“Good-bye,” he said, as he took her hand, “may I come again soon?”

“Yes;” she answered.  “I shall be pleased to see more of your beautiful flower garden.”

This was the beginning of a courtship, not the less sweet because it had been postponed for so long; not the less real, from the fact that the man and the woman were spiritual beings.  “Sin,” said the apostle, “is without the body;” so love and affection are attributes of the spirit, whether that spirit is within or without a tabernacle of flesh.  And this courtship did not differ to any great extent from all others which had taken place from the beginning of time.  There were the same timid approaches and responses; the getting acquainted with each other, wherein each lover’s eyes glorified every act in the other; the tremulous pressure of hands; the love-laden looks and words; the thrill of inexpressible joy when the two were together.  Neither was this courtship exceptional.  Among the vast multitude in the spirit world there are many who did not mate in the brief time allotted to them in the earth-life; therefore, congenial spirits are continually meeting and reading “life’s meaning in each other’s eyes.”

Rachel, though she claimed to have no “story” to tell, interested David greatly in her account of how the Lord had chosen her as one of a family to become a savior on Mt.  Zion.  The work for the dead had not interested him.  He, in connection with the youth of his time, had neglected that part of the gospel plan; and now, of course, he saw his mistake.

“Yes,” David acknowledged to Rachel, “I see my error now, as usual, when it is too late to remedy it.  You who were faithful rank above me here.”

“Don’t say that,” she pleaded.

“But it is true.  Your good deeds came before you here and gave you a standing.  Some of the treasures you destined for heaven were detained here, and you are now reaping benefits from them.  Do I not see it all the time?  When we meet new people, you are received with delight—­I am unknown.”

“David, what comes to me, you partake of also, because—­”

“Because you shall belong to me.  Yes, dear one; that is the blessed truth.  The Lord has brought us together, and all else should be forgotten in our gratitude to Him....  Rachel, we would have known each other in earth-life had I behaved myself.  Our lives were surely trending toward each other, and our paths would have met.  We would have loved and have wedded there, had it not been for my—­”

“Say no more.  Let us forget the past in thinking of and planning for the future.  I am happy now, and so is your mother.”

“And so am I.”

IV.

  “Whatsoever God doeth it shall be forever.”—­Eccl. 3:14.

David and Rachel were out walking when they saw another couple whose lovelike actions were noticeable.  As they met, the couple stopped and the man said, “Pardon me, but we are somewhat strange in this new world.  May we ask you some questions?”