The sunlight lay bright on the other side of the flowing river, and the
shadow of the willow tops above them was outlined on the stream. On the
sunny bank opposite there was a thicket of sumac trees reddening to the
autumn heat; the wild vine was climbing upon them, making their foliage
the more dense, and at their roots, by the edge of the stream, the
golden rod was massed. On the bank on which they stood the colouring was
more quiet. A few ragged spikes of the purple aster were all that grew
under the gray green willows, which with every breath turned the silver
underside of their soft foliage to the wind. The place for the baptism
had no doubt been chosen because of the depth of the water, and because
the bank here was comparatively bare.

It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. The steady sound of the
mattock in a neighbouring field was the only token of the common
bustling world that lay close around the curious isolation of the hour.

It was time that Angel Halsey should be baptized. In his Quaker clothes
he waded into the water. His manner now was entirely serene, his face
full of joy.

A thought was struck wedge-like into Susannah's understanding. If
Halsey, who was so manifestly on a higher plane of education and
refinement than these others, could so triumphantly embrace the new
faith, it must surely contain more of virtue and reason than she could
see. The influence of what he was, being so much greater than the
influence of what he had said, caused her mind to work with solemn
earnestness as she followed him in sympathy through the symbol of death
and resurrection.