Year: 1872

iuE ahd hiltu tue ItieltitehNh hNui hir
forehead while leaning against a wall Of
stone.


lie waited in strict silence Tor ten min
uies. lie regaIued his breath, and then
ercpt toward the point where felt ure
he must meet lighted thorOughiare. His
letter was safe in his pocket. e va
cautious, stopping and listening at nearly
every step.


lie began to see the light Of the lamps.
He approached them as though he feared
pitiall He placed his feet here aud
there with the noiseless caution and de-
liberation of a eat His arms were ex.
tended like wings in order to preserve
his balance, aud his head turned in quick
alienation from one side TO the other.


lie held his breath he was jealous ev-
en- Of the tiny rounds of dripping and set
Ting. The noise of air moving among the
house-tcps disturbed HIM. The currents
of wind which breathed upon him seem.
ed to be the forerunners of his enemy.
Many times he became petrifed with fear
at the bursting of ray Of light from some
window above him his teeth chattered !;
his skin became cold.


BY slow degrees he crept TO the corner
of the desired street. Behind him all was
as black as ink, save few dusky glares
from fome lofty chambers; while before
him an illuminated scene Of house and
broad pavements.


This he must cross. lie issued from
his place with trembling. A tall build
ing threw a shadow halfway across. He
pursued this with the stealth ofan Indian.
| He reached the middle of the street,
being still in the shadow. He saw one
but an old man with a cane. a woman
with feathers in her bonnet, and child
carrying loaf and pitcher. He fixed
his eye upon lane nearly opposite, and
stepped forth rapidly.


The rattle of football made him 10 k
to The right.


There was the tall curatc, without his
hat, with one foot raised in advance, his
terrible face bent upon him, his arms, pro-
jected, standing like ghost in the white
light of the moon.


For an instant the boy became stone.


Then he found vent in a shril scream
Of fright, and dashed on with the speed
of an arrow. The eccentricity of his pace
alone saved him. The curate few in
pursuit, but could not lay hand upon
him. Almost together they reached the
passage, one leaplng and plunging, the
other reaching and catching at the air.


The curate failed


Once in the darkness, the b knowl-
edge made him superior The curate
lost him in a minute.


Possessed with fury, he ran hither and
thither until his breath began again to
wane. lie lodged backward and forward
about an obstacle which stood in
the centre of sort of square. 1t was a
collection of carriers carts which stood
upon their ends with their shafts turned
inward. lie spent many minutes thus,
and then ran on into the most obscure
passage he could fad. He fancied the boy
must have taken this, from the very rea-
son that it was tortuous and foul


The search here was also frutless. He
hid in places which commanded long views
either way, and pressed himself closely
against the walls, and kept lookout.
He peered into all dark door-ways, into
back yards where there were pools of
water and mud, into huts made Tor stables,
and into sheds.


1t was quarter Of an hour before it
dwaned upon him that the boy might still
be Fastening onward instead Of hiding.


The thought affected him like blow.
He was nearer disaster than ever.


He started up and looked about him,
and found he was in labyrinth. Tie
made an attempt to get out of it, but
came upon blank wall.


He saw light in window, and called
loudly for some one to look out. A wo-
man did SO, and gave him a direction in
so thick a voice that he misunderstood and
went the other way, until he found him.
self descending steep street leading to
the wharves.


All this time the boy must be hurry.
ing to the rector with the letter.


The pursuing man, now exhausted and
weak, full of rage, and perplexed beyond
endurance, knew not which way to turn
despair assailed him, and he thought Of
surrender to the fates which seemed to in
volve him.





Suddenly he heard from below the
: rumble of carriage This had never
occurred to him. He ran down the re.
: naming portion of the street, and almost
at its foot he found four-wheeled vehi.
, Gle with two shabby horses.
He had no money. The driver looked
at him askance, and refused to trust him
, He produced his watch. The driver
showed his number, and the curate gave
, his direction and crawled into q seat, and
was dragged away.


The sum ofall torture of mind was his
The spectacle of the consequences arose
: before him with all the vividness of {
theatrica cture; 1t confused him, i
filed HIN anew with terror, He contem
. plated his utter destruction, and scorl
that would fall upon him and his cloth
: he saw his fame dragged in the dust.
. He felt the chill Of averted faces a
! though an actual gust of wind blew upol
4 him; he shrank under the misery of bit
ter words as visibly as had the carriage
: windows lowered and the countenances o
e his outraged friends appeared.
A catalogue of his praises and honor
o passed through his memory. A lou,