“It was for my own ends and not Brother Paul's that I helped him to break obedience, and so injure his health and hasten his death.”

“Your own?”

“I, too, had a sister in the world, and my heart was hungry for news of her.”

“A sister?”

“Some one nearer than a sister—and all my spiritual life has been a sham.”

“My son, my son!”

“Forgive me, Father. I shall love you and honour you and revere you always; but I must break my obedience and leave you, or I shall be a hypocrite and a liar and a cheat.”


XVIII.