Be as easy with John at first as you can. I know you 'll say _I_ never was
with my husband, but he was different, he got to like a bracing treatment,
Adlai did. Many's the time he said to me, "Louisa, when you make up our minds,
I'm always contented." But John is n't made that way. He's a changed man; now,
what we've got to do is to _keep_ him changed. He does n't bear you any grudge
for leaving him, so he won't reproach you.
Hoping to see you before long, I am,
Yours as usual,
Louisa Banks.
XI
"The Open Door"
On the Saturday evening before the yearly Day of Sacrifice the spiritual heads
of each Shaker family called upon all the Believers to enter heartily next day
into the humiliations and blessings of open confession.
The Sabbath dawns upon an awed and solemn household. Footfalls are hushed, the
children's chatter is stilled, and all go to the morning meal in silence.
There is a strange quiet, but it is not sadness; it is a hush, as when in
Israel's camp the silver trumpets sounded and the people stayed in their
tents. "Then," Elder Gray explained to Susanna, "a summons comes to each
Believer, for all have been searching the heart and scanning the life of the
months past.
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