Don"t shut the door:- oh，don"t，for God"s sake!"

"I must; the rain is driving in-"

"Tell the young ladies. Let me see them-"

"Indeed，I will not. You are not what you ought to be，or you wouldn"t make such a noise. Move off."

"But I must die if I am turned away."

"Not you. I"m fear"d you have some ill plans agate，that bring you about folk"s houses at this time o" night. If you"ve any followers- housebreakers or such like- anywhere near，you may tell them we are not by ourselves in the house; we have a gentleman，and dogs，and guns." Here the honest but inflexible servant clapped the door to and bolted it within.

This was the climax. A pang of exquisite suffering- a throe of true despair- rent and heaved my heart. Worn out，indeed，I was; not another step could I stir. I sank on the wet doorstep: I groaned- I wrung my hands- I wept in utter anguish. Oh，this spectre of death!

Oh，this last hour，approaching in such horror! Alas，this isolation- this banishment from my kind! Not only the anchor of hope，but the footing of fortitude was gone- at least for a moment; but the last I soon endeavoured to regain.

"I can but die," I said，"and I believe in God. Let me try to wait His will in silence."

These words I not only thought，but uttered; and thrusting back all my misery into my heart，I made an effort to pel it to remain there- dumb and still.

"All men must die," said a voice quite close at hand; "but all are not condemned to meet a lingering and premature doom，such as yours would be if you perished here of want."

"Who or what speaks?" I asked，terrified at the unexpected sound，and incapable now of deriving from any occurrence a hope of aid. A form was near- what form，the pitch-dark night and my enfeebled vision prevented me from distinguishing. With a loud long knock，the newer appealed to the door.