"I must avoid the appearance of evil," she said,
anxiously. "What must I do?"
"Clar' I don't know, Miss Phill. 'Pears like you'se on a bery dangerous
road. I reckon you'd best pray for de grace to choose de cleanest,
safest steppin'-stones."
"Yes; that is best, Harriet."
But Phyllis was not one of those rash beings who rush into the presence
of God without thought or solemnity. Slowly bending, body and soul,
she communed with her own heart and was still, until it burned within
her, and the supplication came. When she rose from her knees, she was
resigned in all things to God's will, no matter what self-denial it
involved; and she was not unhappy. For, O believe this truth, the
saddest thing under the sky is a soul incapable of sadness! Most
blessed are those souls who are capable of lodging so great a guest
as Sorrow, who know how to regret, and how to desire, and who have
learned that with renunciation life begins.
And Phyllis foresaw that renunciation would be the price of peace.
At the commencement of the inquiry with her own soul she had refused
to entertain the idea. She had tried to find reasons for seeking some
other human adviser than Bishop Elliott, because she feared that he
would counsel hard things to her. Ere she slept, however, she had
determined to go to him very early in the morning.
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