Sometimes，\"sheepishly，\"I’vetrieditmyself——p’rapsit’strue。Ididitthismornin’whenIsatdownan’
pulledmesackoverme’eadonthebridge。Polly’dbeencryin’soloudallnightI’dgotabitlowinmestummickan’——\"ShestoppedsuddenlyandturnedonDartasiflighthadflashedacrosshermind。\"Dunnonothin’aboutit，\"shestammered，\"butISAIDit——justlikeshedoes。
an’YOUcome！\"
Plainlyshehadutteredwhateverwordsshehadusedintheformofasortofincantation，andherewastheresultinthelivingbodyofthismansittingbeforeher。Shestaredhardathim，repeatingherwords:\"YOU
come。Yes，youdid。\"
\"Itwastheanswer，\"saidMissMontaubyn，withentiresimplicityasshebitoffherthread，\"that’swotitwas。\"
AntonyDartliftedhisheavyhead。
\"Youbelieveit，\"hesaid。
\"I’mlivin’onbelievin’it，\"shesaidconfidingly。\"Iain’tgotnothin’else。An’answerskeepscomin’andcomin’。\"
\"Whatanswers？\"
\"Bitso’work——an’thingsas’elps。Gladthere，she’sone。\"
\"Aw，\"saidGlad，\"Iain’tnothin’。
Ilikesto’earyertellaboutit。Sheses，\"toDartagain，alittleslowly，asshewatchedhisfacewithcuriouslyquestioningeyes——\"sheses’E’Sintheroom——sameas’E’severywhere——inthis’ereroom。Sometimesshetalksoutloudto’Im。\"
\"What！\"criedDart，startledagain。
ThestrangeMajesticAwfulIdea——theDeityoftheAges——tobespokenofasamereunfearedReality！
Andevenasthevaguelyformedthoughtspranginhisbrainhestartedoncemore，suddenlyconfrontedbythemeaninghissenseofshockimplied。WhathadallthesermonsofallthecenturiesbeenpreachingbutthatitwasReality？WhathadalltheinfidelsofeveryagecontendedbutthatitwasUnreal，andthefollyofadream？Hehadneverthoughtofhimselfasaninfidel;perhapsitwouldhaveshockedhimtobecalledone，thoughhewasnotquitesure。
Butthatalittlesuperannuateddanceratmusic—halls，batteredandwornbyanunlawfullife，shouldsitandsmileinabsolutefaithatsucha——asuperstitionasthis，stirredsomethinglikeaweinhim。
Forshewassmilinginentireacquiescence。
\"It’swhatthecurickses，\"sheenlargedradiantly。\"Though’edontbelieveit，poreyoungman;’eon’ythinks’edoes。`It’sfor’ighan’
low，’’eses，`foryouan’measwellasforthemasisroyalfambleys。
TheAlmighty’E’sEVERYWHERE！’
`Yes，’sesI，`I’vefelt’Im’ere——asnearasy’areyerself，sir，I’ave——an’
I’vespoketo’Im。\"’
\"Whatdidthecuratesay？\"Dartasked，amazed。
\"Seemedlikeitfrightened’imabit。`Wemustn’tbetoobold，MissMontaubyn，mydear，’’eses，for’e’sakindyoungmanaseverlived，an’
oftenses`mydear’tothem’e’scomfortin’。Butyerseethelidy’adgavemeaBibleo’meownan’I’dset’erean’readit，an’readitan’learnedversestosaytomeselfwhenIwasinbed——an’I’dgotterfeellikeitwassomeonetalkin’tomean’makin’meunderstand。SoIses，`’Tain’tboldnesswe’rewarnedagainst;it’snotlovin’an’trustin’enough，an’notaskin’an’believin’TRUE。Don’tyerrememberwotitses:\"I，evenI，am’ethatcomfortethyer。Whoartthouthatthouartafraidofmanthatshalldiean’thesonofmanthatshallbemadeasgrass，an’forgettethJehovahthyCreator，thatstretchedforththe’eavensan’laidthefoundationsoftheearth？\"an’\"I’vecoveredtheewiththeshadderofme’and，\"itses;an’\"Iwillgobeforetheean’maketheroughplacessmooth;\"an’\"’Ithertoye’aveaskednothin’inmyname;askthereforethatyemayreceive，an’yerjoymaybemadefull。\"’An’’elookeddownonthefloorasif’ewasdoin’some’ardthinkin’，poreyoungman，an’’eses，quitesuddenan’shaky，`Lord，I
believe，’elpthoumyunbelief，’an’’esesitasif’ewasintroublean’didn’tknow’e’dspokeoutloud。\"
\"Where——howdidyoucomeuponyourverses？\"saidDart。\"Howdidyoufindthem？\"
\"Ah，\"triumphantly，\"theywasallanswers——theywasthefirstanswersIever’ad。WhenIfirstcome’omean’itseemedasifIwasgoin’
tobeswep’awayinthedirto’thestreet——onedaywhenIwasneardrovewildwithcoldan’’unger，I
setdownontheflooran’IdraggedtheBibletomean’Ises:`Thereain’tnothin’onearthorin’ellas’ll’elpme。I’mgoin’todowotthelidysaid——madornot。’An’I’eldthebook——an’I’eldmybreath，too，’cositwaslikewaitin’fortheendo’
theworld——an’afterabitI’earsmyselfcalloutina’ollerwhisper，`Speak，Lord，thyservant’eareth。
Showmea’ope。’An’Iwastremblin’
alloverwhenIopenedthebook。An’thereitwas！`Iwillgobeforetheean’maketheroughplacessmooth，Iwillbreakinpiecesthedoorsofbrassandwillcutinsunderthebarsofiron。’An’I
knoweditwasaanswer。\"
\"You——knew——it——wasananswer？\"
\"Wotelsewasit？\"withashiningface。\"I’darstforit，an’thereitwas。An’inaboutahourGladcomerunnin’up’ere，an’she’d’adabito’luck——\"
\"’Twasn’tnothin’much，\"Gladbrokeindeprecatingly，\"on’yI’dgotsomethin’toeatan’abito’fire。\"
\"An’shemademegoan’’avea’eartymeal，an’setan’warmmeself。
An’shewasthatcheerflean’fullo’
pluck，she’elpedmetoforgetaboutthethingsthatwasmakin’meintoamadwoman。SHEwastheanswer——
sameasthebook’adpromised。Theycomesindifferentwyestheanswersdoes。Blessyer，theydon’tcomeinclapsofthunderan’streakso’lightenin’——
theyjustcomeseasyan’natural——
so’ssometimesyerdon’tthinkforaminitortwothatthey’reanswersatall。Butitcomestoyerinabitan’yer’eartstandsstillforjoy。
An’eversincethenIjustgotomebookan’arst。P’raps，\"hersmileanilluminatingthing，\"mebein’thelowan’poreinspiritatthebeginnin’，an’settin’’ereallalonebyme—
selfdayinan’dayout，justthinkin’
itallover——an’arstin’——an’waitin’
——p’rapslightwasgaveme’cosI
wasinsuchalittleplacean’inthedark。ButIain’tporeinspiritnow。
Lor’，no，yercan’tbewhenyer’veon’ygottobelieve。`An’’ithertoye’avearstnothin’inmyname;
arstthereforethatyemayreceivean’yerjoybemadefull。’\"
\"AmIsittingherelisteningtoanoldfemalereprobate’sdisquisitiononreligion？\"passedthroughAntonyDart’smind。\"WhyamIlistening？
IamdoingitbecausehereisacreaturewhoBELIEVES——knowingnodoctrine，knowingnochurch。
SheBELIEVES——shethinkssheKNOWS
herDeityisbyherside。Sheisnotafraid。TohersimplenesstheawfulUnknownistheKnown——andWITH
her。\"
\"Supposeitweretrue，\"heutteredaloud，inresponsetoasenseofinwardtremor，\"suppose——it——were——TRUE？\"Andhewasnotspeakingeithertothewomanorthegirl，andhisforeheadwasdamp。
\"Gawd！\"saidGlad，herchinalmostonherknees，hereyesstaringfearsomely。\"S’poseitwas——an’ussittin’’erean’notknowin’it——an’
nooneknowin’it——norgettin’thegoodofit。Simeasif——\"ponderinghardinsearchofsimile，\"simeasifnoone’adneverknowedabout’lectricity，an’therewasn’tno’lectriclightsnorno’lectricnothin’。Onctnobodyknowed，an’allthesimeitwasthere——jestwaitin’。\"
Herfantasticlaughendedforherwithalittlechoking，vaguelyhystericsound。
\"Blimme，\"shesaid。\"Ain’titqueer，usnotknowin’——IFIT’STRUE。\"
AntonyDartbentforwardinhischair。Helookedfarintotheeyesoftheex—dancerasifsomeunseenthingwithinthemmightanswerhim。MissMontaubynherselfforthemomenthedidnotsee。
\"What，\"hestammeredhoarsely，hisvoicebrokenwithawe，\"whatofthehideouswrongs——thewoesandhorrors——andhideouswrongs？\"
\"Therewouldn’tbenoneifWE
wasright——ifweneverthoughtnothin’
but`Good’scomin’——good’s’ere。’Ifweeveryoneofusthoughtit——everyminitofeveryday。\"
Shedidnotknowshewasspeakingofamillennium——theendoftheworld。Shesatbyheronecandle，threadingherneedleandbelievingshewasspeakingofTo—day。
Helaughedahollowlaugh。
\"Ifwewereright！\"hesaid。\"Itwouldtakelong——long——long——tomakeusallso。\"
\"Itwouldbeslowp’raps。Well，soitwould——butgoodcomesquickforthemasbeginscallin’it。It’sbeenquickforME，\"drawingherthreadthroughtheneedle’seyetriumphantly。\"Lor’，yes，melegsisbetter——meluck’sbetter——people’sbetter。Blessyer，yes！\"
\"It’strue，\"saidGlad;\"shegetsonsomehow。Thingscomes。Sheneverwantsnodrink。Menow，\"
sheappliedtoMissMontaubyn，\"ifItookitupsameasyou——wot’dcometoagallikeme？\"
\"Wotudyerwanttercome？\"
Dartsawthatinhermindwasanabsolutelackofanypremonitionofobstacle。\"Wot’dyerarstferinyerownmind？\"
Gladreflectedprofoundly。
\"Polly，\"shesaid，\"shewantstogo’ometo’ermotheran’tothecountry。
Iain’tgotnomotheran’wotI
’earofthecountryseemslikeI’dgettiredofit。Nothin’butquietan’
lambsan’birdsan’thingsgrowin。’
Me，Ilikesthingsgoin’on。Ilikespeoplean’’andorgansan’’buses。I’dstay’ere——sameasItoldYOU，\"withajerkofherhandtowardDart。
\"An’dothingsinthecourt——ifI’adabito’money。Idon’twanttolivenogaylifewhenI’mawoman。
It’stoo’ard。Usporeunsendstoobad。WishtIknowedIcouldgetonsome’ow。\"
\"Good’llcome，\"saidMissMontaubyn。\"Justyousaythesameasmeeverymornin’——`Good’sfillin’
theworld，an’someofit’scomin’tome。It’sbein’sent——an’I’mgoin’
tomeetit。It’scomin’——it’scomin’。’\"Shebentforwardandtouchedthegirl’sshoulderwithherastonishingeyesalight。\"Blessyer，wot’sinmyroom’sinyours;Lor’，yes。\"
Glad’seyesstaredintohers，theybecamemysteriously，almostawesomely，astonishingalso。
\"Isit？\"shebreathedinahushedvoice。
\"Yes，Lor’，yes！Whenyergetupinthemornin’youjuststandstillan’ARSTit。`Speak，Lord，’sesyou;
`speak，Lord——’\"
\"Thyservant’eareth，\"endedGlad’shushedspeech。\"Blimme，butI’mgoin’totryit！\"
Perhapsthebrainofhersawitstillasanincantation，perhapsthesoulofher，calledupstrangelyoutofthedarkandstillnew—bornandblindandvague，sawitvaguelyandhalfblindlyassomethingelse。
Dartwaswonderingwhichofthesethingsweretrue。
\"We’veneverbeenexpectin’
nothin’that’sgood，\"saidMissMontaubyn。\"We’reallusexpectin’
theother。Whoisn’t？Iwasallusexpectin’rheumatizan’’ungeran’
coldan’starvin’oldage。Wotwasyoulookin’for？\"toDart。
Helookeddownonthefloorandansweredheavily。
\"Failingbrain——failinglife——
despair——death！\"
\"Noneof’em’scomin’——ifyerdon’tcall’em。Standstillan’listenfortheother。It’stheotherthat’sTRUE。\"
Shewaswithoutdoubtamazing。
Shechirpedlikeabirdsingingonabough，rejoicingintokenoftheshiningofthesun。
\"It’swotyercanworkon——
this，\"saidGlad。\"Thecurick——
’e’sagoodsortan’no’’armin’im——but’eses:`Troublean’’ungeristerteachyertersubmit。Accidentsan’coughsastearsyerlungsissentyoutoprepareyerfor’eaven。Ifyerloves’Imassends’em，yer’llgothere。’`’Aveyereverbin？’sesI。
`’Aveyereversawanyonethat’sbin？’Aveyereversawanyonethat’ssawanyonethat’sbin？’
`No，’’eses。`Don’t，megirl，don’t！’
`Garn，’Ises;`tellmesomethin’
as’lldomesomegoodaforeI’mdead！’Eaven’stoofaroff。’\"
\"Thekingdomof’eavenisat’and，\"saidMissMontaubyn。\"Blessyer，yes，just’ere。\"
AntonyDartglancedroundtheroom。Itwasastrangeplace。ButsomethingWAShere。Magic，wasit？Frenzy——dreams——what？
Heheardfrombelowasuddenmurmurandcryingoutinthestreet。MissMontaubynhearditandstoppedinhersewing，holdingherneedleandthreadextended。
Gladhearditandsprangtoherfeet。
\"Somethin’s’appened，\"shecriedout。\"Someone’s’urt。\"
Shewasoutoftheroominabreath’sspace。Shestoodoutsidelisteningafewsecondsanddartedbacktotheopendoor，speakingthroughit。Theycouldhearbelowcommotion，exclamations，thewailofachild。
\"Somethin’s’appenedtoBet！\"
shecriedoutagain。\"Ican’earthechild。\"
Shewasgoneandflyingdownthestaircase;AntonyDartandMissMontaubynrosetogether。Thetumultwasincreasing;peoplewererunningaboutinthecourt，anditwasplainacrowdwasformingbythemagicwhichcallsupcrowdsasfromnowhereaboutthedoor。Thechild’sscreamsroseshrillabovethenoise。Itwasnosmallthingwhichhadoccurred。
\"Imustgo，\"saidMissMontaubyn，limpingawayfromhertable。\"P’rapsIcan’elp。P’rapsyoucan’elp，too，\"ashefollowedher。
TheyweremetbyGladatthethreshold。Shehadshotbacktothem，panting。
\"Shewasblinddrunk，\"shesaid，\"an’shewentouttogetmore。Shetriedtocrossthestreetan’fellunderacar。She’llbedeadinfiveminits。
I’mgoin’forthebiby。\"
DartsawMissMontaubynstepbackintoherroom。Heturnedinvoluntarilytolookather。
Shestoodstillasecond——sostillthatitseemedasifshewasnotdrawingmortalbreath。Herastonishing，expectanteyesclosedthemselves，andyetinclosingspokeexpectancystill。
\"Speak，Lord，\"shesaidsoftly，butasifshespoketoSomethingwhosenearnesstoherwassuchthatherhandmighthavetouchedit。\"Speak，Lord，thyservant’eareth。\"
AntonyDartalmostfelthishairrise。Hequakedasshecamenear，herpoorclothesbrushingagainsthim。Hedrewbacktoletherpassfirst，andfollowedherleading。
Thecourtwasfilledwithmen，women，andchildren，whosurgedaboutthedoorway，talking，crying，andprotestingagainsteachother’scrowding。Dartcaughtaglimpseofapolicemanfightinghiswaythroughwithadoctor。Adishevelledwomanwithachildatherdirty，barebreasthadgotinandwastalkingloudly。
\"Justoutsidethecourtitwas，\"
sheproclaimed，\"an’Isawit。Ifshe’dbin’erselfitcouldn’t’ave’appened。`Notimefor’osspitles，’
sesI。She’snottwentybreathstodror;let’erdiein’erownbed，porething！\"Andbothsheandherbabybreakingintowailsatoneandthesametime，otherwomen，somehysteric，somemaudlinwithgin，joinedtheminaterrifiedoutburst。
\"Getout，youwomen，\"commandedthedoctor，whohadforcedhiswayacrossthethreshold。\"Sendthemaway，officer，\"tothepoliceman。
Therewereotherstoturnoutoftheroomitself，whichwascrowdedwithmorbidorterrifiedcreatures，allmakingforconfusion。Gladhadseizedthechildandwasforcingherwayoutintosuchairastherewasoutside。
Thebed——astrangeandloathlything——stoodbytheempty，rustyfireplace。DrunkenBetlayonit，abundleofclothingoverwhichthedoctorbentforbutafewminutesbeforeheturnedaway。
AntonyDart，standingnearthedoor，heardMissMontaubynspeaktohiminawhisper。
\"MayIgoto’er？\"andthedoctornodded。
Shelimpedlightlyforwardandhersmallfacewaswhite，butexpectantstill。Whatcouldsheexpectnow——OLord，what？
Anextraordinarythinghappened。
Anabnormalsilencefell。Theownersofsuchfacesasonstretchedneckscaughtsightofherseemedinaflashtocommunicatewithothersinthecrowd。
\"JinnyMontaubyn！\"someonewhispered。And\"JinnyMontaubyn\"
waspassedalong，leavinganawedstirringinitswake。Thosewhomthepressureoutsidehadcrushedagainstthewallnearthewindowinapassionatehurry，breathedonandrubbedthepanesthattheymightlaytheirfacestothem。Onetoreouttheragsstuffedinabrokenplaceandlistenedbreathlessly。
JinnyMontaubynwaskneelingdownandlayinghersmalloldhandonthemuddiedforehead。ShehelditthereasecondorsoandspokeinavoicewhoselowclearnessbroughtbackatoncetoDartthevoiceinwhichshehadspokentotheSomethingupstairs。
\"Bet，\"shesaid，\"Bet。\"Andthenmoresoftstillandyetmoreclear，\"Bet，mydear。\"
Itseemedincredible，butitwasafact。Slowlythelidsofthewoman’seyesliftedandthepupilsfixedthemselvesonJinnyMontaubyn，wholeanedstillcloserandspokeagain。
\"’Tain’ttrue，\"shesaid。\"Notthis。’Tain’tTRUE。ThereISNO
DEATH，\"slowandsoft，butpassionatelydistinct。\"THERE——IS——NO——DEATH。\"
Themusclesofthewoman’sfacetwisteditintoaruefulsmile。ThethreewordsshedraggedoutweresofaintthatperhapsnonebutDart’sstrainedearsheardthem。
\"Wot——price——ME？\"
Thesoulofherwaslooseningfastandstrainingaway，butJinnyMontaubynfollowedit。
\"THERE——IS——NO——DEATH，\"andherlowvoicehadthetoneofaslendersilvertrumpet。\"Inaminityer’llknow——inaminit。Lord，\"liftingherexpectantface，\"showherthewye。\"
Mysteriouslythecloudswereclearingfromthesoddenface——mysteri—
ously。MissMontaubynwatchedthemastheyweresweptaway！A
minute——twominutes——andtheyweregone。Thensherosenoiselesslyandstoodlookingdown，speakingquitesimplyasiftoherself。
\"Ah，\"shebreathed，\"sheDOES
knownow——fersurean’certain。\"
ThenAntonyDart，turningslightly，realizedthatamanwhohadenteredthehouseandbeenstandingnearhim，breathingwithlightquickness，sincethemomentMissMontaubynhadknelt，wasplainlythepersonGladhadcalledthe\"curick，\"andthathehadbowedhisheadandcoveredhiseyeswithahandwhichtrembled。
IV
Hewasayoungmanwithaneagersoul，andhisworkinAppleBlossomCourtandplaceslikeithadtornhimmanyways。Religiousconventionsestablishedthroughcenturiesofcustomhadnotpreparedhimforlifeamongthesubmerged。
Hehadstruggledandbeenappalled，hehadwrestledinprayerandfelthimselfunanswered，andinrepentanceofthefeelinghadscourgedhimselfwiththorns。MissMontaubyn，returningfromthehospital，hadfilledhimatfirstwithhorrorandprotest。
\"Butwhoknows——whoknows？\"
hesaidtoDart，astheystoodandtalkedtogetherafterward，\"Faithasalittlechild。Thatisliterallyhers。
AndIwasshockedbyit——andtriedtodestroyit，untilIsuddenlysawwhatIwasdoing。Iwas——inmycloddishegotism——tryingtoshowherthatshewasirreverentBECAUSE
shecouldbelievewhatinmysoulI
donot，thoughIdarenotadmitsomucheventomyself。Shetookfromsomestrangepassingvisitortohertorturedbedsidewhatwastoherarevelation。Shehearditfirstasachildhearsastoryofmagic。Whenshecameoutofthehospital，shetolditasifitwasone。I——I——\"hebithislipsandmoistenedthem，\"arguedwithherandreproachedher。ChristtheMerciful，forgiveme！Shesatinhersqualidlittleroomwithhermagic——sometimesinthedark——sometimeswithoutfire，andsheclungtoit，andloveditandaskedittohelpher，asachildasksitsfatherforbread。Whenshewasanswered——andGodforgivemeagainfordoubtingthatthesimplegoodthatcametoherWASananswer——whenanysmallhelpcametoher，shewasaradiantthing，andwithoutashadowofdoubtinhereyestoldmeofitasproof——proofthatshehadbeenheard。Whenthingswentwrongforadayandthefirewasoutagainandtheroomdark，shesaid，`I
’aven’tkeptnearenough——I’aven’ttrustedTRUE。Itwillbegavemesoon，’andwhenonceatsuchatimeIsaidtoher，`Wemustlearntosay，Thywillbedone，’shesmiledupatmelikeahappybabyandanswered:
`ThywillbedoneonearthASITISIN
’EAVEN。Lor’，there’snocoldthere，norno’ungernornocryin’norpain。