Worse turned uneasily in his bed, as if he would interrupt her; but
she continued--

"'We should, therefore, think of the day of judgment, which "will
come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned
up."

"'But the ninth and last is the pains of hell, which are
insupportable.

"'Scripture gives a terrible description of the state of the
condemned in everlasting flames, "where their worm dieth not, and the
fire is not quenched."'"

"Don't you think you could find something else to read, Sarah?" said
Worse, anxiously.

"'The days of hell will never end,'" she continued. "'When as many
years have passed and gone as there are beings in the world and stars
in the firmament, when as many thousand years have passed as there
are grains of sand in the bottom of the sea, there will yet be a
million times as many more to come.

"'Those who do not take this to heart will hereafter suffer for it.
All drunkards and scoffers, as well as those who make their belly
their god, those who are slaves to their passions, and all
unbelievers, will then be revealed before the judgment-throne.

"'The devil will stand on one side to accuse them, and their own
consciences on the other to condemn them, and down below the gates of
hell will stand open to swallow them.'"

"Sarah, Sarah! read no more!" cried Worse.

But she continued to read, and the words cut like a knife. The wrath
of God, the flames of hell, and the never-ending sufferings of the
damned were depicted in clear and terrible language.

"Sarah! for God's sake, stop!" shrieked Worse, sitting upright. The
perspiration flowed down his cheeks, and he trembled so that the bed
shook.

She fixed a stern eye upon him, and said, "I wonder if you have yet
placed yourself in the hands of the living God?"

"Sarah, Sarah! What shall I do?"

"Pray," she answered, and left the room.

He lay and writhed with pain and fear, and when he heard her in the
next room, called to her, begging her to have pity on him.

At last she came in again.

"Sarah, why are you so harsh with me? You were never so before."

"I never before dealt with you in the right way."

"Do you suppose that _this_ is the right way?"

"I hope so."

"Well, you know best; but you must help me, Sarah. Do not leave me
now!" And he clutched her hand with the gras