Part 31 (1/2)
”Mention them not, Faith, crumbs from my superfluity, like those that fell from the other rich man's table Besides, of what avail will any charities, as you call them, of mine be? They will serve only to convey the curse that attaches itself to hter”
”And I,” said Faith, ”can never be thankful enough for having such a father Ah, how happy we ht be, if you would only banish these fancies fro ”Did I not say right? Like an evil spirit I scatter only gloom around one I will remove a presence that blasts whatever ithe rose, and in spite of the tearful entreaties of his daughter, walked into the hall, and taking his great coat from the hook that held it, put it on and passed into the street
Faith, upon his departure, sunk into a chair, and allowed free course to her tears They brought relief, and after a few moments she recovered composure ”This is very foolish,” she said to herself, ”to cry like a child My dear father is nervous, and I do not wonder, that shocking accident agitates hione, for it is better he should seek the society of his friends, than sit herehimself melancholy with me I must be cheerful to receive him when he returns At least, he shall see no trace of tears”
Meanwhile, Mr Arht of others, he turned at the first opportunity into an unfrequented road It led towards the Severn, and hardly knowing how it happened, he crossed a bridge, and soon found himself in the woods that skirt the left bank of that river Unconsciously, and as if attracted by so his course towards the scene of the late disaster The walk and the solemn silence of the woods, in which no sound was heard except the cawing of a watchful crow, soer to his cos His pace, at first rapid, relaxed, the light began to play upon the clouds that brooded on his spirits, and he wondered at his fancies and his conduct
”How could I,” thought he, ”be so cruel to ladness, and would be but for s of a distele harder and pray oftener and more fervently to be preserved fro with the Infinite Spirit What fitter place for adoration than the stillness of these old woods? Here worldly interruptions cannot come, and the veil between Him and His creature is withdrawn”
He stopped He looked up into the sky, and watched the clouds floating in the blue He glanced at the sun flanificence His eyes fell on the hoary ste arbutus, the delicious herald of war to his feet, and raised his hands to heaven and repeated the lines of Milton--
These are thy glorious works, Parent of Good, Alhty, thine this universal frame, Thus wondrous fair; Thyself hoondrous then!
Unspeakable, who sitt'st above the heavens, To us invisible, or dioodness beyond thought and power divine
He stooped down and picked a few bunches of the arbutus, and put them in his bosom ”Faith loves flowers,” he said, ”and the sweetness and whiteness of these are types of herself”
He was now quite calht, how I caht away
He continued his walk, striving to drive away the glooain to round, he proceeded soht noise attracted his attention He raised his eyes, and discovered the cause Five or sixon so stopped, and, as they came near, perceived, it was the body of the drowned fisherman
”Fate,” he murmured between his teeth, ”has driven me here It was meet that the murderer should be confronted by his victim”
The men, when they had surht, put down the corpse near where Arazed upon the face Thethe feelings of Ar, whom they all knew, preserved silence
There was no expression of pain upon the features They wore the calm, impassive look of marble The eyes and mouth ide open--efforts to close them had been in vain--but, there was no speculation in the for brown hair, fro in disorder over the forehead and down the neck Ar knelt on the withered leaves, by the side of the corpse, and parted the hair with his fingers
”The agony,” he said, as if addressing the drowned man, ”is over The curtain is lifted The terrible secret is disclosed You have heard the summons we must all hear You have trod the path we ladly would I give my life for yours”
The bystanders were , whose reserve was round and la they had not expected
”Sill was a good fellow and a ginerous,” said Toh sleeve of his coat
”He was a clever felloas Sill,” added another
”I've known hiive half his fish away to a poor family Josiah tried to o,” said one of theto die, Josiah set up ht with me, when he had to work all the next day for his wife and children I had no notion, then, he'd have to go afore me”