Page:The Czar, A Tale of the Time of the First Napleon.djvu/347

Rh Testament, and to find out, if he could, from its pages whether these things were so.

After some hours of reading and prayer he reached the conclusion that it was he himself who had hitherto been blind and stupid. He marvelled that he had not earlier discovered what now seemed to shine upon him from every page of the Book he loved—the glorious truth of present forgiveness and acceptance through faith in Christ. And thus that night one who had hitherto only "believed" dimly and afar off "on the name of the Son of God" came to "know that he had eternal life," and to "believe" consciously and fully "on the name of the Son of God."

A strange new joy burst upon his soul, flooding it with sunshine. He knelt down and thanked God for teaching him this truth. He could say now "my God" and "my Saviour." He knew now what was meant by those words of the apostle, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

At length he rose from his knees, went to the window of his apartment and looked out. The town clock had just struck the second hour after midnight. The scene without was calm and still, sleeping in the soft summer moonlight. It seemed to Ivan a beautiful world, over which God was watching, and which he had so loved as to send his Son to die for it. "To die for me!" he said in his heart. "What can I do to show my love and gratitude to him?"

As he stood looking out, a solitary figure passed down the silent empty street. Ivan saw it was the Czar, who was only then returning from the cottage on the hill. His attendants were well accustomed to their master's habit of taking long and lonely walks, and his absence, even for many hours, would occasion neither question nor remark. If, instead of