ear brother; but, oh! it is an awful thing to send a
fellow-creature into eternity!"

"And do you think that thought ever for a moment leaves me, Agnes?
Indeed, I think that while I have been skulking and hiding, hunted and
pursued from one place to another, and since I have been shut up in
these walls, every harrowing thought that could possibly be brought
before my mind, has been dwelt upon till it seemed sometimes as if I
should go mad. I have mourned for Cranston as if I had no hand in his
death; I have thought of him in all his hope and promise; I have thought
of his poor mother and sisters, till the tears have rained from my
cheeks; and I believe I have been sincere in my feeling, that if by
suffering an ignominious death, I could restore my murdered friend to
life, I should be _glad_ to be the sacrifice. And then when I thought of
_myself_ as the cause of all this suffering, it seemed as if it ought
not to be a matter of wonder or complaint if the verdict should be,
that such a wretch should cumber the earth no longer. And yet, Agnes, in
the eye of Him who looketh only on the heart, I believe I was as much a
murderer when I struck down my school-mate in the play-ground as now.
For in the height of my passion then, I think I should have been glad to
have killed him. But the thought of _murder_ did not enter my heart when
I struck poor Cranston; it was a sort of instinctive movement; the work
of a moment; and had not the murderous weapon been in my hand, the
effects of the blow would have been but slight."

Many such conversations as these passed between the young prisoner and
his sister, during those two months preceding the trial--every day of
which, except during church hours on Sunday, Agnes passed with him from
morning till night, almost as much a prisoner as he, except that hers
was not compulsory. This time was faithfully improved by Agnes, in
endeavoring to lead her brother to right views upon the subject of his
own condition in the sight of a Holy God. He was very gentle and
teachable now, and before the day of trial came, Agnes hoped that her
brother was a true penitent, though his own hopes of pardon were faint
and flickering.

Mr. Malcolm too, often visited young Elwyn, in whom he was most deeply
interested; and his gentle teachings and fervent prayers were eagerly
listened to by the youthful prisoner. Mr. W----, his counsel, came
often, also, but in his endeavors to keep up the spirits of Lewie and