human
My dear Helen, said he, in that grave, earnest tone which always had the effect of command,
gpt
I deserve no credit for going, sobbed Helen.
human
I could not help it.
gpt
But no one _forced_ you, Helen.
human
When you say I _will_ do any thing, I feel a force acting upon me as strong as iron.
gpt
It is the force of your own inborn sense of right called into action by me. You knew it was not right to leave our blind Alice in the dark woods alone. If I were cruel enough to desert her, and refuse to seek her, her claim on your kindness and care was not the less commanding. You could not have laid your head upon your pillow, or commended yourself to the guardianship of Providence, thinking of Alice in the lonely woods, damp with the dews of night. Besides, you knew in your secret heart I could not send you on a dangerous mission. Oh! Helen, would that I could inspire you, not so much with implicit confidence in me, as in that Mighty guardian power that is ever around and about you, from whose presence you cannot flee, and in whose protection you are forever safe.
human
Forgive me, cried Helen, in a subdued, humble tone.
gpt
I have done you great wrong in thinking you cruel. I wonder you have not given me up long ago, when I am so weak and foolish and distrustful. I thought I was growing brave and strong--but the very first trial proved that I am still the same, and so it will ever be. Neither the example of Alice, nor the counsels of your mother, nor your own efforts, do me any good. I shall always be unworthy of your cares.
human
Nay, Helen, you do yourself great injustice. You have shown a heroism this very night in which you may glory. Though you have encountered no real danger, you battled with an imaginary host, which no man could number, and the victory was as honorable to yourself as any that crowns the hero's brow with laurels. Mark me, Helen, the time will come when you will smile at all that now fills you with apprehension, in the development of your future, nobler self.
gpt
Oh! if I dared to promise, said she,
human
I would pledge my word never to distrust you, never to be so foolish and weak again. But I think, I believe that I never will.
gpt
Do not promise, my dear Helen, for you know not your own strength. But, remember, that without _faith_ you will grope in darkness through the world--faith in your friends--faith in your God--and I will add--faith in yourself. From the time I first saw you a little, terror-stricken child, to the present moment, I have sought only your happiness and good--and yet forgetting all the past, you distrusted my motives even now, and your heart rose up against me. From the first dawn of your being to this sweet, star-lighted moment, God has been to you a tender, watchful parent, tenderer than any earthly parent, kinder than any earthly friend--and yet you fear to trust yourself to His providence, to remain with Him who fills immensity with His presence. You have no faith in yourself, though there is a legion of angels, nestling, with folded wings in that young heart, ready to fly forth at your bidding, and fulfil their celestial mission. Come, Helen, added he, rising, and lifting her at the same time from her lowly seat,
human
Forgiven! cried she, fervently.
gpt
How can I ever thank you, ever be sufficiently grateful for your goodness?
human
By treasuring up my words, and remembering them when you are far away. I have influence over you now, because you are so very young, and know so little of the world, but a few years hence it will be very different. You may think of me then as a severe mentor, a cold, unfeeling sage, and wonder at the gentleness with which you bore my reproofs, and the docility with which you yielded to my will.
gpt
I shall always think of you as the best and truest friend I ever had in the world,
human
Because he sent you out into the woods alone? said Mrs. Hazleton, smiling,
gpt
Yes, replied Helen,
human
How do you account for that, Helen?
gpt
I don't know, she answered,
human
Helen is a metaphysician, said the young doctor.
gpt
She could not have given a better solution.
human
And can it be those heavenly eyes Blue as the blue of starry skies, Those eyes so clear, so soft so bright, Have never seen God's blessed light?