n his pillow when he saw me.

'"If one could only have one's life again!" he said--and there was a
catch in his voice. "I could not sleep for thinking of it. I have shamed
you, Tom, and I have shamed all that belonged to me; and many and many a
time I have longed to die and end it all, but something would not let
me. I was always a precious coward. Why, I tried to shoot myself once;
but I could not do it, I bungled so. That was when things were at the
worst; but I never tried again, so don't look so scared, old chap!"

'Well, it was terrible to hear him talk like that, of throwing his life
away, and I said a word or two to show what I thought of it; but he
would not listen.

'"Don't preach, Tom: you were always such a hand at preaching; but I
will tell you something you may care to hear. It was when I was out in
the bush. I had been down with a sort of fever, and had got precious
low. Well, it came over me one day as I was alone in the hut, that, if
that sort of life went on, I should just lose my reason; for the
loneliness, and the thought of the prison life, and all the evil I had
done, and the way I had thrown aside my chances, seemed crowding in upon
my mind, and I felt I must just blow my brains out, and I knew I should
do it this time; and then all at once the thought came to me: 'Why not
go to Tom? Tom and Susan are good sort; they won't refuse a helping hand
to a poor wretch;' and the very next day I packed up my traps and
started for Melbourne."

'"My lad," I said, "it was just Providence that put that thought in your
head;" and then I left him, for my heart was too full to talk, except to
my Maker. But I dreamt that night that Susan came to me, and that we
stood together by Mat's bedside looking down at him while he slept.

'"He looks old and gray," I heard her say quite distinctly; "but he will
grow young again beside my Tom." And then she looked at me so gently and
sighed: "Be patient with him; he is very unhappy," and then I woke.'

'Oh, I hope you told him that dream!'

'Ay, I did. I told him a power of things about Susan and myself and
Prissy, and he never seemed tired of listening; but after that first
evening he did not open out much of his own accord. He told us a few
things, mostly about his bush-life, and where he went when he got his
ticket-of-leave; but somehow he seemed to dislike talking about himself,
and after I had questioned him pretty closely, he suddenly said:

'"Look here, old chap