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the lane was opening out in front of him. It gave
him a strange sensation of comfort to feel his feet
treading the soft earth, the moss and the dried leaves.
Standing still under the branches from which the
drops were falling in the deserted Spanjaardslaan,
peering at the roofs beyond the meadow, he began
to see with new eyes* And he asked himself why
he had been weighed down so long under the heavy
burden, for he was no worse than anyone else, and,
too, he strove much harder against wickedness.
And the reason he had done this was because in his
heart he believed what his uncle had said : if you
questioned your conscience you knew you were sin-
ful, and to live as your conscience bade was the right
thing. That is what is demanded of men. Uncle
Gerbrand had told him after that terrible day last
year, and since that time he had always listened to
his conscience. And he had no desire to tell lies
any more, and fortunately he had not even felt the
worse inclinations. This was actually a beginning
of salvation, and it had happened slowly in that dark
winter, without his being aware of it. He stood and
smiled at the thought, and he delighted in the rain
on his face and his hair.
c You should do that more often,5 said Uncle Ger-
brand, when he heard that he had been for a walk
in the Forest, * that will bring the colour to your
cheeks. Although I haven't been there for I don't
know how many years, I remember from the time