'Yes,' Dr Pendle sighed; 'my burden is almost greater than I can bear.'

'I quite agree with you,' replied Graham, 'therefore I have come to help
you to bear it.'

'That is impossible. To do so, you must know the truth, and--God help
me!--I dare not tell it even to you.'

'There is no need for you to do so, Pendle. I know your secret.'

The bishop twisted his chair round with a rapid movement and stared at
the sympathetic face of Graham with an expression of blended terror and
amazement. Hardly could his tongue frame itself to speech.

'You--know--my--secret!' stuttered Pendle, with pale lips.

'Yes, I know that Krant did not die at Sedan as we supposed. I know that
he returned to life--to Beorminster--to you, under the name of Jentham!
Hold up, man! don't give way,' for the bishop, with a heavy sigh, had
fallen forward on his desk, and, with his grey head buried in his arms,
lay there silent and broken down in an agony of doubt, and fear and
shame.

'Play the man, George Pendle,' said Graham, who knew that the father was
more virile than the son, and therefore needed the tonic of words rather
than the soothing anodyne of medicine. 'If you believe in what you
preach, if you are a true servant of your God, call upon religion, upon
your Deity, for help to bear your troubles. Stand up manfully, my
friend, and face the worst!'

'Alas! alas! many waters have gone over me, Graham.'

'Can you expect anything else if you permit yourself to sink without an
effort?' said the doctor, rather cynically; 'but if you cannot gain
strength from Christianity, then be a Stoic, and independent of
supernatural aid.'

The bishop lifted his head and suddenly rose to his full height, until
he towered above the little doctor. His pale face took upon itself a
calmer expression, and stretching out his arm, he rolled forth a text
from the Psalms in his deepest voice, in his most stately manner: 'In
God is my salvation and my glory, the rock of my strength, and my refuge
is in God.'

'Good!' said Graham, with a satisfied nod; 'that is the proper spirit in
which to meet trouble. And now, Pendle, with your leave, we will
approach the subject with more particularity.'

'It will be as well,' replied the bishop, and he spoke collectedly and
gravely, with no trace of his late excitement. When he most needed it,
strength had come to him from above; and he was able to discuss the sore
matter of his domestic troubles with courage and with jud