and read the message of which I had thought much and with
a growing interest.

I rose and said that I should like to go to my room. Mr. Hacket lighted
a candle and took me up-stairs to a little room where my chest had been
deposited. There were, in the room, a bed, a chair, a portrait of
Napoleon Bonaparte and a small table on which were a dictionary, a Bible
and a number of school books.

"These were Mary's books," said Mr. Hacket. "I told yer uncle that ye
could use them an' welcome. There's another book here which ye may study
if ye think it worth the bother. It's a worn an' tiresome book, my lad,
but I pray God ye may find no harm in it. Use it as often as ye will. It
is the book o' my heart. Ye will find in it some kind o' answer to every
query in the endless flight o' them that's coming on, an' may the good
God help us to the truth."

He turned and bade me good night and went away and closed the door.

I sat down and opened the sealed envelope with trembling hands, and
found in it this brief note:

"DEAR PARTNER: I want you to ask the wisest man you know to explain
these words to you. I suggest that you commit them to memory and
think often of their meaning. They are from Job:

"'His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down
with him in the dust.'

"I believe that they are the most impressive in all the literature I
have read.

"Yours truly,
SILAS WRIGHT, JR."

I read the words over and over again, but knew not their meaning. Sadly
and slowly I got ready for bed. I missed the shingles and the familiar
rustle of the popple leaves above my head and the brooding silence of
the hills. The noises of the village challenged my ear after I had put
out my candle. There were many barking dogs. Some horsemen passed, with
a creaking of saddle leather, followed by a wagon. Soon I heard running
feet and eager voices. I rose and looked out of the open window. Men
were hurrying down the street with lanterns.

"He's the son o' Ben Grimshaw," I heard one of them saying. "They caught
him back in the south woods yesterday. The sheriff said that he tried to
run away when he saw 'em coming."

What was the meaning of this? What had Amos Grimshaw been doing? I
trembled as I got back into bed--I can not even now explain why, but
long ago I gave up trying to fathom the depths of the human spirit with
an infinite sea beneath it crossed by subtle tides and cur