e also his own, and to leave the town in the dead of night; he has
confided to me his intention, and asked my aid. He and I, be it known
to you, were friends of old; we have shared together other dangers, and
other spoils; he has asked my assistance in his flight. Now do you learn
my purpose? Let us ease him of his burthen! I offer to you the half;
share the enterprise and its fruits.'

"I rose, I walked away, I pressed my hands on my heart; I wished to
silence the voice that whispered me within. Houseman saw the conflict;
he followed me; he named the value of the prize he proposed to gain;
that which he called my share placed all my wished within my reach!--the
means of gratifying the one passion of my soul, the food for knowledge,
the power of a lone blessed independence upon myself,--and all were in
my grasp; no repeated acts of fraud; no continuation of sin, one single
act sufficed! I breathed heavily, but I threw not off the emotion that
seized my soul; I shut my eyes and shuddered, but the vision still rose
before me.

"'Give me your hand,' said Houseman. [Note: Though, in the above part of
Aram's confession, it would seem as if Houseman did not allude to more
than the robbery of Clarke; it is evident from what follows, that the
more heinous crime also was then at least hinted at by Houseman.]

"'No, no,' I said, breaking away from him. 'I must pause--I must
consider--I do not yet refuse, but I will not now decide.'--

"Houseman pressed, but I persevered in my determination;--he would have
threatened me, but my nature was haughtier than his, and I subdued him.
It was agreed that he should seek me that night and learn my choice--the
next night was the one on which the deed was to be done. We parted--I
returned an altered man to my home. Fate had woven her mesh around me--a
new incident had occurred which strengthened the web: there was a poor
girl whom I had been accustomed to see in my walks. She supported her
family by her dexterity in making lace,--a quiet, patient-looking,
gentle creature. Clarke had, a few days since, under pretence of
purchasing lace, decoyed her to his house (when all but himself were
from home), where he used the most brutal violence towards her. The
extreme poverty of the parents had enabled him easily to persuade them
to hush up the matter, but something of the story got abroad; the poor
girl was marked out for that gossip and scandal, which among the very
lowest classes are as coarse