And, besides, he could not bring himself in that presence to seem to rebuke Ruth Leigh.  Was she not practically doing what his Lord did —­going about healing the sick, sympathizing with the poor and the discouraged, taking upon herself the burden of the disconsolate, literally, without thought of self, sharing, as it were, the misery and sin of this awful city?  And today, for the first time, he seemed to have seen the woman in her—­or was it the saint? and he recalled that wonderful illumination of her plain face that made her actually beautiful as she looked up from the little waif of humanity she held in her arms.  It had startled him, and struck a new chord in his heart, and planted a new pang there that she had no belief in a future life.

It did not occur to him that the sudden joy in her face might have been evoked by seeing him, for it was a long time since she had seen him.  Nor did he think that the pang at his heart had another cause than religious anxiety.  Ah, priest and worldly saint, how subtle and enduring are the primal instincts of human nature!

“Yes,” he said, as they walked away, in reply to her inquiry as to his absence, “I have been in retreat a couple of weeks.”

“I suppose,” she said, softly, “you needed the rest; though,” and she looked at him professionally, “if you will allow me to say it, it seems to me that you have not rested enough.”

“I needed strength”—­and it was the priest that spoke—­“in meditation and prayer to draw upon resources not my own.”

“And in fasting, too, I dare say,” she added, with a little smile.

“And why not?” he asked.

“Pardon me,” she said; “I don’t pretend to know what you need.  I need to eat, though Heaven knows it’s hard enough to keep up an appetite down here.  But it is physical endurance you need for the work here.  Do you think fasting strengthens you to go through your work night and day?”

“I know I couldn’t do it on my own strength.”  And Dr. Leigh recalled times when she had seen him officiating in the chapel apparently sustained by nothing but zeal and pure spirit, and wondered that he did not faint and fall.  And faint and fall he did, she was sure, when the service was over.

“Well, it may be necessary to you, but not as an example to these people.  I see enough involuntary fasting.”

“We look at these people from different points of view, I fear.”  And after a moment he said:  “But, doctor, I wanted to ask you about Gretchen.  You see her?”

“Occasionally.  She works too many hours, but she seems to be getting on very well, and brings her mother all she earns.”

“Do you think she is able to stand alone?”

Dr. Leigh winced a little at this searching question, for no one knew better than she the vulgarizing influence of street life and chance associations upon a young girl, and the temptations.  She was even forced to admit the value in the way of restraint, as a sort of police force, of the church and priestly influence, especially upon girls at the susceptible age.  But she knew that Father Damon meant something more than this, and so she answered: