r all business cares to Jasper. I was unable
even to attend our father's funeral. I never day or night left
Constance's bedside. I loved this woman most devotedly, most
passionately. During all those days when her life hung in the balance,
my time seemed one long prayer to God. 'Spare her, spare her precious
life at any cost, at any cost.' Those were the words, forever on my
lips. The prayer was heard; I had my wife again. For a short time she
was restored to me. I have often thought since, was even that precious
life worth the price I paid for it?"

Here Mr. Harman paused. Some moisture had gathered on his brow; he took
out his handkerchief to wipe it away. A glass of water stood by his
side; he drank a little.

"I am approaching the sin," he said addressing the clergyman. "The
successfully buried sin is about to rise from its grave; pardon me if I
shrink from the awful sight."

"God will strengthen you, my dear sir," answered Home. "By your
confession, you are struggling back into the right path. What do I say?
Rather you are being led back by God himself. Take courage. Lean upon
the Almighty arm. Your sin will shrink in dimensions as you view it; for
between you and it will come forgiveness."

Mr. Harman smiled faintly, After another short pause, he continued.

"On the day on which my dear wife was pronounced out of danger, Jasper
sent for me. My brother and I had ever been friends, though in no one
particular were we alike. During the awful struggle through which I had
just passed. I forgot both him and my father. Now I remembered him and
my father's death, and our own business cares. A thousand memories came
back to me. When he sent for me I left my wife's bedside and went down
to him. I was feeling weak and low, for I had not been in bed for many
nights, and a kind of reaction had set in. I was in a kind of state when
a man's nerves can be shaken, and his whole moral equilibrium upset. I
do not offer this as an excuse for what followed. There is no excuse for
the dark sin; but I do believe enough about myself to say that what I
then yielded to, I should have been proof against at a stronger physical
moment. I entered my private sitting-room to find Jasper pacing up and
down like a wild creature. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair tossed. He
was a calm and cheerful person generally. At this instant, he looked
like one half bereft of reason. 'Good heavens! what is wrong?' I said. I
was startled out of myself by