Hewasholdingbothherhandsnow，andthoughshetriedtowithdrawthem，hewouldnotlether。
“Willyou？“hepleaded。
“Ican’t，“sheansweredbrokenly。“Ican’t。Thinkofyourchurchandofyourpeople。Whatwouldtheysayif——“
“Idon’tcarewhattheysay。“
“Oh！yes，youdo。Notnow，perhaps，butlateryouwill。Youdon’tknowTrumetasIknowit。No，it’simpossible。“
“Itellyouthereisonlyoneimpossiblething。ThatisthatI
giveyouup。Iwon’tdoit。ICAN’Tdoit！Grace，thisislifeanddeathforme。Mychurch——“
Hepausedinspiteofhimself。Hischurch，hisfirstchurch！Hehadacceptedthecallwithprideandadeterminationtodohisbest，theverybestthatwasinhim，forthesocietyandforthepeoplewhomhewastolead。Someofthosepeoplehehadlearnedtolove；manyofthem，hefeltsure，lovedhim。Hissuccess，hispopularity，thegrowthoftheorganizationandthepraisewhichhadcometohimbecauseofit，allthesehadmeant，andstillmeant，verymuchtohim。Nowonderhepaused，butthepausewasmomentary。
“Mychurch，“hewenton，“ismyworkandIlikeit。IbelieveI’vedonesomegoodhereandIhopetodomore。ButnochurchshallsaywhomIshallmarry。Ifyoucareforme，Grace，asIthinkandhopeyoudo，we’llfacethechurchandthetowntogether。andtheywillrespectusforit。“
Sheshookherhead。
“Someofthemmightrespectyou，“shesaid。“Theywouldsayyouhadbeenledintothisbymeandwerenotsomuchtoblame。ButI——“
“Theyshallrespectmywife，“heinterrupted，snappinghisteethtogether，“orI’llknowthereasonwhy。“
Shesmiledmournfully。
“Ithinkthey’lltellyouthereason，“sheanswered。“No，John，no！wemustn’tthinkofit。Youcanseewemustn’t。Thishasallbeenamistake，adreadfulmistake，andIamtoblameforit。“
“Theonlymistakehasbeenourmeetinginthisway。Weshouldhavemetopenly；Irealizeit，andhavefeltitforsometime。Itwasmyfault，notyours。Iwasafraid，Iguess。ButI’llnotbeacowardanylonger。Come，dear，let’snotbeafraidanotherday。Onlysayyou’llmarrymeandI’llproclaimitopenly，to-night——Yes，fromthepulpit，ifyousayso。“
Shehesitatedandhetookcouragefromherhesitation。
“Sayit，“hepleaded。“YouWILLsayit？“
“Ican’t！Ican’t！Myuncle——“
“Youruncleshallhearitfromme。We’llgotohimtogether。I’lltellhimmyself。Heworshipsyou。“
“Yes，Iknow。Hedoesworshipme。That’swhyIamsurehehadratherseemedeadthanmarriedtoyou，aRegular，andaRegularminister。“
“Idon’tbelieveit。Hecan’tbesounreasonable。Ifheis，thenyoushouldn’thumorsuchbigotry。“
“Hehasbeenmyfatherforyears，andadear，kindfather。“
“Iknow。That’swhyI’msocertainwecanmakehimunderstand。
Come，dear！come！Whyshouldyouconsidereveryoneelse？Consideryourownhappiness。Considermine。“
Shelookedathim。
“Iamconsideringyours，“shesaid。“ThatiswhatIconsidermostofall。And，asforuncle，Iknow——IKNOWhewouldneverconsent。
Hisheartissetonsomethingelse。Nat——“
“Nat？Areyouconsideringhim，too？IsHEtostandbetweenus？
Whatrighthashetosay——“
“Hush！hush！Hehasn’tsaidanything。But——butheandunclehavequarreled，justalittle。Ididn’ttellyou，buttheyhave。AndI
thinkIknowthereason。NatisUncleEben’sidol。Ifthequarrelshouldgrowmoreserious，Ibelieveitwouldbreakhisheart。I
couldn’tbeartobethecauseofthat；Ishouldneverforgivemyself。“
“Youthecause？Howcouldyoubethecauseofaquarrelbetweenthosetwo？Grace，thinkofme。“
Herewastheselfishnessofmanandtheunselfishnessofwomananswered。
“John，“shesaid，“itisofyouIamthinking。Everythingelsecould——mightbeovercome，perhaps。ButImustthinkofyourfutureandyourlife。IMUST。Thatiswhy——“
Hedidnotwaittohearmore。Heseizedherinhisarmsandkissedher。
“ThenyouDOcare！“hecriedjoyfully。“Youwillmarryme？“
Foraninstantshelayquietinhisembrace，receiving，ifnotrespondingtohiscaresses。Thenshegentlybutfirmlyfreedherself。Hesawthatthereweretearsinhereyes。
“Grace，“heurged，“don’t——don’thesitateanylonger。Youweremeanttobemywife。Wewerebroughttogetherforjustthat。I
knowit。Come。“
Shewascryingsoftly。
“Won’tyou？“hebegged。
“Idon’tknow，“shesobbed。“Oh，Idon’tknow！Imustthink——I
MUST！Wait，pleasewait，John。Perhapsbyto-morrowIcananswer。
I’lltry——I’lltry。Don’taskmeagain，now。Letmethink。Oh，do！“
Doubtlesshewouldhaveaskedheragain。Helookedasifhemeantto。Butjustthen，driftingthroughthetwilightandthemist，camethesoundofabell，thebelloftheRegularchurch，ringingfortheSundayeveningmeeting。Theybothheardit。
“Oh！“exclaimedGrace，“thatisyourbell。Youwillbelate。Youmustgo，andsomustI。Goodnight。“
Shestarteddownthepath。Hehesitated，thenranafterher。
“To-morrow？“hequestionedeagerly。“Tomorrow，then，you’llsaythatyouwill？“
“Oh，perhaps，perhaps！Imustn’tpromise。Goodnight。“
ItwasaftersevenwhenGracereachedtheoldtavern。Thehousekeeper，Mrs。Poundberry，wasanxiouslyawaitingher。SheworeherbonnetandSundaygownandwasevidentlyreadytogoout。
“Landsakesalive！“shesputtered。“Whereinthenameofgoodnesshaveyoubeento？Iwasgettin’scairt。Didn’tknowbutyou’drunoffandgotmarried，orsunthin’dreadful。“
Gracewasthankfulthatthecloudytwilightmadeitimpossibletoseeherfacedistinctly。Thehousekeeperrattledonwithoutwaitingforananswer。
“Supper’sonthetableandthekittle’sabilin’。Youbettereatinahurry，’causeit’smeetin’timenow。Youruncle，hestartedtenminutesago。I’magoin’rightalong，too，butIain’tgoin’tomeetin’；I’magoin’uptoBetsyE。’stostayallnight。She’sgotaspineinherback，asthefellersaid，andain’tfeelin’good，soItoldherI’dcomeandstayalittlespell。S’poseyoucangetalongto-morrowwithoutme？“
“BetsyE。“wasMrs。Poundberry’ssecondcousin，anelderlyspinsterlivingaloneinalittlehousenearthesaltworks。Graceassuredherquestionerthatshecouldattendtothehouseandthemealsduringthefollowingday，longerifthetroublesome“spine“neededcompany。Mrs。Poundberrysighed，groaned，andshookherhead。
“Ishan’tstaynolonger，“sheaffirmed；“notifBetsy’salloverspines，likeoneofthemMexicancactusplants。No，marm，myplaceisrighthereandIknowit。YourUncleEben’smightyfeebleandpeakedlately。Heain’tlongforthisworld，I’mafraid。You’doughttobeawfulgoodtohim，Gracie。“
“Iknowit，“wasthehurriedreply。“Where’sNat？“
“Idon’tknow。Can’tkeeptrackofHIM。Might’swelltrytoputyourfingeronaflea。He’shereto-dayandgoneyesterday，astheScriptur’says。Heatealittlemiteofsupper，butnotmuch，andthenoffheputs。Sayshe’sgoin’towalkthefogout’nhishead。
Itoldhim，s’I，’You’llwalkaplagueysightmoreinthanyoudoout，THISnight，’buthewentjustthesame。Hewasdreadfulkindofdumpyandbluethisevenin’。Seemedtobesortofsoggyinhismind。Andwhyheneverwenttomeetin’withhisdadandwhyhisdadneveraskedhimTOgoismore’nIcantell。Landoflivin’，howIdogabble！Mygrandmarmusedtosaymytonguewaslooseatbothendsandhunginthemiddle，andIguessshewa’n’tfuroffthecourse。Good-by。Takecareofyourself。Youcanputwhat’sleftofthatmockmincepieonthetopshelfinthebutt’ryandyou’dbetterheaveadishtowelorsunthin’overittokeeptheantsout。There’smoreantsinthishousethanthereisdollars，agoodsight。BetsyB。，she’sgotaplanforkeepin’of’emoutbyputtin’sassersofbrimstoneroundtheshelves，butItoldher，s’
I，’THEMantsdon’tcarefornobrimstone。They’reusedtoit。
SometimesIb’lievethey’resentbytheeverlastin’fatherofbrimstone，’andshe——“
Shehadreachedthegatebythistime，andGraceshutofftheflowofconversationbyclosingthedoor。Thenshetookacandlefromtherowonthedining-roommantel，lightedit，andwentuptoherownroom。Standingbeforetheold-fashionedbureauwithitslittleovalmirror，shehastilyarrangedherhair。Shedidnotwishtogototheprayermeetingatthechapel，butshefeltthatshemust。
TheCome-Outergatherings，withtheirnoisysingingandshouting，hadgrownmoreandmorerepugnanttoher。
Andto-night，ofallnights！Howcouldshemeetthosepeoplewhohadknownhersinceshewasachild，whoboastedofherasoneoftheirstaunchestadherents，whobelievedinherandtrustedher？
Howcouldshemeetthemandtalkwiththem，knowingwhatsheknewandrealizingthatthey，too，wouldknowitonthemorrow？Butherunclewouldmissherandbeworriedaboutherifshedidnotcome。
Shecouldnotbeartotroublehimnow；sheneverlovedhimsodearly，wasneversoanxioustohumorhiseverywishasonthis，perhapsthelasteveningtheywouldspendtogether。For，thoughshewouldnotyetadmitit，eventoherself，herdecisionwasmade，hadreallybeenmadethefirsttimeJohnElleryaskedherweeksbefore。Onlythethoughtofwhatmighthappentohimifsheconsentedhadcausedhertohesitatesolong。
Sheblewoutthecandleandcameoutintothehallattheheadofthestairs。Shewasabouttodescendwhensheheardvoices。Thedoorofthediningroomopenedandclosed。ShefeltcertainthatNathadreturnedandwonderedwhowaswithhim。Thensheheardheruncle’svoice，speakingsharplyandwithunwontedsternness。
“Idon’tknowwhat’tisyouwanttoseemeabout，“saidCaptainEben。“Yousayit’simportant；well，it’sgottobetokeepmefrommymeetin’。IoughttobeontheLord’sbusinessthisminuteandnothin’worldly’sgoin’tokeepmefromservin’Him。Sospeakquick。Whatisit？“
ThevoicethatansweredwasonethatGracerecognized，thoughshehadneverbeforeheardinitthenoteofagitationandundignifiedexcitement。Therewerenoponderouspausesand“Hum——ha’s“now。
“Don’tbeafool，Hammond！“itsaid。“Anddon’tstandtherepreaching。Lockthatdoor！Getalamp！Areyousurethere’snobodybutusinthehouse？“
CaptainElkanahDaniels！CaptainElkanahvisitingaCome-Outer！
andtheleaderoftheCome-Outers！！Gracecaughtherbreath。Whatintheworld——Shestartedtodescendandthenathoughtflashedtohermind。Shestoppedshort。
“Iain’tthefool，Elkanah，“sheheardheruncleretortsternly。
“Thefoolsarethemwhoaredeeftothecallfromonhigh。MyfootwasonthethresholdofHishousewhenyouledmeastray。It’sneverhaltedthereafore。Iwarnyou——“
“Hush！Shutup！Can’tyouforgetthat——thatCome-Outercircusofyoursforaminute？“
“ElkanahDaniels，I’llhavenoblasphemyhere。Anotherwordlikethatand——“
“WILLyoubestillandhearme？TheLord’sbusiness！Iguessyou’llthinkit’stheLord’sbusinesswhenyouunderstandwhatI’mgoingtotellyou！TheLord’sbusiness！Thedevil’sbusiness，youbettersay！Willyoulockthatdoor？“
“Mychurchiswaitin’formeand——“
“Letitwait。What’saparcelofyellingCome-Outerscomparedtothedecencyofthistown？Stop！Shutup！EbenHammond，Itellyouthatyourpreciouschurch——yesandmine，theRegularchurchofTrumet——willgotorackandruinifyouandmedon’tpulltogetherthisnight。“
“AndItellyou，ElkanahDaniels，I’llhavenoblasphemyhere。
ThatlittlesanctuaryuptheroadisfoundedonarockandneitheryounoranyofyourPhariseein’priest-worshipin’crewcanshakeit。TheAlmighty’llprotectHisown。AsfortheReg’larchurch，that’snoconcernofmine。“
“ButItellyou’tisyourconcern。Orifthechurchisn’t，yourownfamilyis。“
“My——myfamily？“
“Yes，yourownfamily。Huh！thatmakesyoulisten，don’tit？“
Therewasaninstantofsilence。Grace，crouchingonthestairs，noticedthechangeinheruncle’svoiceasheanswered。