uneasiness in Mrs. Thorpe's manner and her breath fluttered in her throat:

"It is hard to be quiet under the rod, sometimes, Pauline."

"God knows what is best for us, dear. You do not believe that one moment's pain or suffering comes to you without His knowledge and consent."

At just this time Mrs. Thorpe's mental condition was such that every word of Pauline's was to her soul as red hot steel to the quivering flesh. Her breath fluttered and caught; there was a haze before her eyes. She felt herself possessed of two distinct personalities. She heard her answer to Pauline:

"Yes, I try to trust Him." But the second personality, forceful, insistent--what wildness, what frenzy was this?

"There is no God! There is no power in Heaven above, nor in Hell below, nor on this earth, that has a right to create a man and then by slow degrees to torture him to death! To rot the flesh from living bones, to crush and pollute and deform! It is not true! If this is God--cursed be God! If this is the Christ--"

With a strong effort, a quick, nervous movement, she recovered herself. She felt a wild impulse to fly from the room, from the house, but most of all from herself.

Pauline was by her side, with her cool hand on her forehead.

"What is it, Evelyn?" she asked. "Are you ill?"

"Only a spell of giddiness, I think, and my head feels badly. I will go to my room and lie down for a time."