to himself like that, the sweat started from his
forehead and he was transfixed with fear.

He rose from his knees and sat on the form, and for a long hour he
laboured in the thought of a thousand possibilities, telling himself of
the many things which might befall a beautiful girl in a cruel and wicked
city. But then again he thought of Paul and of his former crime and
present temptation, and remembered the shadow that hung over the
Brotherhood.

"O God, help me," he cried; "strengthen me, support me, guide me!"

He tried to frame another prayer, but the words would not come; he tried
to kneel as before, but his knees would not bend. How could he pray that
Glory also might be lost--that something might have happened to her--that
somewhere and in some way unknown to him----

No, no, a thousand times no! The prayer was impossible. Let come what
would, let the danger to Paul and to the Brotherhood be what it might,
let Satan and all his legions fall on him, yet he could not and would not
utter it.

XIII.

The stars were paling, but the day had not yet dawned, when there came a
knock at the door. John started and listened. After an interval the knock
was repeated. It was a timid, hesitating tap, as if made with the tips of
the fingers low down on the door.

"Praise be to God!" said John, and he drew the slide of the grating. He
had expected to see a face outside, but there was nothing there.

"Who is it?" he asked, and there came no answer.

He took up the lamp that was kept burning in the hall and looked out
through the bars. There was nothing in the darkness but an icy mist,
which appeared to be rising from the ground.

"Only another of my dreams," he thought, and he laid his hand on the
slide to close it.

Then he heard a sigh that seemed to rise out of the ground, and at the
same moment the dog uttered a deep bay. He laid hold of the door and
pulled it quickly open. At his feet the figure of a man was kneeling,
bent double and huddled up.

"Paul!" he cried in an excited whisper.

Brother Paul raised his head. His face was frightfully changed. It was
gray and wasted. His eyes wandered, his lips trembled, and he looked like
a man who had been flogged.

"Good Lord, what a wreck!" thought John. He helped him to rise and enter.
The poor creature's limbs were stiff with cold, and he stumbled from
weakness as he crossed the threshold.

"But, thank God, you are back and no harm done!" said John. "How