They thought he had been brought up in idleness, an I was 1 feigning indisposition; but the testimony of Dr. Howell prevailed with them, and they have taken him out of the stone-cutting yard, and given him employment in woodcarving, which is much more tolerable to him. Then

your father won the confidence of Lewis by talking kindly to him, and showing him how he might be preparing for the distant future. He learned that Lewis had some desire to be taught civil engineering; and he has bought him books, and has found a man who is willing to go to the warden's office twice a week to instruct him. This permission from the officers for Lewis to have lessons was an especial favor granted to Dr. Howell, and from his purse the teacher is paid."

"Dear Mrs. Atwood, my knowledge of life has not qualified me to speak with any authority or confidence on this subject; but have you never thought these twelve years of punishment may be a wholesome discipline to Lewis? that, arrested so suddenly, before crime had hardened him, he is more accessible to good influences than he would have been had he spent a few more years in New York, taught by such companions as he had chosen? You say he always lacked strength of will and moral courage. May you not hope he will gain firmness and the power of resisting that evil which has brought him only disgrace and humiliation, and you such bitter grief and pain? Is it not possible he may acquire a love for study through the influence of his teacher, the chaplain, and my father, who are all deeply interested in him, so as really to take his place in the world at thirty-two better fitted for honest work and a respectable position than if he had spent twelve years as an accountant, and, without committing such crimes as were amenable to the laws, had blunted

and weakened his moral perceptions by yielding to petty sins, contracting extravagant habits, and gaining from his associates false views of life and work? I dare not encourage you to hope that if Lewis's character is unexceptionable for several years, he may be pardoned out; but I will help you bear the burden of your pain and loneliness, and I will go with you sometimes to see Lewis, if you think my visits would encourage him in trying to do well."

"O, Miss Howell, I should be so grateful if you would show a kind interest in my poor boy. I believe if he thought one like you had confidence in him, and really cared for his future, he would have more ambition to study, more self-respect, and the chances would be greater for his escaping from the contamination of those who are older in sin than he is. And if I dared, after all you have done for me, ask one more favor

Mrs. Atwood paused, timidity and native delicacy almost forbidding her to ask help, even where it had been most generously offered.

"Don't hesitate to ask, Mrs. Atwood; you cannot need another assurance of my willingness to grant favors," said Diantha, with a smile of encouragement.

"No. I heard from the patients at the Bonsecour, yesterday, of your kindness in singing to them, and I have longed to ask you to sing in the prison chapel, sometimes, at morning service. There is something wonderfully persuasive and thrilling in your manner of singing 'Come unto Me, all ye that labor;' and I believe the tones and the words might make a deeper and more permanent impression on the hearts of those poor, hardened prisoners than a dozen sermons would, if for no other reason than because they steel themselves against truth, which they

think has been prepared expressly to be hurled at criminals. But the novelty of the singing, combined with the persuasiveness of your voice, would give the words a power over these degraded men which some might be unable to resist."

Diantha's eyes were for a minute so full of tears that her needle and hands found space to rest. Her first thought was one of shrinking from the very air which so many rough, crime-stained men had polluted with their breath; and her next was one of hesitancy in using her voice in any way which would appear ostentatious. Then she thought of Christ's office and mission, "To bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound," and of her desire to imitate Him in carrying balm and healing to bruised hearts; she thought of Captain Ashmead's testimony to the power her voice had given those words, and remembered the few ways in which she could offer service to her Master, that in reality cost the sacrifice of her pet tastes, pursuits, and inclinations; in fact, any sacrifice of hers seemed trifling compared with the effect Mrs. Atwood thought might be produced by the singing of that anthem.

It appeared to her so grand and noble a thing to show one human soul the possibilities of attaining a purer manhood, to sow the seed from which, in after years, golden grain might be garnered; that while she thought, her timidity, her shrinking hesitancy, melted away, and she exclaimed,

"If father approves, and can go with me to the prison chapel, if the chaplain thinks singing would be acceptable, and good might result from it, I will try."

Mrs. Atwood rose hastily, and touched Diantha's trem

bling lips with her own, only saying, "God bless you!" and the maiden's tears attested the truth and beauty of this stanza:

"Heaven is not reached at a single bound,

But we build the ladder by which we rise
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies,
And we mount to its summit round by round.'

CHAPTER XIII.

MAKING PROGRESS.

"He only is advancing in life whose heart is getting softer, whose blood warmer, whose brain quicker, whose spirit is entering into Living Peace.”

RUSKIN.

EDNA SHREVE's visit to Captain Ashmead was not so happy in its results as the doctor and his daughter had hoped. His presence had recalled too vividly the terrors, perils, and losses of the storm and wreck, and the child's tears and nervous excitement proved too severe a tax upon her strength. She was brought back in Dr. Howell's arms, sobbing and hysterical, and several days passed before she regained the quiet cheerfulness which had been hers before this visit. When she was again strong enough to leave her chamber, the doctor permitted her neither to ride nor to call upon Captain Ashmead unless accompanied by Diantha, and only to spend an hour of each day in the parlor, listening to her patient friend's singing and playing. Music had a most soothing influence upon Edna, even when she was delirious.

Two weeks have passed since Mrs. Atwood threw off the incubus of deceit, confessing her sorrow and her humiliation, and accepting human help and sympathy; and there is now more quietude in her movements, more softness and patience in her eyes, and more hope in her face. She seems to be gaining a slight measure of self-confidence,