"'Vengeance is Mine,'" said Johnson, solemnly, "you know the text. Pharaoh had no right to take the law into his own hands."
"Perhaps not. But Mr. Mayne robbed him of the woman he loved, and no doubt he lost his head for the moment. Love is capable of all things."
"You are right," said the minister, bitterly, as he thought of his own sad romance. "God knows we are but weak reeds blown by the wind. But we do not know yet if Mayne is guilty of Zara's death. I have still to hear the true version from Farmer Carwell."
"Let me know when you return," remarked Miss Arnott, rising; then, after a pause, she added, "And all these troubles have arisen from Bithiah coming to stay with you."
"I am afraid so. Let us hope they will end with her going. Next week I celebrate the ceremony of her marriage with Finland, as they both leave Grimleigh in the Dayspring."
"Will her departure break your heart?" asked Miss Arnott, sarcastically.
Johnson reddened. "I once thought it would," he said in a low voice.
"And don't you feel as you did?"
"No, I do not. That folly is at an end. Before her supposed death she was all in all to me. Now I contemplate her marriage with Finland at least without distress."
A smile of relief and joy irradiated the face of Miss Arnott. The burden of years seemed to fall from her shoulders, and her eyes brightened like those of a young girl. With a swift motion she gathered her shawl round her graceful figure, and stepped lightly towards the door. "Go on your errand of mercy," she said in low tones, "and when you return come to me."