The overbearing young man was quite altered; his eyes, which were dim with weeping, had moved her, Perpetua, to tears.

She trusted that God would forgive him for his sins against herself and Paula; he must have been possessed by some evil demon; he had not been at all like himself; for he had a kind, warm heart, and though he had been so hard and unjust yesterday to poor Hiram he had made it up to him the first thing this morning, and had not only let him out of prison but had sent him and his son home to Damascus with large gifts and two horses.

Nilus had told her this.

He who hoped to be forgiven by his neighbor must also be ready to forgive.

The great Augustine, even, had been no model of virtue in his youth and yet he had become a shining light in the Church; and now the son of the Mukaukas would tread in his father's footsteps.