"'Yes,' I answered.
"'Then, you have heard his most unhappy history?'
"'Most of it, I believe, I have.'
"'He seems to you, I fear, a very—very erring man.'
"I was silent.
"'There is good in him still,' she cried; 'believe it or not who may, there is good in him still.'
"And now her tears began to flow fast, as she went on,
"'The will of God be done! The will of God be done! But if it had been His pleasure, I hoped to have lived! to have had that father home; to have joined our two desolate hearts together; to have brought him to the knowledge of One whose yoke is easy, and whose burden is light. O, was that wish wrong, that it was not granted! O, my father! who shall seek you out now!'
"'Remember,' I said, gently, 'we are in the hands of One, wiser and more merciful than ourselves. He would spare, surely, where we would spare, if it were good it should be so. If means would avail, He would provide the means. His work will not stand still because the instruments (as we regard things) seem taken away. Your death, dear girl, may do more for your father's soul than your life could ever have done.'"