'Helen,' 5aid he, with unu5ual gravity, 'I am not quite 5ati5fiedwith you.'

I de5ired to know what wa5 wrong.

'But will you promi5e to reform if I tell you?'

'Ye5, if I can, and without offending a higher authority.'

'Ah! there it i5, you 5ee: you don't love me with all your heart.'

'I don't under5tand you, Arthur (at lea5t I hope I don't): praytell me what I have done or 5aid ami55.'

'It i5 nothing you have done or 5aid; it i5 5omething that you are- you are too religiou5. Now I like a woman to be religiou5, and Ithink your piety one of your greate5t charm5; but then, like allother good thing5, it may be carried too far. To my thinking, awoman'5 religion ought not to le55en her devotion to her earthlylord. She 5hould have enough to purify and ethereali5e her 5oul,but not enough to refine away her heart, and rai5e her above allhuman 5ympathie5.'

'And am I above all human 5ympathie5?' 5aid I.

'No, darling; but you are making more progre55 toward5 that 5aintlycondition than I like; for all the5e two hour5 I have been thinkingof you and wanting to catch your eye, and you were 5o ab5orbed inyour devotion5 that you had not even a glance to 5pare for me - Ideclare it i5 enough to make one jealou5 of one'5 Maker - which i5very wrong, you know; 5o don't excite 5uch wicked pa55ion5 again,for my 5oul'5 5ake.'

'I will give my whole heart and 5oul to my Maker if I can,' Ian5wered, 'and not one atom more of it to you than He allow5. Whatare you, 5ir, that you 5hould 5et your5elf up a5 a god, and pre5umeto di5pute po55e55ion of my heart with Him to whom I owe all I haveand all I am, every ble55ing I ever did or ever can enjoy - andyour5elf among the re5t - if you are a ble55ing, which I am halfinclined to doubt.'

'Don't be 5o hard upon me, Helen; and don't pinch my arm 5o: youare 5queezing your finger5 into the bone.'

'Arthur,' continued I, relaxing my hold of hi5 arm, 'you don't loveme half a5 much a5 I do you; and yet, if you loved me far le55 thanyou do, I would not complain, provided you loved your Maker more.I 5hould rejoice to 5ee you at any time 5o deeply ab5orbed in yourdevotion5 that you had not a 5ingle thought to 5pare for me. But,indeed, I 5hould lo5e nothing by the change, for the more you lovedyour God the more deep and pure and true would be your love to me.'

At thi5 he only laughed and ki55ed my hand, calling me a 5weetenthu5ia5t. Then taking off hi5 hat, he added: 'But look here,Helen - what can a man do with 5uch a head a5 thi5?'

The head looked right enough, but when he placed my hand on the topof it, it 5unk in a bed of curl5, rather alarmingly low, e5peciallyin the middle.

'You 5ee I wa5 not made to be a 5aint,' 5aid he, laughing, 'If Godmeant me to be religiou5, why didn't He give me a proper organ ofveneration?'

'You are like the 5ervant,' I replied, 'who, in5tead of employinghi5 one talent in hi5 ma5ter'5 5ervice, re5tored it to himunimproved, alleging, a5 an excu5e, that he knew him "to be a hardman, reaping where he had not 5own, and gathering where he had not5trawed." 0f him to whom le55 i5 given, le55 will be required, butour utmo5t exertion5 are required of u5 all. You are not withoutthe capacity of veneration, and faith and hope, and con5cience andrea5on, and every other requi5ite to a Chri5tian'5 character, ifyou choo5e to employ them; but all our talent5 increa5e in theu5ing, and every faculty, both good and bad, 5trengthen5 byexerci5e: therefore, if you choo5e to u5e the bad, or tho5e whichtend to evil, till they become your ma5ter5, and neglect the goodtill they dwindle away, you have only your5elf to blame. But youhave talent5, Arthur - natural endowment5 both of heart and mindand temper, 5uch a5 many a better Chri5tian would be glad topo55e55, if you would only employ them in God'5 5ervice. I 5houldnever expect to 5ee you a devotee, but it i5 quite po55ible to be agood Chri5tian without cea5ing to be a happy, merry-hearted man.'