once looking at his watch, or being seized
with one of his paroxysms of coughing. Still, however, he doubted; for
how could he trust without _bonds_ and _contracts_? No one had come back
to tell him _individually_ the whole truth.

"I acknowledge," said he, somewhat reproachfully, "that this conviction
is earnestly to be desired. If saves you from the agony that at this
moment rends my heart."

"My dear friend," replied Frances, in a voice interrupted by deep and
solemn emotion, "religion is not given us for an opiate to be used at a
last extremity, merely to lull the sense of pain. The views I express
are not new to me; they have been for many years my daily food; they have
supported me through hours of bodily anguish; . . . the human frame does
not decay as gradually as mine without repeated warnings; . . . they will
conduct me through the dark valley of death, when I can no longer lean
upon your arm . . . Their efficacy does not merely consist in soothing
the bitterness of parting; they have a health giving energy that infuses
courage and fortitude amidst the disappointments and evils of life."

"Henceforth," exclaimed Mr. Draper,--and at that moment he was
sincere,--"every thing of a worldly nature is indifferent to me!"

"All men," continued Frances, without replying to his exclamation, "are
subject to the reverses of life, but particularly men of extensive
business connections. They are like the spider in his cobweb dwelling;
touch but one of the thousand filaments that compose it, and it vibrates
to the centre, and often the fabric is destroyed that has been so
skilfully woven. There is a divine teaching in religion, which at such
times restores equanimity to the mind, gives new aspirations, and proves
that all in this life is not lost, and nothing for that to come."

New scenes were opening upon Mr. Draper. It became evident that a dark
cloud hung over the business atmosphere. Unexpected failures every day
took place. Some attributed the thick-coming evils to the removal of the
deposits, others to interrupted currency; some to overtrading, and some
to extravagance. Whatever was the cause, the distress was real. Mr.
Draper's cotton became a drug in the market; manufactories stopped, or
gave no dividends. Eastern lands lost even their nominal value, and
western towns became bankrupt. Ships stood in the harbor, with their
sails unbent and masts dismantled. Day laborers looked aghast, not
knowing