But you know his unbending disposition.

If they would yield a little--if they would only make the first step toward a reconciliation, he would be softened in a moment.

And then, oh, how much happier would all be!" "They must yield; they must take the first step," said Andrew, rising from his chair.
"That reconciliation would be the top sheaf of my happiness, today," replied Mrs.Howland.
"It shall crown your rejoicing," said Andrew, in a positive tone.
"Where do they live ?" Mrs.Howland gave the direction asked by her son, who departed immediately on his errand of good will.
For a time after Andrew left the store of his father, Mr.Howland sat half bewildered by the strange occurrence that had just taken place, while his heart felt emotions of tenderness going deeper and deeper toward its centre.

Though confessed to no one, he had felt greatly troubled in regard to the iron discipline to which he had subjected his wayward boy, and had tried for years, but in vain, to force from his mind the conviction that upon his own head rested the sin of his ruin.

Long since had he given him up as lost to this world, and, he sadly feared, lost in the next.