f a short mental prayer, and remembering
that the arm which he had touched was lifelike, he adopted a more
rational supposition. "The poor child is stricken in his intellect,"
thought he, "but verily his words are fearful in a place like this."
He then spoke soothingly, intending to humor the boy's fantasy:

"Your home will scarce be comfortable, Ilbrahim, this cold autumn
night, and I fear you are ill-provided with food. I am hastening to a
warm supper and bed; and if you will go with me, you shall share
them."

"I thank thee, friend, but, though I be hungry and shivering with
cold, thou wilt not give me food nor lodging," replied the boy, in the
quiet tone which despair had taught him even so young. "My father was
of the people whom all men hate; they have laid him under this heap of
earth, and here is my home."

The Puritan, who had laid hold of little Ilbrahim's hand, relinquished
it as if he were touching a loathsome reptile. But he possessed a
compassionate heart which not even religious prejudice could harden
into stone. "God forbid that I should leave this child to perish,
though he comes of the accursed sect," said he to himself. "Do we not
all spring from an evil root? Are we not all in darkness till the
light doth shine upon us? He shall not perish, neither in body nor, if
prayer and instruction may avail for him, in soul." He then spoke
aloud and kindly to Ilbrahim, who had again hid his face in the cold
earth of the grave:

"Was every door in the land shut against you, my child, that you have
wandered to this unhallowed spot?"

"They drove me forth from the prison when they took my father thence,"
said the boy, "and I stood afar off watching the crowd of people; and
when they were gone, I came hither, and found only this grave. I knew
that my father was sleeping here, and I said, 'This shall be my
home.'"

"No, child, no, not while I have a roof over my head or a morsel to
share with you," exclaimed the Puritan, whose sympathies were now
fully excited. "Rise up and come with me, and fear not any harm."

The boy wept afresh, and clung to the heap of earth as if the cold
heart beneath it were warmer to him than any in a living breast. The
traveller, however, continued to entreat him tenderly, and, seeming to
acquire some degree of confidence, he at length arose; but his slender
limbs tottered with weakness, his little head grew dizzy, and he
leaned against the tree of death for support.

"My poor b