THE VINE. 117 



ing that he had no great fancy for visiting " the 

 queen of the Methodists ;" and a lurking expres- 

 sion of suspicious dislike clouded his bright coun- 

 tenance, until he had taken a deliberate view of 

 his new acquaintance ; who, being on her part 

 fully aware of his prejudices, was peculiarly so- 

 licitous to remove them. 



It was no difficult task ; for the Lord had willed 

 it; and oh how sweet it was to me, who could 

 read every turn of those expressive features, to 

 see the mist rolling away, and the brightest sun- 

 shine of delight overspreading them, as he listened 

 to her interesting converse, and repaid her judici- 

 ous inquiries with a mass of valuable information, 

 on the topics most engaging to a soldier just return- 

 ed from the scene of his victories. The usual 

 period allowed to visitors passed too fleetly, and 

 he appeared no less gratified than I was, when 

 she told us that after taking some refreshment, and 

 strolling through the grounds, we must again re- 

 turn to her alcove, and renew our conversation. 



During this interview, Jack, the dumb boy, had 

 been standing behind a chair, his eyes roving with 

 strange delight from one to the other, fully com- 

 prehending the character of each, and bestowing 

 on me many significant nods, accompanied with 



the words, " Beautiful loves Hannah More : 



Good Hannah More loves beautiful ," while 



he and the wonderful manifestation of divine grace 



