“I know, dear Grace and Glory, how much you have suffered at the hands of my brother, and how—how you have never been able to bear him. But oh, I cannot bear to think of his coming out of prison with no one to meet him or to speak a gentle, loving word to him, and with nowhere to go, and made to feel that no one in the wide world will have anything to do with him. My mother and Gloomy are not here to take him home and the cottage is shut up. The Shepherd himself chose to take them away just at this time, so it must be right. And much as I long to go to meet him, I am still unable to leave the attic. Dearest Grace and Glory, you are our nearest relative. Would you—would you feel able and willing to go to the prison to meet them both? And could you perhaps arrange with Mrs. Valiant or one of the Shepherd’s other friends to let poor Craven have a room until he can find work and feels ready to face the world again?”

She broke off, trembling and sobbing, and instantly Grace and Glory was kneeling beside her with a radiant face and saying, “Oh, Compassionate, what a lovely thought that is! You don’t know how I have longed to be able to do something for poor Craven—almost more than for anyone else! I have received so much, and he is so utterly destitute and miserable. Of course, I will go; with all my heart I will go to welcome them both! Craven is your brother and my cousin and my closest relative. But oh, Compassionate! do you know the thought that came to me while you were speaking? It really is too lovely for words. I’m sure it came straight from the Shepherd himself,” and she laughed joyfully as she spoke.

“What was it?” asked Compassionate eagerly, and with hope dawning in her eyes.