第89章

’Mystoryisnearlytold，’saidPeter；’afewwordswillcompleteit。Mywifeendeavouredtoconsoleandreassureme，usingtheargumentswhichyouhavejustheardheruse，andmanyothers，butinvain。Peacenorcomfortcametomybreast。Iwasrapidlyfallingintothedepthsofdespair；whenonedayWinifredsaidtome，“Iseethouwiltbelost，ifweremainhere。Oneresourceonlyremains。Thoumustgoforth，myhusband，intothewideworld，andtocomforttheeIwillgowiththee。““AndwhatcanIdointhewideworld？“saidI，despondingly。“Much，“repliedWinifred，“ifyouwillbutexertyourself；muchgoodcanstthoudowiththeblessingofGod。“Manythingsofthesamekindshesaidtome；andatlastIarosefromtheearthtowhichGodhadsmittenme，anddisposedofmypropertyinthebestwayIcould，andwentintotheworld。Wedidallthegoodwewereable，visitingthesick，ministeringtothesick，andprayingwiththesick。AtlastI

becamecelebratedasthepossessorofagreatgiftofprayer。Andpeopleurgedmetopreach，andWinifredurgedmetoo，andatlastI

consented，andIpreached。I-I-outcastPeter，becamethepreacherPeterWilliams。I，thelostone，attemptedtoshowotherstherightroad。AndinthiswayIhavegoneonforthirteenyears，preachingandteaching，visitingthesick，andministeringtothem，withWinifredbymysidehearteningmeon。OccasionallyIamvisitedwithfitsofindescribableagony，generallyonthenightbeforetheSabbath；forIthenaskmyself，howdareI，theoutcast，attempttopreachthewordofGod？Youngman，mytaleistold；youseeminthought!’

’IamthinkingofLondonBridge，’saidI。

’OfLondonBridge!’saidPeterandhiswife。

’Yes，’saidI，’ofLondonBridge。IamindebtedformuchwisdomtoLondonBridge；itwastherethatIcompletedmystudies。Buttothepoint。IwasoncereadingonLondonBridgeabookwhichanancientgentlewoman，whokeptthebridge，wasinthehabitoflendingme；andthereIfoundwritten，“Eachonecarriesinhisbreasttherecollectionofsomesinwhichpressesheavyuponhim。

Oh，ifmencouldbutlookintoeachother’shearts，whatblacknesswouldtheyfindthere!“’

’That’strue，’saidPeter。’Whatisthenameofthebook？’

’THELIFEOFBLESSEDMARYFLANDERS。’

’Somepopishsaint，Isuppose，’saidPeter。

’Asmuchofasaint，Idaresay，’saidI，’asmostpopishones；butyouinterruptedme。OnepartofyournarrativebroughtthepassagewhichIhavequotedintomymind。Yousaidthatafteryouhadcommittedthissamesinofyoursyouwereinthehabit，atschool，oflookinguponyourschoolfellowswithakindofgloomysuperiority，consideringyourselfalonemonstrousbeingwhohadcommittedasinfarabovethedaringofanyofthem。Areyousurethatmanyothersofyourschoolfellowswerenotlookinguponyouandtheotherswithmuchthesameeyeswithwhichyouwerelookinguponthem？’

’How!’saidPeter，’dostthouthinkthattheyhaddivinedmysecret？’

’Notthey，’saidI，’theywere，Idaresay，thinkingtoomuchofthemselvesandoftheirownconcernstohavedivinedanysecretsofyours。AllImeantosayis，theyhadprobablysecretsoftheirown，andwhoknowsthatthesecretsinofmorethanoneofthemwasnottheverysinwhichcausedyousomuchmisery？’

’Dostthouthenimagine，’saidPeter，’thesinagainsttheHolyGhosttobesocommonanoccurrence？’

’Asyouhavedescribedit，’saidI，’ofverycommonoccurrence，especiallyamongstchildren，whoare，indeed，theonlybeingslikelytocommitit。’

’Truly，’saidWinifred，’theyoungmantalkswisely。’

Peterwassilentforsomemoments，andappearedtobereflecting；

atlast，suddenlyraisinghishead，helookedmefullintheface，and，graspingmyhandwithvehemence，hesaid，’Tellme，youngman，onlyonething，hastthou，too，com