ÀҾ˹éÒ˹ѧÊ×Í
PDF
ePub

The brother and sister, so lately joined, so soon to be parted, had a long and sorrowful talk together. At length Evelyn said, "Darling, I must leave you, and go down to our father. It was only after a dreadful scene, and with the utmost difficulty, that I got him to consent to my seeing you at all. Mr. Elthorne wanted to visit you, but our father would not hear of it, so he has sent his love and blessing by me, and he charged me to say he trusts you now and ever. Wilfred, we must bid each other farewell. I feel you will be righted sooner or later, and in that case our father will no doubt send to you through the lawyers. Meanwhile, trust in God, and remember that the heart of your sister will ever cling to you with the fondest love. Here is a tiny parting gift; take it with you, and open it when you are on your way to that great, dreadful London. You know our father has willed that we are not to write to one another; it is hard, but we must obey, and we can remember each other in our prayers. Now kiss me, dear, and say good-bye."

The brother and sister fell into each other's arms, and after that long, last, loving embrace, Wilfred found himself alone. Before his sister's visit, the cruel sense of injustice, which ere now has made demons of good men, had well-nigh crushed his

highly-strung, chivalrous nature and refined spirit; he could not think of the future, he could only bear. Now, however, he remembered his friend Ribblesdale's words, in connection with those of his sister and with the message sent him by Mr. Elthorne, and he felt a well-spring of hope in his stricken heart. Now, once more, he could think, he could plan, he could determine; and when Pinfold brought his supper up to his room, he could, what seemed impossible before, make a tolerable meal. So great is the buoyancy of youth, so great the power of human sympathy.

[ocr errors]

'So you be going to Lun'on, Master Wilfred ?" said Pinfold, when he came to take away; "I suppose I must put up your dress things as usual?"

[ocr errors]

'No, Pinfold, no dress things for me," answered the young man; "I suppose I shall never want dress things again. Put me up as few things as possible, and the strongest boots and clothes you can find. Pinfold, I am going away from home in disgrace, and I want to thank you for all the kindness you have ever showed me. Don't let the poor people think worse of me than they can help, Pinfold."

So saying, Wilfred put his hand in that of the faithful old servant, and when he withdrew it, a

There was comfort, he felt,

tear had fallen upon it. even in that. But the poor lad was destined to have yet another visitor. Before Pinfold could shut the door, a scuffling sound was heard in the passage, and Floss, his beautiful dog Floss, bounded into the room, and, leaping up against his young master, whined with delight as he licked his hands.

"Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores:" these words came into the boy's mind with a new and touching significance. If the dumb animals still loved him, surely he might hope for love from Above. "When father and mother forsake me, the Lord taketh me up :" these words also flashed upon his mind, and he prayed to his Heavenly Father for the first time since the fatal discovery of the robbery, and felt a ray of comfort illumine the darkness of his soul. It is strange how, in the hours of the greatest need, in seasons of sorrow or on the bed of death, the words of the Hebrew shepherd-king, of the fishermen of Tiberias, of the Carpenter of Galilee, strike upon the souls of men with soothing power. It is for these words that men then crave; and no one ever yet upon a deathbed asked to hear read a speech of Mr. Bradlaugh's, a disquisition of Mr. Herbert Spencer's, or a tract by old he-she Mrs. Besant!

G

Next morning, after leaving an envelope on the table directed to his father, which contained the £10 note he had received the previous evening, Wilfred Manwaring was carried off to the railway station, and driven out into the widerness of that world whereof he knew so little. The clerk stared when the young gentleman asked for a third class ticket to London, but he made no observation. The train arrived, and in five minutes the poor outcast was gone. His foes were they of his own household. His father had with his own hands drawn the veil of separation between himself and his son. And he never saw his son again. As he sowed, so did he reap. Never

[merged small][graphic]
[graphic][merged small][merged small]

THE
HE return of the £10 note, which at first sur-

prised and somewhat perplexed Mr. Manwaring, had the after effect of confirming his belief in his son's guilt. "Had he not been well off for money," he argued," he would never have refused the sum I so liberally gave him." A week, however, had scarcely elapsed since Wilfred's banishment, when the Squire received a letter from Messrs. Prodgers and Sharpin, in which they informed him that they had made arrangements for his son's apprenticeship at Yeovil, in Somersetshire, in conformity with his instructions, and would be glad to know when they might expect the young gentleman in town, as he was now several days overdue.

This unexpected letter disturbed the Squire not

« ¡è͹˹éÒ´Óà¹Ô¹¡ÒõèÍ
 »