The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-09 00:00:00

us a saxpence, it may turn oot to be twa. Good nicht, my
bairn."

But Mr. Cowie was sorely dissatisfied with himself. For
not only did he perceive that the heart of the child could
not thus be satisfied, but he began to feel something new
stirring in his own bosom. The fact was that Annie was
further on than Mr. Cowie. She was a child looking
about to find the face of her Father in heaven ; he was but
one of God's babies, who had been lying on his knees, re-
ceiving contentedly and happily the good things he gave
him, but never looking up to find the eyes of him from
whom the good gifts came. And now the heart of the old
man, touched by the motion of the child's heart—yearning
after her Father in heaven, and yet scarcely believing that
ho could be so good as her father on earth—began to stir
uneasily within him. And he went down on his knees and
bid his face in his hands.

Annie does not rest here. Very beautifully and
very truthfully is the progress of her inner life pour-
trayed, and we will not mar the completeness of
the development by any further isolated fragments.
Turn we now to Alec, at the University, where he
makes an enemy and finds a friend, and meets also
with a lady-love to supersede poor homely Annie.
The friendship which Alec makes is at first sight an
unfortunate one. His new friend is Mr. Cupples,
one of the most original characters in the book.
Mr. Cupples is a sort of librarian to the College.
He is a great scholar, and would be a very ciNkL•
and excellent man were it not for his almost con-
tinual intoxication. Conscious of the enormity of
the evil, while he is himself its victim and its slave,
he endeavours with a vehement persistency to save
Alec from the same temptation. He will willingly
give Alec as much " Greek" as he likes, but (even
while continually emptying the tumbler himself)
not one drop of " toddy." Here is an example :

" Wee], Mr. Cupples," Alec ventured to say, " what for
dinna ye sen' the bottle to the deevi] ?"
" What, my ain auld tappit hen !" exclaimed Mr. Cup-
pies, with a sudden reaction from the seriousness of his
late mood; "Na, na, she shanna gang to the deil till we
gang thegither. Eh ! but we'll baith hae dry insides or
we win frae him again, I doobt. That drouth's an awfu'
thing to contemplate. But speyk o' giein' ower the drink!
The verra attemp'—an' dinna ye think that I haena made
it—aich ! What for sod I gang to hell aforo my time ?
The deils themselves compleen o' that ? Na, na.* Ance
ye hao learned to drink, ye canna do wantin"t. Man,
dinna touch 't. For God's sake, for yer mither's sake, for
ony sake, dinna let a drap o' the hell-broth gang ower yer
thrapple—or ye're damned like me for ever and ever. It's
as quid's signin' awa' yer sowl,wi' yer sin han' and yer ain
blude."

Mr. Cupples lifted his glass, emptied it, and, setting it
down on the table with a gesture of hatred, proceeded to
fill it yet again.

But when some of the troubles of youthful life befall
Alec, when he is disappointed in his dream of love,
he weakly yields to the influences around him, and
not in the society of Mr.,Cupples, however, puts the
enemy within his mouth. Great is the grief and
indignation of the poor frail Mentor, and noble at
last the heroism of his friendly devotion. On one
occasion Mr. Cupples endeavours to restrain Alec in
the midst of his dissipation, and the unhappy youth
mad with drink strikes his devoted friend to the
ground. Then follows a scene which is the turning-
point in the life of Alec Forbes. We give it with-
out comment, it requires none.
When Alec woke in the morning, it rushed upon his
mind that ho had had a terrible dream ; and he reproached
himself that even in a dream he should be capable of
striking to the earth the friend who had just saved him
from disgrace, and wanted to save him from more. But as
his headache began to yield to cold water, discomposing
doubts rose upon his clearing mental horizon. They wore
absurd, but still they were unpleasant. It could be only a
dream, that ho had felled the man twice his age, and half
his size, who had once shed his blood for him. But why
did it look so like a fact, if it was only a dream ? Hor-
rible thought ! Could it ?—lt could—lt must be—lt was
a fact!

Haggard with horror as well as revelry, he rushed to-
wards the stair, but was met by Mrs. Leslie, who stopped
him and said :

" Mr. Forbes, gin you and Mr. Cupples gang on at this
rate, I'll be forced to gie ye baith warnin' to flit. I oucht
to hae written to your mither afore noo. Ye'll brack her
hert or a' be dune. Eh ! it's a sair thing when young
lads tak' to drink, and turn reprobate in a jiffie (mo-
ment)."
" I dinna gang to your kirk, and ye needna preach to
me. What's the maitter wi' Mr. Cupples ? He hasna ta'en
to drink in a jiffie, has he ?"