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that he had to air them whilst he was shaving; for he never shaved on Sundays; nobody came to Nelly on business that day, therefore nobody saw him; Jim and Mary Edmonds, if they looked in, went for nobodies with Ted. At last Ted was really equipped for going to church, and left his room, locking the door behind him. Putting the key in his pocket, he crept very quietly down stairs, for he did not wish any of the other lodgers to see him go out; and in a few moments stood in the open

street.

It was a bright sunshiny morning, and as Ted Carroll felt the fresh air blow softly upon him, he thought how stupid he was, to be keeping himself shut up in his own rooms, as he had done so long, especially on Sundays, when all was so clean and quiet; then he wondered what Nelly would say, when she returned from church, and found he was out. Well, he need not tell her where he had been, if he did not choose; he had taken a walk, which would be the truth, and it did not matter to her where to. Nelly kept the key of her own bedroom, so she could stay in it until he might come back.

Ted

With these and similar reflections, Ted Carroll reached Mr. Elstone's church; it was some distance from Ted's abode, and when he got there the congregation were singing the hymn before the communion service. peeped several times through the glass in the baize door, before he could summon courage to enter; but finding the people continued standing, having begun another verse, he ventured to slip in, and unobserved sat down on a seat close to the door. The hymn was soon concluded, and Ted saw over the assembled worshippers' heads, that it was Mr. Elstone in the chancel; bending his head as they appeared to do, he listened intently. What was Mr. Elstone saying, he thought, that all hearts are open, all desires known, and no secrets are hid from God. Ted trembled as he heard the words, and felt that not only the thoughts of his heart, but his heart itself, needed to be cleansed before an Almighty God could look upon it; and as Mr. Elstone repeated commandment after commandment in a clear serious voice, Ted sat self-condemned and miserable. A second hymn having been sung, Ted felt glad that it was Mr. Elstone going to preach, for he had seen another gentleman go into the vestry with him, and feared he should not hear him; but when Mr. Elstone gave out his text from Luke xiii. 7 :

"Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?" Ted thought he should have sprung from his seat, for he believed that he was the cumberer meant; and when the preacher proved that the vineyard alluded to by the evangelist was this world, and the master the Lord, Ted agreed with every word he said, and shook with awe and fear as he heard of the responsibilities and just doom of the unfruitful cumberers. But who was the dresser? he anxiously asked himself; who was meant by that patient gardener pleading with the rightfully offended master that the tree might be spared yet another year? and Ted breathlessly awaited the explanation, and with a long-drawn sigh heard that Jesus the Saviour of men was typified by the dresser. He sighed fearing that such a dead, dry, useless being as he was, and ever had been, could have no hope of interesting that Mighty One to plead on his behalf.

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"Year by year," said Mr. Elstone, "has the Lord looked down from heaven upon the work of his hands, expecting fruit to his praise and glory, and year by year he has been ready to issue the mandate for each of you, who have a name to live and yet are dead-Cut it down;' but your loving Saviour with outstretched hands (hands bearing the cruel nail marks) has pleaded for you: Spare him, or her, this one more year, O my Father! that I may loosen the earthly ties which bind them to earth, and enrich them with my blessings; and then if they bear fruit, well;' and have you borne fruit, my brethren? Our mighty Intercessor's pleadings availed with his Almighty Father, but what have been your returns? True to his promise, he has visited many of us by the hidden dispensations of sorrow; loosening by sickness and death the ties which dragged and bound us to earth; and abounding in love, he has enriched us with untold blessings-blessings unnumbered as the very hairs of our heads, free as the air we breathe. And what is the result? Are you fruit-bearers, or are you still cumberers of the ground? When the Lord looks next down upon you, what will be your doom ?”

Ted could with difficulty suppress a groan; for he was sure that if the mighty Intercessor had condescended to plead for him, it had hitherto been without avail, and perhaps he would be angry now and never plead for him again. Oh! if he knew how to beg him to have pity on him! Oh! if he would intercede but once more for him, he would try to live a better life; he would love him with

all his heart and soul as long as he lived: but there was no hope for him, no! no hope; and as Ted thought that he burst into tears. No hope, no hope, rang in Ted's ears, as he left the church: "I have cumbered the ground nigh upon fifty-nine years, there's no hope now; too late, too late!" he murmured to himself, and with trembling steps he crept homeward. When he had left that home, he felt invigorated and cheered with the fresh air and the bright sunshine; but now he tottered with every puff of wind, and shrunk from the sunlight as if it mocked him, choosing the shady side of the street to walk in. "What a poor old man! how weak he seems!" said one or two passers-by; "he ought to have some one with him, and he is very tidily dressed. I wonder who he is?" and with such like remarks went on their way, leaving the object of their pity to get home as best he could. Nelly was surprised and then frightened, when having waited some time in her roon., after discovering her father had gone out, at finding he did not return. Two o'clock came, but no father; she could not get into the sitting-room to prepare his dinner, for he had the key. Half-past two, still no father. But when the clock struck three, and Ted had not arrived, her agony of suspense was more than she could bear, and she ran to the Edmonds' to tell them her trouble and consult with them as to what she had better do. The worthy couple returned home with her, and managed to force open the lock of the sitting-room door, thinking perhaps Ted, in one of his unsocial moods, had locked himself in, and had had a seizure of some sort or other, which prevented his opening it again. But no Ted was there, and Nelly, with streaming eyes and pallid cheeks, told her friends how strange he had been the last week or two, and she feared he had done something dreadful, for he never could be persuaded to go out for pleasure. Jim Edmonds decided to go out to make inquiries, leaving Mary behind with Nelly.

Sitting on the ground, Nelly leaned her head upon Mary's knees, and poured out her griefs and fears to the sympathizing woman who had been mother to her so many years. "Do not despair, my darling," whispered the hopeful, happy Christian, "the word of the Lord standeth sure and steadfast-Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days;' and from my heart I believe you will.”

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"WE DID NOT SEE IT IN THAT LIGHT."

PART IV.

"WELL, yes, Mr. Mellison, I had a case very similar to your daughter's, only a year or two ago. It was rather an uncommon instance of great tenacity of life, and of the power a strong constitution obtains over disease. To tell the truth I was rather at sea, without chart or rudder, in that particular instance, and I watched it with a good deal of interest, and gained a good deal of experience by it."

"I infer then that the patient recovered, doctor ?" said Mr. Mellison, with a look and in a tone of anxious inquiry.

MAY, 1865.

F

"Oh yes, the patient recovered, and is now as strong and hearty a youth as you would wish to see.”

"You give me hope, doctor, and encourage me in placing my poor girl's life in your hands."

"Her life is in better and wiser hands than mine, Mr. Mellison," returned Dr. K—, gravely.

"True her life is in God's hands, I know. I trust I do not forget this," said the father; "but you do well to remind me of it. At the same time, human means must be used, and the best means, under submission to God's will; and therefore I have sent for you."

The doctor bowed at the implied compliment, and shortly afterwards took his leave for that time, with a heavy fee for his visit, driving away, as he came, in his old-fashioned gig, which was shabbier than ever.

The dialogue passed in the drawing room of the rich and prosperous Mr. Mellison. For Mr. Mellison, or the firm of Mellison, Rowe, and Halifax, was rich and prosperous; and his country house, two miles and more away from the smoke and bustle and multiplied annoyances of a large and busy manufacturing town, was the envy of less prosperous men than himself. His drawing room was handsomely furnished, and all appliances were at hand for comfort and luxury. It must have seemed a silken life that was passed within those walls, at least it would have seemed so to those who do not know the cares and anxieties which wealth brings in its train, and do not consider that gold cannot always or often purchase ease in pain, or health in sickness.

We do not blame the wealthy manufacturer, that he dwelt in a large and luxurious home, was attended by many servants, and kept a bountiful table, while, at the same time, he diligently employed the riches God had given him, and the influence those riches brought, in nobler objects than these. He was not a self-indulgent man, nor a covetous man, nor an idolater of wealth; nor did he "trust in uncertain riches." And it was well for him, and well for the generous-hearted and benevolent lady who was his wife, that they knew better where to place their affections than on wealth or anything that wealth can buy; and that they knew where to look for comfort when earthly comfort failed. For they were sorely distressed. The joy of their life, their darling daughter, Grace, was sick, even unto death, as it was feared; and

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