heart." 

"You ought to have told him——" 

"I know." 

"What can I do?" 

"Women can do nothing but suffer. I am sorry with all my soul for you, Maria, and I will let you know what father does. Go home to your poor grandmother; she will need all the comfort you can give her." 

"I am sorry for you, Agnes; yes, I am! I will do anything I can. There is Lord Medway, he loves me; and General Clinton loves him, I know he does; I have seen them together." 

"Father is first. I must awaken him. Leave me now, Maria, dear. None but God can stand by me in this hour." 

Then Maria kissed her, and Agnes fell upon her knees, her arms spread out on her bed and her face buried in them. There were no words given her; she could not pray; but when the Gate of Prayer is closed the Gate of Tears is still open. She wept and was somewhat helped, though it was only by that intense longing after God which made her cry out, "O that I knew where to find Him, that I might come into His presence!" 

When she went to her father's door, he was already awake. She heard him moving about his room, washing and dressing, and humming to himself in strong snatches a favorite hymn tune; no words seemed to have come to him, for the melody was kept by a single syllable that served to connect the notes. Nevertheless, the tone was triumphant and the singer full of energy. It made Agnes shiver and sicken to listen to him. She sat down on the topmost stair and waited. It could not be many minutes, and nothing for or against Harry could be done till the world awoke and went to business. Very soon the hymn tune ceased, and there was a few minutes of a silence that could be felt, for it was threaded through by a low, solemn murmur easy to translate,--the man was praying. When he came out of his room, he saw Agnes sitting on the stair, and as soon as she lifted her face to him he was frightened and asked sharply: 

"What are you doing there, Agnes? What has happened?" 

She spoke one word only, but that word went like a sword to the father's heart,--"Harry!" 

He repeated the word after her: "Harry! Is he 

 Prev. P 84/224 next