essed heart, slowly wandered down her cheek. It was the very
crisis of the conflict; and the old man forbore to break the bruised
reed. She seemed uneasy and anxious to depart; but he hindered her
for a space.

"Wilt thou not, as thou art wont, approach with me to the footstool of
Him who doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men?"

Marian felt the rebuke, though it was so finely tempered, and
administered so tenderly. She was one of his earlier converts, and his
love for her was that of a spiritual parent. Bending the knee, she
covered her burning cheeks, and poured out her heart with him in
fervour and sincerity. Whether both of them had precisely the same
object in view as the end of their supplications, or whether the
maiden's fears and inclinations might not lead her to offer up a
sincere petition for the safety of others besides those of the
household, we will not take upon ourselves to determine; but on
leaving the dwelling of Gilgal Snape a suppressed sigh and an
involuntary whisper escaped her--"He may yet be spared." She raised
her eyes in thankfulness, and a gleam of hope, but not of happiness,
irradiated her heart; for she now felt that a great gulf separated
them for ever.

She had ascertained by her converse with the Puritan, who was well
informed in all matters connected with his party, that they were yet
unacquainted as to the ulterior proceedings of the strangers; and it
seemed probable, from this circumstance alone, that at any rate
Egerton had not fallen into their hands. Her next object was to find
out "Steenie," and to elicit from him the knowledge of the stranger's
fate; for unless this mischievous personage had in some wild erratic
freak or another conveyed him off, she could not tell what mishap
could have befallen him. Despite of her prejudices and the true bent
of her disposition, which, though it partook not of the furious and
headlong intolerance of the times, was yet sufficiently imbued with
the spirit of her sect, the cavalier had won so unsuspectingly upon
her kindness that she started as though she would have escaped from
her own thoughts, when she felt the deep and agonising shudder which
crossed her at the bare possibility that he might fall into the hands
of the avenger of blood. At a glance she saw the fearful involutions
and the almost inextricable toils by which the fugitives were
encompassed. Unaided, she was well aware that their attempts would be
fruitless. S