340 THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 
for the wants of Alice Farley. In no outlays 
which he had made had he experienced the 
pleasure which was surely enjoyed when he 
filled out his cheques for the monthly bills pre¬ 
sented in her behalf The stoppage of this de¬ 
mand was a shock that he had not anticipated, 
and it led to some searchings of heart and scan¬ 
ning of motives. Why had he experienced such 
peculiar emotions in these transactions ? True, 
he would have done all that he had done from 
pure regard to the wants of the poor sufferer; 
and surely since he had learned to do good for 
Christ’s sake, it had been a sweeter duty; yet it 
was plain that his heart had been moved by 
other impulses. He could but recall how the 
pale face of the afflicted Alice had lingered in 
his dreams and followed him, phantom-like, in 
his daily thoughts, and had always been present 
as a kind of inspiring genius when he made up 
his favors, causing him to feel, as he did on his 
first visit to the log cabin on the lake, that he 
was the more indebted the oftener and more 
largely he gave. Was there a purer woman or a 
more Christ-like disciple ? And could any choice 
which he might make cause one greater hap¬ 
piness, or so certainly enhance his own, as for 
