ay the Lord bring him to His footstool
of mercy before he is nabbed, as aa was."

These remarks, with the exhilarating petition, caused an amount of
irreverent speculation as to who was the person alluded to. The
service was brought to a close without any evidences of spiritual
emotion such as had characterized previous meetings, and the people
proceeded in groups to their respective homes filled with fertile
curiosity, and a sinister suspicion as to who the sinful person was
that Jimmy had so fervently prayed for. But only one person who heard
the rugged deliverance fixed her mind on him that was guilty, and she
resolved to keep her thoughts a secret, for reasons that will be
explained hereafter. Meanwhile, many innocent men were suspected, and
gossip ran rampant. Jimmy, when asked whom he meant, was piously
reticent, and merely answered--

"That is a matter that concerns God and mysel'! The time may come when
he'll accuse hissel'. Aa'm prayin' mornin', noon, and night, that the
strings of his heart may be broken, and that a penitent condition of
mind may take possession of him, and in the fulness of a new borth he
may cry aloud, 'O Lord, once I was blind, noo I see!'"

When Thomas Turnbull and his wife arrived home, they found the younger
members of their family in an excited state of hilarity. The youngest
daughter was mimicking Jimmy perfectly, and had her brothers and
sister in fits of laughter. Their father could not refrain from
joining in the fun, but the mother was quiet and pensive, and got
rather huffed when her husband chided her in his good-humoured way
with being indifferent to the happy surroundings. Poor woman, she was
troubled about Jimmy's prayer, and thought it irreligious to be joyous
in the midst of such dark mystery.

The following afternoon, Mrs. Turnbull paid a visit to Mrs. Clarkson,
who listened with eager interest to the account of the meeting, and
when the words of the closing prayer were conveyed an anxious look
came over her countenance, and she made an effort to change the
subject, without, however, preventing Mrs. Turnbull from detecting her
confusion.

"Let us talk of something else; I do not like," said she, "conversing
about sensational things; it makes me nervous. And if I were you, I
would try to forget what has been said to you about important
personages being involved in lawless traffic. It will only make you
unhappy, and serve no good purpose. If there is anything of the sor