Capìtolo 7

souls that were to be redeemed. The spiritual warfare in which he was
enlisted had taken possession of him, and he spoke with the martial
enthusiasm of a young soldier buckling on his armor.

Helen and Colin listened in glowing silence, Helen showing her
sympathy by her flushing cheeks and wet eyes, and Colin by the
impatient way in which he struck down with his stick the thistles by
the path side, as if they were the demons of sin and ignorance and
dirt Selwyn was warring against. But after three weeks of this
intercourse Crawford became sensible of some change in the atmosphere
of his home. When Selwyn first arrived, and Crawford learned that he
was a clergyman in orders, he had, out of respect to the office,
delegated to him the conduct of family worship. Gradually Selwyn had
begun to illustrate the gospel text with short, earnest remarks, which
were a revelation of Bible truth to the thoughtful men and women who
heard them.

The laird's "exercises" had often been slipped away from, excuses had