The Redemption of David Corson

I am well; but till all graces be in one woman, one wo

er village to the investigation of the Quaker preacher's fitness for his use. He took Pepeeta with

rn states are familiar. The rays of the tallow candles by which it was lighted were streaming feebly out into t

inst the pale light of the windows as they passed, plainly revealed their sect. The

joined the straggling procession which crept slowly

people," s

nd you know who th

ilding is that the

s a ch

s a chu

re'n once or twice. G-g-g-guess they use '

you never

shoul

se, to theaters, to

going there.

have any fun

ho laughs will go straig

for, then, th

gion, I t

is rel

t you

N

on has been n

e what

questions! It is someth

the buildi

a b-b-

mn the pe

-h-hoot

cares

if they roast and eat me. If this f-f-feller can talk as they say he can, I am going t

erved save by a few of the younger people who were staring vacantly about the room, and took their seats on the last bench. The Quaker maidens who caught sight of Pepeeta were visibly excited and began to preen themselves as turtle doves might have done if a bird of paradise had suddenly flashed am

ilence which prevailed. If the whole assemblage had been dancing or turning somersaults, they would not have been surprised, but the few moments in which they thus sat loo

to the doctor, who sat by her side, ignora

her trembling hand in his great paw, pressed it reassuringly, w

r time to recover her self-control. The silence which followed its close was less painful because less strange than the other, and she permitted herself to glance about the room and to wonder what would happen next. Her curiosity was soon satisfied. David Corson, the young mystic, rose to his feet. He was dressed with exquisite neatness in that simple garb which lends to a nobl

nance of the dove-like Quaker maiden. A flush mantled her pale cheek and a radiance beamed in her mi

For Pepeeta, it had another and a more mysterious value. It was the voice of her destiny, and rang in her soul like a bell. The speech of the young Quaker was a simple and unadorned message of the love of God to men, and of their power to respond to the Divine call. The

m, and of darkness to those who refuse His sweet illumination. But the sorrow and the struggle end, and the darkness becomes the dawn to every one who loves and trusts the heavenly Father, for He bestows upon all a Divine gift. This gift is the 'inner light,' the light which shines within the soul itself and sheds its rays upon the dark pathway of existence. This God of love is not

a pebble into a deep well. She was gazing at him in astonishment. Her lips w

may be overthrown. We may reproduce the life of Christ on earth. We may become as He was-one with God. As the little water drop poured into a large measure of wine seems to lose its own nature entirely and take on the nature and the color of both the water and the wine; or as air filled with sunlight is t

those who understood him was due to the truths he uttered; but even those who, like the two strangers, were unfamiliar with the ideas advanced, or indifferent to them, could not escape that nameless influence with which all true orators are endowed, and were thrilled by what he said. In our ignorance we h

ut the room, invariably returned and fixed itself upon the face of the Fortune Teller. Their fascination was mutual. They were so drawn to each other by some inscrutable

thing; as if rivers had ceased to run and stars to rise and set. She drew a long, deep breath, s

nalyze and then to resist this mesmeric power, but gradually succumbed. He felt as if chained to his seat, and it wa

nce, and then the doctor exclaimed: "

by the voice which offered such a rasping c

b-b-bamboozled you! I was laughing in my sleeve and saying to myself, 'He's bamboozled Pepeeta; but he can't b-b

and what he said

wn p-p-pump it's all the better, for if he can fool the people with that kind of g-g-gibberish, he can certainly f-f-fool them with

ts bed so deep as to flow on unconscious of everything else. Exulting in the prospect of attaching to himself a companion so gifted, never doubting for a moment that he could do so, reveling in th

e in her life, the mystery of existence really dawned upon her. She gazed with a new awe at the starry sky. She thought of that Being of whom David had spoken. Questions which had never before occurred to her knocked at the door of her mind

on exhausted, and vague, chaotic, abstract conceptions gave place to a definite image which had been eternally impressed upon her inward eyes. It

she did not know. They filled her with a sort of ecstasy, and she gave herself up to them. Exhausted at last by these vivid thoughts and emotions, she rested her head upon her arms across the window sill and f

heart of a woman who has never felt the emoti