“No,” she said resolutely.  “My mission to you must not end so weakly, so uselessly.  Will you do me a favor?”

“I?”

“Yes; listen quietly and honestly;” and she read the first verses of the nineteenth chapter of St. John, ending with the words, “Behold the man.”

“Vinton,” she said eagerly, “the truth to which I referred was embodied truth, and your first sacred duty is to look to Him and live.  To the last conscious moment of life this will remain your first and most sacred duty, and were you the strongest man in this city you could not do more.  It’s not a question of religions at all, or of what other people are or believe.  The words I have read have brought you face to face with this Divine Man, who came to seek and save that which was lost.  Never did a despairing human soul cry out to Him in vain.  He is as real as I am.  His tender pity is infinitely beyond mine.  Far better and wiser would it be for you to turn from me than from Him.  Oh, merciful Christ, how the world wrongs Thee!” and she buried her face in her hands and sobbed bitterly.

“Millie, please don’t,” he entreated.  “I can’t endure to see you so grieved.”

“Forgive me—­I am forgetting myself sadly; but how can I see you so hopeless, so despairing, when there is no more need of it than of your refusing what I try to do for your comfort?  There, rest now, but think of what I’ve said.  I may have done wrong to tire you so, but to minister to the body only, when the soul, the man within you, is in such infinite need seems but a mockery.  If you continue to wrong Him who should be the one great hope of every human heart, you will sadden all my days.  My mission will be but a poor one indeed.”

He was very much exhausted, but he said gently, “I will think of it, and may the One you serve so faithfully bless you for your divine pity.  What you have said seems to make everything different; you appear to have something real and definite in your mind.  Give me your hand and I will rest; then, my good angel, teach me your faith.”

This Mildred did almost wholly from God’s own word.  At first it was hard for him to believe that there were any possibilities for one like him, but at last he accepted the truth that God is not willing that the least should perish.  “The mystery of life is something that the wisest cannot solve,” she said to him, “but the best hopes of the world have ever centred about this Divine Friend.  Burdened hearts have gone to Him in every age and found rest.  Oh, how often He has comforted me when mine seemed breaking!  In response to a simple trust He gives a hope, a life which I do not think can be found elsewhere, and in the limitless future that which was all wrong here may be made right and perfect.”

“So this is your revenge, Millie.  You come and bring me this great hope.”

“No, God sent me.”

Mildred’s mission to the sad-hearted Mrs. Sheppard was almost as sacred and useful as to her brother, and they had many long talks which possessed all the deep interest which is imparted by experiences that leave a lasting impress on memory.