She wished very much that she had not come. She wondered what time it was, but she would not look at her watch. She wanted this to be over, but she could not go until she had somehow made this young man think better of her. Even if she missed her train she must do it. She could not stand the thought of his disapproval. She was utterly unused to disapproval.

She cast a quick glance in his direction. He sat with his face half-shaded with his hand, his head bowed, his eyes closed, almost as if he were praying.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean at all!” she burst forth in a vexed tone. “What do you mean by ‘saved’ anyway? Why should I have to be saved? Saved from what? And how? I never in all my life heard anybody talk the way you do. How do you get that way?”

He raised his head and looked at her gravely, and she had a fleeting thought of how very sweet was the look in his eyes, almost it seemed a holy look.

“Saved from death,” he said quietly, “eternal death. That means eternal separation from God, you know, not extinction. We are all sinners and under condemnation of death for our sin.”

“I don’t see that I’m such a terrible sinner!” said Constance indignantly with an upflinging of her patrician chin. “I don’t see that I should be condemned to any kind of death.”

Seagrave looked at her again with that grave, sweet smile.

“And yet you are a sinner condemned to death,” he said impressively. “Please don’t mistake me though. No one could take one glance at you and not know that you are different from the modern girls. I cannot imagine your allowing in your life the things that I know most modern young people delight in these days. Such things would be repulsive to your tastes. But what I mean is this. Ever since Adam’s sin we all were born with dead spiritual natures—you, I, everybody. And a dead thing cannot be improved or made over. The only way that we could get into the presence of God is by being born again, by acquiring a new nature.”

“Just how could one go about doing that?” asked Constance, regarding him with a cold, sarcastic air.

“Simply believe what God says about His Son, that Jesus Christ took our place, suffering on the cross the penalty for our sins, and rose from the dead as proof that God’s justice was satisfied as to the sin question. God Himself comes to dwell in everyone who believes that and makes of him a new creature.”

“I told Dr. Grant I didn’t believe things,” mused Constance a little bitterly. “He said that was all right. He said the church was the place to bring your doubts.”

Seagrave considered this a moment gravely then answered earnestly, “The only place where we can bring doubts and have them cleared away is to the Lord Jesus. When one really comes to Him with a will to believe, He makes it all clear. One look into His face, face to face and heart to heart, is enough to satisfy doubts. But you have to come with the will to accept what He has said and trust yourself to His promises. Believing, you know, is something we will to do. Believing is not a conviction of the mind as a result of reasoning. It is swinging off and trusting to something you haven’t yet proved.