Kitty had asked him, had even coaxed a little, but he said, "No, not to-night." He felt stiff and sore from his long sitting under the great tree in the early spring dampness.

He told himself that this was the reason why he was not going to prayer-meeting; but the real one was, he felt as if he could not possibly face Mr.Burrows that evening, and _certainly_ not Mr.Holbrook,--of course, Ellis had told him all about it.

He felt very tired, and his head and limbs ached; he was going to read a chapter in his Bible and go to bed.

He chose the same psalm which had come to him with so much power that afternoon, read it slowly and carefully, then knelt down to pray, and as he did so a new trouble loomed up before him.

What should he do?
He had prayed for Ellis Holbrook and Bob Turner ever since he began to pray for himself, but he felt as though he could not possibly pray for either of them to-night.