st their
ferocity, and he stood irresolute.

"Break it, like a good fellow," said Jackman, in a soft, kindly voice,
as he pointed to the bottle.

"I broke one before, sir," said Ivor, in a despairing tone; "and you see
how useless that was."

"Give it to me, then."

As he spoke, he took the bottle from the man's grasp, and cast it
through the open doorway, where it was shivered to atoms on the stones
outside.

Striding towards a pitcher of water which stood in a corner of the room,
the keeper seized it, put it to his lips, and almost drained it.

"There!" he exclaimed; "that will drown the devil for a time!"

"No, Ivor, it won't; but it will _help_ to drown it," said Jackman, in
the same kindly, almost cheerful, voice. "Neither cold water nor
hottest fire can slay the evils that are around and within us. There is
only one Saviour from sin--Jesus, `who died for the sins of the whole
world.' He makes use of means, however, and these means help towards
the great end. But it was not the Saviour who told you to lock that
bottle in that cupboard--was it?"

An expression of perplexity came over the keeper's face.

"You are right, sir; it was not. But, to my thinkin' it was not the
devil either!"

"Very likely not. I think sometimes we are inclined to put many things
on the devil's shoulders which ought to rest on our own. You know what
the Bible says about the deceitfulness of our hearts."

"I do, sir, an' yet I don't quite see that it was that either. I did
not put that bottle there to have it handy when I wanted it. I put it
there when I made up my mind to fight this battle in Christ's name, so
as I might see if He gave me strength to resist the temptation, when it
was always before me."

"Just so, Ivor, my friend. That `if' shows that you doubted Him!
Moreover, He has put into our mouths that prayer, `lead us not into
temptation,' and you proposed to keep temptation always before your
eyes."

"No, sir, no, not quite so bad as that," cried the keeper, growing
excited. "I shut the door an' locked the accursed thing out of my
sight, and when I found I could _not_ resist the temptation, I took the
key out and flung it into the sea."

"Would it not have been better to have flung the evil thing itself into
the sea? You soon found another key!" said his friend, pointing to the
axe.

"You say truth, sir; but oh, you hev no notion o' the fight I hev had
wi' that drink. The days an' nights of torment