Sister Agatha was deeply touched, and remained silent for a moment; then rising hastily, she said with a stern manner:  “Do not confuse trifles with grave subjects.  All that we do, even the weakest, is for the Lord’s glory and praise, and not our own.  What matter if the world scorns us?  If we are the Lord’s, He is with us, and we care for naught else.  Search your heart, dear Sister, that you neglect not the salvation of your soul.  Accept for yourself a helper and guide, so that your feet may not stray from the right path.  There is one, whom I know, is now ready to offer himself to you, than whom none is, more steadfast in the faith.  Brother Jonathan Fricke, the faithful friend of your father, honors you most highly when he desires to have you for his wife.  To-day he explained to me his wishes on the subject; and the elders, to whom I have spoken, give their cordial consent to the alliance.”

At Agatha’s words Carmen grew deathly pale, and listened with wide-open eyes.  When the Sister ceased speaking, she sprang up, and turning from the gentle eyes which sought hers, said passionately: 

“But I will not have him for my husband!”

“Carmen, my dear, you will not have Jonathan for your husband?  You do not know what you are saying,” cried Agatha.

“Yes, I do, Sister Agatha,” answered Carmen, quickly, her large lustrous eyes gleaming with a dangerous light.  “Do you know how you feel when you come in contact with a reptile, a snake?  When I was a little girl, on my father’s plantation, I saw one day, under an aloe-tree, what I thought was a green twig; and when I grasped it, it was a cold, clammy snake, which, in a moment, twined itself around my arm.  I could not scream for terror; but Sarah, my mother’s faithful slave, saw it.  She tore the viper from my arm, and flung it far away, among the bushes.  Sister Agatha, when Brother Jonathan comes near me, I feel the same shiver go through, and the same feeling of horror almost paralyzes my limbs.  I could not endure to have him near me always.  I could not say to him, ’My husband’—­no, not for all the world!”

Carmen grew more and more excited as she went on.

“Perhaps not for all the world,” interposed Agatha; “but for your own salvation you must do it.  Do not thrust the safety of your soul from you in this way.  As Brother Jonathan’s wife, you will be a partaker of his holy life and good works.  We are not put into this world to please ourselves, but to further the progress of the kingdom of God.”

“Oh, Sister Agatha, believe me, I will become a nurse for the sick, and bear all the hardships and trials of such a vocation; only spare me—­spare me this one thing!  I cannot give myself to Brother Jonathan.  You must not—­you dare not require it of me!” cried the girl, bursting into tears.

“No, Carmen, I will not compel you, although it grieves me for your sake,” said Agatha.  “Go, now, and on your knees examine your heart, lest you may refuse that which is intended for your greatest good.”  And kissing Carmen, she dismissed her.