.
    The second lesson for the morning of the 25th of September is the 26th
chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel.
    And when they prayed again Ruth's tongue was unloosed, and she also could
pray, in His name who underwent the agony in the garden.
    As they came out of church, there was a little pause and gathering at the
door. It had begun to rain; those who had umbrellas were putting them up; those
who had not were regretting, and wondering how long it would last. Standing for
a moment, impeded by the people who were thus collected under the porch, Ruth
heard a voice close to her say, very low, but very distinctly -
    »I have much to say to you - much to explain. I entreat you to give me the
opportunity.«
    Ruth did not reply. She would not acknowledge that she heard; but she
trembled nevertheless, for the well-remembered voice was low and soft, and had
yet its power to thrill. She earnestly desired to know why and how he had left
her. It appeared to her as if that knowledge could alone give her a relief from
the restless wondering that distracted her mind, and that one explanation could
do no harm.
    »No!« the higher spirit made answer; »it must not be.«
    Ruth and the girls had each an umbrella. She turned to Mary, and said -
    »Mary, give your umbrella to Mr. Donne, and come under mine.« Her way of
speaking was short and decided; she was compressing her meaning into as few
words as possible. The little girl obeyed in silence. As they went first through
the churchyard stile Mr. Donne spoke again.
    »You are unforgiving,« said he. »I only ask you to hear me. I have a right
to be heard, Ruth! I won't believe you are so much changed as not to listen to
me when I entreat.«
    He spoke in a tone of soft complaint. But he himself had done much to
destroy the illusion which had hung about his memory for years, whenever Ruth
had allowed herself to think of it. Besides which, during the time of her
residence in the Benson family, her feeling of what people ought to be had been
unconsciously raised and refined; and Mr. Donne, even while she had to struggle
against the force of past recollections, repelled her so much by what he was at
present, that every speech of his, every minute they were together, served to
make her path more and more easy to follow
