eit. : : DIGGING A GRAVE >

“* Yes, sir — quite. f

Tt seemed possible that he onild draw
consolation from that assurance, for he re-
peated the question again and again. The
‘two women followed him down stairs. Mr. |
Layton and Peggy drove off, and Mary re-

turned to her lonely room; but she did not

go to bed. _ After a little time she sank on
‘her knees and prayed’ most devoutly, drop- -
ping bead after bead ; sometimes those simple,
ernest prayers were interrupted by heavy sobs,
which however, lifted (as she would have
expressed it) “ the weight off her heart.”
_ Never had Peggy’s “preachings” against
“‘ the drink” appeared to her so forcibly.
keceidiided: to see men and women in her
own sphere soothing their want and weariness,
: as well as expressing their happiness, by
: taking an extra “drop,” the every-day occur-
rence of those libations had in a great degree

a the habit of its horrors, reconciled