father, though of course we won’t permit any such folly as they are meditating, and I do not believe there is any sacrifice, not involving evil, at which she would hesitate.  She’s a jewel, Atwood, and in winning her, as you will, you will obtain a girl for whom a prince might well sue.  She’s one of a thousand, and beneath all her wonted self-control and reserve she has as true and passionate a heart as ever beat in a woman’s breast.”

“Good-night,” said Roger, a little abruptly.  “I agree with all you can say in regard to Miss Jocelyn’s nobility, and I shall not fail her, nor shall I make bargains or conditions in my loyalty.  The privilege of serving such a woman is enough.  I will see you again soon,” and he walked rapidly down the street on which his uncle resided.

Roger and Mr. Wentworth had become very good friends, and the latter had been of much service to the young fellow by guiding him in his reading and study.  The clergyman had shown his usual tact in dealing with Roger.  Never once had he lectured or talked religion at him, but he preached interestingly, and out of the pulpit was the genial, natural, hearty man that wins the respect and goodwill of all.  His interviews with Roger were free from the faintest trace of religious affectation, and he showed that friendly appreciation and spirit of comradeship which young men like.  Roger felt that he was not dealing with an ecclesiastic, but with a man who was as honest, earnest, and successful in his way as he ever hoped to be in his.  He was therefore being drawn by motives that best accorded with his disposition toward the Christian faith—­by a thorough respect for it, by seeing its practical value as worked out in the useful busy life of one who made his chapel a fruitful oasis in what would otherwise have been a moral desert.  In his genuine humanity and downright honesty, in his care of people’s bodies as well as souls, and temporal as well as spiritual interests, the minister was a tower of strength, and his influence for good over the ambitious youth, now fast developing the character which would make or mar him for life, was most excellent.  While Roger spoke freely to him of his general hopes and plans, and gave to him more confidence than to any one else, there was one thing that, so far as words were concerned, he hid from all the world—­his love for Mildred.  The sagacious clergyman, however, at last guessed the truth, but until to-night never made any reference to it.  He now smiled to think that the sad-hearted Jocelyns might eventually find in Roger a cure for most of their troubles, since he hoped that Mr. Jocelyn, if treated scientifically, might be restored to manhood.