rose up in rebellion against the Lord. Then it pleased Him (blessed be
His holy name) to bray me in the mortar of affliction, and to crush
me between the upper and the nether millstone. Yet I heeded not; and,
like Nebuchadnezzar, my mind was hardened in pride, continually. Then,
as the King of Babylon was driven forth from the sons of men, and his
heart made like the beasts', and his dwelling was with the wild asses,
and they fed him with grass, like oxen, and his body was wet with
the dew of heaven, even so did the Spirit drive me forth into the
tabernacles of the wild men of the forest and the prairie, and I
sojourned with them many days. But He doth not always chide, neither
keepeth He His anger for ever. In His own good time, He snatched me
from the fiery furnace, and bade me here wait for His salvation; and
here, years, long years, have I looked for His promise. O, Lord, how
long!"

The doctor's question was unanswered, either because Holden forgot
it, in his excitement, or that he was incapable of giving any accurate
account of the passage of time. But thus much the doctor could gather
from his incoherent account, that, at some period of his life, he
had suffered a great calamity, which had affected his reason. In this
condition, he had probably joined the Indians, and passed several
years among them, and afterwards, upon a partial restoration of
intellect, adopted the wild notions he professed. What had passed
during those years, was a secret known only to himself, if, indeed,
the events had not disappeared from his memory.

"You have suffered bitterly," said the doctor.

"Talk not of suffering," exclaimed Holden. "I reckon all that man can
endure as not to be compared with the crown of glory that awaits him