A. L. O. E.

“ Oh," cried Sophy, clenching her hands, "I could not bear to hear more of that; I hurried out of the village as if the pavement burnt my feet! And then a dreadful fear shot into my mind; I had twice bought things with gold given to me by my father; I might have passed bad money unawares, and the police might be hunting after me. I had no peace after I thought of that danger! I was afraid of every man that I met, lest he should be a policeman in disguise! So I went on till the sun was beginning to set."
"Oh! Sophy," exclaimed Norah, "had you eaten nothing all that long time?" ”

“ The first faint dawn of comfort had risen upon her deep darkness. Persis hoped that she was weeping as the penitent wept who washed our Lord's feet with her tears. But who can look into the heart of another? How often are we deceived even by our own! It is only the after-life that shows whether repentance has been really deep and sincere, or whether it has been like the morning cloud, and the dew that passes away. ”

“ I chose mirth and folly, I chose selfishness and sin, I turned my back upon all that I knew to be right, I led others astray, I forgot my God, and now there's but one text in all the Bible that I can recall to mind, and it haunts me night and day;" and in a tone that thrilled through the listeners, Sophy repeated the Saviour's most solemn question—"What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or what shall a man gave in exchange for his soul?" ”

“ I cannot believe that heaven can ever be opened to me! No—I shall be shut out, when those who love God pass in; when Norah and those I have known pass in to the light, and the glory, and the joy, I shall be lying in outer darkness, as I did by that rich man's door! ”

“ Miss Meade, even if Sophy have the comfort of religion, if she have hope in the forgiveness and loving-kindness of God, what a dreary, dreary look out she has as regards this life! Why," continued Norah, quite appalled at the prospect, "she may have forty, fifty, sixty years of blindness in the workhouse before her, she who was so blithe and so busy. How dreadfully dull she will be! How heavily time will hang on her hands!" ”

“ Uncle has arranged all so nicely. He is to meet us at the turn of the lane where the coach sets us down, first see you home, it is but a step, and then walk with me back to my mistress's house. I am afraid of nothing when he is beside me; he is a sailor you know, and has fought for the Queen."
"I hope that he will not fail you," said Persis, with a little anxiety for her youthful companion; "there is no moon, and the nights are so dark."
"Uncle Ned fail me!" repeated Norah, with indignant surprise. ”

“ Her mind is at rest, for she trusts his promise; she has no fear, for she is sure that he will not fail her; while we, alas! are too apt to receive God's promises in a faithless, doubting spirit, as if He who is the Truth could deceive, or He who is Love could forsake!"
The tramping of horses feet was now heard, and two coach lamps, which to Norah looked like great red eyes in the darkness, came towards them along the high road. ”

“ Persis saw that the miserable Sophy was at that moment in too excited a state to receive religious instruction; the gentle, sympathising woman could only silently pray for wisdom to be given to herself, that she might direct the sufferer to the one Hope provided for sinners, and that grace might be given to Sophy, so that her bitter remorse might be changed into true repentance. Norah was the first to break silence ”

“ Persis and Norah were soon in the vehicle, which landed them at the end of the lane leading down to the wooded little dell.
"There's Uncle Ned—don't you see him by the light of the lamp? I knew he would be waiting for us!" cried Norah.
"Glad to hail you back from your cruise Norah," said the sailor, as the young girl with the help of his hand, sprang lightly down from the coach. "And hearty thanks to you for your kindness in convoying her," he added, holding out his arm to assist Persis Meade to alight. ”

“ Persis and Norah remained with Sophy as long as the rules of the workhouse permitted, and the short winter's day was already ending before they took their departure.
As Norah bade her poor friend farewell, she whispered, pressing Sophy's hand as she spoke, "You will not despair now, dear one? You have hope, oh! Say that you have hope! It is not all darkness now?"
Sophy drew a deep sigh. "If I had only you beside me to teach me to pray—"
"There is One who can teach you better, far better than any mortal can," said Persis, whose ear had caught the last words ”

“ Franks wished with all his soul that he could carry comfort to the poor girl, but felt that the task was not a suitable one for a young man like himself.
"Uncle Ned, what are you thinking of? you're as dumb as a fish," cried Dan at last, missing the usual lively flow of the sailor's conversation.
Ned took no notice of the remark, but said, turning towards Bessy Peele; "who is the teacher whom Norah mentions in her note?"
"Oh! don't you know?" cried Dan; "'tis Persis Meade, who goes every Sunday to teach the Bible-class of girls." ”

“ But to visit a pauper in a workhouse!" Bessy banged down the kettle on the hob, and carried the steaming tea-pot to the table.
"Now to my mind," said Ned, "'tis better to visit a messmate in trouble, whether in palace or poorhouse, whether weather be fair or foul, than to go on any mere pleasure cruise. She's a true-hearted lass, little Norah, not to turn her back on a friend."
"Why, uncle," exclaimed Dan, speaking with his mouth full, and that twinkle in his small black eyes, which gave a weasel-like slyness to his face, "to think of you, of all men living, standing up for Sophy Puller. ”

“ Last New-year's day I spent on the blue waters, amongst my jovial messmates, little dreaming then what a twelvemonth's cruise was before me. 'Twould not have mended my mirth to have known that I should have a terrible fall, smash my arm, have it taken off by the surgeon, lie for weeks in my hammock, and then leave the service maimed and disabled, come to a comfortless home, and find Bessy—well, I won't be hard on her, but she was not just what I had expected her to be. ”

“ A workhouse is too good for the like of her, a great deal too good say I;" and Mrs. Peele poured out the tea with an air of virtuous indignation.
Ned Franks could not help thinking of the proverb, "they who live in glass-houses should not throw stones." His half-sister's own notions of truth and honesty were little more strict than those of poor Sophy, while she had not had the excuse of having been brought up by a worthless parent. How far more easy it is to condemn sin in others, than to subdue it in ourselves! Ned Franks was very silent during the meal. ”

“ Lane (I taught her children, you know) , took great interest in a London asylum for the blind. In this asylum they are taught many useful arts by which they can earn an honest livelihood, notwithstanding their sad affliction."
"Oh! If we could but get Sophy there!" cried Norah. "She is so quick, so clever, so neat-fingered, she would learn if any one could!"
"I will go to Mrs. Lane to-morrow," said Persis, "and see if she be able to help us. I believe that Mr. Lane is a liberal subscriber, and I can answer for the kindness of his lady." ”

“ With him the best is ever to come; he has heavenly hope to crown every earthly joy. This is the 'helmet, the hope of salvation,'* which the Christian soldier is to wear. A glittering helmet it is," pursued Franks, whose fancy delighted in following out the Scriptural image, "and the crest upon it is joy! In life's hard struggle that plume may be reft away, even the faithful in this world cannot always rejoice; but the helmet of hope remains, never to be parted with but with life, and only put off in death to make way for the conqueror's crown! ”

“ I could not answer him then, I can't now answer that question even to myself. I must have been mad to have stayed out there in the darkness and rain, without so much as trying whether there might not be some one who would have mercy even on me. ”

“ Do you think," he added, "that Miss Meade would take care of our Norah on Friday?"
"I'll not ask her," cried Bessy, with something like a snort.
"If you don't mind it, I will," said the sailor. "I'll walk over early before school opens, and send Norah a line by post; she'll get it on Friday morning in time to walk over and join Miss Meade at the end of the lane, where the coach would pick them both up."
"'Tis not very likely that a woman as has two mouths to feed with her needle will give up half-a-day, and take a coach to B— to go hunting out a blind pauper." ”

“ What she does, she does unto Him, and this doubtless makes her able to bear and forbear, and watch with such tender care over one who, as Bessy said, had never shown her particular kindness. It does seem to me that it would be easier to be martyred at once, than to have for ever to take in tow such a water-logged old barge as that! ”

“ It is Satan who, having led you into evil, would now drive you to despair; it is Satan who first bids us put off repentance, and then tells us that repentance is too late. Was it too late for the thief who hung beside our Lord on the cross? Conscience upbraided him, man despised him, his own fellow-creatures judged him unfit to live; he had lost his character, he had forfeited his life, he was suffering the agonies of the cross; but even amid those agonies the dying thief turned towards the Saviour, whose 'blood cleanseth from all sin,' * he threw himself on the mercy of Christ ”

“ Uncle Ned does not care for money, and values something better than beauty. He told me himself that he has long felt that it is the good Christian that makes the good wife, and that a marriage can be truly happy only when they who are to share an earthly home, also share heavenly hopes together. ”

“ Ned wrung his niece's hand as he spoke. "I'll be sure to drop in at your mother's and see you to-morrow, and walk back with you in the evening. You've done a kind act, my girl; you and your friend have made a good beginning to the year; may it be full of blessings to you and to her, both as regards heavenly things and earthly."
* Gal. vi. 9.
With a sweet sense of peace and joy, Norah Peele went to church on that first Sunday of the New-year. She was a very different girl from what she had been when the last year had opened upon her. Then, her first thought had been her own pleasure ”

“ You have tried the broad path, you have found it to be a path of disappointment and anguish; the Lord is pleading with you now, 'turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?'‡ You have served Satan, and found him to be a hard master; the Lord is able, willing to redeem you, and set you free! 'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God'—Oh! ”

“ We need something stronger and more lasting, Norah, to cover the head in the long, hard battle of life. We want 'a hope' that 'maketh not ashamed.' * It is only religion that can give it; it is the Christian alone that can wear 'for a helmet the hope of salvation.'"
* Rom. v. 5.
CHAPTER VIII. SUCCESS.
Norah was surprised on answering the door-bell on the morning of the following Sunday to find her uncle standing without. ”

“ I do believe that God counts as martyrs those who, for His sake, lead a life of quiet, patient self-denial, seeking not to do their own will, but the will of their Heavenly Master. Persis Meade looks like one who has God's sunshine around her!"
Ned Franks often repeated his visits to the ivy-covered cottage in the dell; but for weeks he never saw old Meade, without having to shout out an answer to the question, "What have you done with your hand?"
CHAPTER IV. THE WORKHOUSE.
"Oh! ”

“ Cobb (she's the charwoman, you know) , can make the tea, and clear away, she cannot read in the evening, and my lady will be all alone."
"That's right, Norah, think first of duty; always show yourself worthy of your mistress's trust." ”