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Mrs Arnot again came directly to the youth and put her hand on his shoulder with motherly freedom and kindliness Beyond even the word of sympathy is the touch of sy heart a subtle power to hope and trust again which the materialist cannot explain The Divine Physician often touched those whom he healed He laid his hand fearlessly on the leper from whom all shrank with inexpressible dread The moral leper who trembled under Mrs Arnot's hand felt that he was not utterly lost and beyond the pale of hope, if one so good and pure could still touch hih thick darkness, that the hand that caressed ravely, "tell me what I can do for you"

"I cannot face the consequences," he replied in a low, shuddering tone

"And do you only dread the consequences?" Mrs Arnot asked sadly "Do you not think of the evil which is the cause of your trouble?"

"I can scarcely separate the sin fro My mind is confused, and I aood and all that is good see from me, and I should soon be left only to my miserable self O, Mrs Arnot, no doubt I seeuilty coward I seeer or difficulty I had to face I would not fear; but this slow, inevitable, increasing pressure of a horrible fate, this seeing clearly that evil cuts me off from hope and all happiness, and yet to feel that I cannot escape from it--that I am too weak to break my chains--it is one mad if you had not come Do you think there is any chance for me? I feel as if I had lost my manhood"

Mrs Arnot took the chair which the sheriff had brought on her entrance, and said quietly, "Perhaps you have, Egbert; many a man has lost what you mean by that term"

"You speak of it with a composure that I can scarcely understand," said Haldane, with a quick glance of inquiry "It seereat a loss to ently "As your physician you ain It seeely of pride, conceit, ignorance of yourself, and inexperience of the world You were liable to lose it at any tih your own folly and partly through the wrong of others You know, Egbert, that I have always been interested in young ard as their manhood is not of much value to themselves or any one else"