"I think so," she said, with a smile. "Emily Warren came to us an
entire stranger and we already love her very much."

"I can understand that. Miss Warren is a genuine woman--one after your
own heart. I was not long in finding that out. But I am a man of the
world, and you must have noted the fact from the first."

"Richard Morton, supposing thee is a sinner above all others in
Galilee, where do I find a warrant for the 'I am better than thou'
spirit?"

She said these words so gently and sincerely that they touched my very
soul, and I exclaimed:

"If evil had been my choice a thousand years, you might me from it."

She shook her head gravely as she said:

"Thee doesn't understand. Weak is the arm of flesh."

"But kindness and charity are omnipotent."

"Yes, if thee turns to Omnipotence for them. But far be it from me to
judge thee, Richard Morton. Because thee does not walk just where I am
walking is no proof that thou art not a pilgrim."

"I must tell you in all sincerity that I am not. My brain, heart, and
soul have been absorbed by the world, and not by its best things
either. Fifteen years ago, when scarcely more than a child, I was left