows how we feel toward him, and if he has
gone into evil ways we must pity him the more and pray God to bring him
back into the right path again. As to Jost, I think as you do, that he is
to blame for our poor boy's troubles. He led him astray and then played
him false. Jost is a poor lost sheep who has wandered far from the fold.
He has no one to care for him, no one to lead him back again. He is alone
in the world. Should not we pray that he may be shown the wickedness of
his ways, that his conscience may be awakened and that he may repent and
his soul be saved?"

Veronica had listened attentively to all that Gertrude had said. After a
silence she said thoughtfully,

"Mother, are you made happy by this faith in God?"

And without a moment's hesitation came the answer;

"I know of nothing that can make us so happy as this faith--the strong
confidence in our hearts that our Father in Heaven orders and watches over
our lives, and that everything which happens to us is for our good, if we
obey him and hold fast to him. I do not know much, Veronica; I have not
read nearly as much as lame Sabina, or as you have, and you understand