follows. God does not leave me comfortless. Time was when the
condition of my children filled me with despair; to-day as they
advance in life they grow healthier and stronger. And then, after all,
our home is improved and beautified, our means are improving also. Who
knows but Monsieur de Mortsauf's old age may be a blessing to me? Ah,
believe me! those who stand before the Great Judge with palms in their
hands, leading comforted to Him the beings who cursed their lives,
they, they have turned their sorrows into joy. If my sufferings bring
about the happiness of my family, are they sufferings at all?"

"Yes," I said, "they are; but they were necessary, as mine have been,
to make us understand the true flavor of the fruit that has ripened on
our rocks. Now, surely, we shall taste it together; surely we may
admire its wonders, the sweetness of affection it has poured into our
souls, that inward sap which revives the searing leaves--Good God! do
you not understand me?" I cried, falling into the mystical language to
which our religious training had accustomed us. "See the paths by
which we have approached each other; what magnet led us through that
ocean of bitterness to these springs of running water, flowing at the
foot of those hills above the shining sands and between their green
and flowery meadows? Have we not followed the same star? We stand
before the cradle of a divine child whose joyous carol will renew the
world for us, teach us through happiness a love of life, give to our
nights their long-lost sleep, and to the days their gladness. What
hand is this that year by year has tied new cords between us? Are we
not more than brother and sister? That which heaven has joined we must
not keep asunder. The sufferings you reveal are the seeds scattered by
the sower for the harvest already ripening in the sunshine. Shall we
not gather it sheaf by sheaf? What strength is in me that I dare
address you thus! Answer, or I will never again recross that river!"