walked back into the house, the happiest girl in all Utah.

 

CHAPTER III.

 

JOHN FERRIER TALKS WITH THE PROPHET.

 

Three weeks had passed since Jefferson Hope and his comrades had departed from

Salt Lake City. John Ferrier’s heart was sore within him when he thought of the

young man’s return, and of the impending loss of his adopted child. Yet her

bright and happy face reconciled him to the arrangement more than any argument

could have done. He had always determined, deep down in his resolute heart, that

nothing would ever induce him to allow his daughter to wed a Mormon. Such a

marriage he regarded as no marriage at all, but as a shame and a disgrace.

Whatever he might think of the Mormon doctrines, upon that one point he was

inflexible. He had to seal his mouth on the subject, however, for to express an

unorthodox opinion was a dangerous matter in those days in the Land of the

Saints.

 

Yes, a dangerous matter—so dangerous that even the most saintly dared only

whisper their religious opinions with bated breath, lest something which fell

from their lips might be misconstrued, and bring down a swift retribution upon

them. The victims of persecution had now turned persecutors on their own

account, and persecutors of the most terrible description. Not the Inquisition

of Seville, nor the German Vehmgericht, nor the Secret Societies of Italy, were

ever able to put a more formidable machinery in motion than that which cast a