"  And,"  she  added,  "  I  haven't  any  fear.  It's  as  well  now
as  ever.  It  must  come ;  and  it  had  better  come  in  the  way
of  duty.  Life  purchased  by  neglect  of  the  suffering  isn't
worth  having  "  — and  her  voice  sunk  away.
"But  speak  to  me  once  more,"  he  cried.  "Is  it  all
well?"

"  All  well,"  she  added,  rousing  for  a  moment.  "  If,  as  I
hope,  there's  a  future,  we'll  meet.  If  not,  still  God  does  us
no  wrong.  We've  had  life,  — a  chance  to  help  our  fellow-
men.  Be  true,  and  —  all  is — well."

And  she  sunk  into  a  lethargy,  from  which  she  roused  no
more.  Mr.  Forrest  put  his  cheek  to  her  lips  to  find  if  he
could  feel  her  breath ;  and,  seeing  that  she  breathed  no
more,  he  kissed  her  forehead,  and  sprinkled  it  with  tears.
"O  God!-"  he  exclaimed,  "whatever  she  is  called,  here
sleeps  one  of  thine  own  saints."

The  town  was  full  of  grief,  and  loud  were  her  praises  on
the  lips  of  all  the  common  people,  when  they  heard  that  she
had  given  up  her  life  for  them  ;  and  for  a  time  all  criticism
of  her  opinions  was  shamed  into  silence  in  the  presence  of
her  noble  life  and  nobler  death.
As  her  house  was  small,  and  so  many  of  those  she  had


I4O  BLUFFTON.
befriended  clamored  for  the  privilege  of  following  her  to  the
grave,  it  was  determined  that  the  funeral  should  be  in  the
church.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  it  would  have  been
opposed  as  a  profanation  of  the  sanctuary;  but  any  such
move  now  would  have  been  so  frowned  upon  by  the  public
sentiment,  that  it  was  not  to  be  thought  of.
