“In the morning they ate fruits and berries, and pursued their journey, and it was not long before another of the obstacles which the roc and the hermit had foretold threatened to end their pilgrimage.  It was a chasm that fell away so steeply and was so deep and wide that, looking into the depths below, the man shuddered and started back.  Before he had time to utter his dismay, a large mountain deer appeared noiselessly before the travelers.  The man started eagerly, but as the creature’s bright, wild gaze met his, it vanished as silently and swiftly as it had come.

“‘Ah, why was that?’ exclaimed Purity.  ‘Felt you an unloving thought?’

“’’Twas a fine deer.  Had I but possessed a bow and arrow, I could have taken it!’ returned the man, with excitement.

“‘To what end?’ asked Purity, her wondering eyes sad.  ’One does not gain the Heavenly Country by slaying.  We must wait now, until Love drives out all else.’

“The repentant man hung his head and looked at the broad chasm.  ’Would that I had not willed to kill the creature,’ he said, ’for I am loath to lose my own life, and it is less good than the deer’s.’

“Purity smiled upon him and slid her hand into his, and again the deer bounded before them, followed this time by its mate.

“The child fondled them.  ‘Mount upon its back,’ she said to the man, indicating the larger animal.  He obeyed, though with trembling, while the smaller deer kneeled to the child and she took her seat.

“Then the creatures planted their feet unerringly and stepped to a lower jutting point of rock, from whence with flying leaps they bridged the chasm and scrambled to firm earth on the other side.

“‘Our hearts’ best thanks, loved ones,’ said Purity, as the deer bounded away.

“The man was trembling.  ’I have slain many of God’s creatures for my pleasure,’ he faltered.  ‘May He forgive me!’

“‘If you do so no more you will forgive yourself; but only so,’ returned Purity.

“They moved along again and the man spoke earnestly and humbly of the wonders that had befallen them.

“‘To Love, all things are possible,’ returned the child; ’but to Love only;’ and her companion listened to all she said, with a full heart.

“By noon that day, an inaccessible cliff stared the travelers in the face.  Its mighty crags bathed their feet in a deep pool, and up, up, for hundreds of feet, ran a smooth wall of rock in which no one might find a foothold.

“The man stared at it in silence, and it seemed to frown back inexorably.  His companion watched his face and read its mute hopelessness.

“‘Have you still—­still no faith?’ she asked.

“’I cannot see how’—­stammered the man.

“‘No, you cannot see how—­but what does that matter?’ asked the child.  ’Let us eat now,’ and she sat down, and the man with her, and they ate of the fruits and nuts she had gathered along the way and carried in her white gown.