"Lillian, there is but one way of helping you out of your difficulty."

"Oh, can you - will you?" In eager expectancy Lillian leaned forward. "People say that you can perform miracles, that------."

"Never mind what people Say," interrupted Adoni. "No child, it requires no miracle to save you. My mission is to save life; not to destroy it; to restore health and strength to body, soul and mind. When you understand that it was through your lack of knowledge and disobedience that you have done what in your inmost heart you felt to be wrong, you will shrink from any sinful action that may seem to offer escape. Remember this: there is never any honorable escape from the consequences of our misdeeds." "But I am not the only one to blame." "Gerald cannot escape; he must render account to the last farthing. His sin is far greater than yours, so will be his punishment. Let God be the judge. And now you must trust me, child and take my advise; the time will come when you will be grateful that Gerald would not marry you." "But what is it you advise me?" "First, to tell your mother everything."

"Oh! How can I tell her? I - she------"

"Have no fear, my child. I, myself, will tell her. Come, let us go to her without delay." Adoni consulted his watch. Taking Lillian by the hand, he said kindly: "Come, it is already growing late." With these words he led the weeping child from the church.

The sky was overcast with dark, threatening clouds. As they hastened along Adoni pondered how he might arouse Lillian's mother to a sense of her sacred obligation to her daughter. At this moment the thought occurred to him: How strange that the girl sought him in her trouble instead of her own father confessor, for he now remembered that her people were adherents of the Roman Catholic church.

"Lillian, tell me, why did you come to me? Why did you not go to Father Gebhard for advice?"

"Oh! I am afraid of him He is so stern and unsympathetic. I was afraid he would make me do public penance. He can't perform miracles, either; besides, Gerald isn't a Catholic, you know. Father Gebhard has no love for any one who is not a Catholic and he has no mercy for them."

Arriving at the home of Lillian, Adoni tactfully explained to her mother the purpose of his errand. He had known the woman but slightly and believed her to be kind and well meaning, if somewhat inclined to shirk responsibilities. She, like many others, seemed to think her duty began and ended with the formal observance of religious devotions.

After the first shock, following the painful disclosure of Lillian's plight, the mother, as Adoni feared, took a decided stand against him as to what was right and best to do in this serious matter.

"Of course you don't want Gerald to marry Lillian, for he's your wife's brother. It's natural you don't want her in your family," she exclaimed with vehemence.

"I fully expected you would mistake my motive," replied Adoni, "but that is of little consequence. The question is: Would this forced marriage be advisable? Lillian and Gerald do not love each other. They've been brought up along different lines of religious, and social advantages - education. Even in their tastes and habits they have little in common. They do not understand each other. Gerald is incapable of real affection, has little respect for women; certainly none for Lillian whom he would treat with scorn and indifference, if not with actual cruelty.

She would be slavishly dependent upon him; their future would resolve itself into open antagonism and degrading animalism. What kind of a home would that be for Lillian and her child?"

"It would, at least, give the child a name and save it from disgrace."

"Giving one child a name and bringing the curse of degenerating influence upon others born of an unholy relation! To condemn these two lives together, into an artificial union, and force their antagonistic natures into the formal straight-jacket of a loveless marriage, would be a social crime for private ends. The price is too great."

"Lillian's mother burst into tears. "But her reputation will be ruined," she cried.

"My dear woman, there are things of more sterling worth than a mere name. Self-respect, courage, moral stamina, honesty. As for disgrace - reputation, after all, is what people believe us to be; character is what God knows us to be."

"I cannot understand," cried Lillian's mother, "what possessed the child to forget herself. I have always tried to be so good and virtuous. She certainly didn't get it from me."

"Did she get anything from you," interrupted Adoni, "anything that might have saved her from this great sorrow? Did she receive any information concerning the sex relation; these are of vital importance and sacredness to the holy marriage bond? In brief, did she get from you anything that would help her meet and overcome the temptation?"

Lillian's mother flushed guiltily. "I thought - I supposed she would find out these things as other girls do."

"She has found them out through bitter experience. You, as a mother, have but a scant conception of the holy obligation toward your child. Had you gained Lillian's confidence, all this unhappiness might have been saved. Think of the chain of violated laws, lack of love, false modesty, ignorance, transgression - and the destruction of innocent girlhood. In my opinion, your daughter's sin lies at your door."

"Your condemnation seems cruelly harsh."

"I condemn no one but I am forced to speak the truth, and truth hurts oftentimes; the penalty must be paid. The question now is: Are you willing to do your duty by her now, or will you persist in plunging her deeper into a miserable existence?"

To escape the piercing look of Adoni, Lillian's mother covered her eyes with her hands. A serious problem was confronting her. A few moments passed before she was able to speak; then she asked timidly: "Is marriage not the only remedy?"

"The only conventional remedy," replied Adoni indignantly, "but this remedy that society provides does not prevent nor remove the sin of ignorance."

. "I must admit there is a great deal of truth in what you say; but what if I do not press this marriage between Lillian and Gerald - who is to support the child?"

"Gerald. I have no desire to shield him from the results of his crime and shall compel him to support and educate his child. It is for Lillian's sake, that I oppose this loveless union; for it violates the sanctity of the holy marriage bond, which I have vowed to protect and defend, now and forever."

Somewhat mollified, Lillian's mother assured Adoni that she would at once consult with Father Gebhard, and if he agreed with his views and deemed such a course advisable, she would offer no further opposition to it.

Realizing that for the present nothing more could be accomplished in the matter, Adoni took his leave.

The dusky shadows of the June twilight were deepening, the sky had thickened from its starless depths; flashes of lightning and the rumbling of distant thunder warned him of an approaching storm.

His homeward path took him through the aristocratic part of the city. In the distance he could plainly discern the stately mansion of Vallero, standing silent and sombre in the gloom of the huge trees which surrounded it.

A sharp spasm of pain contracted his heart and forced from his lips: "Truth, dear heart - Oh, God! Too late, too late!"

For a few moments he was overcome by the sense of his own helplessness. What a pitifully weak mortal he was.

As he wandered along he thought of his own unhappy union, of Lillian and Gerald, and of others he had known whose lives had become entangled in the web of false destiny. A network woven around them which must be unraveled by the unerring hand of time; the wrong threads broken and discarded, and the right ones woven together by the great "Spirit of Love."

Drops of rain began to fall. To Adoni it seemed as though the very heavens were weeping over the human tragedies that were touching now his own sad experience.

Quickening his steps he was soon at the entrance of his home. As he opened the door darkness and silence greeted him. He was glad of the opportunity to be alone, that he might think clearly before acquainting his wife with his newly formed resolutions which involved an entire re-adjustment of their relations. What the outcome of his contemplated interview would be God alone knew. In the silence of that great "within" Adoni prayed - prayed for guidance to do what was right, prayed as he never had before. His prayer breathed the desire and highest aspiration of a struggling soul, held in mortal bondage.

As though in answer to his earnest petition, a voice from within his heart dictated these words:

"This above all: To thine own self be true, And it must follow as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."